IIPHYSIOLOGICAL VIEWFORMATION OF SOUND BY THE ORGAN OF THE HUMAN VOICE

IIPHYSIOLOGICAL VIEWFORMATION OF SOUND BY THE ORGAN OF THE HUMAN VOICEThegreat physiologist, Johannes Müller, fastened a larynx, which he had cut out with the whole trachea belonging to it, to a board, and, stretching the vocal chords by a weight that could be increased or diminished at pleasure, caused vibrations in it by blowing through the trachea with a pair of bellows, or through a tube with his own breath. In this way he succeeded in producing almost all the tones of the human voice, and even some which are beyond the compass of this organ.He distinguished two different kinds of tones, to which he gave the names of the chest register and the falsetto register. The chest tones were produced when the vocal ligaments, slackly stretched, were made to vibrate easily in their whole breadth; the falsetto tones came merelythrough the vibration of the fine inner edges of the vocal chords when they were more tightly stretched. At a moderate stretching of the vocal chords, it depended upon the manner of blowing whether a sound corresponding to the chest voice or to the falsetto were produced, or whether it were higher or lower for several tones, often for a whole octave. A series of tones of more than two octaves could thus be produced in the same larynx, with, however, gaps and places at which the vocal chords, instead of being stretched gradually, have to bestretched at once very strongly, in order that the succeeding higher half tone may be reached. Such a place Müller indicates from c2toc♯2,or d2tod♯2, with the remark that it differs in different larynxes, being in some higher and in some lower. But in order to render practicable the proper stretching of the exsected larynx, muscles and membranes have to be cut, which sufficiently proves that the functions of the organ of singing in the living must be differently carried on.Dr. Merkel, in Leipzig, has continued these experiments, and by means of a peculiar contrivancehas succeeded in producing all the tones in the exsected larynx, without mutilating it. But these investigations, interesting as they are, throw no certain light upon the formation of sound by the vocal organ in the living.The celebrated singing master,Manuel Garcia, now living in London, was the first to adopt the right mode of scientific inquiry in this department, with favorable results. He undertook to apply the laryngoscope (previously invented by the Englishman,Liston) to the larynx in the act of singing. The interesting results of these observations were published by him in thePhilosophicalMag.and Journal of Science,vol.x.p.218. While men of science immediately repeated Garcia’s experiments and applied them with the greatest advantage to pathological purposes, they were received with distrust, scarcely noticed, and in many instances entirely rejected, by teachers of vocal music. The few who attempted to follow the path thus opened soon gave it up, because they lacked either patience or the anatomical knowledge necessary to such investigations.The laryngoscope is well known among medical men. It is a small plane mirror of glass or metal, having a long handle. Before it is introduced into the throat, it is first warmed, to prevent its becoming dimmed. The reflecting surface of this instrument is directed downwards and forwards, so that it receives the reflection caught from a concave mirror, and presents to the eye of the observer a picture of the illuminated larynx. In using it upon oneself, there is need of a second mirror, which must be so held that the image may be seen in the laryngoscope.The use of the laryngoscope requires in the observer a certain adroitness and long-continued practice—almost more in the observer than in the subject of observation. In self-observation one must first learn to overcome the irritation always caused at the first by the contact of the mirror with the back of the throat. Once accustomed to the contact, one soon succeeds in obtaining a sight of the larynx, sufficient for the most part for pathological purposes. But it requires long practice before one can control those organs, usually not immediately submissive to the will, and raise the epiglottis, so as to beable to see into the whole larynx. But this is absolutely indispensable, in the observation of the formation of sound, to the attainment of any substantial results. Garcia says himself thatone-third of the glottiswas alwayshiddenfrom him by the epiglottis, and to this circumstance is the unsatisfactory character of his observations to be ascribed. But even when, after long practice, one is able at last to bring the whole glottis into view, this is not by any means enough. Not until observation has been so long continued that all the movements of the vocal organ are normal, notwithstanding the unnatural drawing back of the epiglottis, and not until the process that goes on is found again and again to be always the same, can it be recognized as fact.As Garcia is the most eminent of singing masters now living, and as he has sought, solely in the interest of vocal music, to ascertain the mechanism by which sound is formed, and as his observations have been confirmed by men of science, I give them here in his own words.In order that what follows may be betterunderstood by those unacquainted with anatomy, a brief anatomical description of the vocal organ will be found in anAppendixto the present work.OBSERVATIONS WITH THE LARYNGOSCOPEBY MANUEL GARCIA“At the moment when the person draws a deep breath, the epiglottis being raised, we are able to see the following series of movements: the arytenoid cartilages become separated by a very free lateral movement; the superior ligaments are placed against the ventricles; the inferior ligaments are also drawn back, though in a less degree, into the same cavities; and the glottis, large and wide open, is exhibited, so as to show in part the rings of the trachea. But, unfortunately, however dexterous we may be in disposing these organs, and even when we are most successful, at leastthe third part of the anterior of the glottis remains concealed by the epiglottis.“As soon as we prepare to produce a sound,the arytenoid cartilages approach eachother,and press together by their interior surfaces, and by their anteriorapophyses,without leaving any space, or inter-cartilaginous glottis; sometimes, even, they come in contact so closely as to cross each other by the tubercles of Santorini. To this movement of the anterior apophyses that of the ligaments of the glottis corresponds, which detach themselves from the ventricles, come in contact with different degrees of energy, and show themselves at the bottom of the larynx, under the form of an ellipse of a yellowish color. The superior ligaments, together with the aryteno-epiglottidean folds, assist to form the tube which surmounts the glottis; and being the lower and free extremity of that tube, enframe the ellipse, the surface of which they enlarge or diminish according as they enter more or less into the ventricles. These last scarcely retain a trace of their opening. By anticipation, we might say of these cavities that, as will afterwards appear clearly enough in these pages, they only afford to the two pair of ligaments a space in which they may easily range themselves. When the aryteno-epiglottidean folds contract, theylower the epiglottis and make the superior orifice of the larynx considerably narrower.“The meeting of the lips of the glottis, naturally proceeding from the front towards the back, if this movement is well managed, will allow, between the apophyses,of the formation of a triangular space or inter-cartilaginous glottis, but one which, however, is closed as soon as the sounds are produced.“After some essays we perceive that this internal disposition of the larynx is only visible when the epiglottis remains raised. But neither all the registers of the voice, nor all the degrees of intensity, are equally fitted for its taking this position. We soon discover that the brilliant and powerful sounds of the chest register contract the cavity of the larynx, and close still more its orifice; and, on the contrary, that veiled notes, and notes of moderate power, open both, so as to render any observation easy. The falsetto register especially possesses this prerogative, as well as the first notes of the head voice. So as to render these facts more precise, we will study in the voice of the tenor the ascending progression of the chest register, and in the soprano that of the falsetto and head registers.EMISSION OF THE CHEST VOICE“If we emit veiled and feeble sounds, the larynx opens at the notesdo re me (c d e), and we see the glottis agitated by large and loose vibrations throughout its entire extent. Its lips comprehend in their length the anterior apophyses of the arytenoid cartilages and the vocal chords; but, I repeat it, there remains no triangular space.“As the sounds ascend, the apophyses, which are slightly rounded on their internal side, by a gradual apposition commencing at the back encroach on the length of the glottis, and as soon as we reach the soundssi do (b c¹)they finish by touching each other throughout their whole extent; but their summits are only solidly fixed one against the other at the notesdo re (c♯¹ d¹). In some organs these summits are a little vacillating when they form the posterior end of the glottis, and two or three half-tones which are formed show a certain want of purity and strength, which is very well known to singers.Fromdo re (c♯¹ d¹)the vibrations, having become rounder and purer, are accomplished bythe vocal ligaments alone, up to the end of the register.“The glottis at this moment presents the aspect of a line slightly swelled towards its middle, the length of which diminishes still more as the voice ascends. We also see that the cavity of the larynx has become very small, and that the superior ligaments have contracted the extent of the ellipse to less than one-half.“Thus the organs act with a double difference: 1. The cavity of the larynx contracts itself more when the voice is intense than when it is feeble. 2. The superior ligaments are contracted, so as to reduce the small diameter of the ellipse to a width of two or three lines. But however powerful these contractions may be, neither the cartilages of Wrisberg, nor the superior ligaments themselves, ever close sufficiently to prevent the passage of the air, or even to render it difficult. This fact, which is verified also with regard to the falsetto and head registers, suffices to prove that the superior ligaments do not fill a generative part in the formation of the voice. We may draw thesame conclusion by considering the position occupied by the somewhat feeble muscles which correspond to these ligaments; they cover externally the extremity of the diverging fibres of the thyro-arytenoid muscles, and take part especially in the contractions of the cavity of the larynx during the formation of the high notes of the chest and head registers.PRODUCTION OF THE FALSETTO“The low notes of the falsetto show the glottis infinitely better than the unisons of the chest voice, and produce vibrations more extended and more distinct. Its vibrating sides, formed by the anterior apophyses of the arytenoid cartilages and by the ligaments, become gradually shorter as the voice ascends; at the notesla si (a¹ b¹)the apophyses take part only at their summits; and in these notes there results a weakness similar to that which we have remarked in the chest notes an octave below. At the notesdo re (c♯² d²), the ligaments alone continue to act; then begins the series of notes called thehead voice. The moment in which the actionof the apophyses ceases exhibits in the female voice a very sensible difference to the ear and in the organ itself. Lastly, we verify that up to the highest sounds of the register the glottis continues to diminish in length and in width.“If we compare the two registers in these movements, we shall find some analogies in them; the sides of the glottis formed at first by the apophyses and the ligaments become shorter by degrees, and end by consisting only of the ligaments. The chest register is divided into two parts, corresponding to these two states of the glottis. The register of falsetto-head presents a complete similarity, and in a still more striking manner.“On other points, on the contrary, these same registers are very unlike. The length of the glottis necessary to form a falsetto note always exceeds that which produces the unison of the chest. The movements which agitate the sides of the glottis are also augmented, and keep the vibrating orifice continually half opened, which naturally produces a great waste of air. A last trait of difference is in the increased extent of that elliptic surface.“All these circumstances show in the mechanismof the falsetto a state of relaxation which we do not find in the same degree in the chest register.MANNER IN WHICH THE SOUNDS ARE FORMED“As we have just seen—and what we have seen proves it—the inferior ligaments at the bottom of the larynx form exclusively the voice, whatever may be its register or its intensity; for they alone vibrate at the bottom of the larynx.… By the compressions and expansions of the air, or the successive and regular explosions which it produces in passing through the glottis, sound is produced.” (The London, Edinburgh and DublinPhil. Mag.and Journal of Science,vol.x.4th Series,pp.218–221, 1855.)Garcia proceeds, in the same paper, to give an elaborate account of his theory of the compression, expansion and explosion of the air in expiration, together with his conjectures as to the action of the muscles of the larynx in relation to the different registers. I omit both here, for, since this publication of Garcia’s, the movements of the breath generating sound in expiration have been thoroughly investigatedand determined byProf.Helmholtz; and in the physical section of the present work all may be found that is of value in the culture of the singing voice. Whatever can be definitely communicated in regard to the working of the muscles of the larynx may likewise be found in any anatomical work. An acquaintance, however, with the action of these muscles is not directly necessary to our purpose, and is of interest only to the physiologist.It is not to be denied that Garcia’s observations do not, by any means, lead to satisfactory conclusions as to the functions of the vocal organ. He has, as we shall see in the sequel, attached special importance to much that is unessential and abnormal, and the main facts, the elucidation of which is particularly needed, he has scarcely mentioned. Thus he tells us nothing of that series of tones which he calls the head register. The transition also of the registers he has not carefully examined and observed in different voices: the chest register in the male and the falsetto of the female voice.Nevertheless, these investigations possess much that is valuable, and are of special value to the art of singing, because they teach a methodhitherto unknown of observing the larynx, by which sure and satisfactory results are reached. And when an acquaintance with these results comes to be universally diffused, and the art of singing is thereby led into the right direction, we shall owe it most especially to the excellent experimental observations of Garcia.Garcia has accepted the division made by Müller, and universally adopted in science, of the chest, falsetto and head registers. I employ the same distinctions—a fact which it seems worth while to mention, simply because every teacher and school have their own terminology, and instead of falsetto we havefistel,throat, andmiddleorneckvoice,&c.These denominations of the same registers have thus far only increased the obscurity prevailing in the art of singing.MY OWN OBSERVATIONS WITH THE LARYNGOSCOPEIn giving an account of my own observations with the laryngoscope, I premise that laryngoscopy has of late attracted much attention among the learned, and thatCzermak,Turk,Merkel,Lewin,Bataille,&c., have published aseries of valuable observations, all of which, however, with the exception of Bataille’s, were made in the interest of science, for pathological purposes especially. My aim, in the employment of the laryngoscope, has been directed exclusively to the discovery of the natural limits of the different registers of the human voice; and although I have thus been able to observe many other interesting processes, it would not at all accord with the design of this book to communicate observations which have no direct relation to the culture of the voice in singing, and which come better from men of science than from a teacher of vocal music.In using the laryngoscope while the breath is quietly drawn, I saw, as Garcia did, the whole larynx wide open, so that one could easily introduce a finger into it, and the rings of the trachea were plainly visible.Illustration of the above.a.Arytenoid cartilages.b.Epiglottis.c.Trachea.2d.Vocal chords.When those who had become accustomed to the introduction of the instrument sang, at my request,a, as pronounced in the English wordman, in a deep tone, the epiglottis rose, the tongue formed a cavity from within forwards, and thus rendered it easy to see into the larynx. So soon as thea, as infather, was sung, the cover quickly fell, the tongue rose, and prevented all observation of the organ of singing. The other vowels are still less favorable to observation, because they do not admit of any such wide opening of the mouth. Strong tones also are unfavorable to observation, as Garcia also remarked; and this is very natural, because strong and sonorous tones require greater exertions of the singing organ, and, above all things, the right position of those parts of the larynx and mouth which serve as a resonance apparatus in the formation of sound. In order to be able to see perfectly the whole glottis, all this resonance apparatus must be drawn back as far as possible, and the rim of the larynx must be tolerably flat. Thus only faint and weak sounds are favorable to observation.THE CHEST REGISTERWhen the vowela, as inman, was sung, I could, after long-continued practice, plainly see how the arytenoid cartilages quickly rose with their summits in their mucous membranous case and approached to mutual contact. In like manner, thechordæ vocales, or inferior vocal chords, approached each other so closely that scarcely any space between them was observable. The superior or false vocal ligaments formed the ellipse described by Garcia in the upper part of the glottis.Representation in the mirror of the vocal organ in giving out sound.a.Superior or false vocal ligaments, or chords.b.Epiglottis.c.Inferior or true vocal ligaments.d.Arytenoid cartilages.e.Capitula Santorini.When, in using the laryngoscope upon myself, I slowly sang the ascending scale, this movement of the vocal chords and arytenoid cartilages was repeated at every tone. They separated and appeared to retreat, in order to close again anew, and to rise somewhat more than before. This movement of the arytenoid cartilages maybest be compared to that of a pair of scissors. With every higher tone the vocal ligaments seemed more stretched and the glottis somewhat shorter.