436 THE BODY AT WORK 



of the feelings experienced during singing (and of the quality 

 of the sounds produced) shows that by themselves these 

 muscles are not able to make changes in the tension of the 

 cords sufficient to account for the full range of the voice. Or, 

 put in another way, the tension of the vocal cords is not 

 altered to the extent which would be necessary if upon it alone 

 depended a range of from two to three octaves. It is obvious 

 that by some means the length or thickness, or both, of the 

 portions of the cords vibrating is changed as the scale is 

 ascended. If commencement be made on a low note, a point 

 is reached, after a certain number of notes have been sung, at 

 which a sudden change occurs. There is an alteration in the 

 quality of sound, the more marked, the less well trained the 

 singer. The singer experiences a feeling of relief. If a finger 

 be placed on his crico-thyroid muscle, a relaxation of its anterior 

 fibres can be detected. As he proceeds up the scale, these 

 fibres again tighten. At a certain point there is again a change 

 in the quality of voice, and in the feelings which accompany 

 its production. The two points at which change occurs are 

 said to divide the voice into three " registers " the lower, or 

 chest-register, the middle, and the upper, or head-register. A 

 great effort is needed to hold either register above its natural 

 range. 



The physiology of the registers is a subject far too thorny 

 for handling in this book. The larynx can be watched with 

 the laryngoscope during the production of notes of different 

 pitch, but observers are not in accord regarding the appearances 

 which it presents, or their interpretation. The possibilities 

 of changing the reed which vibrates, the vocal cord, otherwise 

 than by increasing the direct pull upon it exerted by the crico- 

 thyroid muscle, appear to be as follows : (1) During the pro- 

 duction of the lowest notes the elastic portion of the arytenoid 

 cartilage may be included with the cord. It may be thrown out 

 of vibration by its rotation inwards (under the action of the 

 lateral crico-arytenoid muscle) until it is pressed against its 

 fellow. (2) Certain portions of the cord may be damped by 

 partial contractions of the internal thyro-arytenoid muscle. 

 It has been frequently stated, although the statement is not 

 accepted by all anatomists, that some of the fibres which 

 take origin from the arytenoid cartilage end in the cord, 



