Antithetical and Ironical Style: Circumflex Inflections, § 213. ADDED TO THE FIFTEENTH EDITION. Appendix I: Hints for Composition of Orations, The author is under obligations to Messrs. Houghton, Os- ORATOR'S MANUAL. VOCAL CULTURE. GENERAL DIRECTIONS HOW TO USE THE ORGANS WHILE BREATHING, VOCALIZING AND ARTICULATING. 1. When not prevented by catarrh, other nasal obstructions, or the requirements of rapid speaking, inhale through the nostrils. a. These warm and filter the air, and thus prevent it from either chilling or irritating the vocal passages and so causing huskiness. 2. Always draw the air into the lungs by making the abdomen press forward, and force the air out, whether vocalized or not, by contracting the abdomen, or making it sink in. a. Under the breathing and over the digestive organs, separating the two, is the diaphragm, the muscles of which are so formed as to act in the lungs like a piston in a pump's cylinder. These are the only muscles in the body so made and placed as to draw into the lungs all the air possible; or to force it out of them in such a way as to produce the most powerful and effective sounds. When this diaphragm sinks, to draw in the air, it crowds down the abdomen and pushes it outward. When the diaphragm rises, to force out the air, it contracts and draws in the abdomen. Babes and strong men breath and speak thus, naturally. Weak persons, and those who sit or stoop much, acquire a habit of using mainly the muscles of the upper chest, the lifting of which, in order to inhale, draws the abdomen in, and the dropping of which, in order to exhale, forces the abdomen out. This habit weakens the lower lungs, by keeping one from using them. It weakens, also, the upper lungs, by employ ing them for a purpose for which they are not fitted. Besides this, as it does not expel the air from the bottom of the lungs, it lessens the quantity of breath used in vocalizing; and also, as the chest, while one is speaking thus, contracts the upper bronchial tubes, which otherwise would expand and vibrate during the utterance, it lessens the resonance of the tones. b. The proper order in deep breathing is to expand first the abdomen, i. e. the front, and at the same time the sides and back of the waist, then the lower ribs at the sides, then the upper chest; and in exhaling, to contract first the abdomen and waist, then the lower ribs at the sides, and last, the chest. This will be acquired through the exercises in § 8. c. To acquire the use of the diaphragm in vocalizing, after inhaling, draw in the abdomen suddenly, by an act of will, and at the same time gently cough out hoo-ho-haw or hah, as in the exercise in § 10. After a few days the contraction of the abdomen, which at first is merely produced at the same time as the vocal utterance, will come to be the cause that produces it. 3. Always mould or articulate vowels and consonants as near the lips and as far from the throat as possible. a. The passages of the nose, and of the throat near to the vocal cords, are designed to act on the voice mainly as a bell's cavity, to throw the tones forward, or give them resonance. When they share in the contraction of the muscles that takes place in articulating, the strength and sweetness of the voice, as well as the health of these passages, is impaired. In acquiring the proper use of these organs, the first thing is to get the muscles in the back part of the mouth in the habit of expanding to let the sounds come forward. Hence the silent muscular exercises - those of coughing, yawning, gasping, sobbing and laughing—and the continued practice (which must be attempted many times before even the sounds can be produced properly) of the elementary vowel sounds of oh, aw and ah, recommended in §§ 7-10. What has been said of the nature and functions of the organs used in producing words will be found to contain, in concise form, all that the ordinary student of elocution needs to know for practical purposes, i. e. to enable him to understand the general reasons underlying the methods prescribed in the exercises §§ 7-15. Those who wish to study these subjects theoretically and thoroughly will of course consult some good anatomy. See also pages 360–364. |