—[The glottis is a term applied to the space occupied by the vocal chords (the lips of the glottis): when separated, we say the glottis is open, when they touch, that it is closed.]—At the same time, when I sang the scale upward, beginning with the lowest tones, the vocal ligaments seemed to be moved in their whole length and breadth by large, loose vibrations, which extended even to all the rest of the interior of the larynx.The place at which the arytenoid cartilages, almost closed together, cease their action and leave the formation of the sound to the vocal ligaments alone, I found in the entire vibration of the glottis, or in the chest register of the female voice, at dodo♯(c¹ c♯¹), more rarely at si(b). In the chest register of the male voice this change occurs at lasi♭(a b♭). With some effort the above-mentioned action of the arytenoid cartilages may be continued several tones higher. But such tones, especially in the female voice, have that rough and common timbre whichwe are too often compelled to hear in our female singers. The glottis also, in this case, as well as the parts of the larynx near the glottis, betrays the effort very plainly; as the tones ascend, they grow more and more red.Thus, as at this place in the chest register there occurs a visible and sensible straining of the organs, so also is it in all the remaining transitions, as soon as the attempt is made to extend the action by which the lower tones are formed beyond the given limits of the same.These transitions, which cannot be extended without effort, coincide perfectly with the places whereJ. Müllerhad tostretchthe ligaments of his exsected larynx so powerfully in order to reach the succeeding half-tone. Garcia likewise finds tones thus formed disagreeable and imperfect in sound (klanglos).Usually, therefore, at the notedo♯(c♯¹)in the female voice, and lasi♭(a b♭)in the male voice, the vocal ligaments alone act in forming the sound, and throughout the register are moved by large, loose, full vibrations (Totalschwingungen). But the instant the vocal ligaments are deprived of the assistance of the arytenoidcartilages, they relax and appear longer than at the last tone produced by that aid. But with every higher tone they appear again to be stretched shorter and more powerfully up to fafa♯(f¹ f♯¹), the natural transition of both the chest and falsetto registers, as well in themaleas in thefemale. The larynx is perceptibly lower in all the tones of the chest register than in quiet breathing.THE FALSETTO REGISTERAll the tones of the falsetto register are produced by vibrations only of the fine, inner, slender edges of the vocal ligaments. In this action the vocal ligaments are not so near together, but allow of a fine linear space between them, and the superior ligaments are pressed farther back than in the production of the tones of the chest register. The rest of the action of the glottis is, however, entirely the same. With the beginning of the falsetto register atfa♯(f♯¹), the whole glottis appears again longer, and the vocal ligaments are muchlooser than in the highest tones of the chest register. The united action, already described, of the arytenoid cartilages and the ligaments in forming the deeper tones of the chest register, extends to dodo♯(c² c♯²)in the female voice, and in the male voice tomi♭mi(e♭² e²)commonly written thus:mi♭mi(e♭³ e³)but which only rarely occurs in composition, and then is sung by tenorists as I have given it; that is, one octave lower.With thedo♯(c♯²)in the female voice and themi♭mi(e♭² e²)in the male voice, the arytenoid cartilages cease again to act, and as before, at the second higher series of tones of the chest register, leave the formation of the sounds to the vocal ligaments alone, which at this change appear again longer and looser, but with every higher tone tighten up to fafa♯(f² f♯²)in the female voice, and in the male voice to sol(g²), or as it is commonly written:g³. In thefalsetto register the larynx preserves its natural position, as in quiet breathing.THE HEAD REGISTERWhen in the observation of the falsetto register I had sung upwards to its highest tones, and then sang still higher, I became aware with thefa♯(f♯²)of a change in the motions of the organ of singing, and the tones thus produced had a different timbre from the falsetto tones. It required long and patient practice before I finally succeeded in drawing back the epiglottis so that I could see the glottis in its whole length. Not until then was I able to observe the following:With thefa♯(f♯²), the vocal ligaments suddenly closed firmly together to their middle, with their fine edges one over the other.Representation in the mirror of the organ of singing in the formation of head tones.a.The closing together of the vocal ligaments.b.Open part of the glottis.The oval opening of the anterior portion of the glottis is imperfectly shown, because it is hidden from view by the epiglottis at the extreme end.This closing appeared as a fine red line extending from the arytenoid cartilages at the back forward to the middle of the vocal ligaments, and leaving free only a third part of the whole glottis, immediately under the epiglottis, to the front wall of the larynx.The foremost part of the glottis formed an oval orifice, which, with each higher tone, seemed to contract more and more, and so became smaller and rounder. The fine edges of the vocal ligaments which formed this orifice were alone vibrating, and the vibrations seemed at first looser, but, with every higher tone, the ligaments were more stretched. The larynx remained in its natural state.Only after I had frequently repeated this observation of the head tones in myself and in others, and had always arrived at the same results, did I venture to publish it. The most various conjectures respecting the formation of the head voice had been previously proposed by the learned, and the existence, even, of the head voice had been denied byBataille. It would lead us too far away to make mention here of all these different views, which, with the exception of those ofDr. Merkel of Leipzig, showedthemselves to be really without a sound foundation.It was objected to the results of my observations, that such an action of the glottis “was only possible by means of cartilages and muscles, but that such cartilages and muscles as could render an action of that kind possible were not known, nor was there any reference to them to be found in any manual of anatomy.” While I fully admitted the soundness of this objection, I was, after repeated observations, more and more convinced of the correctness of my own statements. But as I found nothing to support them in any anatomical work, either German or French, I began anew to study the anatomy of the larynx in dissected subjects.My renewed efforts were rewarded by the discovery, within the membranes of the vocal ligaments, of those filaments or fibres of muscle which in the anatomicalAppendixto this book I mention asarytenoid-thyroid interna, and which have also been found by other observers. They are found in all larynxes, and consist of muscular fibres, sometimes finer, sometimesthicker.3At the same time I satisfied myself of the existence of a pair of cartilages—the cuneiform cartilages described in theAppendix. I found these always in the female larynx, but only now and then in the male. As these cartilages, also found within the membranes of the vocal ligaments and reaching from their junction with the arytenoid cartilages to the middle of the ligaments, are only now and then fully formed in the male larynx, but undeniably work the shutting part of the glottis, it follows plainly that only a few male voices are capable of producing the head tones.But observation with the microscope revealed in those larynxes in which the cuneiform cartilages were wanting, parts of a cartilaginous mass, or the rudiments of a cartilage, in the place indicated.For anatomical investigations the male larynx is commonly used, its muscles being more powerful and its cartilages firmer than in the female larynx, and this explains why anatomists in Germany have been reluctant to admit the existence of the cuneiform cartilages. It was,therefore, a great satisfaction to me to find them described under the name of cuneiform cartilages inWilson’s Human Anatomy, with the remark that they are sometimeswanting.4The head register possesses a very great capacity of expansion, which, without the slightest straining, may be gradually extended, with some practice, a whole octave, and often even still farther upwards. When the transition is made from the highest tones of the falsetto register to the head register, there is experienced the same sense of relief in the organs of singing as in passing from the chest to the falsetto register. And this is very easy to be understood, because the ligaments by this repeated partial closure of the glottis are much less stretched than in the highest tones of the preceding lower register. The difference in sound between the highest tones of the falsetto and head registers is often slight, on which account these two registers, so different in their mechanism, are easily confounded. Only in entirely healthy vocal organs can the head tones be observed. Atoo great secretion of mucus, or any inflammation of the mucous membrane, embarrasses the formation of head and falsetto tones, while the vibrations of the fine edges of the vocal ligaments are thereby obstructed. The character of the vocal organ fully explains why in the case of sick or of worn-out voices it is always the high tones that are first lost. When I have observed, in the sick, irritation of the mucous membrane, I have often found the oval orifice which is formed in the production of the head tones entirely covered with mucus. In my own case, when by repeated effort this bubble of mucus broke, instead of the a2, which I meant to be sounded, there came the a3, an octave higher, which in perfect health it was never possible for me to reach. I have observed the same phenomenon sometimes in my pupils.When one sings the scale, note by note downwards, one can sing with the action of the higher register many of the tones of the lower, without any observable straining of the organ; indeed, there is a perceptible feeling of relief; only these tones are not so full as when sung in their natural register.ABNORMAL MOVEMENTS OF THE GLOTTISGarciastates, in his observations, that sometimes when the rims of the vocal ligaments have come together, there remains between the arytenoid cartilages a triangular space, which does not close until the tone is produced.Czermaklikewise describes this process in his pathological investigations, and also a similar one with the laryngoscope. While, namely, the arytenoid cartilages seem to be wholly closed, one sees just before the beginning of the tone the vocal ligaments standing apart in a square-shaped form, and only closing together with the tone. At first, before I had attained to much practice in observation, I often saw these processes in myself, and later often in others.That these accidental forms of the glottis bear no relation to the generation of sounds, asFunketruly says, is made evident by an irregularity in the combined action of the muscles of the larynx, by which the coming together of the arytenoid cartilages takes place later than that of the ligaments, or that of the ligaments later than that of the arytenoid cartilages.As recently great importance has often been ascribed to these abnormal movements of the glottis in the generation of sound, I have felt bound to mention them.RESULTS OF THE FOREGOING OBSERVATIONSIn consequence of the observations above described, the following facts may be established:I.We have found five different actions of the vocal organ:1.The first series of tones of the chest register, in which the whole glottis is moved by large, loose vibrations, and the arytenoid cartilages with the vocal ligaments are in action.2.The second series of the chest register, when the vocal ligaments alone act, and are likewise moved by large, loose vibrations.3.The first series of the falsetto register, where again the whole glottis, consisting of the arytenoidcartilages and vocal ligaments, is in action, the very fine interior edges of the ligaments, however, being alone in vibrating motion.4.The second series of the falsetto register, the tones of which are generated by the vibrations of the edges alone of the vocal ligaments.5.The head register, in the same manner and by the same vibrations, and with a partial closing of the vocal ligaments.II.We have learned the transitions of the registers,i. e.,those tones where a different action of the vocal organ takes place; and observation has further taught us that thesenatural limits of the registers cannot be exceeded without a straining that may be both seen and felt; that is, that we may not preserve the action of a lower series for the tones of a higher. On the other hand, the vocal organs showno strainingwhen the action of a higher series of tones is kept for a lower, only the fulness of the tones is thereby diminished.III.We have further seen thatonly the transition from the chest register to the falsetto is in all voices at the same tones, the fafa♯(f¹ f♯¹); but, both in men’s and women’s voices, the othertransitions of the registers are different. As the male larynx is about a third larger than the female, it is plain that the registers in the male voice have a greater expansion. The transitions, however, in the tenor, as in the bass, are at the same tones, and only sometimes a half tone higher or lower in one voice than in another. The organs of the man are stronger and harder than those of the woman, and they are not often capable of producing tones with the vibrations of the edges of the vocal ligaments (falsetto tones), but the lower series of tones of the chest register has, in such voices, a much greater extension downwards.The difference between the bass and tenor voices lies in the greater or less ease with which the tones of the higher or lower registers are sung, and in the greater fulness and beauty, always connected therewith, of the higher or lower register, that is, in the timbre of the voice; not, as is commonly thought, in the difference of the transitions of the registers.The same is also the case with the female voice;as well in the contralto as in the soprano voice the transitions of the registers are at the same tones, and the difference of the voices lies only in the timbre, and in the greater facilitywith which the higher or lower tones are produced, and not in the different compass of the voice.The transitions of the registers are:[Textual representation of diagram]The investigation and discovery of the facts here stated have been made with the utmost conscientiousness, repeated by men of science in Germany, and acknowledged as correct.PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF THESE OBSERVATIONS TO THE CULTIVATION OF THE SINGING VOICEIn teaching the art of singing, it is now-a-days very generally the custom to endeavor to raise the lower registers as far as possible toward the higher. This is especially the case with the tenor voice. It is considered a special advantage in a tenor voice when it can sing the a1on the first leger line(commonly written a²)with the chest register.Upwards of a hundred and fifty years ago, when every good tenor was required to sing a1with a clear, full chest tone, this note, according to the orchestra pitch then, was not higher than a note between f andf♯,according to the present orchestra pitch in England and America. Since that time the orchestra pitch has everywhere gradually risen so imperceptibly that this important fact remained unknown to many singers and teachers, and until recently has been