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VOICE PRODUCTION

IN

SINGING AND SPEAKING

BASED ON

SCIENTIFIC PRINCIPLES

BY

WESLEY MILLS, M.A., M.D., F.R.S.C.

EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF PHYSIOLOGY IN McGILL UNIVERSITY, AND LECTURER ON
VOCAL PHYSIOLOGY AND HYGIENE IN THE McGILL UNIVERSITY CONSERVATORIUM
OF MUSIC, MONTREAL, CANADA

_FOURTH EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED_

[Illustration: publisher logo]

PHILADELPHIA & LONDON
J.B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY

COPYRIGHT, 1906,
BY J.B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY

The Rights of Translation and all other Rights Reserved

COPYRIGHT, 1913,
BY J.B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY

Electrotyped and Printed by
J.B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, U.S.A.

[Transcriber's Notes: In this e-text, illustrations of music notation
have been rendered using standard text notation, e.g.: C = C two
octaves below middle C; c = C one octave below middle C; c' = middle
C; c'' = C one octave above middle C, etc.

Macrons are indicated thus: [=a], [=e], [=i], [=o], [=u].]

[Illustration: Illustrations of the appearance of the larynx during
phonation in two special cases. (Gruenwald.)]

EXPLANATION OF THE COLORED ILLUSTRATIONS.

They contrast with each other in that the one (upper) is too red; the
other, too pale. The upper represents appearances such as one gets
with the laryngoscope when the subject has a very severe cold, or even
inflammation of the larynx, including the central vocal bands. In this
particular case, a young woman of twenty-five years of age, there was
inflammation with a certain amount of weakness of the internal
thyro-arytenoid muscles. Speaking was almost impossible, and such
voice as was produced was of a very rough character. In the lower
illustration we have the appearances presented in a man affected with
tuberculosis of the lungs and larynx. The pallor of the larynx is
characteristic. There is weakness of the internal thyro-arytenoid
muscle on the right side, which results in imperfect tension of the
vocal band on that side, so that the voice is uncertain and harsh.
Such illustrations are introduced to impress the normal by contrast.
The reader is strongly advised to compare these figures with others in
the body of the work, especially those of Chapter VII.




PREFACE TO THE FOURTH REVISED AND ENLARGED EDITION.


In addition to certain emendations, etc., introduced throughout the
work, I have thought it well to add a chapter in which the whole
subject is treated in a broad and comprehensive way in the light of
the latest scientific knowledge.

In this review the psychological aspects of the subject have not been
neglected, and the whole has been related to practice to as great an
extent as the character of the book permits.

It is significant that on both sides of the Atlantic there is a
growing conviction that the foundations for speaking and singing as an
art must be made as scientific as the state of our knowledge will
permit.

THE AUTHOR.

January, 1913.




PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION.


No preface to the Second Edition was written, so few were the changes
that were made in the work, and the same might apply to this Third
Edition. However, the fact that within a period of less than two
years, a Second English and a Third American Edition have been called
for, seems to the Author to be so conclusive an endorsement of the
application of science to vocal art, that he may be entitled at least
to express his gratification at the progress the cause, to which he
has devoted his pen, is making. It would seem that the better portion
at least of that public that is interested in the progress of vocal
art has made up its mind that the time has come when sense and science
must replace tradition and empiricism.

THE AUTHOR.

MONTREAL, September, 1908.




PREFACE.


The present work is based on a life study of the voice, and has grown
out of the conviction that all teaching and learning in voice-culture,
whether for the purposes of singing or speaking, should as far as
possible rest on a scientific foundation.

The author, believing that practice and principles have been too much
separated, has endeavored to combine them in this book. His purpose
has not been to write an exhaustive work on vocal physiology, with
references at every step to the views of various authors; rather has
he tried always to keep in mind the real needs of the practical
voice-user, and to give him a sure foundation for the principles that
must underlie sound practice. A perusal of the first chapter of the
work will give the reader a clearer idea of the author's purpose as
briefly expressed above.

The writer bespeaks an unprejudiced hearing, being convinced that in
art as in all else there is but one ultimate court of appeal: to the
scientific, the demonstrable--to what lies at the very foundations of
human nature.

In conclusion, the author desires to thank those publishers and
authors who have kindly permitted the use of their illustrations.

THE AUTHOR.

MCGILL UNIVERSITY, Montreal, October, 1906.




TABLE OF CONTENTS.


CHAPTER I.

