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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
VOCAL AND ACTION -LANGUAGE
CULTURE AND EXPRESSION
E. N. KIRBY
TEACHER OF ELOCUTION IN LYNN HIGH SCHOOLS
BOSTON
LEE AND SHEPARD, PUBLISHERS
NEW YORK
C. T. DILLINGHAM, 678 BROADWAY
1885
\
Copyright,
1S84,
By E. N. KIRBY=
BOSTON*
ELECTROTYPGU AND PRINTED PY
ALFRED MUDCE AND SON.
PREFACE,
Many cf my pupils have repeatedly requested me to print
for reference the matter on elocution as* I have given it in
class and private instruction. With this in view, and hoping
to benefit professional speakers and others, I venture to make
public the subject as it has been received from the best
sources in this country, which I am assured, upon the most
reliable evidence, affords opportunities superior to those of
any other in the world.
My aim has been simply to make a concise and practical
handbook on elocution, adapted especially to the needs of
those who have had no adequate instruction or practice in an
art which they must use as readers, speakers, or teachers.
I lay no claim to original discovery, except in minor
instances ; but claim the advantage cf having proven in
teach' ng the value of the method and practice herein pre-
sented.
If the analysis and arrangement are valuable, I shall have
accomplished something ; for no book, yet published, sys-
tematic^iy presents the whole subject.
The authorities for the facts contained in these pages are
specialists in their departments. This will make the con-
tents of standard value.
I would gratefully acknowledge my obligation to my former
teachers, prominent among whom were Prof. L. B. Monroe
and Dr. Charles A. Guilmette (now deceased) and Dr. C. W.
Emerson. I would here offer thanks to Dr. Martin, of Johns
Hopkins University, for permission to use figures from his
excellent work on "The Human Body," and to Messrs.
Henry Holt & Co., publishers, for plates of the same.
E. N. KIRBY.
July 12, 1884.
TO TEACHERS AND STUDENTS.
It is hardly necessary to say that in no art, and especially
not in the art of expression, can a handbook fill the place of
a living teacher ; but with good book instruction the faithful
student will make decided progress. I am confident that this
instruction will also be found a valuable supplement to any
teacher's efforts.
In this subject, the student would do well to " prove all
things," as far as possible, and accept any statement only
because it means so much to him.
It is recommended, first, that two or more combine in
classes for mutual help. Among other things, this secures
the advantage of another's eyes to see and another's ears to
hear ; second, that the student study the contents of these
pages, and become thoroughly acquainted with their princi-
ples, then to practise faithfully day by day the exercises
prescribed.
Exercise in this work should be both general and specific,
and adapted to individual peculiarities. Each student should
seek first to know his own peculiar faults, and then work with
the special exercise to overcome them.
In addition to this, it is advisable to practise all that brings
any development, and to cultivate expression with the fullest
use of every agent. Let your work be not only destructive
in overcoming faults, but constructive in seeking perfect
expression. The student must work with the ear as well as
with the mouth. Train the ear to detect every quality of
voice and inflection, etc. The caution is given not to become
6 VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
discouraged if not able to accomplish any task after repeated
efforts. You must " learn to labor and to wait." The time
element must enter largely into the problem of all culture,
and this is doubly true in the art cf expression. The faults
you seek to eradicate are the growth cf years, perhaps ; but
faithful work will accomplish good results in every case.
CONTENTS.
Preface . 3
To Teachers and Students „ . „ , . 5
List of Authorities 11
Introductory.
Necessity and Importance of Elocutionary Training. —
Use of Language acquired — Practical Necessity — Relation
to Press 13
Opinions of Distinguished Men. — Archbishop of York-
Rev. Dr. Hall — Dr. J. G Holland — Dr. Kirk— Hon. W. E.
Dodge 19
History of Elocution 21
The System of Oratory 24
Oratory as an Art 25
Qualifications of the Orator. — Character — Truth — Thor-
ough Knowledge — Store of Facts — Memory — Tact — Good-
Will — Sincerity — Logic — Rhetoric — ; Imagination — Knowl-
edge of the Fine Arts 2S
Conditions 31
Reading and Speaking ' i 2
PART I.
Vocal Culture and Expression.
Vocal Culture.
CHAPTER I.
Physical Development. — For Vital Functioning — Chest Capa
city — Erect, Strong Bearing — Respiration — Freedom ... 27
VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
CHAPTER II.
The Physical Basis of Voice. — Sound — Musical Tones —
Force — Pitch — Quality — Overtones — Physical Value of
Vowels , 40
CHAPTER III.
Respiration — Inspiration — Expiration — Kinds of Breathing
— Air breathed — Ventilation — Forced Breathing — Lung
Expansion a 45
CHAPTER IV.
The Instrument of Voice . . 55
The Physiology and Anatomy of the Vocal Apparatus.
— Trachea — Larynx — Lungs — Opening of Glottis — Ten-
sion of Vocal Cords 56
V
CHAPTER V.
Vocal Development. — Qualities of Voice 62
CHAPTER VI.
Orthoepy. — Pronunciation — Alphabetic — Vowels — Conso-
nants — Articulation 72
Vocal Expression.
CHAPTER VII.
Language. — Language of Form — Attitude — Automatic Move-
ment — Gesture — Facial Expression — Inarticulate Noises —
Inflected Tones — Articulate Language — Deeds 82
Articulate Language. — Emphasis 84
Language of Inflected Tones. — Pitch — Discrete — Con-
crete — Slides — Rising — Semitone — Falling — Circumflex 85
CHAPTER VIII.
Melody of Discourse. — Discrete Pitch — Cadence . . . . a 04
Measure of Speech. — Accent — Measure — Quantity .... 97
CONTENTS. 9
Stress. — Radical — Median — Terminal — Thorough — Intermit-
tent 99
Force. — Gentle — Moderate — Loud — Very Loud 101
Movement. — Quick — Moderate — Slow — Very Slow .... 103
Qualities of Voice in Use. — Pure Tone — Full Tone — Aspi-
rated — Guttural 104
Phrasing or Grouping ' 105
Climax 106
Style 107
Imitative Modulation 108
Transition 108
Analysis of Expressive "Voice no
PART II.
Action-Language Culture and Expression,
CHAPTER I.
Expression by Action. — Sir Charles Bell's Investigations — Dar-
win's Principles — Other Classifications it 15
Oratorical Value of Action 116
CHAPTER IT.
General Principles and Practice. — Preparatory Exercises —
Laws 122
CHAPTER III.
Criteria for Practice 126
Delsarte's Classification .126
The Chest in Expression , , . . 120
CHAPTER IV.
The Limbs in Expression. — The Feet and Legs — The Hand
— The Arms 128
CHAPTER V.
The Face and Head in Expression. — The Eyes — The Head, 136
IO VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
PART III.
Expression.
The Speaker before the Audience
Analysis of Written Language. .
M3
144
I. The Elder Brother . . . Monroe's Reader .... 146
II. The Cheerful Locksmith. Charles Dickens .... 147
III. LOCHINVAR Sir Walter Scott .... 148
IV. Toussaint L'Ouverture . Wendell Phillips .... 149
V. Speech Patrick Henry 152
VI. Cassius and Brutus . . . Shakespeare 153
VII. Language Ruskin 155
VIII. Bunker Hill Monument . Webster 156
IX. Psalm xxxix King David 158
X. John ix St. John 159
XI. The Sure Reward . . . /. G. Whittier 162
XII. Fulness of Love .... Charles Wesley 163
LIST OF AUTHORITIES.
The following are some of the authorities used in this book* —
Alford, Dean Henry "Queen's English."
Alger, Rev. Wm. R. . . . "Dramatic Art " (in "Life of Forrest ")
Austin, Gilbert " Chironomea."
Barber, Dr. Jonathan " Grammar of Elocution.''
Bell, AM...... "Principles of Elocution.''
Bell, Sir Charles " Anatomy of Expression."
Bell, Sir Charles "The Hand."
Brown and Behnke. "Voice Song and Speech."
Catlin, George , " Shut your Mouth."
Darwin, C has. . . . " Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals.''
Delaumosne, M. L'Abbe. " Delsarte's Expressive Man." (Trans.
by F. Shaw.)
Guttman, Oskar " Vocal Gymnastics."
Holmes, Gordon . .... "Physiology and Hygiene of the Voice."
Helmholtz . . . . " Sensation of Tone." (Trans, by Alex'. J. Ellis )
Jebb, John "Attic Orators."
Legouve, Earnest « . " Art of Reading." (Trans, by Edwd. Roth.)
Martin, H. Neweli " The Human Body."
Monroe, L. B. „ " Vocal Gymnastics " and " Reader."
Plumptre, Charles J. . . " Lectures on Elocution."
Quintilian . ............ "Institutes of Oratory."
Rush, Dr. James " Philosophy of the Human Voice."
Tyndall, John " On Sound."
White, R. G " Words and their Uses."
INTRODUCTION.
i. — Necessity and Importance of Elocutionary
Training.
Although the subject of elocution is slowly assuming a
place of importance in the country, there is still a great deal
of misapprehension among people, otherwise intelligent, as
to the nature and utility of the study.
The objections urged are usually brief and stereotyped. I
hope an answer to them may be found in the following dis-
cussion.
(i.) The first argument for the study is foundin the fact that
the use of language and speech is acquired. However the race
may have come by the power of language, certainly each one
must acquire its use. The simplest forms of speech are
learned in infancy. The person born deaf, not being im-
pressible by the usual methods, remains destitute of the
faculty of speech until unusual means are employed ; then
even the deaf learn language, and the dumb are made to
speak.* The models we imitate are not always perfect ones ;
therefore faulty pronunciations, inflections, even bad qualities
of voice, and other imperfections are acquired. Leaving
these beginnings, man is conscious of thought, emotions, and
affections, which he would express to others to whom he is
related. The more refined the thought and delicate the
emotion, the more difficult the expression, and he finds at last
that language is poverty-stricken, in fact, sometimes a hinder-
ance, to convey the burden of thought and heart.
* See Bell's "Visible Speech," for deaf-mutes.
14 VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
A masterly use of written language requires special study
and constant painstaking. Comparatively few attain to per-
fection in the art; fewer still become skilful in speech, for
the artist must not only be thoroughly proficient in the literal
forms, but in addition must possess a body so disciplined and
a nervous system so attuned, that the organs of speech may
become the ready vehicles to express that which has appeared
in the consciousness.
Those indifferent to the study frequently indulge in the
trite saying, "The orator is born." Fine musical genius is a
gift of birth, but the musician does not fail to practise on his
instrument. The speaker's voice is infinitely more complex
and wonderful than any instrument made by man. Some
men are happily endowed by nature for the exercise of
oratory, so are others for surgery, but the student of the latter
does not neglect anatomy cr the skilful use of his instru-
ments.
Many who would discourage technical study and practice in
the art, are yet very liberal in prescribing their cure-all, " Be
natural ! " To follow intelligently this advice would be quite
difficult, if not impossible, without particular application. We
would be first led to inquire what is meant by " natural." It
is natural for some men to talk through the nose, for others
to froth and pound, for others to indulge in a tone of sepul-
chral monotony, reminding us of the phonograph. I hold it
to be poor advice to recommend such to be "natural." If
" natural " means normal, then the instruction, be normal,
has a meaning. Normal expression would say, " Do not
speak through the nose ; for physiologists have agreed, and
vocal teachers have insisted, that the nose is not an organ of
speech, but was made to smell with." Normal expression
would recommend the minister to open his mouth, as did
the Master when He gave the Sermon on the Mount.
