unfortunately this noisy habit of breath-taking is a very common fault.

I have said as far as possible breathe through the nostrils; there are however times when the rate at which a speech, or part of a speech, has to be taken necessitates both mouth and nose breathing. But when in the open air-especially at night and in damp or foggy weather-and when sleeping "Nostril-breathing" is most essential to our physical and vocal well-being.

CHAPTER III

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SPEAKING VOICE

In the preceding chapter I explained the natural means at our disposal for providing and controlling the breath, that is to say the motivepower of the voice. I will now proceed to the

consideration of the actual sound heard in words, which may be termed the vocal element of speech; and in this examination it must not be forgotten how great a part the brain and nervous system play in the complex adjustment of muscles that, acting aright, result in good vocal quality and intelligible utterance. In his consideration of this subject the student should remember that the properties of Musical Sound are (1) Pitch, (2) Intensity, (3) Duration, (4) Quality or Timbre.

Laryngeal Sound.

The air leaving the lungs and traversing the windpipe comes

into contact with the free edges of the projecting

folds of membrane commonly called the vocal cords. These vocal cords are situated within the larynx, and it is their vibration by the outgoing stream of air which constitutes vocal sound.

The intensity of this sound is governed by the strength of the air-blast and the pitch varies according to the length of the cords exposed to that air blast. The pitch is primarily dependent upon the will.

This laryngeal sound has however to be developed; that is to say, it has to receive the addition of resonance before it can be called voice. It therefore becomes of the utmost importance to the speaker to understand how to build up the fundamental laryngeal sound into voice and ultimately into speech.

Laryngoscope.

By the use of the laryngoscope, observation of the larynx at rest and at work can be made, but though such observations are of immense service to physicians, in their diagnosis of disease, they are unfortunately of very little assistance in voice culture. "There is no necessity," says Professor Willis, "for seeking any power of altering the uality of the notes in the larynx itself.

The late Sir Morell Mackenzie stated "The old Italian Masters trained their pupils' voices with a success certainly not inferior to that of our modern professors armed with their laryngoscopes, spirometers, stethometers, and other vocicultural implements."

Quality or Timbre.

Use of Ordinary
Mirror.

Quality or Timbre is the most important property of the voice, and fortunately its correction, alteration, and cultivation depend upon the relative positions of those organs constituting the variable cavity above the larynx, and for the most part visible: I therefore maintain that an ordinary mirror is of far greater use to the Speech Student than is the laryngoscope. We may with advantage be content to judge the action of the larynx by the ear. By singing the same note at the same intensity, first with the lips together, then with half open mouth, then with open mouth, or again, with the tongue in different positions, raised or flat, forward or backward anyone may observe the vocal alterations in quality which follow upon the relative positions of the tongue and lips at a given moment.

Careful observation of the variable cavity of

the mouth should lead to the correction of muffled, nasal and throaty qualities of voice, besides faults of pronunciation.

Necessity of ob

The importance of the pre

servation of mouth ceding paragraph will be evident in reference to when it is remembered that the vowels and conson actual laryngeal sound is the

ants.

same for all vowels, and that each vowel requires a different position of the mouth. As there are eighteen different vowel sounds in the English language it follows that in vocalising them there must be eighteen different shapes of the variable cavity of the mouth. Under no circumstances must there be any rigidity of the throat or mouth or of any of their component parts, or the quality of the utterance will be spoilt.

The soft palate.

Upon the action of the soft

palate and of the tongue greatly depends the quality of the vocal sound.

The soft palate is attached to the under part of the hard palate, which is itself the roof of the mouth and the floor of the nose, and acts as a vocal sounding board. The soft palate hangs like a curtain over the root of the tongue; it is muscular and can be lengthened or shortened at