RHYTHM.
It is obvious that the vocal exercises above described develop musical expressiveness both in song and speech. Rhythm is an act of the feelings more than it is of the intellect. The student should allow the feeling of rhythm to take full possession of him while he executes the musical variations. Rhythm causes the force of the voice to exert itself melodically. Were it not for rhythm, the tone would move forward in a sort of sameness in force. One can no more endure to listen to a voice that is not rhythmical in force than he can to one that is monotonous in pitch. The feelings are benumbed by monotony, while they rejoice in harmonious variety. Originally the word rhythm meant motion. Later it was used to express the relation of measure to motion. To-day the word meter and the word rhythm are sometimes used synonymously.
Rhythm is the name of the sense of relationship existingbetween duration and motion. Without rhythm there can be no real melody. In poetry the rhythm celebrates the exact relationship the thoughts sustain to each other. The rhythmcreates a deeper interest, and consequently a deeper feeling, than would be created if this relationship were not celebrated by the regular recurrence of certain pleasing sounds. In prose composition the relationship between the thoughts may be as perfect, but this relationship, although expressed melodically, is not as rhythmically emphasized.
Thought in voice form always manifests itself rhythmically. In sculpture, painting and architecture, that which corresponds to rhythm in music and poetry is called symmetry. Symmetry involves proportion, and gives a feeling of life to these forms of art.
QUALITY OF VOICE.
There are certain characteristics of voice which are denominated “qualities.” Among these are: Color, Form and Equilibrium. By color of voice I mean that quality which affects us when we hear it, just as color affects us when we see it; so that color as applied to voice is really the name of the feeling it produces, which is the same as that produced by color received through the sense of sight.
We judge of form of voice as we judge of color of voice, that is, by its effect upon the feelings. There are certain tones which affect us as certain forms do.
When we see objects in equilibrium, we speak of them as being well poised, or centered; they give us the feeling of certainty; right tones affect us in the same way. Other tones which lack center give us the same kind of mental pain which things do when we perceive they are not in equilibrium.
Color appeals to the feelings; form appeals to theintellect; equilibrium appeals to the will, so that color, form and equilibrium appeal to the mind as a unit.
Force (Energy),Pitch,Volume,Time.
Force (Energy),Pitch,Volume,Time.
Force (Energy),
Pitch,
Volume,
Time.
Each form possesses a distinct meaning and expresses definite states of mind.
Force indicates the degree of energy a particular thought arouses in an individual. Pitch includes slide or inflection, and indicates the feeling aroused by the thought. Volume indicates the condition of the will—whether it is perfectly free or struggling against difficulties. Time indicates the value the intellect places upon the thought. All forms of emphasis may be reduced to these four; and these four may be combined in an infinite variety of ways.
The state of mind which will project the tone is thatof reciprocity, that is, concentrating the mind upon persons in a distant portion of the audience, as if receiving from them and giving to them, thus establishing a sympathy between the speaker and the hearer. This will project the tone without noise. The mental effort of a speaker should be to draw his audience nearer that they may hear, rather than to place his mind exclusively on sending his voice to a great distance. This effort to draw the hearers nearer will give the voice carrying quality without interfering with its naturalness and sympathy.
VOCAL TECHNIQUE AS ILLUSTRATED INTHE FIRST AND SECOND VOLUMESOF THE EVOLUTION OF EXPRESSION.
The doctrine of evolution is one of the latest, and if well understood, and looked at from a sufficiently high point of view, appears the grandest of all the revelations which science has given. The theory applied to organic being is substantially this: there is, potentially, in every organism a higher manifestation. Its evolution is secured by the relation of its organic tendency to its environment.
In taking a limited or superficial view of the doctrine of evolution, some have been led to look at matter as the only environment. It is this which has made the age materialistic. We are hardly aware of the extent to which this tendency to materialism biases and influences us in regard to religious and seculareducation. Those who have the most faith in God and His providence are scarcely conscious of how much they are affected by the prevailing thought that material environment alone shapes and influences the development of individuals and the destiny of the human race. If we recognize that the spirit of God is our most immediate environment, the study of evolution is safe.