As the skilful use of language is not a matter of intuition
and must be acquired, why not correct the faults hitherto
INTRODUCTION. 1 5
learned, and then systematically study speech instead of
blindly using these wonderful powers ? They must and will
be used, and should therefore be disciplined and cultivated.
(2.) The second argument J r or the value of the study is that of
practical necessity. Some have looked upon the practice of
oratory as a luxury and not as a necessity; and upon its ex-
cellences as adornments and not as indispensables. The art
does not contemplate the effort to pass off nothing for some-
thing, but to pass off something for just what it is worth. It
aims at an easy and effective delivery, permitting nothing un-
necessary.
The action of many speakers, viewed from the standpoint
of utility, is simply ridiculous. The thoughtful student sits
and asks, " Now what is the use of that senseless monotony ?
What is the use of whining and using that cant tone ? "
Some speakers are as lifeless as skeletons and as cold as
statues. They must be aroused. Others are as extravagant
as clowns. They must be taught self-control. Very fre-
quently we have heard the expression, " It tires me to hear
Mr. , he labors so hard." I know of a case where an
official member of a church, in full sympathy with his pastor,
was compelled to attend service elsewhere, because the pain-
ful use of the preacher's voice so affected him. To correct
all extravagances, all mannerisms of action, all vicious habits
of voice, is the first thing elocution sets itself about.
The advantage of those who have qualified themselves as
speakers over those who have not is a practical proof of the
utility of the art. Some speakers, perhaps without special
attention to the subject, speak well and have eminent suc-
cess ; but certainly those who have not such natural abilities
must not compare their chances for success with such unu-
sual types. I once overheard an intelligent and aged layman
discussing the subject with a young theological student. He
took the ministers of the city, of all denominations, one by
one ; in every instance those who had the best delivery
\6 VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
secured the largest audiences and did more effective work,
though no better scholars than the others. Said he, " The
question is often raised, ' How shall we. get people into the
churches?'" In my opinion one answer is, "Have better
speakers in the pulpit."
When any one distinguishes himself in any particular, we
naturally seek to know by what means he achieved his advan-
tage, and esteem the practice of such lives valuable in rela-
tion to their success. We find that those who have
distinguished themselves as orators have been long, patient,
and in some instances painful toilers at their art. Public ad-
dress reached its highest perfection in Greece. Demosthe-
nes is looked upon as the prince of orators. Plutarch says
of him, "When he first addressed himself to the people, he
met with great discouragements and was derided for his strange
and uncouth manner. Besides, he had a weakness in his
voice, a perplexed and indistinct utterance, and a shortness
of breath, which, by breaking and disjointing his sentences,
much obscured the sense and meaning of what he spoke. In
one of his efforts, at length disheartened, he forsook the as-
sembly. Eunomous, an old man, upbraided him for his lack
of courage against the popular outcry, and for not fitting his
body for action, but allowing it to languish through mere sloth
and negligence."
Another time, when the assembly refused to hear- him,
going home, Satyrus, the actor, being his familiar friend, fol-
lowed him. Demosthenes complained that drunkards and
mariners and illiterate fellows were heard in the hustings,
while he was dispraised.
" You say true, Demosthenes ; repeat to me some passage
out of Euripides or Sophocles." Satyrus, taking it after him,
gave the passage with such new form that to Demosthenes it
seemed like quite another thing.
" Hereupon he built himself a place for study underground,
and shaved one side of his head that he might not go abroad."
INTRODUCTION. \J
The younger Pitt, for some time a leader in the House of
Commons, and one of the most distinguished orators of
Great Britain, was faithfully trained by his father from infancy
for a parliamentary orator.
Whitefield, the prince of pulpit orators, is said to have
taken lessons of Garrick, the actor.
The consummate oratory of Henry Clay is a fair type of
the best in American forensic eloquence. To a graduating
class of law students he said, " I owe my success to one
single fact, namely, that at an early age I commenced and
continued for some years the practice of daily reading and
speaking the contents of some book. It is to the early
practice of this art of all arts that I am indebted for the
primary and leading impulses that stimulated my progress
and moulded my destiny."
Beecher, the representative of American pulpit oratory,
drilled three years under a skilled teacher, and continued it
later in the theological seminary. He relates that he used
to make the woods ring practising his declamations.
Oratory was the ambition of Wendell Phillips, the prince
of American orators, from his youth, and was indeed the
study and practice of his whole life.
We have selected the above instances from among the rep-
resentatives of their time. Doubtless most of the distin-
guished orators have been richly endowed by nature, but to
this they have added diligent practice. It is noticeable that
generally those who object most strongly to the cultivation of
the art have the greater natural disqualifications, and yet
assume the responsibilities of professional speaking. They
may say with Antony, and more truthfully than he, " I am no
orator"; but the fact that they undertake professionally to
address audiences is an assumption of the office of oratory,
and the audience has a right to expect a measure of ability.
( 3 . ) Finally, the necessity of cultivating oratory is found in its
relation to the press. As the personality of the man can never
2
1 8 VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
be printed, as the magical influence of voice and action can
never be put upon the printed page, as the flashing eye, the
energy, the life of the speaker can never be shown upon
paper, therefore must speech always remain superior to the
press.
Some people talk about the press usurping the orator's
place, as though the two were rivals. Each has a peculiar
mission of its own. Neither renders the other unnecessary.
Indeed, I look upon the press as a valuable factor in creating
a demand for better platform and pulpit oratory. The speak-
ing world has yet to awaken more fully to the fact that the
press is furnishing matter abundantly in the letter. The
orator can never successfully cope with the press in merely
furnishing facts. What the -orator wants in addition to, and
as a complement of the letter, is " the spirit that makes
alive." Well may the orator adopt Christ's proclamation,
"I am come that ye might have life, and that ye might have
it more abundantly."
Wendell Phillips was called scores of times to deliver his
lecture on the " Lost Arts " after it had been published.
The minister, unskilled in oratory, delivering his sermons
with his nose in his manuscript, or in a dull, uninteresting
way, must bear in mind that the press has furnished, and is
still furnishing more largely, sermons in the literal form, supe-
rior to the average efforts of even strong preachers. More
than one has been heard to say, " I can read sermons at
home," "I would rather read at home than to hear Rev. Mr.
Dull." Then must the orator call in the full resources of his
art, and express the finer shades of thought and sentiment,
and give more fully the truth as he has it infleshed in himself.
He must make it easier and pleasanter for the average lis-
tener to hear the truth than to read it.
To allay any fears as to the claims of elocutionary study,
we wish to say that no amount of diligence will accomplish
natural impossibilities. " No amount of cultivation will make
INTRODUCTION. 19
a rose of a cabbage; but it will make a better cabbage."
None of our powers are more susceptible of cultivation than
those of the organs of expression. Every speaker's powers,
such as they are, should be faithfully and conscientiously
improved, though they may never measure with those of a
Pitt or a Whitefield.
I hope a fuller plea for the study may be found in the
system presented.
2. — Opinions of Distinguished Men.
The Archbishop of York, speaking before King's College
evening classes, said, " In this country and in this age, almost
every great religious, political, and social movement is effected
by the agency of public speaking, and the advantages of
being well versed in the art, as well as in that of public read-
ing, are every day becoming more apparent."
Rev. Dr. Hall, of New York, says, "There is one accom-
plishment in particular which I would earnestly recommend
to you : cultivate assiduously the ability to read well. I stop
to particularize this, because it is a thing so very much neg-
lected, and because it is such an elegant and charming accom-
plishment. Where one person is really interested by music,
twenty are pleased by good reading. Where one person is
capable of becoming a skilful musician, twenty may become
good readers. Where there is one occasion suitable for the
exercise of musical talent, there are twenty for that of good
reading.
" What a fascination there is in really good reading ! What
a power it gives one ! In the hospital, in the chamber of the
invalid, in the nursery, in the domestic and in the social cir-
cle, among chosen friends and companions, how it enables
you to administer to the amusement, the comfort, the pleas-
ure, of dear ones, as no other accomplishment can ! No
instrument of man's devising can reach the heart as does that
20 VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
most wonderful instrument, the human voice. It is God's
special gift to his chosen creatures. Fold it not away in a
napkin.
" Did you ever notice what life and power the Holy Scrip-
tures have when well read ? Have you ever heard of the
wonderful effects produced by Elizabeth Fry on the criminals
of Newgate by simply reading to them the parable of The Prod-
igal Son ? Princes and peers of the realm, it is said, counted
it a privilege to stand in the dismal corridors, among felons
and murderers, merely to share with them the privilege of
witnessing the marvellous pathos which genius, taste, and
culture could infuse into that simple story."
Dr. Holland says, " When a minister goes before an audi-
ence, it is reasonable to ask and expect that he shall be
accomplished in the arts of expression, that he shall be a
good writer and speaker. It makes little difference that he
knows more than his audience, is better than his audience,
has the true matter in him, if the art by which he conveys
his thought is shabby. There are plenty of men who can
develop the voice, and so instruct in the arts of oratory
that no man need go into the pulpit unaccompanied by
the power to impress upon the people all of the wisdom that
he carries." He also says, " Multitudes of young men are
poured out upon the country, year after year, to get their living
by public speech, who cannot even read well. The art of public
speech has been shamefully neglected in all our higher training
schools. It has been held subordinate to everything else,
when it is of prime importance. I believe more attention is
now paid to the matter than formerly. The colleges are
training their students better, and there is no danger that too
much attention will be devoted to it. The only danger is,
that the great majority will learn too late that the art of oratory
demands as much study as any other of the higher arts ; and
without it, they must flounder along through life practically
shorn of half the power that is. in them, and shut out from a
large success."
INTRODUCTION. 21
The Hon. W. E. Dodge, in a public address, said that he
had for years watched young ministers, and had been " dis-
tressed to see in how many instances they have failed in this
respect, being unable to make available the knowledge they
had acquired by years of careful study. They had no power
of voice, or style of delivery to make an impression on any
audience, and for lack of this never attain any considerable
success."
3. — History of Elocution.
If we may be permitted to speak of an eloquent monument,
a speaking picture or statue, if it is at all true that " action
speaks louder than words," then any means that expresses the
products of heart and mind is eloquence. Then God is the
primal orator, for in the beginning "God said, Let there be
light, and there was light." He spake and " the heavens
and the earth were created, the sea and all that in them
is."
Hebrew history is not without reference to the art of
elocution, for Moses seeks to excuse himself from appearing
before Pharaoh by saying, " O my Lord ! I am not eloquent;
but I am slow of speech and of a slow tongue." At last
Aaron is promised as a mouth-piece, and they enter upon the
work of delivering their people.
That the Egyptians knew the power of persuasive speech
may be inferred from the practice of their courts of justice.
The plaintiff and defendant wrote their statement and replies
for the court, and the documents were submitted to the bench
of thirty judges, who were presided over by an arch-judge.
