TWENTY-ONE YEARS PROFESSOR OF OPERATIVE DENTISTRY AND ORAL SURGERY IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY; MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, THE ACADEMY OF DENTAL SCIENCE, THE NEW ENGLAND OTOLOGICAL AND LARYNGOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION, ETC.; LECTURER ON VOICE DEVELOPMENT.   The Music Students Library BOSTON OLIVER DITSON COMPANY NEW YORK CHAS. H. DITSON & CO. CHICAGO LYON & HEALY Copyright, MCMXI By Oliver Ditson Company International Copyright secured...

Efforts to develop my own voice, and the voices of my patients after operations for cleft palate, aided by anatomical study, resulted in a plan for the focusing and development of the human voice quite different from any other yet published, or, so far as I know, yet proposed. This plan has proved so successful in my later life that I feel emboldened to offer it for the consideration of speakers and singers. While twenty-five years ago few of the principles here described were acknowledged or ev

When a youth it was my lot to be surrounded by examples of faulty vocalism, such as prevailed in a country town, and to be subjected to the errors then in vogue, having at the same time small opportunity for training in the application of principles, even as then imperfectly taught. At middle life I had given up all attempt at singing and had difficulty in speaking so as to be heard at any considerable distance or for any considerable length of time. Professional obligations to my patients, howe

Since the vocal organism first became an object of systematic study, discussion has been constant as to whether the human vocal instrument is a stringed instrument, a reed instrument, or a whistle. Discussion of the question seems futile, for practically it is all of these and more. The human vocal organs form an instrument, sui generis , which cannot be compared with any other one thing. Not only is it far more complex than any other instrument, being capable, as it is, of imitating nearly ever

A generation ago the speaking voice was even less understood than the singing voice. That the two were intimately connected was but half surmised. Only an occasional person recognized what is now generally conceded, that a good way to improve the speaking voice is to cultivate the singing voice. In 1887 I published a paper in the Independent Practitioner defining the singing voice and the speaking voice as identical, and contending that the training for each should be the same so far as tone for

It has been said that "breathing is singing." This statement is equally applicable to speaking. While the aphorism is not literally true, it is true that without properly controlled breathing the best singing or speaking tone cannot be produced, for tone is but vocalized breath; hence in the cultivation of the voice, breathing is the first function to receive attention. For singer or speaker, the correct use of the breathing apparatus determines the question of success or failure; for without ma

Enough has been said in the preceding chapter to make clear the necessity of breath control, and to show what constitutes this control for the singer—the professional breather. If the singer's breathing is nothing but an amplification of normal, healthy breathing, why dwell upon it, why not let it develop of itself? Unfortunately, many teachers have taken this attitude, overlooking the fact that, although life is dependent on normal, healthy breathing, such breathing is, in civilized communities

The subject of registers has always been the bête noire of vocalists, a source of controversy and confusion. The term "register," as commonly used, means a series of tones of a characteristic clang or quality, produced by the same mechanism. The term "break" is generally used to indicate the point at which a new register with sudden change appears. The advocates of registers lay stress either on the changes in laryngeal action, or the changes in tone quality. Before the days of the laryngoscope,

The intimate relationship existing between voice culture and the science of acoustics was formerly slightly perceived. The teaching of singing, as an art, then rested altogether on an empirical basis, and the acoustics of singing had not received the attention of scientists. With the publication in 1863 of Helmholtz's great work [4] a new era began, although singer and scientist yet continue to look upon each other with suspicion. Teachers of the voice, casting about for a scientific basis for t

Of the four component factors in the production of speech and song, the first, the motor , has been considered in Chapter III , and the second, the vibrator , in Chapter I . In one respect there is marked contrast between these two factors. Until right habits are so thoroughly formed that the singer's breathing is automatically controlled, conscious effort is necessary, while the action of the vibrator, the vocal cords, is involuntary, not subject to conscious control. The subtle adjustments of

