VOCAL REGISTERS 



445 



be called strictly a musical quality, while the perfect singing voice pro- 

 duces true musical notes. This probably is due to the fact that the 

 inflections of the voice in speaking are not in the form of distinct musi- 

 cal intervals, that the vibrations follow each other and are superimposed 

 in an irregular manner, and that no special effort is made to put the 

 vocal chords on any definite tension, unless to meet a more powerful 

 expiratory effort when the voice is increased in force. A shout or a 

 scream is not a singing note. This difference is at once apparent in con- 

 trasting recitative with ordinary dialogue in operatic performances. 



The divisions of the voice into registers, made by physiologists, are 

 sometimes based on theories in regard to the manner of their produc- 

 tion ; and if these theories are not correct, the division into registers 

 must be equally faulty. Again, there are such marked differences 

 between male and female voices, that it does not seem possible to apply 

 the same divisions to both sexes. There is no difficulty, however, in 

 recognizing the qualities of voices called bass, barytone and tenor, in the 

 male, or contralto, mezzo and soprano, in the female. A division of the 

 voice into registers should be one easily recognizable by singers and sing- 

 ing teachers ; and this must be different for male and for female voices. 

 If a division could be made such as would be readily recognized by the 

 ear, irrespective of theories, it would remain only to ascertain as nearly 

 as possible the exact vocal mechanism of each register. It must be 

 remembered that the voice of a perfect singer shows no recognizable 

 break, or line of division between the vocal registers, except when a 

 difference is made apparent in order to produce certain legitimate 

 musical effects. One great end sought to be attained in training the 

 voice in singing is to make the voice as nearly as possible uniform 

 throughout the extent of its range ; and this has been measurably 

 accomplished in certain singers. 



Judging of different registers entirely by the effect produced on the 

 ear, both by cultivated and uncultivated singers, the following seem to 

 be the natural divisions of the male voice : 



1. The chest-register. This is the register commonly used in 

 speaking. Though usually called the chest-voice, it has, of course, no 

 connection with any special action of the chest, except, perhaps, with 

 reverberation of air in the trachea and the larger bronchial tubes. 

 This register is sensibly the same in the male and in the female. 



2. The head-register. In cultivated male voices, a quality is often 

 produced, probably by diminished power of the voice, with some modifi- 

 cation in the form and capacity of the resonant cavities, that is recog- 

 nized as a "head-voice" by those who do not regard the head-register 

 as equivalent to the falsetto. 