This method was adopted, it seems, because it was thought
the arts of oratory cast a veil over the truth. Holmes says,
" Schliemann's archaeological labors at Mycenae and Tyrius
proved beyond dispute that Egypt was a fruitful source of
knowledge of every kind to the Greeks. The Greek Hermes,
' Interpreter,' was considered identical with the Egyptian
22 VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
Thoth, who was looked upon as the god of skilful speech or
eloquence."*
As no previous history records the cultivation of oratory as
an art, Greece may be called itsjnrthplace j ind home^ Here
it rose to its highest perfection ; from here its fame has spread
in all the earth, till to-day the names of Aristotle, Demos-
thenes, Pericles, are as familiar as the names of the leading
statesmen of the present time. Notwithstanding their limited
knowledge of the physics and physiology of the subjects,
their treatises upon the art are valuable in many particulars.
Plato's conception of sound and hearing is fanciful : " We
may certainly conclude that voice (sound) is a shock trans-
mitted through the ears to the soul by the air, the brain, and
the blood, and that the motion thereof, which begins in the
head and ends in the region of the liver, is hearing. When
this motion is swift, the sound is acute ; when slow, grave.
If the motion is regular, the sound is even and smooth ; if the
opposite, harsh. A great motion gives a loud sound, the
opposite a faint one." f
Aristotle (384 B. C.) had a more perfect conception of the
organs of voice. He states the larynx emits vowel sounds ;
the teeth and lips, consonants. His treatise is elaborate.
The different parts of the art were assigned to especial
teachers, and prescribed physical and vocal practice for
development of body and voice. They gave attention to the
hygiene' of the voice, and established public contests in
declamation.
The genius of their free institutions, their taste for art,
fostered the cultivation of this art of arts ; besides, the high-
est places in the nation were possible only to eloquence. So
eveiything conspired to make a race of orators.
. j .
* Gordon Holmes, L. R. C. P., " Vocal Physiology and Hygiene of the
Voice. V
T Holmes, " Vocal Physiology."
INTRODUCTION. 23
Rome borrowed her eloquence, her methods of cultivating
it, from Greece, as she did her other arts and learning, till
"victorious Rome was herself subdued by the arts of Greece."
Republican Rome was well adapted to nurture oratory.
Their patience and attention to minute particulars are surpris-
ing to us of this age of hurry. Quintilian's " Institutes of
Oratory " is a very elaborate treatise upon the art. At last
oratory was abused ; the niceties of the art became fantastic,
and finally declined with the Empire.
Then the Christian church became the custodian of the
art, and preserved and cultivated oratory. Chrysostom, the
" golden mouth " of the fourth century, is familiarly known
as the most distinguished orator of the early church fathers.
After the darkness of the early Middle Ages, the revival of
oratory began in Italy after the twelfth century, continuing to
the present civilization. Crolius preceded Bossuet and Mas-
sillon of France by nearly a century.
Our attention is next attracted to the famous orators of
Great Britain and Ireland, then to the distinguished examples
of our earlier civilization.
It cannot be said, however, that oratory has been generally
or systematically cultivated in modern time. Professional
speakers who have given attention to it are in the minority.
This neglect is partially accounted for by the fact that, after
the revival of letters, the world was busy acquiring knowl-
edge, and then the art of printing was a convenient agent in
discussion and in the dissemination of knowledge.
We have not felt the necessity of cultivating the art ; we
have waited for the leisure to attend to it as an accomplish-
ment. Logically and historically, facts or knowledge must
precede their use. Relatively we have the knowledge. It
has been increased and disseminated, till now it seems to me
oratory will have a chance, in its legitimate field, of making
such skilful use of the facts that they shall be adapted to
persuade. This latter function is the chief end of oratory.
24 VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
Treatises on the art have appeared from time to time, some
having special value, but most of them touching only one
phase of the subject and none possessing the merit of a com-
plete and practical discussion.
The subject, as presented by Delsarte, so far as our knowl-
edge will permit us to judge, seems to have been a thorough
discussion of the subject according to the scientific method.
As it comes to us through his pupils, it is fragmentary and
not unfrequently mystical. But for all these drawbacks, there
is much in the analysis that is practical as well as suggestive.
For years the teaching of oratory has been left quite gen-
erally in the hands of charlatans and quacks. As a rule the
responsibility of training in oratory has been assumed by
those who had a measure of natural ability as readers or
speakers, and have therefore presumed they could teach,
though ignorant, and lacking in every qualification of the
teacher. Many speakers and readers, unable to find other
help, have gone to actors for instruction. That an artist is a
great actor is no assurance that he is a good teacher.
A better class of teachers are now entering the field.
Long neglect, producing its race of incompetent speakers,
seems about to make a favorable reaction.
These facts, with the additional one that leading colleges
and universities and men in professions are yearly giving
increased attention to the subject, lead us to think that we
are on the eve of a revival that shall make the cultivation of
the art necessary and general.
4. — The System of Oratory.
Systems of oratory have been distinguished from one an-
other, and the respective merits of each extolled, as though
systems of oratory were a matter of invention and capable of
indefinite multiplication. No wonder that laymen have been
suspicious, and regarded systems of oratory as collections of
tricks, or, at best, capable only of making unskilled mechanics.
INTRODUCTION. 25
Whatever may be said as to the excellence of any classifi-
cation or arrangement, it should be distinctly understood that
the true system of oratory is not the result of inventive genius.
It does not depend upon the caprice of individuals.
The fundamental principles of expression exist naturally,
and may be discovered and classified. According to a law in
expression, the falling inflection asserts ; the assertion may be
of will, of knowledge, of authority. The rising inflection
appeals ; the appeal may be to another's will or knowledge.
The quality of voice indicates the character of emotion or
quality of things, as in secrecy or fear the voice naturally
taking the aspirated quality. The character of an event,
whether important or trivial, is suggested by the great or
small quality of voice. In attitude, conscious strength
assumes weak positions, as in the case of the athlete,
while conscious weakness assumes strong positions, as in
the case of children and aged people, — putting their feet
far apart for a wide base. These principles must form the
normal standard to which all forms of expression are to be
referred.
That which appears in the consciousness is thought,
emotion, will, — spiritual products. They must be material-
ized before they can be communicated to others. These
spiritual products may be measurably put in written form
and address the eye, or they may be put in speech and action
and address both ear and eye. To do this effectively is no
easy task. The power of thought is God-given, but it must
be cultivated. The power of expression is distinct from the
power of thought ; but in many minds the two are confused
and identical. As the ability of thinking is cultivated, so
also is the power of expression.
5. — Oratory as an Art.
The use of the agents of expression is an art. The Greeks
so understood it,, and compared oratory to sculpture and
26 VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
painting. Our English word "orator " is rather confusing. We
sometimes apply the word to a man of genius, and speak of
orator as we do of poet. The Roman understood orator in
the official sense of pleader. The Greek use of the word
'P/iZcoq, meaning speaker, is the clearest use of the term : then
every speaker is more or less orator.
Aristotle's definition of oratory is perhaps the clearest and
most comprehensive, " The power of saying on every subject
whatever can be found to persuade." Phocian's definition
is, " The power to express the most sense in the fewest words."
Quintilian calls it " the power of persuading."
The subject will be considered as the art of expressing
BY SPEECH AND GESTURE THAT WHICH IS IN THE CONSCIOUS-
NESS. Very "plainly the object of the orator is to have others
think as he thinks and feel as he feels, and through this to
secure their action in a desired direction.
The controlling principle of this instruction is utilitarian, —
econo?7iy consistent with efficiency. The orator should know the
power of every word, emphasis, inflection, act, and so use
them that the truth he utters may be " understood, felt,"
by the audience.
This instruction repudiates artificial rules, of which we have
counted in one w r ork twenty-nine on one part of analysis. It
discourages servile imitation, and does not attempt to tell a
speaker when to strike attitudes, when to make gestures, when
to thunder, and when to be calm. Artificial methods are an
utter abomination. M. De Cormorin satirically puts it :
" Be impassioned, thunder, rage, weep up to the fifth word
of the third sentence of the tenth paragraph of the tenth leaf.
How easy that would be ! Above all, how natural ! ' True
oratory only tells a man how to do a thing ; the speaker him-
self must do it when he must, not before.
In man as we find him now, the functions of expression are
impaired. Faulty habits of voice, inflection, and gesture have
been taken on. Thought and emotion arise for utterance, the
INTRODUCTION. 2J
speaker seeks to express himself; the words are approxi-
mately pronounced, and therefore all is not lost, but the
speaker is controlled by some mannerism which thwarts the
full expression of what is in his consciousness. Some speak-
ers constantly give the rising inflection, leaving the audience
in continued suspense. Others again repeat the " sledge-
hammer " gesture, till the audience feels like the down man
in a pugilistic encounter.
The first effort of this instruction is directed to the free-
dom of the student, to liberate him from vicious habits of
voice and mannerisms of gesture. " I like to be free from
all art or rules," says one ; that is, a freedom to indulge
in mannerisms, however absurd or extravagant. But these
same extravagances ride him like a nightmare. They " lead
him captive at their will." He acknowledges his bondage,
but calls it freedom. Art does not trammel. We plead for
the gospel freedom that restrains from doing ill.
Physical and vocal culture are fundamental. The agents
of expression must not only be liberated, but developed.
The muscular system must be developed symmetrically, the
nervous system brought into harmonious action, in order to
bring the physical apparatus into prompt and accurate re-
sponse to the stimuli of thought and emotion. •
We grant that the speaker must be a mechanic before he
can b*e an artist. After a mechanical expertness, comes the
habit of acting according to the principles of the art. Through
the law of the persistency of habit, the speaker finally thinks
no more of speaking normally than he does of constructing
his sentences grammatically or rhetorically. The caution should
be raised here that effective delivery cannot be secured in a
few weeks' training. Many will spend years to acquire a
tolerable ease in Greek or Latin composition, but complain of
being mechanical in delivery after spending a month upon
the subject, although a masterly use of expression may be as
foreign as Sanskrit. The art of delivery is " no communica-
28 VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
ble trick." Those who have accomplished most at the art
have been content to practise long and faithfully.
One more caution. Avoid practising before an audience.
Let your leading purpose before an audience be to give them
the truth without studying the instrument of communica-
tion.
6. — Qualifications of the Orator.
Under this head we can only hint at the orator's qualifica-
tions, without pretending to give an adequate discussion of the
subject. To many it may only serve as a reminder.
A fuller discussion of expressive man will be found else-
where.
(i.) Character. — The first indispensable for an orator is
noble character. Oratory is the expression of self. Oratory
is the man. Man is true character. Character irresistibly
impresses itself on others either favorably or unfavorably.
(2.) Truth. — The orator must have the truth, whether he
addresses a jury, speaks on the platform or from the pulpit;
he should aim at truth, else he has no right to speak.
(3.) Thorough Knowledge. — The orator should be
"throughly informed." His knowledge of the subject
should be exact, particular, broad. Of too many speak-
ers Bassanio's criticism may be said, " He speaks an in-
finite deal of nothing, more than any man in Venice. His
thoughts are as two grains of wheat hid in two bushels of
chaff." Generalities are shallow.
(4.) Store of Facts. — He should keep the storehouse of
his mind well filled with facts to make plain and enforce the
truth. Out of the abundance of his store he should be able
to " bring forth things new and old," to illustrate the truth,
and reflect it from different angles of the subject.