What is called "placing the voice" or "tone production" or "focusing the voice" is, as already stated in the previous chapter , chiefly a matter of resonance—of control of the resonator. Now vocalization is largely vowelization, and vocal tones are a complex of sound and resonance. The character of a vowel is given it by the shape of the vowel chamber; and the shaping of the vowel chamber depends upon delicate adjustment of the movable parts,—jaw, lips, cheeks, tongue, veil of the palate, and ph

What is the most frequent obstacle to good singing, the difficulty with which pupil and teacher most contend? Throat stiffness. What more than anything else mars the singing of those we hear in drawing-rooms, churches, and the concert room? Throat stiffness. This is the vice that prevents true intonation, robs the voice of its expressiveness, limits its range, lessens its flexibility, diminishes its volume, and makes true resonance impossible. This great interferer not only lessens the beauty of

Pupils are constantly urged to sing and speak naturally, because the "natural" tone is correct. This is exceedingly indefinite. It is natural for a child to imitate the first sound it hears, whether it be correct or incorrect. In either case the child imitates it, and for that child it becomes the natural tone. The child reared in the wilderness, beyond the hearing of a human voice, will imitate the notes of the whip-poor-will, the chatter of the monkey, and the hoot of the owl, and for him they

Mental conception precedes execution. The picture must exist in the artist's mind before it can be drawn on the canvas. The architect must mentally see the majestic cathedral in all its details before he can draw the plans from which it can be built. In the field of physical activity no movement is made until the mind has gone before and prepared the way. A person's ability to do is in a great degree measured by his determination to do, but sitting in a rocking-chair and thinking will never make

Abdominal Breathing , employed by Martel, 4 , 26 ; lateral, 3 . (See also Chest-abdominal breathing and Lateral abdominal breathing .) Acoustics , 43 ; experiments in, 46 -48; Pascal on, 49 . Actor , enunciation of the, 19 ; importance of deep breathing for, 19 . Adam's Apple , the male larynx, 9 . Age to begin study of voice, 77 . Ah -sound, narrow limits of, 18 ; how produced, 22 ; Lilli Lehmann on, 19 ; place of, in practice, 57 . Air Cavities (see Sinuses ). Anxiety , a deterrent to beautifu

A series of Educational Text-books suited to the requirements of the average student and covering every essential branch of musical instruction. Note :—Unless otherwise specified, books are bound in cloth. logo This notable series has been planned to embrace all the masterpieces of song and piano literature; to gather into superbly made volumes of uniform size and binding the best work of the best composers, edited by men of authority. Each volume is independent, complete in itself, and sold by

Bach Piano Album Vol. I. Shorter Compositions. Edited by Dr. Ebenezer Prout. Vol. II. Larger Compositions. Edited by Dr. Ebenezer Prout. Beethoven Piano Compositions Vols. I and II. Edited by Eugen D'Albert. Brahms, Johannes Selected Piano Compositions. Edited by Rafael Joseffy. Chopin, Frederic Forty Piano Compositions. Edited by James Huneker. The Greater Chopin. Edited by James Huneker. Grieg, Edvard Larger Piano Compositions. Edited by Bertha Feiring Tapper. Piano Lyrics and Shorter Composit

Brahms, Johannes Forty Songs. High Voice. Low Voice. Edited by James Huneker. Franz, Robert Fifty Songs. High Voice. Low Voice. Edited by William Foster Apthorp. Grieg, Edvard Fifty Songs. High Voice. Low Voice. Edited by Henry T. Finck. Handel, George Frideric Vol. I. Songs and Airs. High Voice. Vol. II. Songs and Airs. Low Voice. Edited by Dr. Ebenezer Prout. Jensen, Adolf Forty Songs. High Voice. Low Voice. Edited by William Foster Apthorp. Liszt, Franz Thirty Songs. High Voice. Low Voice. Ed