only rarely noticed. And yet it is precisely this much higher pitch and the consequent unnatural extension of the limits of the registers, which is the chiefcause why most voices now-a-days last so little while.That the registers may be forced up beyond their limits is possible, we have seen. But observation teaches us that it cannot be done without a straining of the organs which may be both seen and felt, and no organ will bear continued over-straining. It will gradually be weakened thereby, and become at last wholly useless.This is a simple fact, scientifically established, universally known. It admits, therefore, of no doubt that the common custom of forcing the registers beyond their natural bounds injures voices, and seriously affects their durability. Even when the organs are so strong that they can bear the unnatural effort for a considerable length of time, they gain nothing in grace and timbre. Like every thing else unnatural, it carries with it its own punishment. Our tenor singers are, for the most part, only for a few years in full possession of their voices, while the earlier singers knew how to keep their voices fine and full to their latest age.Not until 1858, when the orchestra pitch in Paris had risen for a1to 448 vibrations in a second, and tenors were no longer able to reachit with the chest register, was general attention turned to this evil. The Academy at that time fixed the orchestra pitch at 435 vibrations a second for a1. This pitch is now introduced almost universally in Germany, and it is a full half note lower than our usual orchestra pitch in America. The introduction of the Paris pitch is, however, of no great advantage so long as singers and teachers keep to the same limits of the registers that they had at the beginning of the seventeenth century, when a1had 404 vibrations in a second, and was about a third lower than our present a1. Musicians are averse to the introduction of this old low pitch, as the instruments are no longer accommodated to it. And besides, it is not at all necessary, if only singers and teachers would observe it better, and either set their pieces a third lower, or sing the notes that are difficult to be reached with a lower register in a natural way and with a higher register.The old Italian masters were proud of being able so to educate the falsetto register of a tenor voice that it was difficult to distinguish chest tones and falsetto tones from one another, even for an ear accustomed to observe the finest distinctions of sound. And this art is by no meansso difficult as is supposed, and is not dependent on the natural strength of the first falsetto tones. When in the male organ there exists the power of bringing the edges of the vocal ligaments into vibratory motion, and when these tones at the beginning, compared with the chest tones of the same voice, are weak and thin, then they may, with skill and perseverance, be trained to quite similar fulness.That the male voice requires far more time and practice than the female to effect an imperceptible transition from the chest register to the falsetto, is unquestionable. And while this transition is always so very apparent in the man’s voice, it is often scarcely observable to a practiced ear even in uncultivated female voices. Women, in speaking, always use the second chest and the first falsetto register, continually passing from one to the other of these registers without any change in the position of the mouth or of the resonance apparatus of the voice. They are thus all their lives long unconsciously practicing this transition, and because of this equal physical use of the chest and falsetto notes, the great physiological difference of these two registers almost entirely disappears. Although men do not use the falsettoregister in speaking, it is not yet proved to be impossible for the male voice to attain the same results as the female.When in the beginning the falsetto tones are sung alwayspianoand verystaccato, by long-continued, careful practice, with entirely the same physical treatment of both registers, a smooth and natural transition from one to the other is most easily obtained. Thus the falsetto tones gain more and more in fulness and strength, and sound far more agreeably than the forced-up chest tones of our tenorists, sung with swollen-out throats and blood-red faces.The education of men’s voices involves many difficulties which do not exist in the case of the voices of women. Almost all men speak and sing in one register—tenors mostly in the second chest register, bassos mostly in the first, and oftentimes indeed not even in a correct natural manner. With this one register they sing as high and as low as they can, and this they consider the whole compass of their voices. The low chest register is rarely found good and natural (as regards the beauty of sound). In order for the production of these low chest tones, to set the vocal chords vibrating in their whole length and breadth, it isnecessary that a fuller column of air from the lungs should press upon the glottis through the windpipe, which is readily of itself enlarged thereby. The easier and the more naturally this takes place, the more beautifully and naturally do these tones sound. Under the delusion that only strong singing is beautiful, and that this can be achieved only by extraordinary exertion, most of our basso singers have a peculiar way of pressing out the windpipe, which is not only very fatiguing, but gives to the low tones a rough, disagreeable sound. Among public speakers also this exhausting, faulty way of bringing out the chest tones is not uncommon, frequently rendering their voices quite incapable of use.Merkelrepresents this way of forming the low tones as a peculiar register, which he calls theStrohbassregister, and through him a quite prevalent bad habit has found in other scientific works a right to existence which by no means belongs to it.The female voice is treated in the same unnatural way. Many teachers teach their pupils to sing with the lower series of the chest register as high up as possible, often to the e1f1, as far as the organs permit, and thenlet them begin the falsetto register. In this way the second series of the chest register is entirely omitted; but the made tones, as the expression is, thus obtained, sound very disagreeable and coarse, and the falsetto tones, which in this way begin lower than necessary, are on the contrary faint and weak. Of the falsetto register these teachers commonly require only the first series, up to d2e♭2, to be sung, and then directly begin the head tones. Thus the second series of the falsetto is not used; but the tones belonging to it, which are sung with the first series of the falsetto register, are for the most part hard and sharp and seldom pure, while the tones of the head voice, coming in too soon, are thin and unmusical, and the whole voice thus receives an irregular formation. Many teachers, again, allow the lower tones of the chest register to be sung with the higher series of the same, whereby these tones are naturally never as sweet and strong. Then, too, they press the first series of the falsetto up to d2e♭2, and thence, as far as it is possible, the voice is to ascend with the second series of the falsetto, without admitting the headtones, even in voices with the high soprano timbre. But the tones thus forced up are for the most part sharp and destitute of all grace. And it is just this that is one of the commonest faults of our present mode of singing.As it has been customary to cultivate, in the male voice only, the three lower series, because both of the highest sound sweet and graceful only from the soft, delicate organs of the female voice, and as the male voice is rarely capable of compassing the highest series, the erroneous idea has gradually obtained prevalence among teachers of singing, that there are only three different series of tones, and that the female voice has only two transitions.In voices fresh and unvitiated the different series are very easily distinguished by their different timbre. One hears this difference of timbre most clearly in the transition of the second series of the chest register into the falsetto in the male voice, and in the female voice at the transition of the first series of the falsetto register into the second.As has been observed, the larynx stands lower with the tones of the chest register than with the tones of the other registers, or during quiet breathing.In order, in the low chest tones, to bring the whole glottis into full vibration, the air, as it is expired, must press upon it with a larger volume. From all parts of the lungsthe air, when expired, presses into the windpipe, the rings of which, widening as much as possible, come somewhat nearer to each other and draw down the larynx.One has thus the sensation as if the whole body took part in this formation of sound, and as if the lower tones of the chest register were drawn from the lowest part of the lungs.In producing the second series of the chest register, the sensation is as if the tones came from the upper part of the chest, midway between the pit of the stomach and the larynx.With regard to the tones of the first series of the falsetto, the feeling is as if they had their origin in the throat.In the tones of the second series of the falsetto, we feel as if the throat had nothing to do with them—as if they were formed above, in the mouth.With the head tones, one has the feeling that they come from the forehead.It is thesephysical sensationsthat have givenoccasion to many erroneous conjectures in regard to the formation of tones, but we are satisfied that they have no direct relation to the generation of sound, and appear so only through the nerves active in the process.By directing the attention of one’s pupils to these different sensations, it is very easy to make them acquainted with the different registers of the voice—always a very necessary proceeding in the first training of a voice, although it seems to be so only in the case of such voices as have been previously misdirected.The culture of the female voice is best begun with the two series of the falsetto register and the second of the chest register; the tones of these three middle registers must be pretty well cultivated before the lowest chest tones and the head voice are begun to be formed. The voice in this way best attains to an equal fulness. It is self-evident also that the teaching should be such that the transitions of the registers should be not at all or scarcely perceptible, consequently that all the tones should sound proportionally strong and full.In the soprano voice the falsetto, and in the contralto voice the chest register, have more fulnessand grace, and thus we may distinguish to which kind of voice a voice belongs, for the compass of the voice is not always confined within certain limits. There are contraltos that can sing the high head tones with ease, and sopranos that can sing the low chest tones with equal facility—a fact which has often given occasion to an incorrect treatment of a voice. So also with the male voice. A bass voice sings the lower series of the chest register with more ease and sweetness and with more obscure timbre. A tenor voice sings the second series of the chest register in a clearer timbre.The baritone and mezzo-soprano voices, so called—that is, such voices as have a limited compass, and cannot sing either the highest or the lowest tones—are by no means so numerous as they are thought to be. The best tenor voices, which cannot naturally reach the lowest bass tones, and whose organs do not allow of an unnatural forcing up beyond the higher limits of the chest register, are commonly pronounced baritone voices, for no one now-a-days thinks of cultivating the falsetto register of the male voice.Few teachers, likewise, understand how to teach correctly the tones of the headregister.If a soprano voice cannot readily and agreeably sing the low contralto tones, and extend the falsetto scale far enough upwards beyond its limit, it is reckoned among the mezzo-soprano voices. The celebrated singing masterThomaselli, ofPadua, maintained that baritone and mezzo-soprano voices “had no existence in nature, but were only the products of our false methods of instruction.”I have sometimes found mezzo-soprano and baritone voices, but not in so great number by far as the four chief kinds of voices—bass, tenor, contralto, and soprano.Although an exact knowledge of the vocal organ and its various actions must be required of a teacher before the education of a voice can be committed to him, yet it would be unwise to undertake to teach singing by means of scientific explanations without sufficient previous knowledge; the pupil would, in this case, understand as little of what he was about and be as little helped as a child learning to read would be assisted by one who merely sought to make intelligible to him the mechanism by which sound is formed. The most natural and the simplest way in singing, as in all things else, isthe best. Let the teacher sing correctly every tone to his pupil until the latter knows how to imitate it, and his ear has learned how to distinguish the differenttimbres.5The discovery of the natural transitions of the registers has brought to light one of the greatest evils of our present mode of singing, and shown at the same time how wanting in durability are the voices of those of our artists whose aim and endeavor it is to force the registers upward beyond their natural limits. Although the concert pitch is so very much higher now than it was in the most flourishing period of the singing art, yet no regard is paid to this fact in the education of a voice, and our tenorists try to reach the a1with the chest register, just as they did one hundred and fifty years ago.In theignorance existing concerning the natural transitions of the registers, and in the unnatural forcing of the voice, is found a chief cause of the decline of the art of singing. And the present inability to preserve the voice is the consequence of a method of teaching unnatural, and therefore imposing too great a strain upon thevoice.6No one who has not made the art of singing a special study, can form any idea of the obscure and conflicting views in regard to the transitions of the registers which prevail among singing teachers and artists. Almost every teacher has a peculiar theory of his own in regard to the formation of the voice; every one has his own views, sometimes extremely fanciful,of the formation of tones and of the registers—views to which he tenaciously adheres, summarily rejecting all others. Almost as at the building of the tower of Babel, one teacher scarcely understands any longer what another means, and instead of harmonious endeavors to improve the art, teachers of singing are commonly found disputing among themselves.To bring light and order into such a chaos can only be accomplished by the most thorough scientific study, and even then it is an undertaking of the greatest difficulty. Custom stands in the way as an antagonist, and there must be a conflict with long-cherished and wide-spread errors and prejudices. It lies also in the nature of the case that teachers of singing are the most determined opponents to be encountered. It is very hard for this class, and it demands of them no common self-denial to acknowledge and renounce as errors what they have taught for years and held to be truths. Those teachers, however, who have made the necessary sacrifice, have been compensated with the richest success; and such, we trust, will in all cases be the result, and so the path be broken for the true and the natural.It will be perhaps comparatively easy to advance the art of singing in America; for, as Humboldt says, not entirely without truth, the Germans require for every improvement two centuries—one to find out the need of it, and another to make it.2It must be remarked that the diagrams here given are copies ofreflectedimages, and therefore the upper side of the representation shows the front of the larynx, and the lower the farther side of the larynx.Return to text3In recent works on laryngoscopy they are often described as continuations or parts of one of the principal muscles of the larynx.Return to text4In recent French and English works upon laryngoscopy, the cuneiform cartilages are frequently mentioned, and sometimes confounded with the cartilages Wrisbergi.Return to text5On this account the male voice should be trained by men and the female voice by women. For, as it is impossible for a man to give to a female pupil a correct perception of the tones of the head register and of the second series of the falsetto, with its peculiar female timbre, so is it impossible for a woman to sing and teach correctly the deep, sonorous chest tones of the male voice.Frederick Wiek, that admirable teacher, who perceives intuitively what is natural and true in instruction, has an excellent expedient. In his hours of instruction he avails himself of the aid of young women with practised voices, who sing every exercise to his female pupils until the latter are able to imitate them correctly.Return to text6Voices which by this overstrained and unnatural way of singing have become worn-out and useless may by correct, proper treatment recover, even at an advanced age, their former grace and power; and even those chronic inflammations of the larynx which are so difficult of treatment may be cured by a natural and moderate exercise of the voice in singing.Return to text

