One has thus the sensation as if the whole body took part
in this formation of sound, and as if the lower tones of the
chest register were drawn from the lowest part of the lungs.
In producing the second series of the chest register, the
sensation is as if the tones came from the upper part of the
chest, midway between the pit of the stomach and the larynx.
With regard to the tones of the first series of the falsetto,
the feeling is as if they had their origin in the throat.
In the tones of the second series of the falsetto, we feel as if
the throat had nothing to do with them--as if they were formed
above, in the mouth.
With the head tones, one has the feeling that they come from
the forehead.
It is these _physical sensations_ that have given occasion
to many erroneous conjectures in regard to the formation of
tones, but we are satisfied that they have no direct relation
to the generation of sound, and appear so only through the
nerves active in the process.
By directing the attention of one's pupils to these different
sensations, it is very easy to make them acquainted with the
different registers of the voice--always a very necessary
proceeding in the first training of a voice, although it
seems to be so only in the case of such voices as have been
previously misdirected.
The culture of the female voice is best begun with the two
series of the falsetto register and the second of the chest
register; the tones of these three middle registers must be
pretty well cultivated before the lowest chest tones and the
head voice are begun to be formed. The voice in this way best
attains to an equal fulness. It is self-evident also that the
teaching should be such that the transitions of the registers
should be not at all or scarcely perceptible, consequently
that all the tones should sound proportionally strong and
full.
In the soprano voice the falsetto, and in the contralto voice
the chest register, have more fulness and grace, and thus we
may distinguish to which kind of voice a voice belongs, for
the compass of the voice is not always confined within certain
limits. There are contraltos that can sing the high head tones
with ease, and sopranos that can sing the low chest tones with
equal facility--a fact which has often given occasion to an
incorrect treatment of a voice. So also with the male voice.
A bass voice sings the lower series of the chest register with
more ease and sweetness and with more obscure timbre. A tenor
voice sings the second series of the chest register in a
clearer timbre.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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