Rom. It was the lark, the herald of the morn, No nightingale: look, love, what envious streaks It drew me nearer,― nearer,— -Lord Houghton. EXERCISES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF VOCAL ENERGY In the discussion of purity of tone, we confined ourselves to selections that required subdued or moderate volumes of voice, for two reasons: first, because we seldom use, in the ordinary affairs of life, anything more than moderate force; second, because it is easier to secure purity of tone with the moderate forces of voice than with the louder or more impassioned. Nevertheless, it is necessary to cultivate the louder forces of voice, and though the much greater portion of our literature is rendered with moderate volumes, yet the louder forces are needed for public address and for the expression of the more elevated forms of thought. The First Step in securing vocal energy is the mastery of those physical exercises that relate to the development of strength in the action of the diaphragm and the muscular walls of the abdomen; the development of the muscles of the chest, and the expansion of the lungs; the development of elasticity in the muscles of the trunk, and flexibility in the muscles of the thorax and the throat. PHYSICAL EXERCISES To develop upper chest muscles.- Raise arms sideways, shoulders high, elbows straight, hands clenched, knuckles toward floor. Make as many small circles with arms from shoulder as possible, while inhaling one full deep breath slowly. Inhale full deep breath while raising arms slowly sideways to meet overhead. Keep hips back, head up, weight forward, and elbows perfectly straight. Exhale while arms come down slowly to position. This exercise fills the lungs completely, and gives the greatest strength and freedom to the respiratory muscles. Repeat the same lying with the back flat on the floor. Abdominal muscles.- Inhale and hold breath while bending the waist line, first to the right, then to the left. Repeat, bending to the front and back at the waist. Lying flat on the back, keep the heels together on the floor, fold arms across chest, and rise to sitting position. Use the abdominal muscles in the exercise of panting like a dog, closing the exercise by one quick expulsion of the remaining breath. Let the throat muscles be free. Whisper the following commands with free, open position of throat, and strong, quick action of abdominal muscles: Forward, the Light Brigade! "My bannerman, advance! I see," he cried, " their column shake; Not a minute more to wait! Let the captains all and each Shove ashore, then blow up, burn the vessels on the beach! In the exercises for purity of tone, the resonance was confined to the cavities of the mouth, nose, and pharynx, and hence it is called head tone. In the following exercises, the resonance will be felt in all the air-chambers of the body, especially in the large cavity of the chest, and this is known by the term chest tone. The Second Step is to vocalize the vowels or numerals expulsively and explosively. An expulsive sound is a short shout, having a very appreciable vanish; an explosive sound is a pistollike report, having little appreciable vanish. EXERCISES FOR PRACTICE 1. Repeat the word up five times expulsively. Repeat the word up five times explosively. 2. 3. Repeat each one of the vowels a, e, i, o, u, and the numerals up to ten, five time expulsively, and then as often explosively. 4. Repeat the vorvels and numerals and the word up expulsively and explosively as many times as you can with one breath. Avoid all severe strain upon the muscles or lungs in continuing the repetitions. 5. Join the word up with the combinations på, fā, mā, dā, bā, thus: ŭp-fō, ŭp-pè, ŭp-pi, ŭp-pō, ŭp-pū — ŭp-fā, ŭp-fē, ŭp-fi, ŭp-fō, ŭp-fù, etc. Repeat these combinations expulsively and explosively. 6. Join the word up with the first ten numerals, thus: up-one, up-two, up-three, etc. Repeat expulsively and explosively. 7. Alternate this exercise, first vowels, then numerals. 8. Shout with sustained force or the calling voice the vowels ā, ē, i, ō, ū. Prolong each vowel five or ten seconds. 9. Shout with sustained force the numerals up to ten. 10. Read in the calling voice the following sentences: Ho! Ship ahoy! Katherine, Queen of England, come into the court! Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State! Jove with us, Jove with us! Foward, the Light Brigade! Blow on! This is the land of liberty! Olea! for Castile! Charge, Chester, charge! On, Stanley, on! The Third Step is to secure variety in force. Next to indis tinctness, which must be acknowledged the cardinal fault in public speaking, comes the lack of variety in force. Most speakers, to put it in the language of the people, have a big voice and a little one. Very few intermediate volumes are cultivated, and the consequence is that the speaking is all of the same strength and thickness — like a rope. As well expect an orchestra to render a great musical composition without reading between the lines and observing the moderate, forte, and fortissimo directions, as to expect a great masterpiece of oratory to be successfully delivered without regard to the lights and shades of varying force. Variety in the speaking voice is secured: first, by melodious intonations, or using different notes on the musical scale in uttering the various words of a sentence; second, by increasing or decreasing the volume of voice, as the impassioned or the didactic portions of the selection demand. The latter form of variety is the one most sadly neglected, and for the cultivation of which we offer a few simple and practical suggestions. The following diagram will give the pupil some idea of the wide range of force that should be cultivated. |