Thegreat physiologist, Johannes Müller, fastened a larynx, which he had cut out with the whole trachea belonging to it, to a board, and, stretching the vocal chords by a weight that could be increased or diminished at pleasure, caused vibrations in it by blowing through the trachea with a pair of bellows, or through a tube with his own breath. In this way he succeeded in producing almost all the tones of the human voice, and even some which are beyond the compass of this organ.

He distinguished two different kinds of tones, to which he gave the names of the chest register and the falsetto register. The chest tones were produced when the vocal ligaments, slackly stretched, were made to vibrate easily in their whole breadth; the falsetto tones came merelythrough the vibration of the fine inner edges of the vocal chords when they were more tightly stretched. At a moderate stretching of the vocal chords, it depended upon the manner of blowing whether a sound corresponding to the chest voice or to the falsetto were produced, or whether it were higher or lower for several tones, often for a whole octave. A series of tones of more than two octaves could thus be produced in the same larynx, with, however, gaps and places at which the vocal chords, instead of being stretched gradually, have to bestretched at once very strongly, in order that the succeeding higher half tone may be reached. Such a place Müller indicates from c2toc♯2,or d2tod♯2, with the remark that it differs in different larynxes, being in some higher and in some lower. But in order to render practicable the proper stretching of the exsected larynx, muscles and membranes have to be cut, which sufficiently proves that the functions of the organ of singing in the living must be differently carried on.

