504: VOICE AND SPEECH. 



bass and the tenor, with an intermediate voice, called the 

 barytone. In the female, we have the contralto and the 

 soprano, with the intermediate, or mezzo-soprano. In the 

 bass and barytone, the lower and middle notes are the most 

 natural and perfect; and while the higher notes may be 

 acquired by cultivation, they are not easy, and do not possess 

 the same quality as the corresponding notes of the tenor. 

 The same remarks apply to the contralto and soprano. The 

 mezzo-soprano is regarded by many as an artificial division. 



The following scale, proposed by Miiller, gives the ordi- 

 nary ranges of the different kinds of voice ; but it must be 

 remembered that there are individual instances in which 

 these limits are very much exceeded : 1 



CONTRALTO 



1 



mi fa sol la si do re mi fa sol la si do re mi fa sol la si do re mi fa sol la si do 



11 111 22 2'2 2223333 333444444 



There is really no great difference in the mechanism 

 of these different kinds of voice, and the differences in pitch 

 are due chiefly to the greater length of the vocal chords in 

 the low-pitched voices, and their shortness in the higher 

 voices. The differences in quality are due to peculiarities 

 in the conformation of the larynx, to differences in its size, 

 and in the size and form of the auxiliary resonant cavities. 

 Great changes in the quality of the voice may be effected 

 by practice. A cultivated note, for example, has an entirely 

 different sound from a harsh, irregular vibration ; and, by 

 practice, a tenor may imitate the quality of the bass, and 

 vice versa, although the effort is unnatural. It is not at all 

 unusual to hear male singers imitate very closely the notes 



1 MUELLER, Manuel de physiologic, Paris, 1851, tome ii., p. 198. 