This view is suggested even by the study of physical science. The scientist, in his analysis of matter, ascertains that it is divisible into molecules, and that nothing is an absolute solid. Each molecule has a sphere of its own, in which it acts separately, and, in a certain sense, independently of other molecules, and vibrates as freely as oscillates the pendulum of a clock. You say, “The pendulum of a clock has room to oscillate.” This is equally true of each molecule; it has room to vibrate without interfering with other molecules or preventing them from vibrating. All the molecules that compose a certain substance are rushing toward each other; but a sacred sphere encloses each, thereby establishing its eternal separateness. Thisrevelation of science of the eternal separateness of molecules points to the silent sea of Thought which encloses every molecular island. What is this silent sea of thought but the presence of Deity? If He encloses every molecule, does He not surround the human soul? Is it unscientific to say, in the language of scripture, “In Him we live, and move, and have our being”? Whither shall I go to escape His presence? “If I ascend into heaven, Thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, Thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uppermost parts of the sea, even there Thy hand shall lead me and Thy right hand shall hold me.” If we take a sufficiently broad view, science itself will lead us up the shining way to where we shall recognize His presence on the throne of the universe.
If we follow this doctrine of evolution, step by step, it will lead us to perceive that God is in every fact of nature. Watch an acorn as it develops into the sturdy oak. No scientist will say that a material environment is its only condition of growth. He will say, “There is life in the acorn itself.” What is this life?Here the great scientist bows his head. The power of life in the acorn suggests to him the presence of the Infinite. Were it not for God’s purpose manifested in giving the acorn life, the germ could not develop under the influence of the moisture, the sunlight, and the earth. Its dominating environment, then, is the presence of Him who relates it to its material surroundings.
Without the Infinite Mind in the universe there could be no evolution. No man can be broadly and fully educated unless there is joined in his mind both the light of science and the light of revelation. Prophecy outruns science, and is the herald of truth. Science, no surer, and vastly slower, follows with its confirmations. The doctrine of evolution, studied in the light of divine revelation, becomes of great value to us.
We cannot understand the doctrine of the Evolution of Expression until we first see evolution written on the broad expanse of nature. The four volumes of the Evolution of Expression taught in this college represent the four principal steps in the unfolding of the powers of the orator. It has been said that poets are born,not made. This statement contains only a modicum of truth. We say such a one was born a poet because very early in life he seemed to show poetic feeling and to express his thoughts in poetic forms. All great poets, musicians, and orators have been educated; some may not have studied under masters, but all have applied themselves to the means of education which was within their reach.
The study of eloquence has been, to a great extent, a sealed book. It was observed that when the orator spoke on a lofty subject, his voice became grand, and was called “orotund”; when he spoke on common subjects, his voice became simple; this was called “pure tone”; when he spoke on subjects of mystery and sublimity, the voice became “aspirate orotund.” All these things were noted; and teachers of oratory said to their pupils, “As the orators used the orotund, aspirate, pure tone, etc., we will teach you these forms of voice.” When Webster spoke of the value of the Constitution of the United States, and used an orotund voice, as only a Webster could, was he thinking of his voice? No; he was thinking of convincing his hearersof the great value of the Union. Shall I affect people as did Webster by using these tones when reading a passage from his speech? No. The human soul says, “I will respond to anything genuine; but I can never be impressed, though I may be amused, by those who try to imitate the genuine.” Webster’s thoughts, like vast waves of the ocean, surged through his voice and formed themselves into tones clear, direct, incisive, and sublime.
I recognize but one power in education, and that is mind. When God created my body, He ordained that my soul should rule it. When He made the mouth, larynx, muscles of respiration, etc., He ordained that the soul should rule them. My soul, master; they, servants. The servant knows his rightful master’s commands, but the stranger he will not obey. The infinite God rules all worlds, and all parts of all worlds. As God is the master of the illimitable universe, so He has placed within man’s body, which is man’s little universe, a natural master—the soul. All its agents must be commanded and employed by the master within.