THE CLAIMS AND IMPORTANCE OF VOCAL PHYSIOLOGY.

Science and art--The engineer, architect, physician, nurse, and
others, compared with the vocal teacher and learner--Unfavorable
tendencies--The old masters--The great elocutionists--Causes of
failure--The lack of an adequate technique--Correct methods are
physiological--Summary of the advantages of teaching and learning
based on scientific principles--Illustrations of the application of
physiological principles to actual cases--The evils from which
speakers and singers suffer owing to wrong methods--Speaking and
singing based on the same principles--Relation of hygiene to
physiology 17

CHAPTER II.

GENERAL PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES.

Relations of animals to each other--Common properties of living
matter--Explanation of these--The mammal and man--The stimulus and its
results--The one-celled animal--Various "systems"necessary--Complexity
of structure and function--Harmony through the nervous system--The
rule of nervous centres--Means by which they are influenced, and by
which they influence--Reflex action--Muscular mechanisms and
neuro-muscular mechanisms--Work of the singer and speaker largely
reflex in character--Summary 34

CHAPTER III.

BREATHING CONSIDERED THEORETICALLY AND PRACTICALLY.

Breathing the great essential--Misconceptions--Purpose of breathing as
a vital process--The respiratory organs--Their nature--Relations of
the lungs to the chest-wall--Expansion of the chest--Its
diameters--The muscles of respiration--Personal observation--The
diaphragm--Varying quantities of air breathed--Breathing when properly
carried out by the singer or speaker is healthful 44

CHAPTER IV.

BREATHING FURTHER CONSIDERED THEORETICALLY AND PRACTICALLY.

Relations of the nervous system to breathing--The respiratory
centre--Reflex action in breathing--Methods of preventing
nervousness--Tones produced by the outgoing breath--Waste of
breath--The happy combination for good singing or speaking 57

CHAPTER V.

BREATHING WITH SPECIAL REGARD TO PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS.

The well-developed chest--The voice-user a kind of athlete--The
tremolo--Exercises recommended for the development of the chest--Forms
of dress that hamper breathing--Weighing and measuring,
re-measurement, etc.--Specific directions for methods to develop the
chest--Warnings--Additional exercises--Breathing through the nose and
through the mouth--Exercises for the development of the diaphragm and
abdominal muscles--Relation of the diaphragm to the staccato
effect--Forms of general exercise for the voice-user--Summary 62

CHAPTER VI.

THE SPECIAL VOICE-PRODUCING MECHANISM, THE LARYNX.

Not the only voice-producing apparatus--Specific structures of the
larynx in use when the subject phonates--Muscles and their
attachments--The cartilages of the larynx--The lining mucous
membrane--Changes in it when one has a "cold"--The vocal
bands--Functions of the epiglottis--The "middle line" and relative
position of parts--Adam's apple--Ventricle of the larynx--The
importance of the arytenoid cartilages--Muscles of the larynx in
detail--Sphincter action--Straining--Position of the larynx--Practical
considerations--Dissection of a "pluck" and especially of the
larynx--Hygiene--How disorder of one part may affect another--Summary
74

CHAPTER VII.

SOUND--THE LARYNGOSCOPE--THE LARYNX RECONSIDERED.

Some study of physics desirable--Sound and vibrations--The sounding
body--Experiments to illustrate the principles of sound--Qualities of
sound--Animals and perception of sound--The range of hearing in
man--The larynx as a musical instrument--Experiments of Johannes
Mueller--Discovery of the laryngoscope by Garcia--Description
of the instrument--Method of using the laryngoscope--The
difficulties--Auto-laryngoscopy--The importance of both laryngoscopy
and auto-laryngoscopy--Change in size of the larynx due to
use--Delicate changes in the laryngeal mechanism--Changes in the
larynx during adolescence--Warnings--The "breaking" of the
voice--Analogies with fatigue, etc.--When should singing be
begun?--Singing with others--Choral singing 97

CHAPTER VIII.

FURTHER CONSIDERATION OF BREATHING, LARYNGEAL ADJUSTMENT, ETC.

Various kinds of breathing, as "abdominal," "clavicular," etc.,
discussed--Control of the whole of the breathing mechanism
urged--Correct breathing as a habit--Breathing in the most vigorous
speaking and singing--Different views expressed by a diagram--Economy
of energy in art--Reserve energy in breathing--"Pumping"--_Coup de
glotte_--"Attack"--Breath-adjustment--Quality of sound the prime
consideration in tone-production--Tremolo and other faults--Tests of
good breathing--Mouth-breathing--Exercises--Singing of a single
tone--Its relation to scale-singing--Summary and review 118

CHAPTER IX.