Dr. Merkel, in Leipzig, has continued these experiments, and by means of a peculiar contrivancehas succeeded in producing all the tones in the exsected larynx, without mutilating it. But these investigations, interesting as they are, throw no certain light upon the formation of sound by the vocal organ in the living.

The celebrated singing master,Manuel Garcia, now living in London, was the first to adopt the right mode of scientific inquiry in this department, with favorable results. He undertook to apply the laryngoscope (previously invented by the Englishman,Liston) to the larynx in the act of singing. The interesting results of these observations were published by him in thePhilosophicalMag.and Journal of Science,vol.x.p.218. While men of science immediately repeated Garcia’s experiments and applied them with the greatest advantage to pathological purposes, they were received with distrust, scarcely noticed, and in many instances entirely rejected, by teachers of vocal music. The few who attempted to follow the path thus opened soon gave it up, because they lacked either patience or the anatomical knowledge necessary to such investigations.

The laryngoscope is well known among medical men. It is a small plane mirror of glass or metal, having a long handle. Before it is introduced into the throat, it is first warmed, to prevent its becoming dimmed. The reflecting surface of this instrument is directed downwards and forwards, so that it receives the reflection caught from a concave mirror, and presents to the eye of the observer a picture of the illuminated larynx. In using it upon oneself, there is need of a second mirror, which must be so held that the image may be seen in the laryngoscope.

The use of the laryngoscope requires in the observer a certain adroitness and long-continued practice—almost more in the observer than in the subject of observation. In self-observation one must first learn to overcome the irritation always caused at the first by the contact of the mirror with the back of the throat. Once accustomed to the contact, one soon succeeds in obtaining a sight of the larynx, sufficient for the most part for pathological purposes. But it requires long practice before one can control those organs, usually not immediately submissive to the will, and raise the epiglottis, so as to beable to see into the whole larynx. But this is absolutely indispensable, in the observation of the formation of sound, to the attainment of any substantial results. Garcia says himself thatone-third of the glottiswas alwayshiddenfrom him by the epiglottis, and to this circumstance is the unsatisfactory character of his observations to be ascribed. But even when, after long practice, one is able at last to bring the whole glottis into view, this is not by any means enough. Not until observation has been so long continued that all the movements of the vocal organ are normal, notwithstanding the unnatural drawing back of the epiglottis, and not until the process that goes on is found again and again to be always the same, can it be recognized as fact.

As Garcia is the most eminent of singing masters now living, and as he has sought, solely in the interest of vocal music, to ascertain the mechanism by which sound is formed, and as his observations have been confirmed by men of science, I give them here in his own words.

In order that what follows may be betterunderstood by those unacquainted with anatomy, a brief anatomical description of the vocal organ will be found in anAppendixto the present work.

“At the moment when the person draws a deep breath, the epiglottis being raised, we are able to see the following series of movements: the arytenoid cartilages become separated by a very free lateral movement; the superior ligaments are placed against the ventricles; the inferior ligaments are also drawn back, though in a less degree, into the same cavities; and the glottis, large and wide open, is exhibited, so as to show in part the rings of the trachea. But, unfortunately, however dexterous we may be in disposing these organs, and even when we are most successful, at leastthe third part of the anterior of the glottis remains concealed by the epiglottis.

“As soon as we prepare to produce a sound,the arytenoid cartilages approach eachother,and press together by their interior surfaces, and by their anteriorapophyses,without leaving any space, or inter-cartilaginous glottis; sometimes, even, they come in contact so closely as to cross each other by the tubercles of Santorini. To this movement of the anterior apophyses that of the ligaments of the glottis corresponds, which detach themselves from the ventricles, come in contact with different degrees of energy, and show themselves at the bottom of the larynx, under the form of an ellipse of a yellowish color. The superior ligaments, together with the aryteno-epiglottidean folds, assist to form the tube which surmounts the glottis; and being the lower and free extremity of that tube, enframe the ellipse, the surface of which they enlarge or diminish according as they enter more or less into the ventricles. These last scarcely retain a trace of their opening. By anticipation, we might say of these cavities that, as will afterwards appear clearly enough in these pages, they only afford to the two pair of ligaments a space in which they may easily range themselves. When the aryteno-epiglottidean folds contract, theylower the epiglottis and make the superior orifice of the larynx considerably narrower.

“The meeting of the lips of the glottis, naturally proceeding from the front towards the back, if this movement is well managed, will allow, between the apophyses,of the formation of a triangular space or inter-cartilaginous glottis, but one which, however, is closed as soon as the sounds are produced.

“After some essays we perceive that this internal disposition of the larynx is only visible when the epiglottis remains raised. But neither all the registers of the voice, nor all the degrees of intensity, are equally fitted for its taking this position. We soon discover that the brilliant and powerful sounds of the chest register contract the cavity of the larynx, and close still more its orifice; and, on the contrary, that veiled notes, and notes of moderate power, open both, so as to render any observation easy. The falsetto register especially possesses this prerogative, as well as the first notes of the head voice. So as to render these facts more precise, we will study in the voice of the tenor the ascending progression of the chest register, and in the soprano that of the falsetto and head registers.

“If we emit veiled and feeble sounds, the larynx opens at the notesdo re me (c d e), and we see the glottis agitated by large and loose vibrations throughout its entire extent. Its lips comprehend in their length the anterior apophyses of the arytenoid cartilages and the vocal chords; but, I repeat it, there remains no triangular space.

“As the sounds ascend, the apophyses, which are slightly rounded on their internal side, by a gradual apposition commencing at the back encroach on the length of the glottis, and as soon as we reach the soundssi do (b c¹)they finish by touching each other throughout their whole extent; but their summits are only solidly fixed one against the other at the notesdo re (c♯¹ d¹). In some organs these summits are a little vacillating when they form the posterior end of the glottis, and two or three half-tones which are formed show a certain want of purity and strength, which is very well known to singers.Fromdo re (c♯¹ d¹)the vibrations, having become rounder and purer, are accomplished bythe vocal ligaments alone, up to the end of the register.

“The glottis at this moment presents the aspect of a line slightly swelled towards its middle, the length of which diminishes still more as the voice ascends. We also see that the cavity of the larynx has become very small, and that the superior ligaments have contracted the extent of the ellipse to less than one-half.

“Thus the organs act with a double difference: 1. The cavity of the larynx contracts itself more when the voice is intense than when it is feeble. 2. The superior ligaments are contracted, so as to reduce the small diameter of the ellipse to a width of two or three lines. But however powerful these contractions may be, neither the cartilages of Wrisberg, nor the superior ligaments themselves, ever close sufficiently to prevent the passage of the air, or even to render it difficult. This fact, which is verified also with regard to the falsetto and head registers, suffices to prove that the superior ligaments do not fill a generative part in the formation of the voice. We may draw thesame conclusion by considering the position occupied by the somewhat feeble muscles which correspond to these ligaments; they cover externally the extremity of the diverging fibres of the thyro-arytenoid muscles, and take part especially in the contractions of the cavity of the larynx during the formation of the high notes of the chest and head registers.

“The low notes of the falsetto show the glottis infinitely better than the unisons of the chest voice, and produce vibrations more extended and more distinct. Its vibrating sides, formed by the anterior apophyses of the arytenoid cartilages and by the ligaments, become gradually shorter as the voice ascends; at the notesla si (a¹ b¹)the apophyses take part only at their summits; and in these notes there results a weakness similar to that which we have remarked in the chest notes an octave below. At the notesdo re (c♯² d²), the ligaments alone continue to act; then begins the series of notes called thehead voice. The moment in which the actionof the apophyses ceases exhibits in the female voice a very sensible difference to the ear and in the organ itself. Lastly, we verify that up to the highest sounds of the register the glottis continues to diminish in length and in width.

“If we compare the two registers in these movements, we shall find some analogies in them; the sides of the glottis formed at first by the apophyses and the ligaments become shorter by degrees, and end by consisting only of the ligaments. The chest register is divided into two parts, corresponding to these two states of the glottis. The register of falsetto-head presents a complete similarity, and in a still more striking manner.

“On other points, on the contrary, these same registers are very unlike. The length of the glottis necessary to form a falsetto note always exceeds that which produces the unison of the chest. The movements which agitate the sides of the glottis are also augmented, and keep the vibrating orifice continually half opened, which naturally produces a great waste of air. A last trait of difference is in the increased extent of that elliptic surface.

“All these circumstances show in the mechanismof the falsetto a state of relaxation which we do not find in the same degree in the chest register.

“As we have just seen—and what we have seen proves it—the inferior ligaments at the bottom of the larynx form exclusively the voice, whatever may be its register or its intensity; for they alone vibrate at the bottom of the larynx.… By the compressions and expansions of the air, or the successive and regular explosions which it produces in passing through the glottis, sound is produced.” (The London, Edinburgh and DublinPhil. Mag.and Journal of Science,vol.x.4th Series,pp.218–221, 1855.)

Garcia proceeds, in the same paper, to give an elaborate account of his theory of the compression, expansion and explosion of the air in expiration, together with his conjectures as to the action of the muscles of the larynx in relation to the different registers. I omit both here, for, since this publication of Garcia’s, the movements of the breath generating sound in expiration have been thoroughly investigatedand determined byProf.Helmholtz; and in the physical section of the present work all may be found that is of value in the culture of the singing voice. Whatever can be definitely communicated in regard to the working of the muscles of the larynx may likewise be found in any anatomical work. An acquaintance, however, with the action of these muscles is not directly necessary to our purpose, and is of interest only to the physiologist.

It is not to be denied that Garcia’s observations do not, by any means, lead to satisfactory conclusions as to the functions of the vocal organ. He has, as we shall see in the sequel, attached special importance to much that is unessential and abnormal, and the main facts, the elucidation of which is particularly needed, he has scarcely mentioned. Thus he tells us nothing of that series of tones which he calls the head register. The transition also of the registers he has not carefully examined and observed in different voices: the chest register in the male and the falsetto of the female voice.

