manifest his refinement of soul by 

 coming forth from his hole at the 

 sound of a piano and to sit with the 

 air of a connoisseur criticising the 

 selections with which he was being 

 favored. 



Not only is the ability to hear dif- 

 ferent in different persons, but the 

 thoroughness with which they hear 

 varies largely. Few sounds consist of 

 simple waves of air. As the waves of 

 the sea are noticed to bear smaller 

 waves upon them and these in turn to 

 carry wavelets, so the waves of sound 

 are rarely smooth, simple waves. 

 There are many more waves upon 

 waves in sound production than can 

 be observed on the surface of the sea. 

 A note from the piano not only sounds 

 the note which the key struck repre- 

 sents, but also a great many tones that 

 chord with this tone higher up the 

 scale. These overtones are not so loud 

 as the fundamental tone and cannot 

 readily be detected by the uncultivated 

 ear. But they give character to the 

 tone. The overtones make the note 

 of the violin and the cornet differ. 

 No two voices have the same over- 

 tones, and while we are unable to hear 

 these overtones by themselves, yet we 

 are able to distinguish the voices of 

 our friends instantly by means of them. 



As voices differ in the overtones 

 they carry, so do ears differ in the 

 number of overtones they are able to 

 receive. Some people enjoy hearing 

 high voices only. For them the 

 soprano or tenor is always in demand. 

 Others prefer deep voices and admire 

 altos and basses. I have stood beside 

 a friend at a concert where a first class 

 artist was pouring forth a baritone 

 song with the most delicate and ar- 

 tistic tone and finish, and had my friend 

 turn to me and say : " What on earth 

 do people find in that man's voice to 

 pay money to hear?" The singer's 

 voice was full of rich overtones which 

 made it valuable to the average cul- 

 tured listener, but in the ear of my 



friend they produced a jarring tliat 

 was decidedly unpleasant to him, al- 

 though he was fond of the singing of 

 the untrained voices of the members 

 of the choir where he attended church. 



A large part of the business of the 

 voice culture expert is the adjustment 

 of the vocal organs in singing so as to 

 produce the right sets of overtones to 

 give the voice a carrying quality and 

 the richness we enjoy in the finished 

 artist. One notable example of the 

 production of too much of a good thing 

 was instanced in the fate of a soprano 

 who came to America a few years ago 

 with an extensive operatic repertoire 

 and a voice that could not be drowned 

 by a full orchestra as it soared to the 

 greatest heights and displayed a flex- 

 ibility most remarkable. But she 

 failed to please us. A neighbor of 

 mine said to her friend: '^ Just wait till 

 you hear Madame Blank begin. She 

 has a voice that will cut you like a 

 knife." 



Both the inner and outer ear forma 

 tions are responsible for the differences 

 in hearing in different people. Culti- 

 vation does much for any sense, but 

 for him that has no ear for music 

 cultivation will not construct an ear. 

 It is easy to see what a difference in 

 hearing will be produced by a slight 

 change in the position of the outer ear. 

 While listening to a steady sound, 

 draw the ear forward with one finger, 

 relax it to its normal position, then 

 push it back against the head. The 

 quality of the sound heard and its 

 intensity will be varied in each 

 instance. 



So we may be lenient with our 

 friends who do not enjoy the same sort 

 of music with ourselves. And the 

 same music will not always be the 

 very same. A pistol shot upon a 

 mountain top sounds much like a fire 

 cracker in a valley, and the condition 

 of the atmosphere frequently modifies 

 music almost as much as the shape of 

 the room in which it is produced. 



91 