For many years there has been an attempt to reduce vocal culture to the conscious manipulation of the vocal organs. This was once my method of teaching; but I have changed entirely and most radically. I believe and have taught for many years that certain mental states produce definite effects upon the vocal organs. Our object in this college is to induce such states of mind as shall produce the desired effects in vocal expression. The mental states operate directly through the cranial nerves upon the vocal organs, and instantaneously change their activity.
In my early teaching I made an attempt to cultivate the voice by dealing directly with the vocal organs themselves, but later I discovered that certain states of mind caused all the vocal organs to act in right relations to each other for the production of different tones. I also found that certain states of mind affect and control all the muscles which aid in voice production. To ascertain what states of mind produce certain effects, and how to induce these states of mind, was my field of study for a number of years. At last I was rewarded by discovering what states of mindwould induce the desired forms of expression, and also what methods to use to cause the right activities of mind which would, without fail, bring the proper tones of voice in expression. It devolves upon the teacher to know how to induce the states of mind which will produce the required action of the vocal organs, and through this the desired tone. Every day in our work here in the Evolution of Expression, we are obeying the true pedagogy of vocal technique. The methods by which we induce certain states of mind in a pupil are definite and technical. If I were writing for a teachers’ manual, I would tell the teacher how to induce in the pupil the proper states of mind; but my present purpose is simply to show that certain states of mind will produce definite effects in the voice.
One who watches the effects of this method of teaching, which depends for results upon inducing the required states of mind, will marvel at the results. Not only can more be accomplished in three months than could be accomplished by the old methods in three years, but results can be attained by this that could never be reached by any mechanical method.
We are now prepared to consider the Evolution of Expression, the study of which involves the technique employed in this college for the cultivation of the voice as well as oratorical expression.
The name of the first chapter in the first volume is Animation of Voice. This is the name of an effect, not a cause. A certain state of mind will produce Animation of Voice, therefore I work to induce in the pupils the right state of mind, which is as sure to manifest itself in Animation of Voice as a sufficient amount of excellent gunpowder set on fire in a good cannon is to discharge its contents.
The first physiological condition of the vocal organs in Animation of Voice isfreedom. The second condition isnerve energy. If an elocutionist should be engaged in some public or private school to teach oratory and voice culture, he would probably be requested first to teach the boys to open their mouths. Every previous effort to do this having failed, an elocutionist isengaged for one hour a week to pry open the mouths of the boys. The elocutionist might begin by saying, “John, you do not open your mouth wide enough.” John tries, but fails. The teacher might go through the class in this way, but with no better success. At last comes recess, and the teacher, listening to the boys in the yard, hears John, who had the lockjaw in the schoolroom, telling the boys about some incident—his mouth fully open. The elocution teacher wasoutsideof the boy; and the key that would unlock his jaw wasinsideof him. How stiff, hard, grinding, and throaty was his voice in the schoolroom, but now how open and free!
The nerves which control the organs of speech, and the muscles that govern what is called facial expression have their roots directly in the brain. Superficially, they are attached to its under surface, but they also run up into the cerebrum. The man within touches the keys in the brain, and the vibrations extend to the organs of speech and the muscles of facial expression. I strike a key of a piano, and at a remote distance from the key the string vibrates, filling theroom with tone. So this man within touches a nerve center in the brain, which corresponds to a key upon the piano, and this causes the vocal organs to respond in a way to give true expression to the thought.