(5.) Memory is a valuable reliance of the speaker, espe-
cially if he uses the extemporaneous or mixed method of ad-
dress. Without a good memory, this manner of discourse is
INTRODUCTION. 29
quite impracticable. Unless the memory acts promptly to call
up the plan and matter of discourse, the speaker will not only
hesitate, but will also be subjective in the effort to call up what
is needed, and thus fail in uttering the thought to the audi-
ence.
(6.) Tact. — Another valuable aid is taste and tact, (a)
as to arranging the facts of discourse, and (b) in saying the
right thing in the right place at the proper time. The
audience is sometimes favorable to the truth and to the speaker;
frequently it is not ; then the subject must be skilfully pre-
sented. This does not imply trickery, but wisdom in present-
ing the truth, so as to gain a favorable hearing.
(7.) Good- Will. — The orator must have good-will toward
his audience ; this will gain their good-will, — a most excellent
starting-point. One would think that the compliments intro-
ductory to speech, the introductory unpretentiousness of the
orator, would finally wear out ; but they do not, if not over-
done.
(8.) Sincerity. — Again, the speaker must be sincere
toward the truth, toward the audience. If he " handles -the
truth deceitfully," or pretends what he really is not, though
the audience may not be able to analyze it, the effort is shorn
of part of its strength. If the orator is thoroughly sincere, he
will be simple. The great orations bear this mark of sim-
plicity. Sink forever the thought of eliciting the applause of a
" great orator." Fenelon, in his Dialogue of the Dead, repre-
sents Demosthenes as saying to Cicero, "You made the
people say, ' How well he speaks ' ; I made them say, ' Let us
march against Philip.' " Follow the advice so frequently given,
to use simple words and simple construction.
(9.) Logic should be faithfully studied ; not simply a
smattering of it, acquired in an abstract way, but studied in
relation to spoken discourse.
(10.) Rhetoric. — The same instruction applies to the mas-
tery of rhetoric. Discourse should be made with reference
30 VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
to oral delivery. Every rhetorical principle should be studied
in relation to spoken discourse.
(n.) Imagination. — Imagination is a most valuable fac-
ulty of the orator. Bishop Butler^calls it "that most forward
and obtrusive faculty." It should not usurp the place of
logic or fact ; but it has a place in oratory that nothing else
can supply. Imagination is the picture-making faculty, and
in this respect co-operates with the language of gesture in
making the facts real.
Speakers instinctively say, " Now you see," or " Let us
look at this," and the audience arouses for another look.
This is imagination making real to the imagination. This
faculty, naturally strong in some, may be cultivated by use.
It is of vast advantage to the reader. Through its use scenes
and events are called up and pictured with greater vividness.
(12.) Know 'ledge of the Fine Arts. — These are related to
oratory, as they are modes of expression.
To express himself, the sculptor uses form ; the painter,
color ; the musician, harmonic sound ; the architect, propor-
tion. The art of oratory has some correspondence to all
these arts. The correspondence may be studied to advan-
tage, and the orator will always find help by being familiar
with them. This analogy furnishes us with terms in oratory.
In ordinary language, we speak of " building" a sermon,
"making" a speech; all understand what we mean by the
" outline " of a discourse, the " music " of an orator's delivery.
We speak of the "florid " style, the "light and shade" of
the orator's effort, the " color and tone," and his " form " of
delivery.
The art not only borrows from them, but lends to them in
turn, so we have an "eloquent" statue, a "speaking" pic-
ture, a "noted" building, "telling" more eloquent than
words.
(13.) It seems hardly necessary in this connection to
recommend to all a familiarity with the best English classics.
INTRODUCTION. 3 1
Know the Bible and Shakespeare. These two books form
a rich mine of wealth for the orator.
Erskine's masterly use of language, for which he was es-
pecially noted, is said to have been due to his familiarity with
Shakespeare. A knowledge and happy use of Bible facts and
illustration have been the strength of many an appeal at the
bar, as well as in the pulpit.
7. t— Conditions.
Oratory has its favorable and unfavorable conditions.
Speakers frequently fail, without being able to account for the
failure. At another time everything seems to conduce to
success.
(1.) Occasion. — Occasion must exist for splendid oratory
as it does for heroism ; but every speaker who desires to
serve truth and who has something to say can make an occa-
sion for usual, perhaps for unusual oratory.
(2.) Good Health and Cheerful Mind, — Dyspepsia and
other infirmities easily get into the voice.
(3.) Pure Air. — The speaker should live in pure air and
speak in pure air. Janitors are usually ignorant or careless
upon this matter of ventilation. In most instances the speaker
will be obliged to direct the janitor in this particular. The
benefit of pure air to a tired audience as well as to a laboring
speaker is generally acknowledged and quite as generally
neglected.
(See Respiration and Ventilation, Chapter III.)
(4.) Clothing. — The neck dress should be worn loosely,
else the vocal organs will be cramped, impeding their func-
tion ; the blood-vessels of the neck will be gorged, producing
hoarseness and sometimes chronic diseases of the throat.
Lady readers and others of the fair sex who use their voice
must learn that tight lacing is not only a crime against health,
but a bar also to the best vocal function.
32 VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
(5.) Diet. — Public address should not be made immedi-
ately after eating a full meal ; for the work of digestion and
vocal effort is too much for the body to perform at one time.
Moreover the full stomach prevents the diaphragm from
descending to enlarge the vertical capacity of the thorax.
But when feeling faint from lack of food, the speaker will
not be able to speak as easily and with as much vitality as
when no such want is experienced.
(6.) Nostrums. — I should discourage the use of nos-
trums to "clear" the voice. They are harmful to the organs,
stimulating them unduly and inducing an over-supply of
blood to these parts. The unusual supply of saliva is troub-
lesome also in pronunciation. A skilful use of the voice
needs no such doctoring. Even sipping water is to be dis-
couraged. It is unnecessary in a proper use of the vocal
organs. Diseases of the throat should receive the treatment
of a skilful physician.
8. — Reading and Speaking.
The principles of expression in reading and speaking are
the same. In reading, the thought and language of another
are furnished ready to be expressed, but the artist must first
make this language his own ere he can deliver it effectively,
otherwise it will be a mere repetition of words.
The reading of the large majority of persons is character-
ized by lifelessness and monotony. Very little attention is
paid to articulation and emphasis, less still to modulation and
kind of voice. The reading of hymns, the Scripture, and the
ritual by most ministers is ludicrous. Such reading is unprof-
itable except to those bent on being benefited.
The reader must think the thought of his author just as
definitely, see the pictures just as vividly, as though he were
giving his own production.
INTRODUCTION. 33
The kinds of reading to which the student's attention is
called are the narrative, the oratoric, and the dramatic.
(i.) The narrative is the simple conversational method of
delivery. This method must lie at the base of all delivery.
Its essential office is thought-expression, for the purpose of
convincing. It is employed in presenting facts and in making
one's self understood. It is distinctly didactic.
(2.) The oratoric is a stronger effort, with every part en-
larged. Its essential office is to express passion and emotion
in addition to thought, for the purpose of moving others. It
makes more use of inflection and different kinds of voice.
In the oratoric, every feature of the conversational is en-
larged, but when it loses the conversational element it may
then be described by the words "spouting," "ranting," "preach-
ing." The style is stilted and extravagant. In the best ora-
toric efforts, the speaker must frequently recur to the ease of
conversation.
(3.) In dramatic expression, the reader or speaker assumes
a personality or character not his own, and thinks and feels the
thought and emotion of that ideal character and expresses them.
The true dramatic artist is very thoroughly and genuinely, for
the time, identical with the character he interprets. This does
not imply that he loses his real identity or his own personality.
If this new character becomes a habit, and then passes to real
life, then the man is that new person. In this very way, men
may and do become " different " from what they were.
Any reader or speaker, then, who assumes to express how
another thinks, feels, or acts under any given circumstance, is
so far dramatic. For instance, if a speaker, narrating facts
in which the indignation of some one else is spoken of, as-
sumes to manifest that indignation, he is dramatic.
The speaker or reader is "dramatic" when he "suits the
action to the word " in representing the man of pride with a
high head and haughty air, or when the traveller exposed to
the storm is represented as cowering beneath its fury.
34 VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
The person who merely imitates another makes a caricature
of the original. It is recognized, but as the ludicrous in it
is inevitable, one laughs when he should weep.
The question is asked, " How far should one be dramatic ? "
Ordinarily one need but S7iggest the parts that are dramatic.
In reading the discussion between Christ and the Pharisees,
we presume the former to speak with thoughtful dignity, the
latter with a sneer, fault-finding, and accusation. These
moods may properly be suggested without attempting to speak
just as Christ did or just as the Pharisee. Pure dramatic
composition admits of the fullest impersonation.
These different kinds of expression are not exclusive.
Simple narrative must be more or less dramatic ; the oratoric
must be conversational and dramatic ; the dramatic must not
be without the oratoric and narrative elements.
In reading, the following points should constantly be borne
in mind : —
i. Be thoroughly acquainted with what you are to read, if
possible, that you may be free from the book. Hold the
book up ; avoid bending the head down.
2. Think the thought distinctly when reading.
3. See the pictures of the language used.
4. Think that you are giving it to the audience, not merely
before them.
PART I.
VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
VOCAL CULTURE.
CHAPTER I.
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT.
In this art physical culture is one of the fundamentals.
The student who really enjoys study, or who is goaded on by
the necessity to be largely informed,, is strongly tempted to
spend too much time over books, to the acquirement of knowl-
edge, without due reference to its use or impartation.
An inevitable accompaniment of this is the neglect of the
body, so the " pale student" and the " scholar's stoop" have
become familiar phrases.
Other things being equal, vigorous thinking depends upon
a vigorous body ; certainly a vigorous use of knowledge does.
The dyspepsia of many gets into their written and spoken
efforts. The disordered nervous system untunes speech, and
makes hard work for the speaker. Physical and nerve weak-
ness, especially, unmans the debater. The restless activity of
the age afflicts the brain worker as well as others. The
hurry of American life is the subject of comment by others
as well as by ourselves. The rush to become wise is second
only to the hurry to get rich. The annual summer vacation
is a reaction of our mode of life, and as it is fashionable, no
doubt will continue to work much good. But better than this
yearly relaxation would be a regular and systematic attention
to the needs of the body.
The gymnasiums of the city increasing in number, and in
the excellence of their management, with institutions for tech-
38 VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
nical and physical culture, are making physical development
more possible.
But the student's plea is, " I have no time for this, I have
so much to study " ; and yet these same men are eloquent
advocates of a Sabbath of rest, or earnest in labor reform,
quoting statistics and arguing, rightly I think, that the artisan
will have clearer brain, better-balanced nerves, and be capable
of doing more in eight hours than in ten, and of accom-
plishing more for his employer in six clays than in seven.
Now physical recreation is of the nature of a rest, and
recruits the tired brain-worker as cessation from manual
employment recruits the tired hand-worker.
The object of physical culture, as advised here, is not
excessive development of any particular muscle for strength.
The advantage aimed at is as follows : —
i. General physical development to aid the vital functions.
2. Special chest development for lung capacity.
3. Development for erect carriage and strong bearing.
4. Development of the muscles of respiration.
5. Freedom from muscular rigidity, admitting of strong
and graceful movements.