THE RESONANCE-CHAMBERS.

Vocal bands and resonance-chambers compared--Improvised mechanism to
illustrate resonance--Musical instruments as resonance-bodies--A vowel
in relation to the resonance-chambers--Description of the
resonance-chambers--How the quality of tones may be made to vary--New
views as to the sounding-chambers--Summary 140

CHAPTER X.

THE REGISTERS OF THE SINGING VOICE.

A controverted subject--Definitions of a register--Qualifications for
dealing with this subject--Madame Seiler--Tabular statement of her
views--Garcia's and Behnke's divisions of registers--Sir Morell
Mackenzie's views in detail--The author's earlier investigations--Madame
Marchesi's views and practice 151

CHAPTER XI.

FURTHER CONSIDERATION OF THE REGISTERS OF THE SINGING VOICE.

Auto-laryngoscopy and photography of the larynx--Dogmatism and
science--Confusion and controversy--The break--Ignoring
registers--Modification of tones, or "covering"--Points of agreement
between different writers on the subject--The falsetto for
males--Madame Seiler's special qualifications--Behnke's and
Mackenzie's views--The author's conclusions--Rule for the extension of
a register--Why certain artists deteriorate while others do
not---Males and females compared as to registers--The division of the
registers for female voices recommended by the author--Teacher and
pupil as regards registers--Objection to registers answered--The
manner of using the breath and registers--How to distinguish
registers--The teacher's part--Hearing singers of eminence is
recommended--Madame Melba--Guiding sensations--Summary 161

CHAPTER XII.

FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES UNDERLYING VOICE-PRODUCTION.

Artistic expression only through movements--Emotions and
technique--Relation of ideas to movements--Memories and
movements--Guiding sensations essential for movements--The principles
underlying all movements the same--Associated reflexes and habits--How
habits are formed--inhibitions and their importance--Early practices
only before the teacher--Careful practice with concentration of energy
the best--Queries as to practice--Fatigue a warning--Practice in the
early hours of the day, and short of fatigue--Quality to be aimed at
rather than quantity--The total amount of time to be devoted to
practice--"Hasten slowly;" "Little and often"--The treatment of the
voice ruined by wrong methods--Summary 179

CHAPTER XIII.

CHIEFLY AN APPLICATION TO VOICE-PRODUCTION OF FACTS AND PRINCIPLES
PREVIOUSLY CONSIDERED.

Vowels, consonants, noise--Consonants and pauses--Voice-production and
vowels--Certain vowel sounds common to most languages--Why German and
English are relatively unmusical--The needs of the musical artist--The
mechanism required for the production of a vowel sound--Reconsideration
of the resonance-chambers--The larynx to be steadied but not held
rigidly immovable--The principal modifiers of the shape of the
mouth-cavity--Breath to be taken through the mouth--The lips--Tongue
and lip practice before a mirror--Importance of the connection between
the ear and the mouth parts, etc--"Open mouth"--The mouth in singing a
descending scale--Undue opening of the mouth--Proper method of opening
the mouth--Causes of compression and the consequences 195

CHAPTER XIV.

SOME SPECIFIC APPLICATIONS OF PRINCIPLES IN TONE-PRODUCTION.

Principles and their expression in a few exercises--Analysis of the
methods of tone-production--The sustained tone--Smoothly linked
tones--The legato--The staccato and kindred effects--The mechanisms
concerned--Perfection requires years of careful practice--The
bel canto and the swell--The same exercises for singer and
speaker--"Forward," "backward," etc., production--Escape of
breath--The action of the soft palate--When to use "forward" and when
"backward" production--Voice-placement--Nasal resonance, not nasal
twang--Summary 207

CHAPTER XV.

THE ELEMENTS OF SPEECH AND SONG.

The subject may be made dry or the reverse--Vowels, consonants,
noise--The position of the lips and the shape of the mouth-cavity in
sounding the various vowels--How to demonstrate that the mouth-cavity
is a resonance-chamber--Practical considerations growing out of the
above--Speaker, vocalist, and composer--Bearing of these facts on the
learning of languages--Consonants as musical nuisances--Their great
variation in pitch--Bruecke's division of consonants--Tabulation of the
same 218

CHAPTER XVI.

FURTHER THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL CONSIDERATION OF VOWELS AND
CONSONANTS.