Nature gave John an object lesson by showing him a horse running away, and as he tells his story she smiles and says, “I am making an orator of John.” John opens his mouth; there is freedom in the vocal organs, plenty of nerve energy—and the result is Animation of Voice. It was John’s desire to have the other boys see with their minds the things he was telling them of that caused his mouth to open. There was no such inducement in the schoolroom. A boy wants to know that he is of some use in the world. He will open his mouth when he has a proper impulse for so doing. To impart is natural to a boy; if he has anything good, and it is not too material, he likes to share it. The first thing to cultivate, in order to open the vocal organs and free them from all hindrances, is the dispositionto impart to others what themind has seen. To be interested in the subject is not sufficient; it is the desire toimpartwhich will openthe vocal organs, free them and give them nerve energy.
The second chapter in this volume is Smoothness of Voice. When the mind of the speaker is steadily concentrated upon the thought for the exclusive purpose of causing other minds to act upon it, the tones under the repetition of drill gradually tend to evenness. To get this result, I once worked with pupils to make them hold the diaphragm and abdominal muscles in right relation to each other, and in one way or another, to manipulate all the organs which are actually employed in sustaining the tones; but I found that as soon as a thought was held steadily in the mind of the pupil, together with a dominating purpose to communicate that thought to others in a way to affect their minds in a definite manner the voice began to show evenness of support.
The third chapter is Volume of Voice. Volume isfrom the Latin wordvolumen, which signifies a roll. Originally, it signified the form of a written parchment. It now contains several significances, among others, that of a certain form and quality of voice. By Volume, when applied to voice, I mean that form and quality which affect the ear as a large column of free tone. This column of tone is so perfectly guided that the sides of the vocal tube never interfere with its progress. If the voice touches any side of the tube, Volume will not be reported in the tone; for in Volume all limitation is taken away, and the voice, like Browning’s Squadron, escapes through a narrow channel as if “its inch of way were the wide seas profound.” The vessel must keep its inch of way; an inch to the right or an inch to the left, and it is dashed against the rocks. A tenth of an inch to the right or left, or upward or downward, and the vocal column is dashed against the vocal tube, and Volume is destroyed. Nothing but the right thought can properly direct this vibrating column of air. The desire to reveal the value and depth of the thought brings to the voice this quality called Volume.
Volume indicates the relation the will sustains to the thought, that is, whether the will is free in action. Notice the soliloquy of Launcelot Gobbo in the “Merchant of Venice.” The boy’s conscience tells him to serve the Jew, while his inclination prompts him to run away. His voice is squeezed because his will is not free. No man has half a will while there is contention in his mind. When a man serves the good with all his mind, heart and strength, his voice will have no hindrances in it. “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” The voice of the man who lives in obedience to this divine service is free and reports Volume. The impulse springing from the well-formed thought knows how to hold the larynx, the sides of the throat, the soft palate, and the tongue in a way to guide the voice free and unhindered along the prescribed avenue through which it ought to pass.
The fourth chapter is Forming the Elements of speech. The pupil in his study at first considers thevarious aspects of the whole subject which has been presented. At this point the aim is to impart each separate thought of the various aspects of the subject. In this chapter of Forming the Elements, the pupil’s mind being dominated by the desire to place each thought separately and distinctly in the minds of his hearers, the vocal organs act with great exactness and precision, and in more and more perfect relation with each other. By repeated drill in seeking to fix the attention of the hearers upon each thought, great distinctness of utterance is gained, and the elements of speech become more beautifully and accurately formed.
In Animation we put such thoughts before the student as shall make the tones open and free and full of nerve energy; in Smoothness we give such objects of thought as shall make him sustain the tones; in Volume we give thoughts that will guide the stream of tone through the vocal tube without interference; and in Forming the Elements we help the student by putting such objects of thought before him in connection with the text as shall enable him to concentrate the mind upon each separate idea.
The first volume of Evolution of Expression deals with each composition as a whole in its various aspects. The second volume deals with thePartsof the composition considered as wholes. When the mind in its development in expression is able to deal definitely with each separate part of the discourse by itself, it is revealed by slides in the voice, each new and distinct thought causes the voice to give a new and distinctive slide. I am using the word “Slide” in the same sense in which the word “inflection” is often used.