The amount of exercise to be taken depends upon age,
sex, condition of health, etc. Those prescribed here may be
safely taken by all if conditions of health or individual pecul-
iarities do not prevent.
As the blood-vessels and cartilages begin to show signs of
rigidity at forty, after this age the subject must be more care-
ful as to how vigorously he exercises.
Fifteen minutes, twice a day, devoted to the physical exer-
cise, will bring good results, if well followed up.
Physical development depends upon the following con-
ditions : —
1. Accuracy with which any given exercise is taken.
2. The alternate tension and relaxation of the muscles,
momentary rest alternating with action.
VOCAL CULTURE. 39
3. Repetition or frequency. Two hours' vigorous exer-
cise taken once a month may do more harm than good.
4. Ease or Rhythmical Movements. — Rigid constraint,
constant tension, make hard work and prevent the develop-
ment desired. Count during the movement. Be deliberate.
Caution. — i. Avoid exercise immediately before or
after a full meal. 2. Exercise in pure air. 3. After long
periods of rest, approach the exercise gradually so as to pre-
vent unnecessaiy lameness ; stop before fatigue.
(For lists of gymnastic exercise, see Development, under
Respiration, and Preparatory Exercises, under Gesture.)
40 VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
CHAPTER IT.
THE PHYSICAL BASIS OF VOICE.
Sound. — In order to find the scientific basis of voice,
we make a brief study of the sensation of sound. Physical
acoustics is a section of the theory of elastic bodies. Elastic
bodies vibrating set the air in vibration, producing wave-like
motions that reach to distant points. These wave-like motions
radiate in all directions, and are similar to the agitation pro-
duced by throwing a stone into a placid sheet of water. The
air vibrations, if sufficiently rapid, striking upon the ear, pro-
duce the sensation of sound.
Sounds are distinguished as (a) musical tones and as (b)
noises. Musical tones result from rapid periodic vibrations
of sonorous bodies. Noises result from non-periodic vibra-
tions.
Musical tones are distinguished as to —
i. Force or loudness.
2. Pitch or relative height.
3. Quality.
Vibrations of sonorous bodies producing sound may be
seen by the naked eye, felt as in touching a tuning-fork, and
by mechanical contrivances their amplitude, form, and rapid-
ity may be determined.
Force or loudness of sound depends upon amplitude of
vibration. The wider the vibration, the louder the sound.
Pitch or place in the scale depends upon the rapidity or
rate of vibration. The greater the number of vibrations in
VOCAL CULTURE. 41
a second, the higher the pitch. The highest audible number
of vibrations is 38,000 per second, the lowest 20 per second ;
from 40 to 4,000 (7 octaves) only are valuable for music or
speech. The number of vibrations is very accurately deter-
mined by means of an instrument called the syren, consisting
of a perforated disk in rapid revolution.
Quality is that peculiarity which distinguishes the musical
tones of a flute from a violin, or that distinguishes different
voices, and depends upon the form of vibration.
A string or resonant body is found to vibrate not only the
entire length ; but at the same time in sections which are
aliquot parts of the whole.
The sounds of these sectional vibrations, combined with
the sound of the whole or prime vibration, give a compound
tone that ordinarily reaches the ear as one tone. The tones
of these sectional vibrations are called overtones or partials,
and mingling with the tone of the prime vibration gives the
quality of tone. The prime tone is generally the loudest and
lowest, and names the pitch of the compound. The " upper
partial tones " are harmonics of the prime.
Compound Tones. — The most important of the series
of these upper partial tones are as follows : —
The first upper partial is an octave above the prime, and
makes double the number of vibrations in the same time.
The second upper partial is a twelfth above the prime,
making three times the number of vibrations in the same time
as the prime.
The third upper partial is two octaves above the prime,
with four times as many vibrations.
The fourth upper partial is two octaves and a major third
above the prime, with five times as many vibrations.
The fifth upper partial tone is two octaves and a major fifth
above the prime, with six times as many vibrations.
The sixth upper partial is two octaves and a sub-minor
42 VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
seventh above the prime, with seven times as many vibra-
tions.
The seventh upper partial is three octaves above the prime,
with eight times the number of vibrations.
Many other partials occur in some compound tones, but
always in the same relative jDosition.
" Simple Tones have a very soft, pleasant sound, free
from all roughness, but wanting in powec and dull at low
pitches."
" Musical Tones, which are accompanied by a moder-
ately loud series of the lower upper partial tones, up to about
the sixth partial, are more harmonious and musical. Com-
pared with simple tones they are rich and splendid, while they
are at the same time perfectly sweet and soft if the higher
upper partials are absent."
" If only the uneven particles are present the quality of
tone is hollow, and when a large number of such upper par-
tials are present, nasal. When the prime tone predominates
the quality of the tone is rich or full ; but when the prime
tone is not sufficiently superior in strength to the upper par-
tials, the quality of the tone is poor or empty."
" When partial tones higher than the sixth or seventh are
very distinct, the quality of the tone is cutting and rough.
The degree of harshness may be very different. When their
force is inconsiderable the higher upper partials do not essen-
tially detract from the musical applicability of the compound
tones ; on the contrary they are useful in giving character and
expression to the music."*
It is found that one sounding body has the power of putting
another body in vibration without being in contact with it.
When the strings of two violins are in perfect unison, if the
string of one is bowed the string of the other will be set in
vibration.
* Sensation of Tone: Helmholtz.
VOCAL CULTURE. 43
" Tuning-forks are the most difficult to set in sympathetic
vibration. To effect this they must be fastened on sounding-
boxes which have been exactly tuned to their tone. If we
have two such forks of exactly the same pitch, and excite one
by a violin bow the other will begin to vibrate in sympathy,
even if placed at the farther end of the room, and it will con-
tinue to sound when the first is damped. The astonishing
nature of such a case of sympathetic vibration will appear,
if we merely compare the heavy and powerful mass of steel
set in motion with the light, yielding mass of air, which pro-
duces effect by such small motive power that it could not stir
the lightest spring which was not in tune with the fork.
With such forks the time required to set them in full swing
by sympathetic action is also cf sensible duration, and the
slightest disagreement in pitch is sufficient to produce a sen-
sible diminution in the sympathetic effect. By sticking a
piece cf wax to one prong of the second fork, sufficient to
make it vibrate once in a second less than the first, a differ-
ence of pitch scarcely sensible to the finest ear, the sympa-
thetic vibration will be w r holly destroyed."*
Thus sympathetically the entire vocal passage, chest, and
head reinforce the tones of the vocal bands.
The Physical Value of Vowels. — One vowel sound is
distinguished from another, though both have the same pitch
and intensity. This fact was long a question of inquiry. Sir
C. Wheatstone first stated the true theory, which was afterwards
subjected to exhaustive study by Helmholtz. " The vibrations
of the vocal bands associate with the resonant cavity cf the
mouth, which can so alter its shape as to resound at will either
the fundamental tones cf the vocal cords or any of their over-
tones. With the aid of the mouth, therefore, we can mix
together the fundamental tone and the overtones of the voice
in different combinations. Helmholtz was able to imitate
* Sensation of Tone.
44 VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
these tones by tuning-forks, and by combining them appro-
priately together to produce the sounds of all the vowels." *
We have this important proof that the musical and conse-
quently the carrying quality of speech depends upon the vowel
elements.
*On Sound.
VOCAL CULTURE. 45
CHAPTER III.
RESPIRATION.
That part of respiration carried on by the lungs is natu-
rally related to vocal effort, and its physiology and function
should be understood.
The lungs are two large sacks lying in the thoracic cavity,
one on each side of the heart. They consist cf bronchial
tubes, and their terminal air-cells, numerous blood-vessels,
nerves, and lymphatics. The connective tissue binding these
tubes and cells together is composed of highly elastic fibres.
" Each lung is covered, except at one point, by an elastic
serous membrane called the pleura, which adheres tightly to it.
At the root of the lungs, the pleura turns back and lines the
inside of the chest cavity."* This provision lessens friction
between the chest walls and the lungs during the movements
of respiration.
The ramification of these bronchial tubes is tree-like.
The trachia or windpipe, felt in the front part of the
neck, " consists fundamentally of a fibrous tube in which car-
tilages are embedded to keep it from collapsing." These car-
tilaginous rings are horseshoe in shape, the round part being
in front. The back part of the windpipe, against which the
gullet lies, is not hard like the front, " and the absence there
of these cartilages no doubt facilitates swallowing."
The lower end of the windpipe branches off into two
greater bronchi, which continue to separate into the lesser
* Quotations in this and the succeeding chapter, marked with an aster-
isk (*) are from the work of Dr. Martin on " The Human Body," which
we have accepted as authority on the physiology and function of the re-
spiratory and vocal apparatus.
46 VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
bronchi. At the upper part of the windpipe is situated the
larynx, or voice-box ; above this we have the pharynx and
mouth cavities connecting with the outer air.
The breathing movements consist (a) of inspirations,
during which the chest cavity is enlarged and fresh or oxygen-
ated air enters the lungs, alternating with (b) expirations, in
which the cavity is diminished and the air, burdened with
carbon dioxide, is expelled from the lungs.
The thorax, or chest, is supported by the framework
afforded by the dorsal vertebrae, breastbone, and ribs. " Be-
tween and over these lie the muscles, and the whole is covered
air-tight by the skin externally."
The Enlargement of the Thorax for Inspiration. —
1. The Diaphragm is a strong, sheet-like muscle, arching
up dome-like, separating between the chest and the abdominal
cavities. Its muscular fibres radiate from the dome down-
wards and outwards, and are attached to the breastbone, the
lower ribs, and the vertebral column. By contraction the
diaphragm sinks to a horizontal position, thus greatly increas-
ing the size of the thorax vertically.
2. The ribs slope downwards from the vertebral column
to the breastbone. " The scalene muscles, three on each
side, arise from the cervical vertebrae and are inserted into
the upper ribs. The external intercostal lie between the ribs
and extend from the vertebral column to the costal cartilages ;
the fibres slope downward and forwards."
" During inspiration the scalenes contract and fix the upper
ribs firmly ; then the external intercostal shortens and each
raises the rib below it." Thus the ribs are elevated, the breast-
bone shoved out from the spine, and the capacity of the thorax
enlarged from front back. Other muscles are employed, but
chiefly in offering points of resistance to those already de-
scribed. These are the principal ways of enlarging the chest,
and require considerable muscular effort.
Now, when the chest is enlarged, the space between the
VOCAL CULTURE. 47
lungs and sides of the chest forms a cavity which contains no
air. The external air, with a pressure of 14.5 pounds on the
square inch, rushes in when the glottis of the air-box is open,
distending the lungs, just as an elastic bag suspended in a
bottle may be made to distend and touch the sides of the
bottle from which the air has been exhausted.
Expiration. — In expiration, very little muscular effort is
required. After inspiration, the muscles relax and the ster-
num and ribs fall to their former position. The elastic ab-
dominal wall presses the contained viscera against the under
side of the diaphragm, arching it up. Thus the air is sent
out in passive breathing most largely by the elasticity of the
parts stretched in inspiration, rather than by special expira-
tory muscles.
In the forced breathing of vocal effort, the muscles of expi-
ration assist in the expulsion of air. "The main expiratory
muscles are the internal intercostal, which lie beneath the ex-
ternal, between each pair of ribs, and have an opposite direc-
tion, their fibres running upwards and forwards." The inter-
nal intercostal, contracting, pull down the upper ribs and
sternum, and so diminish the size of the thorax from front
back.
