VOCAL REGISTERS 449 



(Garcia) of the entire length of the vocal chords, in which the apophyses 

 of the arytenoid cartilages participate to a greater or less extent, these 

 cartilages not being in close apposition. 



2. In passing to the lower medium, the arytenoid cartilages probably 

 are not closely approximated, but they do not vibrate, the vocal chords 

 alone acting. 



3. In passing to the upper medium, the arytenoid cartilages probably 

 are closely approximated, and the vocal chords alone vibrate, but they 

 vibrate in their entire length. 



4. The head-register which may be called the female falsetto - 

 bears the same relation to the lower registers in both sexes. The notes 

 are clear but deficient in vibrant quality. They are higher in the female 

 than in the male because the vocal chords are shorter. Laryngoscopic 

 observations demonstrating this fact in the female are as accurate and 

 definite as in the male (see Fig. 95). 



The reasons why the range of the different vocal registers is limited 

 are the following : Within the limits of each register, the tension of the 

 vocal chords has an exact relation to the pitch of the sound produced. 

 This tension is of course restricted by the limits of power of the muscles 

 acting on the vocal chords, for high notes, and by the limit of possible 

 regular vibration of chords of a certain length, for low notes. The 

 higher the tension and the greater the rigidity of the chords, the greater 

 is the expiratory force required to throw them into vibration ; and this, 

 also, has certain limits. It is not desirable to push the lower registers 

 in female voices to their utmost limits. All competent singing teachers 

 recognize this fact. The female chest-register may be made to meet the 

 upper medium, especially in contraltos ; but the singer then has practi- 

 cally two voices, a condition often existing but musically intolerable. In 

 blending the different registers so as to make a perfectly uniform single 

 voice, the arytenoid vibrations should be rendered progressively and 

 evenly less and less prominent, until they imperceptibly cease when the 

 lower medium is fully reached ; the arytenoid cartilages should then be 

 progressively and evenly approximated to each other, until they are firmly 

 in contact and the upper medium is fully reached. The female vocal 

 apparatus is then perfect. While single notes of the chest-voice, lower 

 medium and upper medium, contrasted with each other, have different 

 qualities, the voice is even throughout its entire range ; and the proper 

 shading called for in musical compositions can be made in any part of 

 the scale. The blending of the male chest-register into the falsetto and 

 of the upper medium into the female falsetto, or true head-voice, is more 

 difficult, but it is not impossible. Theoretically this must be done 

 by shortening the vocal chords gradually and progressively and not 



