in PHONATION AND ARTICULATION 153 



voice was much discussed. The voice used for speaking is 

 commonly held to be different from that used in singing. But 

 this is a mistake. In compass the only difference is that the tones 

 used in speaking are generally comprised within half an octave, 

 while those employed in singing extend over two octaves. A more 

 important difference lies in the fact that in speaking many sounds 

 (consonants) are used, so that the tones and the intervals between 

 the tones are not so plain as in singing. There are not therefore 

 two different voices but rather two modes of using the same voice ; 

 dramatic recitation and lyrical declamation stand midway between 

 speaking and singing. 



Owing to these differences between the singing voice and the 

 speaking voice, mistakes in the correct pronunciation of words, and 

 in the true intonation, modulation, and accentuation of phrases 

 and periods, are often tolerated in speaking because they are less 

 offensive ; in singing, on the contrary, false intonation and wrong 

 notes produce a sense of discomfort which is unbearable to the 

 trained ear. 



Longet distinguishes three different causes for the very common 

 failure to sing in tune, which amounts, in some cases, to a total 

 incapacity : 



1. The individual " has no ear," i.e. his sense of hearing is not 

 acute enough to enable him to distinguish between the different 

 tones. No one with this defect can sing. In fact, auditory 

 sensations are at least as necessary to the adequate function of the 

 organ of phonation as are visual and tactile sensations in the 

 movements of the body and limbs. The actual development of 

 the voice is dependent on the functioning of the organ of hearing ; 

 dumbness is associated with congenital deafness, and is almost 

 always due to lack of auditory sensations and not to defects in the 

 voice-producing apparatus. 



2. The individual does not sing well because his tone-memory 

 is defective, i.e. notes do not leave clear and distinct traces in his 

 memory, from which he can easily revive the corresponding tones. 

 He is quite capable of singing in tune to an instrument, or with 

 other true singers, but when left to himself he cannot hit or keep 

 up the correct note, and is aware that he sings out of tune. In 

 these cases the musical memory can be developed gradually by 

 careful training, so that the faults in singing are reduced or 

 disappear. 



3. The individual cannot sing correctly because his larynx 

 cannot produce true notes in response to volitional impulses. This 

 not uncommon peculiarity is due not to anomalous conformation 

 of the larynx, but to some imperfection of the nervous mechanism 

 by which the tactile and muscular sensations are transmitted 

 centripetally to the centre, or the motor impulses centrifugally to 

 the laryngeal muscles. 