At the same time the lower ribs and breastbone are pulled
down by a muscle running in the abdominal wall from the
pelvis to them. " At the same time, also, the abdominal mus-
cles contract and press the walls of that cavity against the
viscera, force the diaphragm to arch up, and lessens the cav-
ity from up down."
In violent inspiration many extra muscles are called into
play, chiefly as points of firm resistance, or otherwise assisting
the usual muscles of inspiration.
In violent expiration, also, many other muscles may co-oper-
ate with the usual muscles, tending to diminish the thoracic
cavity.
Kinds of Breathing. — The breathing that brings the
48 VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
upper part of the chest into the greatest action, and lifts the
clavicles or collar-bones excessively, is called "clavicular
breathing." It is readily seen that the lungs in this kind of
breathing can only be partially filled, as the lower part of the
chest is still contracted.
When breathing is carried on by action of the ribs, it is
then called " costal " or " chest breathing." Tnis, like " clavic-
ular breathing," does not admit of the lungs being fully dis-
tended.
That breathing which brings the diaphragm into action in-
dicated by the external movement of the upper part of the
abdomen outward, is called " diaphragmatic," " abdominal,"
or "deep breathing." This fills the lungs completely, and is
evidently the normal breathing. Many physiologists have
taught and still teach that women naturally use the chest
breathing, while men and children naturally use the ab-
dominal.
Dr. Martin, among the first ranks of scientific specialists,
says : " In both cases the diaphragmatic breathing is the most
important. Women are again warned of the danger and folly
of tight lacing, which prevents natural breathing."*
" Diaphragmatic " breathing with the " chest " breathing is
known as "compound" breathing. This gives the greatest
lung capacity, and at the same time makes possible the use
of the muscles of expiration in the forced breathing of vocal
effort. Very clearly, then, diaphragmatic or abdominal breath-
ing, aside from its relation to health, is indispensably neces-
sary to the speaker. Without it, he will " run out " of breath
frequently, and find it impossible to project strong tone.
Quantity of Air Breathed. — The average number of
inspirations of a person sitting quietly, and not knowing that
his breathing is under observation, is found to be fifteen per
minute. After every ordinary expiration, the lungs still retain
* Human Body.
VOCAL CULTURE. 49
about 200 cubic inches of air. At every breath 30 cubic inches
(a little over a pint) additional are taken in. This surplus
is again sent out in expiration. In each minute a man breathes
450 cubic inches of air. In twenty-four hours the quantity
would be 648,000 cubic inches (22,320 quarts), weighing
about 28.7 pounds.*
Changes in Breathed Air. — Expired air is vitiated to
the extent of more than four per cent. ; this, mixed with three
times its volume of pure air, vitiates the whole to the extent
of one per cent., and is no longer respirable for any length
of time with safety. In order to have air to breathe fairly
pure, every man should have for his own allowance a space
of about 800 cubic feet, and at the very least this should be
renewed at the rate of one cubic foot per minute. At least
five times this supply of fresh air is necessary to keep free
from odor the room inhabited by one adult.
Ventilation. — The necessity of thorough ventilation is
very clearly seen by this exhibition : A board about four inches
wide fixed under the lower sash, and the window shut down
on it, will give ventilation if no other means are provided.
*"The capacity of the chest, and therefore of the lungs, varies much in
different individuals, but in a man of medium height there remains in the
lungs, after the most violent possible expiration, about 100 cubic inches of
air, called the residual air. After an ordinary expiration there will be, in
addition to this, about as much more supplemental air, the residual and
supplemental together forming the stationary air, which remains in the
chest during quiet breathing. In an ordinary inspiration 30 cubic inches
of tidal air are taken in, and about the same amount is expelled in nat-
ural expiration. By a forced inspiration, about 98 cubic inches of comple-
mentalair can be added to the tidal air. After a forced inspiration, there-
fore, the chest will contain 228 cubic inches of air. The amount which
can be taken in by the most violent possible inspiration, after the strong-
est possible expiration, that is, the supplemental, tidal, and complemental
air together, is known as the vital capacity. For a healthy man 5 feet 8
inches high, it is about 225 cubic inches, and increases about nine cubic
for each inch of height."
50 VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
Fresh air comes in between the sashes, the current is directed
upward, preventing a draught upon any one in the room.
How to Breathe. — Breath may be taken through the
open mouth, or through the nostrils, the mouth being closed.
Breathing to sustain nature's functions, to oxygenate blood
and carry off waste matter, should be carried on through the
nostrils. Premature decay, disease, no doubt, frequently are
the penalty of habitual mouth breathing. George Catlin, the
great traveller among the American Indians, has a very val-
uable book on this subject, entitled, " Shut your Mouth,"
showing the vital importance of nostril breathing, as related
to hygiene. His statistics of comparative mortality in certain
diseases make an interesting showing in favor of the nostril-
breathing savage, compared with the mouth-breathing white
man. He would have the legend, Shut your Mouth, written
on every bedpost in the land.
In mouth breathing, (i) the moisture and liquid of the
mouth is carried off, instead of being retained to cleanse the
cavities by the processes of solution; (2) cold air is taken
immediately upon the lungs, when it would have been
warmed by traversing the nasal cavities, before reaching
the delicate tissue of the bronchial tubes. The philosophy of
holding a handkerchief over the mouth is, that it compels
nostril breathing ; (3) noxious particles are taken down into
the throat, and easily assimilated, when they might have been
arrested by the hairs of the nasal cavities and expelled.
Forced Breathing. — Breathing during the process of
vocal effort, however, must be carried on largely through
the mouth, as it can be done so much more quickly during the
rapid movement of utterance. The speaker should keep the
mouth shut when possible, and breathe through the nostrils.
Development. — The student's effort should be to secure
(a.) The diaphragmatic breathing.
(&.) Chest development.
(c.) Lung expansion.
(
I (isle), 6 (pole), oo (pool), e (eel), and the diphthongs ou (our)
and oy (boy). The sudden opening of these vowels and their
gradual vanishing is very noticeable if uttered deliberately.
VOCAL CULTURE. Jl
Dr. Rush gives the subjoined diagram to furnish a more
obvious view of the process.
ABC
A. The opening fulness; B. The quantity with diminishing volume;
C. The vanishing point.
Practise also with the long quantity : orb, aid, all, save, old,
home, praise, hail, the, isles, how, owls, go.
Unusual imperfections of voice resulting from congenital
conformation, such as cleft palate, etc., hardly find appropri-
ate place in this connection.
Additional practice : Be careful to observe the faults and
excellences enumerated, and practise with attentive ear : —
" There 's a good time coming, boys,
A good time coming ;
We may not live to see the day,
But earth shall glisten in the ray
Of the good time coming.
Cannon balls may aid the truth,
But thought 's a weapon stronger ;
We '11 win our battle by its aid, —
Wait a little longer."
Practise the following, giving especial attention to long
quantity ; utter smoothly on long monotone : —
" There stood — an unsold captive - — in the mart — a gray-haired — and
majestical — old man — chained — to a pillar. It was — almost night —
the last seller — from his place — had gone — not a sound — was heard
— but — of a dog — crunching — beneath the stall — a refuse bone — or
— the dull echo — from the pavement rung — as the faint captive —
changed — his weary feet."
Chant the same,
Practise on any selection, regarding all the properties
above.
72 VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
CHAPTER VI.
ORTHOEPY.
"Words are the sounds of the heart" — Chinese Proverb.
After voice, the next step naturally leads us to consider
words and their alphabetical elements, out of which discourse
is made.
Pronunciation. — The rhetorician will enjoin upon you
to be careful to have purity of diction ; then the elocutionist
will tell you to conform to the accepted standards of pronun-
ciation. No one who aims at perfection will be satisfied with
a pronunciation because it is the one generally given. Any
word about which he is in doubt ought to drive the student
to some accepted standard. The printed standard is final
authority. It is true the standard is based upon good usage
and general consent of the educated for long periods of time ;
but many educated persons are negligent as to pronunciation.
The student will have to exercise great caution and diligence
to get the exact pronunciation of his mother tongue. Only
the other day we heard a Boston doctor of divinity use a
" microscope " several times, instead of the familiar old in-
strument, microscope. This was not the only mistake of the
kind, nor is this doctor of divinity alone. Many of the most
familiar words are often mispronounced by the best educated.
"God" is frequently pronounced "Gaud"; consequently there
is but little difference between godliness and gaudiness. The
letter " r " is a very much neglected letter, among Americans
especially. Mr. Spurgeon, in his address to students, said :
" Abhor the practice of some men who will not bring put the
letter ' r.' Such a habit is wewy wuinous and widiculous, wewy
VOCAL CULTURE. 73
wetched and weprehensible." Such men make "Laud" out of
" Lord," " has " out of " horse," etc., if they do no worse. In
the Southern States the final "r" sound is converted into a
vowel sound, as in " moah " for "more," " doah " for "door."
This letter, so frequently slighted, at other times is made to do
service where it is wretchedly out of place, as when the "r"
sound is added to a final syllable ending in a vowel. This
fault is common to New York and the New England States.
Here "law" frequently becomes "lawr"; "formula," "formu-
lar," etc.
A more common barbarism of New England is the change
of long " u," the richest vowel of the English language, to
"65," as in "institoot" for "institute," "noose" for "news,"
" dooty " for " duty." A is apt to be given as a (aunt) in the
Middle and Southern States, and a (aunt) in New England.
In New York or New England 6 becomes u — " stun " for
"stone," etc. Localisms, learned in boyhood, cling to the
most scholarly, unless special pains be taken to correct them.
I have heard a college president in New England speaking of
"idears," when he meant "ideas."
Proper Names. — One may not be expected to know
the pronunciation of every modern name ; but mispronuncia-
tion of historic names is an indication of ignorance or ex-
treme carelessness. I have heard " Goethe " pronounced
"Go-eth," "^Eschines" pronounced "^Es-chl'-nes," and by a
minister, " Onesiphorus " transmuted into " O-nes-i-pho'-rus."
Dean Alford (" Queen's English ") says : " I cannot abstain
from saying a few. w r ords on the mispronunciation of Scripture
names by our clergy. This, let me remind them, is inexcusa-
ble." He records the minister of a fashionable London
church introducing " Epen-e-tus " and " Pa-tro' bus " to the
audience ; and another clergyman reading, " Tro-phl'-mus
have I left at Mil'-e-tum sick."
Syllabication. — A syllable is the shortest appreciable por-
tion of pronunciation, and strikes the ear as a single impulse.
74 VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
It, however, consists of one or more elementary sounds. " Ah "
consists of but one element, while " strands " consists of seven.
The simple syllable "m-a-n " has three elements. The organs
of the voice must be placed in position for each of them, and
the rapidity with which this is done prevents any appreciable
silence between the respective elements, and so the three
come to the ear as one sound.
Languages differ as to how many consonants shall combine
with the vowel element to form a syllable. The Hawaiian
admits of only the simplest kind of combination, — a single
preceding consonant. The English stands nearly at the other
end of the scale, allowing as many as three preceding and four
succeeding consonants, aggregating sometimes seven articu-
lates, as in " s-p-1-i-n-t-st." The method of syllabication, in
more refined languages at least, seems to be one cf economy,
progressing from the less open to the more open position
cf the mouth aperture, as "s-t-a-y," or the reverse, "a-s-k."