Slide is the continuation of the voice from one pitch to another. An ascending slide is one in which the voice is continued from a lower to a higher pitch. A downward or falling slide is one in which the voice is continued from a certain pitch to a lower one. The rising circumflex is one in which the voice starts on a certain pitch, continues to a lower, and then rises to a higher. In the falling circumflex the voice starts on a certain pitch, rises to a higher one, and then falls to a lower without ceasing.
The physiological condition of the vocal organs which produces Slideis determined entirely by the tension of the vocal cords. With the same degree of tension and power of stroke, a long string vibrates more slowly than a short one.
If the vocal cords are sound and healthy we are perfectly unconscious of their existence. We cannot teach the vocal cords how much to contract or lengthen when giving a certain pitch. We are compelled to leave it to the mind not only to hear the pitch, but to impel the proper contraction of the vocal cords in its production.
If the mind can control unconsciously the contraction of the muscles of the larynx, it can as easily control the tongue, the size of the throat, the pectoral muscles, and, in short, all the muscles that influence the voice.
When the mind has separated one thought distinctly from the other main thoughts of the subject, and has become intensely attracted to it with a special desire to communicate it as distinct from the others to the mindsof the hearers, all the muscles will act in a way to produce Vital Slide.
This principle of Vital Slide may be illustrated by “The Forging of the Anchor.” When the mind becomes aroused with this selection there is in the quality of the voice something of the spirit of the fife, the drum, and the military movement.
Swing in your strokes in order; let hand and foot keep time;Your blows make music sweeter far than any steeple’s chime;But while ye swing your sledges, sing, and let the burden be,The anchor is the royal king, and royal craftsmen we.
Swing in your strokes in order; let hand and foot keep time;Your blows make music sweeter far than any steeple’s chime;But while ye swing your sledges, sing, and let the burden be,The anchor is the royal king, and royal craftsmen we.
Swing in your strokes in order; let hand and foot keep time;Your blows make music sweeter far than any steeple’s chime;But while ye swing your sledges, sing, and let the burden be,The anchor is the royal king, and royal craftsmen we.
Swing in your strokes in order; let hand and foot keep time;
Your blows make music sweeter far than any steeple’s chime;
But while ye swing your sledges, sing, and let the burden be,
The anchor is the royal king, and royal craftsmen we.
It is the energy of the mind which causes the energy of the muscles. The energy of the contraction of the muscles causes the report of that energy in the voice.
Under Vital Slide we consider the relation of the muscles of respiration to the vocal cords. There are two sets of respiratory muscles, the muscles of inspiration and the muscles of expiration. If the thought requires for expression an increase of vitality in the voice, the muscles of expiration contract more strongly,thus giving greater density to the air in the lungs. The air, being an elastic substance, in seeking egress or relief presses strongly against the vocal cords, which are forced apart with such energy as to give an expression of greater vitality to the tone produced.
It is not necessary to exert the will consciously on the different muscles which act upon the vocal organs. It is not necessary to call the roll and say, “Triangularis sterni, Diaphragm, Abdominal muscles, Intercostals, contract! Abdominal muscles, you must contract only just enough to overcome the contraction of the diaphragm. Now, all together—one, two, three, contract!” One should not think anything about these muscles. He should be no more conscious of their action than he is of the beating of his heart.
In giving Volume of voice, the vocal aperture is made as open as it can be and still have the elements of speech definitely formed; and the vibrating column of air is guided through the aperture without being biased by it.The chief agents which guide the voice through this aperture are the sides of the throat and the tongue in its proper relation to the pharynx, hard palate, and soft palate. When we combine Slide with Volume there must be an exact relation between the contraction of the vocal cords and the proper position and action of these vocal organs.