Nevertheless, these investigations possess much that is valuable, and are of special value to the art of singing, because they teach a methodhitherto unknown of observing the larynx, by which sure and satisfactory results are reached. And when an acquaintance with these results comes to be universally diffused, and the art of singing is thereby led into the right direction, we shall owe it most especially to the excellent experimental observations of Garcia.

Garcia has accepted the division made by Müller, and universally adopted in science, of the chest, falsetto and head registers. I employ the same distinctions—a fact which it seems worth while to mention, simply because every teacher and school have their own terminology, and instead of falsetto we havefistel,throat, andmiddleorneckvoice,&c.These denominations of the same registers have thus far only increased the obscurity prevailing in the art of singing.

In giving an account of my own observations with the laryngoscope, I premise that laryngoscopy has of late attracted much attention among the learned, and thatCzermak,Turk,Merkel,Lewin,Bataille,&c., have published aseries of valuable observations, all of which, however, with the exception of Bataille’s, were made in the interest of science, for pathological purposes especially. My aim, in the employment of the laryngoscope, has been directed exclusively to the discovery of the natural limits of the different registers of the human voice; and although I have thus been able to observe many other interesting processes, it would not at all accord with the design of this book to communicate observations which have no direct relation to the culture of the voice in singing, and which come better from men of science than from a teacher of vocal music.

In using the laryngoscope while the breath is quietly drawn, I saw, as Garcia did, the whole larynx wide open, so that one could easily introduce a finger into it, and the rings of the trachea were plainly visible.

Illustration of the above.a.Arytenoid cartilages.b.Epiglottis.c.Trachea.2d.Vocal chords.

Illustration of the above.

a.Arytenoid cartilages.b.Epiglottis.c.Trachea.2d.Vocal chords.

a.Arytenoid cartilages.

b.Epiglottis.

c.Trachea.2

d.Vocal chords.

When those who had become accustomed to the introduction of the instrument sang, at my request,a, as pronounced in the English wordman, in a deep tone, the epiglottis rose, the tongue formed a cavity from within forwards, and thus rendered it easy to see into the larynx. So soon as thea, as infather, was sung, the cover quickly fell, the tongue rose, and prevented all observation of the organ of singing. The other vowels are still less favorable to observation, because they do not admit of any such wide opening of the mouth. Strong tones also are unfavorable to observation, as Garcia also remarked; and this is very natural, because strong and sonorous tones require greater exertions of the singing organ, and, above all things, the right position of those parts of the larynx and mouth which serve as a resonance apparatus in the formation of sound. In order to be able to see perfectly the whole glottis, all this resonance apparatus must be drawn back as far as possible, and the rim of the larynx must be tolerably flat. Thus only faint and weak sounds are favorable to observation.

When the vowela, as inman, was sung, I could, after long-continued practice, plainly see how the arytenoid cartilages quickly rose with their summits in their mucous membranous case and approached to mutual contact. In like manner, thechordæ vocales, or inferior vocal chords, approached each other so closely that scarcely any space between them was observable. The superior or false vocal ligaments formed the ellipse described by Garcia in the upper part of the glottis.

Representation in the mirror of the vocal organ in giving out sound.a.Superior or false vocal ligaments, or chords.b.Epiglottis.c.Inferior or true vocal ligaments.d.Arytenoid cartilages.e.Capitula Santorini.

Representation in the mirror of the vocal organ in giving out sound.

a.Superior or false vocal ligaments, or chords.b.Epiglottis.c.Inferior or true vocal ligaments.d.Arytenoid cartilages.e.Capitula Santorini.

a.Superior or false vocal ligaments, or chords.

b.Epiglottis.

c.Inferior or true vocal ligaments.

d.Arytenoid cartilages.

e.Capitula Santorini.

When, in using the laryngoscope upon myself, I slowly sang the ascending scale, this movement of the vocal chords and arytenoid cartilages was repeated at every tone. They separated and appeared to retreat, in order to close again anew, and to rise somewhat more than before. This movement of the arytenoid cartilages maybest be compared to that of a pair of scissors. With every higher tone the vocal ligaments seemed more stretched and the glottis somewhat shorter.—[The glottis is a term applied to the space occupied by the vocal chords (the lips of the glottis): when separated, we say the glottis is open, when they touch, that it is closed.]—At the same time, when I sang the scale upward, beginning with the lowest tones, the vocal ligaments seemed to be moved in their whole length and breadth by large, loose vibrations, which extended even to all the rest of the interior of the larynx.

The place at which the arytenoid cartilages, almost closed together, cease their action and leave the formation of the sound to the vocal ligaments alone, I found in the entire vibration of the glottis, or in the chest register of the female voice, at dodo♯(c¹ c♯¹), more rarely at si(b). In the chest register of the male voice this change occurs at lasi♭(a b♭). With some effort the above-mentioned action of the arytenoid cartilages may be continued several tones higher. But such tones, especially in the female voice, have that rough and common timbre whichwe are too often compelled to hear in our female singers. The glottis also, in this case, as well as the parts of the larynx near the glottis, betrays the effort very plainly; as the tones ascend, they grow more and more red.Thus, as at this place in the chest register there occurs a visible and sensible straining of the organs, so also is it in all the remaining transitions, as soon as the attempt is made to extend the action by which the lower tones are formed beyond the given limits of the same.These transitions, which cannot be extended without effort, coincide perfectly with the places whereJ. Müllerhad tostretchthe ligaments of his exsected larynx so powerfully in order to reach the succeeding half-tone. Garcia likewise finds tones thus formed disagreeable and imperfect in sound (klanglos).

Usually, therefore, at the notedo♯(c♯¹)in the female voice, and lasi♭(a b♭)in the male voice, the vocal ligaments alone act in forming the sound, and throughout the register are moved by large, loose, full vibrations (Totalschwingungen). But the instant the vocal ligaments are deprived of the assistance of the arytenoidcartilages, they relax and appear longer than at the last tone produced by that aid. But with every higher tone they appear again to be stretched shorter and more powerfully up to fafa♯(f¹ f♯¹), the natural transition of both the chest and falsetto registers, as well in themaleas in thefemale. The larynx is perceptibly lower in all the tones of the chest register than in quiet breathing.

All the tones of the falsetto register are produced by vibrations only of the fine, inner, slender edges of the vocal ligaments. In this action the vocal ligaments are not so near together, but allow of a fine linear space between them, and the superior ligaments are pressed farther back than in the production of the tones of the chest register. The rest of the action of the glottis is, however, entirely the same. With the beginning of the falsetto register atfa♯(f♯¹), the whole glottis appears again longer, and the vocal ligaments are muchlooser than in the highest tones of the chest register. The united action, already described, of the arytenoid cartilages and the ligaments in forming the deeper tones of the chest register, extends to dodo♯(c² c♯²)in the female voice, and in the male voice tomi♭mi(e♭² e²)commonly written thus:mi♭mi(e♭³ e³)but which only rarely occurs in composition, and then is sung by tenorists as I have given it; that is, one octave lower.

With thedo♯(c♯²)in the female voice and themi♭mi(e♭² e²)in the male voice, the arytenoid cartilages cease again to act, and as before, at the second higher series of tones of the chest register, leave the formation of the sounds to the vocal ligaments alone, which at this change appear again longer and looser, but with every higher tone tighten up to fafa♯(f² f♯²)in the female voice, and in the male voice to sol(g²), or as it is commonly written:g³. In thefalsetto register the larynx preserves its natural position, as in quiet breathing.

When in the observation of the falsetto register I had sung upwards to its highest tones, and then sang still higher, I became aware with thefa♯(f♯²)of a change in the motions of the organ of singing, and the tones thus produced had a different timbre from the falsetto tones. It required long and patient practice before I finally succeeded in drawing back the epiglottis so that I could see the glottis in its whole length. Not until then was I able to observe the following:

With thefa♯(f♯²), the vocal ligaments suddenly closed firmly together to their middle, with their fine edges one over the other.

Representation in the mirror of the organ of singing in the formation of head tones.a.The closing together of the vocal ligaments.b.Open part of the glottis.The oval opening of the anterior portion of the glottis is imperfectly shown, because it is hidden from view by the epiglottis at the extreme end.

Representation in the mirror of the organ of singing in the formation of head tones.

a.The closing together of the vocal ligaments.b.Open part of the glottis.

a.The closing together of the vocal ligaments.

b.Open part of the glottis.

The oval opening of the anterior portion of the glottis is imperfectly shown, because it is hidden from view by the epiglottis at the extreme end.

This closing appeared as a fine red line extending from the arytenoid cartilages at the back forward to the middle of the vocal ligaments, and leaving free only a third part of the whole glottis, immediately under the epiglottis, to the front wall of the larynx.

The foremost part of the glottis formed an oval orifice, which, with each higher tone, seemed to contract more and more, and so became smaller and rounder. The fine edges of the vocal ligaments which formed this orifice were alone vibrating, and the vibrations seemed at first looser, but, with every higher tone, the ligaments were more stretched. The larynx remained in its natural state.

Only after I had frequently repeated this observation of the head tones in myself and in others, and had always arrived at the same results, did I venture to publish it. The most various conjectures respecting the formation of the head voice had been previously proposed by the learned, and the existence, even, of the head voice had been denied byBataille. It would lead us too far away to make mention here of all these different views, which, with the exception of those ofDr. Merkel of Leipzig, showedthemselves to be really without a sound foundation.

It was objected to the results of my observations, that such an action of the glottis “was only possible by means of cartilages and muscles, but that such cartilages and muscles as could render an action of that kind possible were not known, nor was there any reference to them to be found in any manual of anatomy.” While I fully admitted the soundness of this objection, I was, after repeated observations, more and more convinced of the correctness of my own statements. But as I found nothing to support them in any anatomical work, either German or French, I began anew to study the anatomy of the larynx in dissected subjects.

My renewed efforts were rewarded by the discovery, within the membranes of the vocal ligaments, of those filaments or fibres of muscle which in the anatomicalAppendixto this book I mention asarytenoid-thyroid interna, and which have also been found by other observers. They are found in all larynxes, and consist of muscular fibres, sometimes finer, sometimesthicker.3

At the same time I satisfied myself of the existence of a pair of cartilages—the cuneiform cartilages described in theAppendix. I found these always in the female larynx, but only now and then in the male. As these cartilages, also found within the membranes of the vocal ligaments and reaching from their junction with the arytenoid cartilages to the middle of the ligaments, are only now and then fully formed in the male larynx, but undeniably work the shutting part of the glottis, it follows plainly that only a few male voices are capable of producing the head tones.