These two ways maybe combined, as in " s-t-r-a-n-d." We
cannot make zigzags in syllables. T-r-s-n-d-a is an impossi-
bility as one syllable, though containing only the same num-
ber of elements as "strand."
Faults or excellencies of pronunciation depend upon faulty
or excellent action of the organs in elementary enunciation.
That the organs must assume six or eight different and defi-
nite positions in the pronunciation of words of average length,
indicates how extremely lively these organs must be, else they
will trip and stumble over each other, preventing distinctness
and good vowel quality. But facts quite wonderful are possi-
ble in pronunciation. Mr. Moody, the revivalist, is said to
have spoken two hundred and twenty words in a minute.
Syllabication also includes accent. The syllable to be
accented must also be determined by the acknowledged
standards.
Alphabetic. — The simplest division of elementary sounds
is into vowels and consonants, based upon organic action, as
follows : —
VOCAL CULTURE.
75
Vowels result from definite fixed position of the organs of
speech ; they are non-obstructive and syllabic. That is, they
do not obstruct the breath or voice, and are the norm of
syllables.
Consonants result from definite fixed positions of the
organs of speech. They are obstructive and non-syllabic.
According to Prof. Bell, there are seventeen vowel and twenty-
six consonant elements in the English language.
Vowel Analysis. — Vowels classified so as to indicate
the part of the tongue most actively concerned in their
moulding: —
Back.
Top.
Front.
oo as
in pool.
a as in ask.
ee as in feel.
u "
" pull.
u " " urn.
1 " " ill.
li "
" up.
a " " ale.
5 "
" pole.
e " " met.
a. "
" far.
a " " at.
I "
" isle.
au "
" Paul.
o "
" on.
ow "
" owl.
oi "
" oil.
Proceeding from the top of the column down, you pass
successively from the more elevated to the less elevated
position of the tongue. The same vowel sound is not uni-
formly represented by the same character ; " oo " as in pool
is represented by u (ride), o (do), etc., etc.
The sound of each of the above vowels should be familiar
to the studeat ; he should learn to distinguish them early by
the ear, and give them promptly in pronunciation by whatever
character represented. The organs in moulding these vowels
must be definitely fixed, as the character of the vowel depends
upon the shape of the mouth cavity. An approximation will
only give an approximate vowel. The student should not
let the character confuse him as to the sound he is to give ;
ei (veil) has the same sound as a (ale).
Imperfect Vowel Moulding. — Some vowels are more
easily moulded than others ; consequently, in careless and
76 VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
lazy pronunciation, the organs are adjusted to the easiest
position. Habitual faulty pronunciation of certain vowels,
sometimes interferes with the proper adjustment for othei
vowels. Slovenly speakers give piitatuh, for potato ; stun, for
stone; induvisubility, for indivisibility; cluck, for clock, etc.
i. The most common fault and the one to be guarded
against, is the tendency to make long voivels short. The
shortening of vowel quantity in pronunciation gives the
disagreeable quality of voice previously considered.
2. As unaccented vowels are unmarked in the dictiona-
ries, it is sometimes difficult to give the quantity of the
obscure vowels. Prof. Monroe gave the following rules to
aid in this case : —
i. "A, i, y, ending an unaccented syllable is generally
short obscure, as in the words, abound, capable, d/rect,
p^-rites.
Exception. — These vowels are long when they directly pre-
cede an accented vowel, as in a-e-rial, d/-ameter, Ivy-e'na.
2. E, o, or u, ending an unaccented syllable, is generally
long obscure, as in ^-vent, molest, c^-taneous.
3. In cases where the preceding rules will not apply, place
the accent on the doubtful syllable to determine its sound;
thus change lag'-gard to laggard', and it will readily be per-
ceived that the sound in the last syllable is that of a.
The article a has always the sound of a (at), obscure,
approaching short vowel ii (up).
The article the is pronounced thi before a vowel, and thu
(vowel very obscure) before a consonant.
Practice. — 1. Exercise care and energy in conversational
pronunciation.
2. a, 00, ee, may be regarded as key vowels as to the
position of the tongue, lips, and vocal cords.
In a* the lower jaw drops to its widest extent, the upper lip
is lifted and arched, showing the upper front teeth, the
aperture suggesting an equal-sided triangle, whose base is
VOCAL CULTURE. JJ
the lower lip, tongue flat and hollow. This position should
be mastered.
In e the mouth should be extended as far as possible side-
wise, showing the tips of the teeth.
In " oo " contract and round the lips.
i. Practise uttering these vowels in rapid succession, con-
tinuously, e-ah-oo ; ah-e-oo ; oo-ah-e, etc.
2. Arrange a, e, i, o, u in every conceivable order, and
utter them as above, and then deliberately.
3. To liberate the jaw, utter rapidly and continuously,
fah, lah, etc.
Consonants. — Consonants, unlike vowels, obstruct the
vocal passage by the tongue articulating with the upper teeth,
the palate, or by the articulation of the lips, and lip and
teeth. Some are given with only breath, others with voice.
Care should be taken to permit only the nasals to pass
through the nasal cavities.
With Breath only. With Voice. Nasals.
P— - B — M —
Wh — (why) W — N —
F- V- Ng-(sing)
Th — (thin) Dh — (this)
S — Z — (zone)
T— D —
Sh— (shed) R— (roll)
H— Zh— (azure)
K— Y —
Rh- G _
Yh — R— (oar)
L —
Articulation. — The value of distinct articulation is of
prime importance ; for it enables the speaker to make his
words, at least, understood. This excellence hides a multi-
tude of oratorical sins.
Mr. A. M. Bell heard Rev. Mr. Spurgeon address an
assembly of twenty-five thousand people in Agricultural Hall,
London. The speaker was easily heard and understood by
78 VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
all, and this with only usual exertion. Mr. Bell attributed
this success to the speaker's accurate and vigorous enuncia-
tion. In articulation each word should be cleanly carved
and plainly stamped, as the gold piece from the coiner.
Some of the faults of articulation are as follows : Thickness,
using the middle instead of top of tongue. Sometimes this
is a congenital defect, and the surgeon's knife must be sought
to "snip the framum."
Burring, caused by approximating the back of the tongue
to the walls of the pharynx.
Lisping, giving " th" for the " s " sound. To correct, place
tip of the tongue about three quarters of an inch back of the
upper teeth in uttering "s."
Stuttering and stammering are most serious impediments.
The sufferer should seek skilled advice. One or two help-
ful points are enumerated : first establish deep and regular
breathing during vocal effort, hold the head firm, read and
speak lazily.
The common faults that beset the greatest number of
speakers are the following : —
Drawling, a habit of making vocal effort while waiting for
another thought or word. This class of speakers in extreme
cases, hang-ugh on-ugh the-ugh word.
Lack of Prompt and Definite Action of the Or-
gans. — Dental quality, resulting from keeping the teeth too
firmly closed. This is a very common fault and one that must
be constantly guarded against, especially as it is apt to be ac-
companied by a rigid condition of the muscles of the throat.
Many speakers do not show the least space between the
teeth in uttering the less open vowels. In "e," the closest
vowel, there should be space enough between the teeth to
admit of a thick paper-cutter.
Sluggish, Unruly Tongue. — Every voice teacher has
experienced the statement of the Scripture that " the tongue
is an unruly member."
VOCAL CULTURE. 79
To secure good vowel moulding and articulation, the student
should direct his efforts mainly to the following points : —
i . To bring the tone forward as treated of before.
2. Free and generous opening of the lips and separation of
teeth.
3. Perfect control of the tongue, especially the ability to keep
the tongue flat in the mouth at will. The vowel "ah," may
be selected as a practice vowel. While uttering it the tongue
should be troughed, the tip touching the lower teeth. This
gives an unobstructed passage for vocal emission. The top
of the tongue has a constant tendency to arch up, obstructing
the passage and producing a squeezed quality of voice.
1 . Practice bfore the mirror.
(a.) Open the mouth, depress the tongue, lift the veil of
the palate, till the uvula quite disappears. The gaping effort
will usually effect this.
(b.) Hold the mouth open, thrust the tongue far out, sud-
denly draw it in as far as possible.
(c.) Holding the mouth open, with tip of the tongue reach
back to the soft palate as far as possible.
2. Practice for articulation. As the defects of articulation
are elementary, correction should be applied to the elements.
Learn the position for the consonants, then vigorously ar-
ate them.
3. Practice for lip mobility. Gently closing the lips with
teeth slightly separated, distend the mouth laterally as in
smiling. Now without separating the lips, suddenly shoot
them out to the " 66 " position. Immovable lips and flat
mouth are very common faults, and should receive the special
care of the student.
4. Practise repeating continuously do do, etc., to to, etc. ;
this exercise liberates the tongue, also lo and fa, la, si, do.
5. Practise speaking with exaggerated movement of the
tongue and lips, as though speaking to deaf mutes.
6. Practise difficult combinations : ip, it, ik, if, ith, iss, ish,
80 VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
im, in, ing, it, id, ig, in, ith, iz, izh, ith, iss, ith, ish, iss, ith,
iss, ish, ish, iss, ish, ith, ith, iss, ith, ith, ish, ith, iss, ish, iss, ish,
ith, izh, il, in, il, ing, in, ill, in, ing, ing, il, ing, in, ill, in, ing,
il, ing, in, in, il, ing, in, il, ing, in, ing, il, ing, in, il, ib, it, id,
im, in, ir, ir, ib, ir, ir, pa, ta, fa, tha, sha, ma, na, ga, ha, ka,
po, to, fo, tho, sho, mo, no, go, ho, ko, ra, etc.
Pronounce the following with particular reference to the
final element, but be careful not to prolong the final sound
unnaturally : pip, tip, pip, pit, tit, pik, kik, tik, thith, tath,
shooth, sus, shis, shas, shish, bib, gab, did, gid, gog, dog, bog,
pi'f, tath, bit, mir, pop, rim, thid, lil, rol, ral, rin, lin, pan, ram,
lim, sim, rim, ing, ling, ming.
Table of Consonant Sounds. — ProbW, trou-b/ed,
troub/'d'st, rob-b'st, candle, hand/'d, lond/est, blac-&ens, think' st,
iall'sf, elves, whelw, whelmed, help'st, filttid, heaths, entombed,
xawged, thinks, flinch^//, songs, arcs, hookV, sna-r/W/, hoopV/,
fear'j/, hurt\r/, search' j/, healths, wreathed, rhythm, battles, set-
tlW, liv'j/, muzzle, imprison'd, imprison'd'st.
Repeat the following quickly and with firm accentuation :
act, acts, beef-broth, chaise, cloud-capt, eighths, faith, fifths,
judged, knitting, literally, literary, literarily, linen, mimic,
needle, popped, plural, quacked, quiet, railroad, raillery,
rennet, saith, sash, sixths, soothe, Scotch, sloth, statistics,
twelfths, vivify, vivication, wife, whiff, whip. Farewell in wel-
fare. Fine white wine vinegar with veal. May we vie. Bring
a bit of buttered bran bread. Some pranks Franks play in
the tank. A bad big dog. Keep the tippet ticket. Geese
cackle, cattle low, crows caw, cocks crow. A knapsack strap.
