I 



C 

 B> 



neoesRary for its prodaotion. Hence it may be oanily nndenitood 

 liow tho voice will flatten when, from inattention or wearinoM, 

 the singer does not give prompt and firm tennion to the proper 

 mnscloa of tho larynx or cheat. The loud singer is especially 

 liable to this, because, as noticed above, hio notes are made to 

 depend lens upon the easily-governed tension of the vocal chords, 

 and more upon tho regulated force of air from the chest the 

 muscles of which are less easily commanded with accuracy. 

 Hence tho importance of cultivating a medium force of voice, 

 such as is consistent with tho easy action of tho lungs. 



Tho VOICES or WOMKN AND CHILDREN are, on an average, 

 about eight notes higher than those of men. They are very 

 various in character, but may bo conveniently classified accord- 

 ing to their " compass," or tho extent of notes which they can 

 reach on the standard scale. 



a. The First Soprano Voice has its extremest 

 compass from K- (above the staff) down to n,, 

 (below tho staff). Its easy compass is from 

 A 1 down to c. It is weak in the lower 

 sounds, but light and brilliant (if well de- 

 veloped) in the higher ones above a The 

 organ has not much muscular strength, and 

 cannot easily give effect to sustained sounds, 

 but is very flexible. 



6. The Second Soprano Voice reaches, in its 

 extreme compass, from c 2 down to GI. Its 

 easy compass is from F 1 down to A,. It is 

 generally full and round in its qnality, and 

 flexible. The organ is of a stronger muscular 

 construction. 



c. The Contra-Alto Voice sometimes reaches 

 from B I flat down to EJ. Its easy compass 

 is from D 1 to FJ. Its organ is large, and 

 of a very strong muscular construction. It 

 is not very flexible. The upper sounds are 

 harsh or weak. It is, however, sometimes 

 full from D 1 down to o. It is most powerful 

 from a to QI. 



The VOICES OF MEN are classified as fol- 

 lows : 



a. The Tenor Voice is of two sorts. The 

 first is that very delicate, light, and rare 

 voice for which the "alto" part was written 

 by Handel and writers of a much more recent 

 period. Like the first soprano voice, among 

 females, it is not adapted to sustained sounds. 

 Its compass is about a tone higher than that 

 of the common tenor voice. The stronger 

 tenor voice has for its extreme compass from 

 B flat down to B 2 flat (in tho bass oleff). Its 

 easy compass is from A down to ci. It is full, 

 round, and capable of sustaining and ex- 

 panding sounds with firmness. Great care 

 should be taken not to force the higher 

 sounds. They should be sustained firmly 

 though lightly, changing into the thin, light 

 register between E and F or thereabouts. 

 The thick or chest register should never bo 

 forced up. 



6. The Baritone Voice has its extreme com- 

 pass from o to F._, sharp (below the bass 

 cleff). Its easy compass is from F down to 

 A a . It partakes in some degree of the quality of both bass 

 and tenor. It is more soft and flexible than the former. 

 From the ease with which it takes the notes D E F (treble 

 cleff), it may sometimes be taken for the tenor. But from tho 

 different position of the organ in the throat, these sounds, 

 instead of being full, will be of a hollow quality being the ex- 

 treme sounds of the baritone, whilst they are in tho middle and 

 fullest part of the tenor. If the voice is at all strained on this 

 part, instead of gaining the soft and full baritone quality, it will 

 become an imperfect mixture of the baritone and tenor. 



c. The Bass Voice reaches its extreme sounds in E (on the 

 lowest line of the treble cleff) and E 3 (below the bass cleff). Its 

 easy compass is from D down to F a . It is naturally of a hard 

 and inflexible quality, but very full and powerful in sustaining 

 sounds. Those who understand the old notation will like 

 to see the following diagram : 



Pi 



B 



A, 



0, 



E, 



STANDARD HCAL.K. 

 "' >D l c> A r C B.A 



OOKFAM or VOICES. 



i; 



The statement of the extreme compass at voice*, and Mine 

 of the remark* on the different voices, are either eocdensart 

 or extracted from the "Art of Singing," by D. Crevelli, a work 

 which is " the result of study and experience for nearly thirty 

 years" of a gentleman, who was the most oooescfal vocal 

 teacher of his time in England. 



It should be noticed that boys' voices, especially for some 

 time before they begin to break, are of a different timbre from 

 those of girls they are heavier and less flexible. 



The term REUIHTEU is used to denote a certain number 

 of sounds in a voice, which differ in quality or timbre from 

 another number of sounds in the same voice. This change of 

 register is probably occasioned by some difference in the manner 

 in which the notes are produced. It may be that the lower notes 

 are successively produced by somewhat relaxed membranes, 

 which are shortened ah the notes rise, and that note* of the 

 higher register are produced mainly by the tension of the mem- 

 branes without any shortening of the chords. If so, there will 

 be a note or two, at the junction of tho registers, which may be 

 produced on either principle, and an uncultivated voice may not 

 decide with sufficient promptitude which principle is to be used, 

 or on which note the new register should begin. This would 

 account for the great difficulty, which many have, in making the 

 notes of one register follow smoothly with those of the other. 

 Such persons require considerable practice and care to "blend" 

 the registers. They should be instructed to keep the notes of 

 the lower register down in strength or force, while they seek to 

 strengthen those of the higher one. 



All the tones of the voice are really produced in the larynx, 

 or " Adam's apple," but in producing the strong vibrating lower 

 tones of the voice, the singer feels as though his chest were called 

 to a special effort. In producing other more weak and soft tones, 

 he feels that the back part of the throat is exerting its muscles ; 

 and in producing certain clear, ringing tones, beyond the range 

 of his ordinary voice, he is conscious of vibration in the head. 

 Hence the names of the three registers the chest register, the 

 throat (sometimes called the medium, sometimes the falsetto) 

 register, and the head (also sometimes called the falsetto) 

 register. Each register has its peculiar quality of tone, and is 

 produced by a peculiar management of the vocal organs. On 

 this last point, recent discoveries have confirmed the conjectures 

 of the Italian, Bennati. Miiller shows that the throat roflirtoj 

 of tones is produced by the vibration of the thin borders only of 

 the vocal membranes, while for the chest register those mem- 

 branes vibrate in their whole breadth. For the head tones it is 

 believed that a third part (in length) only of the membranes 

 vibrates. 



More recently still, the invention of the laryngoscope, and ita 

 skilful use by Garcia, and others, hare given us many details 

 of the manner in which tones are produced. From these it 

 appears that above a certain place in absolute pitch, the capa- 

 bilities of tension in the material called flesh and muscle 

 require that tones should be most easily produced in the 

 manner above ascribed to the throat register, and below that 

 pitch in the manner of the chest register. 



The place in pitch thus referred to lies between D below the 

 treble staff, and a on its second line a point only just reached 

 by the basses, and very little exceeded by the baritones; 

 huving above it one-third of the tenor voice, half the contralto, 

 two-thirds of the second soprano, and nearly all the first 

 soprano. 



Many of the tones of the chest register could also be produced 

 in the throat register, and vice versa. But the head register of 

 tones never coincides is never changeable with the tones of 

 the other registers. Where the throat tones cease, the head 

 tones begin. The chest tones are naturally prefemd by the 

 lower voices (bass and contralto), and fill nearly the whole of 

 the bass compass. They are less used by tenors and baritones, 

 and still less by the first and second sopranos. The throat tones 

 are preferred by the sopranos, and form the chief part of their 