But observation with the microscope revealed in those larynxes in which the cuneiform cartilages were wanting, parts of a cartilaginous mass, or the rudiments of a cartilage, in the place indicated.

For anatomical investigations the male larynx is commonly used, its muscles being more powerful and its cartilages firmer than in the female larynx, and this explains why anatomists in Germany have been reluctant to admit the existence of the cuneiform cartilages. It was,therefore, a great satisfaction to me to find them described under the name of cuneiform cartilages inWilson’s Human Anatomy, with the remark that they are sometimeswanting.4

The head register possesses a very great capacity of expansion, which, without the slightest straining, may be gradually extended, with some practice, a whole octave, and often even still farther upwards. When the transition is made from the highest tones of the falsetto register to the head register, there is experienced the same sense of relief in the organs of singing as in passing from the chest to the falsetto register. And this is very easy to be understood, because the ligaments by this repeated partial closure of the glottis are much less stretched than in the highest tones of the preceding lower register. The difference in sound between the highest tones of the falsetto and head registers is often slight, on which account these two registers, so different in their mechanism, are easily confounded. Only in entirely healthy vocal organs can the head tones be observed. Atoo great secretion of mucus, or any inflammation of the mucous membrane, embarrasses the formation of head and falsetto tones, while the vibrations of the fine edges of the vocal ligaments are thereby obstructed. The character of the vocal organ fully explains why in the case of sick or of worn-out voices it is always the high tones that are first lost. When I have observed, in the sick, irritation of the mucous membrane, I have often found the oval orifice which is formed in the production of the head tones entirely covered with mucus. In my own case, when by repeated effort this bubble of mucus broke, instead of the a2, which I meant to be sounded, there came the a3, an octave higher, which in perfect health it was never possible for me to reach. I have observed the same phenomenon sometimes in my pupils.

When one sings the scale, note by note downwards, one can sing with the action of the higher register many of the tones of the lower, without any observable straining of the organ; indeed, there is a perceptible feeling of relief; only these tones are not so full as when sung in their natural register.

Garciastates, in his observations, that sometimes when the rims of the vocal ligaments have come together, there remains between the arytenoid cartilages a triangular space, which does not close until the tone is produced.Czermaklikewise describes this process in his pathological investigations, and also a similar one with the laryngoscope. While, namely, the arytenoid cartilages seem to be wholly closed, one sees just before the beginning of the tone the vocal ligaments standing apart in a square-shaped form, and only closing together with the tone. At first, before I had attained to much practice in observation, I often saw these processes in myself, and later often in others.

That these accidental forms of the glottis bear no relation to the generation of sounds, asFunketruly says, is made evident by an irregularity in the combined action of the muscles of the larynx, by which the coming together of the arytenoid cartilages takes place later than that of the ligaments, or that of the ligaments later than that of the arytenoid cartilages.

As recently great importance has often been ascribed to these abnormal movements of the glottis in the generation of sound, I have felt bound to mention them.

In consequence of the observations above described, the following facts may be established:

I.We have found five different actions of the vocal organ:

1.The first series of tones of the chest register, in which the whole glottis is moved by large, loose vibrations, and the arytenoid cartilages with the vocal ligaments are in action.

2.The second series of the chest register, when the vocal ligaments alone act, and are likewise moved by large, loose vibrations.

3.The first series of the falsetto register, where again the whole glottis, consisting of the arytenoidcartilages and vocal ligaments, is in action, the very fine interior edges of the ligaments, however, being alone in vibrating motion.

4.The second series of the falsetto register, the tones of which are generated by the vibrations of the edges alone of the vocal ligaments.

5.The head register, in the same manner and by the same vibrations, and with a partial closing of the vocal ligaments.

II.We have learned the transitions of the registers,i. e.,those tones where a different action of the vocal organ takes place; and observation has further taught us that thesenatural limits of the registers cannot be exceeded without a straining that may be both seen and felt; that is, that we may not preserve the action of a lower series for the tones of a higher. On the other hand, the vocal organs showno strainingwhen the action of a higher series of tones is kept for a lower, only the fulness of the tones is thereby diminished.

III.We have further seen thatonly the transition from the chest register to the falsetto is in all voices at the same tones, the fafa♯(f¹ f♯¹); but, both in men’s and women’s voices, the othertransitions of the registers are different. As the male larynx is about a third larger than the female, it is plain that the registers in the male voice have a greater expansion. The transitions, however, in the tenor, as in the bass, are at the same tones, and only sometimes a half tone higher or lower in one voice than in another. The organs of the man are stronger and harder than those of the woman, and they are not often capable of producing tones with the vibrations of the edges of the vocal ligaments (falsetto tones), but the lower series of tones of the chest register has, in such voices, a much greater extension downwards.The difference between the bass and tenor voices lies in the greater or less ease with which the tones of the higher or lower registers are sung, and in the greater fulness and beauty, always connected therewith, of the higher or lower register, that is, in the timbre of the voice; not, as is commonly thought, in the difference of the transitions of the registers.

The same is also the case with the female voice;as well in the contralto as in the soprano voice the transitions of the registers are at the same tones, and the difference of the voices lies only in the timbre, and in the greater facilitywith which the higher or lower tones are produced, and not in the different compass of the voice.

The transitions of the registers are:

[Textual representation of diagram]

[Textual representation of diagram]

The investigation and discovery of the facts here stated have been made with the utmost conscientiousness, repeated by men of science in Germany, and acknowledged as correct.

In teaching the art of singing, it is now-a-days very generally the custom to endeavor to raise the lower registers as far as possible toward the higher. This is especially the case with the tenor voice. It is considered a special advantage in a tenor voice when it can sing the a1on the first leger line

(commonly written a²)with the chest register.

Upwards of a hundred and fifty years ago, when every good tenor was required to sing a1with a clear, full chest tone, this note, according to the orchestra pitch then, was not higher than a note between f andf♯,according to the present orchestra pitch in England and America. Since that time the orchestra pitch has everywhere gradually risen so imperceptibly that this important fact remained unknown to many singers and teachers, and until recently has been only rarely noticed. And yet it is precisely this much higher pitch and the consequent unnatural extension of the limits of the registers, which is the chiefcause why most voices now-a-days last so little while.

That the registers may be forced up beyond their limits is possible, we have seen. But observation teaches us that it cannot be done without a straining of the organs which may be both seen and felt, and no organ will bear continued over-straining. It will gradually be weakened thereby, and become at last wholly useless.

This is a simple fact, scientifically established, universally known. It admits, therefore, of no doubt that the common custom of forcing the registers beyond their natural bounds injures voices, and seriously affects their durability. Even when the organs are so strong that they can bear the unnatural effort for a considerable length of time, they gain nothing in grace and timbre. Like every thing else unnatural, it carries with it its own punishment. Our tenor singers are, for the most part, only for a few years in full possession of their voices, while the earlier singers knew how to keep their voices fine and full to their latest age.

Not until 1858, when the orchestra pitch in Paris had risen for a1to 448 vibrations in a second, and tenors were no longer able to reachit with the chest register, was general attention turned to this evil. The Academy at that time fixed the orchestra pitch at 435 vibrations a second for a1. This pitch is now introduced almost universally in Germany, and it is a full half note lower than our usual orchestra pitch in America. The introduction of the Paris pitch is, however, of no great advantage so long as singers and teachers keep to the same limits of the registers that they had at the beginning of the seventeenth century, when a1had 404 vibrations in a second, and was about a third lower than our present a1. Musicians are averse to the introduction of this old low pitch, as the instruments are no longer accommodated to it. And besides, it is not at all necessary, if only singers and teachers would observe it better, and either set their pieces a third lower, or sing the notes that are difficult to be reached with a lower register in a natural way and with a higher register.

The old Italian masters were proud of being able so to educate the falsetto register of a tenor voice that it was difficult to distinguish chest tones and falsetto tones from one another, even for an ear accustomed to observe the finest distinctions of sound. And this art is by no meansso difficult as is supposed, and is not dependent on the natural strength of the first falsetto tones. When in the male organ there exists the power of bringing the edges of the vocal ligaments into vibratory motion, and when these tones at the beginning, compared with the chest tones of the same voice, are weak and thin, then they may, with skill and perseverance, be trained to quite similar fulness.

That the male voice requires far more time and practice than the female to effect an imperceptible transition from the chest register to the falsetto, is unquestionable. And while this transition is always so very apparent in the man’s voice, it is often scarcely observable to a practiced ear even in uncultivated female voices. Women, in speaking, always use the second chest and the first falsetto register, continually passing from one to the other of these registers without any change in the position of the mouth or of the resonance apparatus of the voice. They are thus all their lives long unconsciously practicing this transition, and because of this equal physical use of the chest and falsetto notes, the great physiological difference of these two registers almost entirely disappears. Although men do not use the falsettoregister in speaking, it is not yet proved to be impossible for the male voice to attain the same results as the female.

When in the beginning the falsetto tones are sung alwayspianoand verystaccato, by long-continued, careful practice, with entirely the same physical treatment of both registers, a smooth and natural transition from one to the other is most easily obtained. Thus the falsetto tones gain more and more in fulness and strength, and sound far more agreeably than the forced-up chest tones of our tenorists, sung with swollen-out throats and blood-red faces.

The education of men’s voices involves many difficulties which do not exist in the case of the voices of women. Almost all men speak and sing in one register—tenors mostly in the second chest register, bassos mostly in the first, and oftentimes indeed not even in a correct natural manner. With this one register they sing as high and as low as they can, and this they consider the whole compass of their voices. The low chest register is rarely found good and natural (as regards the beauty of sound). In order for the production of these low chest tones, to set the vocal chords vibrating in their whole length and breadth, it isnecessary that a fuller column of air from the lungs should press upon the glottis through the windpipe, which is readily of itself enlarged thereby. The easier and the more naturally this takes place, the more beautifully and naturally do these tones sound. Under the delusion that only strong singing is beautiful, and that this can be achieved only by extraordinary exertion, most of our basso singers have a peculiar way of pressing out the windpipe, which is not only very fatiguing, but gives to the low tones a rough, disagreeable sound. Among public speakers also this exhausting, faulty way of bringing out the chest tones is not uncommon, frequently rendering their voices quite incapable of use.Merkelrepresents this way of forming the low tones as a peculiar register, which he calls theStrohbassregister, and through him a quite prevalent bad habit has found in other scientific works a right to existence which by no means belongs to it.