The best vowel to use in practice--Necessary to practise all--The
guttural _r_ and the lingual _r_--Consonants that favor nasality of
tone--Overtones and fundamental tones--Relation of intensity and
quality--The carrying power of a tone--Unusual distinctness in
practice as related to ease--The registers of the speaking voice
according to Madame Seiler--The range in speaking--Summary 230

CHAPTER XVII.

THE HEARING APPARATUS AND HEARING IN MUSIC.

Why this chapter is introduced--The essential mechanism of
hearing--The part played by waves and vibrations--Divisions of the
ear--The external ear in lower animals--The drum-head or tympanic
membrane--The middle ear and its connections--Relation of the throat
and the ear--The inner ear or labyrinth--The end-organ and its
relations--The connection of the ear and various parts of the
brain--The musician's ear--Relation of music and hearing--Lack of ear
and inattention--The artist and the musician--The ear and the speaking
voice--General musical training in relation to intonation, etc--The
appreciation of music, and training to that end--The art of listening
with close attention--Summary 236

CHAPTER XVIII.

CONSIDERATION OF GENERAL AND SPECIAL HYGIENE AND RELATED SUBJECTS.

Hygienic as related to physiological principles--Hygiene in the
widest sense--Unfavorable conditions in the public life of an
artist--Qualifications for success--Technique and a public career--The
isolation of the artist and its dangers--The need for greater
preparation now than ever--Choral singing and its possible
dangers--The tendencies of the Wagner music-drama--Special faults, as
the "scoop," "_vibrato_," "_tremolo_," "pumping"--Desirability of
consultations by teachers of the use of the voice--Things the
voice-user should avoid--Mouth-toilets--Lozenges--The sipping of
water--What one should and should not eat--Tea and Coffee--The whole
subject of congestion from compression, straining, etc., of the utmost
importance--A sore throat when frequent should give rise to inquiry as
to methods--Constipation--Exercise--Bathing 251

CHAPTER XIX.

FURTHER TREATMENT OF PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HYGIENE.

Stammering and stuttering--Those who have broken down--The increase of
the range of a voice--The part the student plays in settling such
questions--Selections to be avoided--Conservation of energy--Change
and contrast--The voice as related to the building in which it is
produced--The listener and pauses--Nervousness, and how to ward it
off--General conclusion 268

CHAPTER XX.

REVIEW AND REVISION.

The object of the speaker or singer--The idea of co-ordination--The
study of vocalization may be considered a study of movements--The
psychic condition--The instrument which is played upon--How is this
instrument played upon?--Vibration of the air--Breathing--The aim of
all training--The whole subject of breathing--Breathing exercises--The
resonance chambers--The formation of vowels--Muscular efforts for the
production of consonants--The pronunciation of words--General health
of great importance 276




LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.


FIG. PAGE

Appearance of the larynx during phonation in two
special cases (in colors) _Frontispiece_