Freedom of will expressed in volume is that quality of voice which suggests no hindrance, no limitation. The “voice of thunder” is not known by its degree of noise, for it may be so distant as to be only perceptible to the senses, yet it is still recognized as thunder from its illimitable quality, in other words, its volume. Loudness is not a necessary quality of volume, but illimitation is. Listen to the voice of a young martyr, who has been condemned by the Roman emperor to be flung into the amphitheater, there to be devoured by ferocious beasts. Her father, who does not see the truth as she sees it, pleads with her to abjure her faith and worship the old gods. She turns to him and says, “Father,Iwould, butChrist in mewill not.” Light shines in the eyes of the old man ashe looks at her and says, “I believe God is in thee.” Her will was absorbed in the divine will, and that divinity spoke through her. Even He who made the world spoke in her voice. The roar of the lion, though terrible, could not drown her tones, though low, devout, and tender.
Some who heard the voice from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased,” said it thundered. This does not indicate that the voice was loud, but that it had the quality of illimitation, and so impressed the imagination as nature’s voice. It is the Christ, speaking through man’s voice that has turned this world “upside down”; that has lifted up the cross of Christ, before whom all the kings of earth tremble, and become like chaff on the summer threshing floor.
The fourth chapter in Volume II. is Forming Pictures. The picturesque voice is that voice which causes the imagination of the hearers to create pictures of the things described by the language of the speaker.It is the unnoticed voice, the voice which attracts no attention to itself. The picturesque voice is not an end, but a means, and therefore may properly be called the artistic voice, because it so appeals to the imagination of the hearer as to cause images to arise in his mind. This voice may be called the suggestive voice because it suggests what tone cannot literally actualize, but that which can be perceived only by the imagination.
The characteristics of this voice are elasticity and shading.
In this quality of the voice which I have termed elasticity, the vocal organs do not seem to report themselves, but only the thought and sentiment. By shading, I mean the degree of density in the tone where the thought and not the word seems to be stressed. The vocal organs are held under firm but most delicate control. Here the voice may suggest great noise but make none, and in all ways cause the mind of the hearer to listen to sounds it does not really make.
The picturesque voice springs from the desire to make other minds think what it cannot literalize. Thestate of mind which produces this voice is that of asking the hearer to imagine real things that cannot be presented to the senses. For an illustration of this, read the poem, “Midsummer,” by Trowbridge.
There is a voice of fact and a voice of power. The voice of fact gives information; the voice of power appeals to the imagination. The artistic voice is the voice of the imagination. One of the offices of the imagination is that of image making. In children this power is very noticeable. When some children think of a thing, an image of it rises in their minds; they suppose this image to be a fact of experience, and, with no thought of falsehood, describe it as such. Because of this they are frequently whipped for lying; and this power of mental image making, which, if properly developed, would be of inestimable value to the child, instead of being guided, is cruelly interfered with and arrested.
This power of mental image making is always highly developed in great artists. Great musical composers first hear the music in their minds, and then make it intelligible to others through the noted page. The great painter carries objects in his mind long before he putsthem on canvas, and is able as well to create new objects suggested by things he has seen. An architect sees in his mind the magnificent temple, when as yet not a stone of which it is to be built has left the quarry. John B. Gough declared that sometimes he was unable to distinguish persons whom he saw in the audience from those which his imagination created.
Wordsworth did not write “The Daffodils” while looking at the flowers as sense objects. It was afterwards, when he saw them as they lived in his imagination, that he wrote of them in a way that has made them real to the imaginations of others.
“For oft when on my couch I lie,In vacant or in pensive mood,They flash upon that inward eye,Which is the bliss of solitude;And then my heart with pleasure fills,And dances with the daffodils.”
“For oft when on my couch I lie,In vacant or in pensive mood,They flash upon that inward eye,Which is the bliss of solitude;And then my heart with pleasure fills,And dances with the daffodils.”
“For oft when on my couch I lie,In vacant or in pensive mood,They flash upon that inward eye,Which is the bliss of solitude;And then my heart with pleasure fills,And dances with the daffodils.”
“For oft when on my couch I lie,
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye,
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.”
I have dwelt upon the physiology of the voice, showing its relation to psychology. In the third and fourth volumes of the Evolution of Expression we deal with the direct relation of psychology to Oratory.