The female voice is treated in the same unnatural way. Many teachers teach their pupils to sing with the lower series of the chest register as high up as possible, often to the e1f1, as far as the organs permit, and thenlet them begin the falsetto register. In this way the second series of the chest register is entirely omitted; but the made tones, as the expression is, thus obtained, sound very disagreeable and coarse, and the falsetto tones, which in this way begin lower than necessary, are on the contrary faint and weak. Of the falsetto register these teachers commonly require only the first series, up to d2e♭2, to be sung, and then directly begin the head tones. Thus the second series of the falsetto is not used; but the tones belonging to it, which are sung with the first series of the falsetto register, are for the most part hard and sharp and seldom pure, while the tones of the head voice, coming in too soon, are thin and unmusical, and the whole voice thus receives an irregular formation. Many teachers, again, allow the lower tones of the chest register to be sung with the higher series of the same, whereby these tones are naturally never as sweet and strong. Then, too, they press the first series of the falsetto up to d2e♭2, and thence, as far as it is possible, the voice is to ascend with the second series of the falsetto, without admitting the headtones, even in voices with the high soprano timbre. But the tones thus forced up are for the most part sharp and destitute of all grace. And it is just this that is one of the commonest faults of our present mode of singing.

As it has been customary to cultivate, in the male voice only, the three lower series, because both of the highest sound sweet and graceful only from the soft, delicate organs of the female voice, and as the male voice is rarely capable of compassing the highest series, the erroneous idea has gradually obtained prevalence among teachers of singing, that there are only three different series of tones, and that the female voice has only two transitions.

In voices fresh and unvitiated the different series are very easily distinguished by their different timbre. One hears this difference of timbre most clearly in the transition of the second series of the chest register into the falsetto in the male voice, and in the female voice at the transition of the first series of the falsetto register into the second.

As has been observed, the larynx stands lower with the tones of the chest register than with the tones of the other registers, or during quiet breathing.

In order, in the low chest tones, to bring the whole glottis into full vibration, the air, as it is expired, must press upon it with a larger volume. From all parts of the lungsthe air, when expired, presses into the windpipe, the rings of which, widening as much as possible, come somewhat nearer to each other and draw down the larynx.

One has thus the sensation as if the whole body took part in this formation of sound, and as if the lower tones of the chest register were drawn from the lowest part of the lungs.

In producing the second series of the chest register, the sensation is as if the tones came from the upper part of the chest, midway between the pit of the stomach and the larynx.

With regard to the tones of the first series of the falsetto, the feeling is as if they had their origin in the throat.

In the tones of the second series of the falsetto, we feel as if the throat had nothing to do with them—as if they were formed above, in the mouth.

With the head tones, one has the feeling that they come from the forehead.

It is thesephysical sensationsthat have givenoccasion to many erroneous conjectures in regard to the formation of tones, but we are satisfied that they have no direct relation to the generation of sound, and appear so only through the nerves active in the process.

By directing the attention of one’s pupils to these different sensations, it is very easy to make them acquainted with the different registers of the voice—always a very necessary proceeding in the first training of a voice, although it seems to be so only in the case of such voices as have been previously misdirected.

The culture of the female voice is best begun with the two series of the falsetto register and the second of the chest register; the tones of these three middle registers must be pretty well cultivated before the lowest chest tones and the head voice are begun to be formed. The voice in this way best attains to an equal fulness. It is self-evident also that the teaching should be such that the transitions of the registers should be not at all or scarcely perceptible, consequently that all the tones should sound proportionally strong and full.

In the soprano voice the falsetto, and in the contralto voice the chest register, have more fulnessand grace, and thus we may distinguish to which kind of voice a voice belongs, for the compass of the voice is not always confined within certain limits. There are contraltos that can sing the high head tones with ease, and sopranos that can sing the low chest tones with equal facility—a fact which has often given occasion to an incorrect treatment of a voice. So also with the male voice. A bass voice sings the lower series of the chest register with more ease and sweetness and with more obscure timbre. A tenor voice sings the second series of the chest register in a clearer timbre.

The baritone and mezzo-soprano voices, so called—that is, such voices as have a limited compass, and cannot sing either the highest or the lowest tones—are by no means so numerous as they are thought to be. The best tenor voices, which cannot naturally reach the lowest bass tones, and whose organs do not allow of an unnatural forcing up beyond the higher limits of the chest register, are commonly pronounced baritone voices, for no one now-a-days thinks of cultivating the falsetto register of the male voice.

Few teachers, likewise, understand how to teach correctly the tones of the headregister.If a soprano voice cannot readily and agreeably sing the low contralto tones, and extend the falsetto scale far enough upwards beyond its limit, it is reckoned among the mezzo-soprano voices. The celebrated singing masterThomaselli, ofPadua, maintained that baritone and mezzo-soprano voices “had no existence in nature, but were only the products of our false methods of instruction.”

I have sometimes found mezzo-soprano and baritone voices, but not in so great number by far as the four chief kinds of voices—bass, tenor, contralto, and soprano.

Although an exact knowledge of the vocal organ and its various actions must be required of a teacher before the education of a voice can be committed to him, yet it would be unwise to undertake to teach singing by means of scientific explanations without sufficient previous knowledge; the pupil would, in this case, understand as little of what he was about and be as little helped as a child learning to read would be assisted by one who merely sought to make intelligible to him the mechanism by which sound is formed. The most natural and the simplest way in singing, as in all things else, isthe best. Let the teacher sing correctly every tone to his pupil until the latter knows how to imitate it, and his ear has learned how to distinguish the differenttimbres.5

The discovery of the natural transitions of the registers has brought to light one of the greatest evils of our present mode of singing, and shown at the same time how wanting in durability are the voices of those of our artists whose aim and endeavor it is to force the registers upward beyond their natural limits. Although the concert pitch is so very much higher now than it was in the most flourishing period of the singing art, yet no regard is paid to this fact in the education of a voice, and our tenorists try to reach the a1with the chest register, just as they did one hundred and fifty years ago.

In theignorance existing concerning the natural transitions of the registers, and in the unnatural forcing of the voice, is found a chief cause of the decline of the art of singing. And the present inability to preserve the voice is the consequence of a method of teaching unnatural, and therefore imposing too great a strain upon thevoice.6

No one who has not made the art of singing a special study, can form any idea of the obscure and conflicting views in regard to the transitions of the registers which prevail among singing teachers and artists. Almost every teacher has a peculiar theory of his own in regard to the formation of the voice; every one has his own views, sometimes extremely fanciful,of the formation of tones and of the registers—views to which he tenaciously adheres, summarily rejecting all others. Almost as at the building of the tower of Babel, one teacher scarcely understands any longer what another means, and instead of harmonious endeavors to improve the art, teachers of singing are commonly found disputing among themselves.

To bring light and order into such a chaos can only be accomplished by the most thorough scientific study, and even then it is an undertaking of the greatest difficulty. Custom stands in the way as an antagonist, and there must be a conflict with long-cherished and wide-spread errors and prejudices. It lies also in the nature of the case that teachers of singing are the most determined opponents to be encountered. It is very hard for this class, and it demands of them no common self-denial to acknowledge and renounce as errors what they have taught for years and held to be truths. Those teachers, however, who have made the necessary sacrifice, have been compensated with the richest success; and such, we trust, will in all cases be the result, and so the path be broken for the true and the natural.

It will be perhaps comparatively easy to advance the art of singing in America; for, as Humboldt says, not entirely without truth, the Germans require for every improvement two centuries—one to find out the need of it, and another to make it.

2It must be remarked that the diagrams here given are copies ofreflectedimages, and therefore the upper side of the representation shows the front of the larynx, and the lower the farther side of the larynx.Return to text

2It must be remarked that the diagrams here given are copies ofreflectedimages, and therefore the upper side of the representation shows the front of the larynx, and the lower the farther side of the larynx.

Return to text

3In recent works on laryngoscopy they are often described as continuations or parts of one of the principal muscles of the larynx.Return to text

3In recent works on laryngoscopy they are often described as continuations or parts of one of the principal muscles of the larynx.

Return to text

4In recent French and English works upon laryngoscopy, the cuneiform cartilages are frequently mentioned, and sometimes confounded with the cartilages Wrisbergi.Return to text

4In recent French and English works upon laryngoscopy, the cuneiform cartilages are frequently mentioned, and sometimes confounded with the cartilages Wrisbergi.

Return to text

5On this account the male voice should be trained by men and the female voice by women. For, as it is impossible for a man to give to a female pupil a correct perception of the tones of the head register and of the second series of the falsetto, with its peculiar female timbre, so is it impossible for a woman to sing and teach correctly the deep, sonorous chest tones of the male voice.Frederick Wiek, that admirable teacher, who perceives intuitively what is natural and true in instruction, has an excellent expedient. In his hours of instruction he avails himself of the aid of young women with practised voices, who sing every exercise to his female pupils until the latter are able to imitate them correctly.Return to text

5On this account the male voice should be trained by men and the female voice by women. For, as it is impossible for a man to give to a female pupil a correct perception of the tones of the head register and of the second series of the falsetto, with its peculiar female timbre, so is it impossible for a woman to sing and teach correctly the deep, sonorous chest tones of the male voice.Frederick Wiek, that admirable teacher, who perceives intuitively what is natural and true in instruction, has an excellent expedient. In his hours of instruction he avails himself of the aid of young women with practised voices, who sing every exercise to his female pupils until the latter are able to imitate them correctly.

Return to text

6Voices which by this overstrained and unnatural way of singing have become worn-out and useless may by correct, proper treatment recover, even at an advanced age, their former grace and power; and even those chronic inflammations of the larynx which are so difficult of treatment may be cured by a natural and moderate exercise of the voice in singing.Return to text

6Voices which by this overstrained and unnatural way of singing have become worn-out and useless may by correct, proper treatment recover, even at an advanced age, their former grace and power; and even those chronic inflammations of the larynx which are so difficult of treatment may be cured by a natural and moderate exercise of the voice in singing.

Return to text

Back to IndexNext