1. Muscle-fibres from the heart, much magnified 34
2. Small portion of muscle, moderately magnified 34
3. Muscle-cells from coats of intestine 35
4. Body of a nerve-cell of the spinal cord 38
5. Large nerve-cell from spinal cord of an ox 38
6. Cell from the cortex cerebri 38-39
7. Nerve terminating in a muscle 38-39
8. Muscle-fibres with capillaries around and between them 39
9. Parts of the respiratory apparatus 44
10. Trachea and bronchial tubes 45
11. Heart, lungs, and diaphragm 45
12. Diagram showing changes in shape of chest during inspiration 49
13. Diagram showing depression of the diaphragm during
inspiration 50
14. Position of diaphragm, abdominal walls, etc., during
expiration 55
15. Diagram illustrating reflex action 58
16. A well-developed, healthy chest 62
17. A chest deformed by corsets 62
18. Normal position of diaphragm and vital organs 63
19. Vital organs misplaced by compression of the chest 63
20. Thyroid and cricoid cartilages, side view 76
21. Thyroid and cricoid cartilages, front view 76
22. Back surface of cricoid cartilage 77
23. Cricoid cartilage, side view. 77
24. Arytenoid cartilages 77
25. A view of the larynx from behind 78
26. Epiglottis, thyroid and cricoid cartilages, etc. 78-79
27. Hyoid bone, crico-thyroid muscle, etc. 78-79
28. Posterior view of the larynx 79
29. Diagram showing relation of parts to the thyroid cartilage 80
30. Diagram showing the action of crico-thyroid muscle 82
31. View of larynx from above 83
32. Transverse section of larynx 83
33. False and true vocal bands, etc. 86
34. Inner surface of the larynx 87
35. Diagram to show the action of the laryngeal muscles 96
36. Registering the vibrations of a tuning-fork 100
37. Illustrating the transmission of vibrations 101
38. Illustrating the theory and practice of laryngoscopic
examination 104
39. Illustrating the practice of laryngoscopic examination 106
40. Laryngoscopic picture of male larynx 112
41. Laryngoscopic picture of female larynx 112
42. Larynx during an attack of a common "cold" 113
43. The vocal bands as seen with laryngoscope during deep
inspiration 113
44. Diagram showing form of chest and abdomen in forced
abdominal breathing 122
45. The vocal bands during the production of a high-pitched tone 138
46. Water being poured into a tube until the remaining air-space
becomes a resonator of a tuning-fork 142
47. Soft palate, fauces, and tonsils 142-143
48. Nares and soft palate, from behind 142-143
49. Turbinated bones of the nose 143
50. Madame Seiler's division of the registers 155
51. Appearance of the vocal bands when sounding first E and
then F sharp 164
52. Diagram to show the nature of registers and breaks 166
53. Diagram of the processes involved in singing 186
54. Highly magnified diagramatic representation of a section
through the superficial part of the great brain 188
55. Nerve-cell from the outer rind of the great brain, much
magnified 189
56. Position of parts in sounding the vowel A 219
57. Position of the parts in sounding I 220
58. Position of the parts in sounding OU 222
59. Position of the parts in sounding T, K, F, R, N, and P 227
60. Vertical section of the auditory apparatus 237
61. Diagram of the auditory apparatus 238
62. Two of the ear-bones (malleus and incus), enlarged 239
63. The complete chain of auditory ossicles 240




VOICE PRODUCTION




CHAPTER I.

THE CLAIMS AND IMPORTANCE OF VOCAL PHYSIOLOGY.


To know consciously and to do with special reference to guiding
principles are to be distinguished from carrying out some process
without bearing in mind the why or wherefore. Science is exact and
related knowledge, facts bound together by principles. Art is
execution, doing, and has not necessarily any conscious reference to
principles.

While every art has its corresponding science, their relation is in
some cases of much greater practical importance than in others. While
a painter may be the better for knowing the laws of light, there can
be no question that he may do very good work without any knowledge
whatever of the science of optics. He is at least in no danger of
injuring any part of his person.

Entirely otherwise is it with the voice-user. He employs a delicate
and easily injured vital apparatus. His results depend on the most
accurate adjustment of certain neuro-muscular mechanisms, and one
might suppose that it would be obvious to all who are concerned with
this art that a knowledge of the structure and functions of these
delicate arrangements of Nature would be at least of great if not of
essential importance. The engineer knows the structure and uses of
each part of his engine, and does not trust to unintelligent
observation of the mere working of mechanisms which others have
constructed. The architect studies not only the principles of design,
etc., but also the nature and relative value of materials. In his own
way he is a kind of anatomist and physiologist.

We do not trust the care of our bodies to those who have picked up a
few methods of treatment by experience or the imitation of others. The
doctor must have, we all believe, a knowledge of the structure and
working of the animal body; he must understand the action of drugs and
other healing agents. We expect him not only to diagnose the
disease--to tell us exactly what is the matter--but also to be able to
predict with, some degree of certainty the course of the malady. Even
the nurse of the day must show some grasp of the principles underlying
her art.

In connection with all the largest and best equipped universities in
America there are officials to plan and direct the courses in physical
culture. This matter is no longer entrusted to a "trainer," who has
only his experience and observation to rely upon. It is realized that
the building up of the mechanism which they are supposed to train in
an intelligent manner rests upon well-established principles.

It would be just as reasonable for an engineer to point to the fact
that his engine works well, as evidence of his ability, as for the
teacher of voice-production to make the same claim in regard to the
vocal mechanism. In each case there is a certain amount of
justification for the claim, but such teaching cannot be called
scientific. Is it even enlightened? It is just as rational to follow
in medicine methods that seem to lead to good results, without any
reference to the reason why, as to train for results in speaking and
singing by methods which have for the student and teacher no conscious
basis in scientific knowledge. The physician to-day who treats disease
without reference to anatomy and physiology is, at best, but a sort of
respectable charlatan. Why should students and teachers of
voice-production be content to remain, in the advanced present, where
they were hundreds of years ago?

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