Take tape and tie the cape. Come and cut the tongue, cook.
Fanny flattered foppish Fred. Giddy Kitty's tawdry gewgaws.
Kate's ten cents. Six thick thistle sticks. Let reason rule
your life. A lucent rubicund rotary luminary. Don't run
along the wrong labyrinth. Lucy likes light literature.
VOCAL CULTURE. 8l
I. 'T was a wild, mad kind of a night, as black as the bottomless pit,
The wind was howling away like a Bedlamite in a fit,
Tearing the ash boughs off, and mowing the poplars down,
In the meadows beyond the old flour-mill where you turn to go off to
the town.
2. Nothing could stop old Lightning Bess but the broad breast of the
sea.
3. Lovely art thou, O Peace, and lovely are thy children, and lovely
are thy footsteps in the green valleys.
4. To an American visiting Europe, the long voyage he has to make
is an excellent preparative. From the moment you lose sight of the
land you have left, all is vacancy, until you step on the opposite shore
and are launched at once into the novelties and bustle of another world.
VOCAL EXPRESSION.
CHAPTER VII.
LANGUAGE.
Language in its broadest function reveals not only that
which man designs to express, but infinitely more. It
expresses not only what the man creates in his mind, but
really what he is also.
The orator's office, perhaps, is to express only what he
thinks and feels ; but as what a man does is inseparable from
what he is, it may be profitable to look briefly at language in
the broadest light. But first, the intentional language of the
orator does not consist merely of the literal or spoken form.
"It was not what he said, but it was the way he said it,"
is a comment frequently heard upon another's utterance.
The most scathing invective may be couched in language of
complimentary form. Irony gets its meaning and sting from
the tone in which it is spoken, while the words pretend to
praise.
Delsarte classified these different agents and methods of
expression as " nine languages."
First, the language of forms. The nature and habits of the
snake or eagle may be determined by its form.
Man's place in the order of beings is also indicated by the
form of his body. The hand especially indicates his superi-
ority. The form is more or less modified by the inner life.
Second, Attitudes. All emotions strong enough to pro-
nounce themselves, find expression in appropriate attitude, or
significant change of form and position in relation to others.
VOCAL EXPRESSION. 83
Third, Automatic movements. These are unconscious es-
capes of character, unpurposed movements, as trembling,
nodding, biting of the lips, etc.
Fourth, Gesture. This is nature's language, a valuable
handmaid to articulate speech.
Fifth, Facial expression. " The eye is the window of the
soul." I think it is equally as true, and fully as trite, that the
face is the mirror of the soul. The animated face is an open
book of the soul's contents.
Sixth, Inarticulate noises. " All organic or emotional states
seeking uncontrolled expression, reveal themselves in crude
noises," as the whistle, hiss, cough, sob, groan, etc.
Seventh, Inflected tones. " The quality, pitch, cadence of
voice, reveal the range of emotion in kind and degree." The
"yell of rage," the "wail of sorrow," the "monotone of
sublimity," etc., are found under this head.
Eighth, Articulate language. Articulate language is the
medium of the intellect.
Ninth, Deeds. This is a very solid manifestation of self.
So the proverb comes that " actions speak louder than
words."
We will study at greater length the second, fourth, fifth,
sixth, seventh, and eighth of these languages.
Articulate and Inflected Language. — Words reveal
the intellectual state. So we have the incisive and compact
utterance of the clear thinker, in contrast to the intellectual
status of the wordy bankrupt in thought.
Voice reveals the sensitive state. None fail to appreciate
the " clear, honest voice of health and refinement, the minc-
ing fop, the muddy vocality of vice."
Inflections reveal the moral state. The positive inflection
of the man of conviction, the circumflex of a double dealer,
the mechanical and nasal whine of the hypocrite, are inter-
preted by all, if all are not able to analyze the mechanics of
the language used.
84 VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
Articulate Language. — The first effort of every speaker
should be to make himself understood.
Emphasis. — The intelligibility of articulate language de-
pends upon emphasis. Words are made emphatic by giving
them prominence, compelling them to stand out in the sen-
tence. This is accomplished by pausing before or after a
word, by the quality of the voice used, but most usually by an
increased force ("stress") of voice on the accented syllable
on a higher pitch. The word to be emphasized is the one that
conveys the meaning intended. Any sentence may convey as
many meanings or shades of meaning as it has words. Do
you study elocution ? Really, I do not. Do you study elocu-
tion ? No, but my brother does. Do you study elocution ?
No, I ignore it as beneath my dignity. Do you study elocu-
tion ? No, I prefer theology.
The author must have clearly in his mind what he does
mean, and then command the emphasis to express it. Re-
porters are not always to blame for misunderstanding the
speaker ; speakers and readers are frequently slovenly in
using emphasis. In deliberative •assemblies, I have heard
speakers interrupted, and questioned as to their meaning.
With the same sentence, but correctly emphasized, the
speaker re-states himself, and the audience is no longer in
doubt.
Usually the word that expresses the most, when separated
from the rest of the sentence, is the one that reveals the
thought.
"From the workshop of the Golden Key, there issued
forth a tinkling sound, so merry and good-humored, that it
suggested the idea of some one working blithely, and made
quite pleasant music"
In reading this sentence, the majority of persons will
emphasize " sound," but tinkling expresses not only sound,
but tells the character of the sound, and should therefore be
emphasized. "Tinkling," "blithely," and "music," given
VOCAL EXPRESSION. 85
with proper inflection and action, will express more than any
other words of the sentence.
New idea. In a succession of ideas, the new one is to be
emphasized according to the principle above.
" ' Tink, tink ! ' clear as a silver bell, and audible at every
pause of the street's harsher noises, as though it said, ' I
don't care ! ' " To emphasize " noises," would be to empha-
size the old idea included in " tinkling." The idea is to con-
trast the clear bell sound with the harsh sounds of the street.
Antithesis. Antithetic emphasis is placed really according
to the principle of the new idea.
Faults. — 1. Emphasizing too many words. Where all
are generals, there are no privates. Emphasizing every word
is equal to emphasizing none.
2. Emphasizing words at regular intervals without regard
to sense.
3. Placing the emphasis on unaccented syllables.
4. Emphasizing small or unimportant words.
5. Emphasizing words at random, without clearly discern-
ing the thought.
Practice. — i. Get command over the power to place the
emphasis on any word at will.
2. Analyze what you are to read, for the most important
word ; (a) by separating the words of the sentence, (b) by
placing the emphasis on different words in succession.
3. Clearly think your thought, then utter the words that
convey your meaning with due emphasis.
The Language of Inflected Tones. — While words re-
veal thought, inflection shows how that thought affects the
speaker. It is the language of emotion. A perfect man
would have no difficulty in perfectly expressing himself. Chil-
dren are generally less trammeled than men, to express them-
selves thoroughly and accurately through the inflections.
We understand inflection to be the slide of the voice from
one pitch to another.
86 VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
"Pitch is the place of the sound in the musical scale."
Concrete pitch is that movement of sound from a lower to a
higher, or from a higher to a lower pitch, without any break ;
it is accomplished by one impulse of sound.
Discrete pitch is that of two or more sounds separated from
each other. If the finger is slid down the string of the violin
while the bow is drawn across, we have a sound continuing
from one pitch to another, without any break whatever ; this
is a concrete pitch, for the pitches grow together. Now if the
performer change his finger to give a distinct pitch with an
interval between, we have a discrete pitch, for one pitch is dis-
tinguished 'from another.
In slides we use concrete pitch. "High," "low," and
"middle " pitch refer to the part of the vocal scale.
In a succession of two tones, if the second begins a tone
above the beginning of the first, it is called a discrete rising
second ; if it falls below, it is called a discrete falling second.
According to the interval made, we have a discrete rising
second, third, fifth, octave, etc., if the voice ascends in the
scale ; or falling second, third, etc., etc., if it falls in the scale.
The voice may rise or fall two or more tones, making discrete
intervals of only a tone, thus touching every tone in ascend-
ing or descending. A succession of tones on the same pitch
is a monotone. A phrase of melody is an alternating set of
rising or falling tones.
Rising Slides.* — The semitone. Let a plaintive or
mournful expression be given to the following sentence, and
it will exhibit the rising semitone on the " I," and the falling
semitone on "boy" : " I will be a good boy," answering the
question, "Who will be a good boy? "
Rising slide of a second. Let the following sentence be de-
liberately and clearly uttered, and the " I " will exhibit the
* For the examples on the slides of the voice, the author is indebted to
Dr. Barber's '' Grammar of Elocution."
VOCAL EXPRESSION. 87
rising slide of a second : " As soon as I arrived, he conducted
me into the house." It is the suspensive slide.
Rising slide of a third. Let the following question be
asked in a natural way, expecting the answer "Yes " or "No " :
" Did he say it was I that did it ? " This will illustrate the
rising slide of a third.
Rising slide of a fifth. Let the same question be asked
with emphasis and emotion : " Did you say it was I ? " This
exhibits the intense slide of the fifth.
Rising slide of an octave. Let the emphasis be still stronger
and the question more piercing, expressive of excessive sur-
prise, and it will exhibit the more intense rising slide of the
octave : " Did you say it was I" I Children and women often
ask questions with this intense and piercing slide.
Falling Slides. — Falling slide of a second. Let the fol-
lowing sentence be uttered in a natural, easy way, without
emphasis on the " I," supposing Mr. I and the speaker to be
on equal terms : " Good evening, Mr. I."
Falling slide of a third. Let the same sentence be uttered,
putting " I " in antithesis to you : " Good evening, Mr. 7."
Falling slide of a fifth. Let the same be uttered with
strong emphasis on " I," to express a considerable degree of
positiveness, and an intense downward slide of a fifth will be
exhibited : " He said it was J" (not you).
Falling slide of an octave. Now let the highest degree of
dictatorial positiveness and energy be given to the " I," and
it may reach the downward octave : " He said it was /."
Circumflex Slides. — The voice may not only ascend, but
also descend, upon the same syllable. This movement of the
voice upon a syllable is called a circumflex.
" If the rise and fall of the voice on a syllable are through
the same interval, it is called an equal wave ; if it is not the
same, it is an unequal wave." If the radical or first part rises,
it is called a falling circumflex ; if it falls, a rising circumflex ;
if it rises and falls and rises again, it is a rising double cir-
88 VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
cumflex ; if it falls and rises and falls again, it is a falling
double circumflex.
The circumflex is a second, third, fifth, or octave, according
to the interval it passes through.
Examples illustrative of the circufnfltX slides. " Hail ! holy
Light." If the word " hail " is uttered with extended quan-
tity, with a perceptible downward ending, and with that em-
phasis only which arises from its prolongation, it will show
the falling circumflex of a second.
" High on a throne of royal state." If this sentence is
uttered with long quantity, it will show the rising circumflex
of the second on the syllables "high," "throne," "roy."
"'I said he was my friend.' If this sentence be deliber-
ately uttered with very long quantity upon the 'my,' or an
exclusive emphasis, implying that the person spoken of was
not your friend," that word will show the falling circumflex of
the third. If the answer " Your friend " is made interrogator)',
and the word u your " is uttered with very long quantity, with
a slight degree of surprise, it will show the rising circumflex
of the third. " If the sentence is reiterated, ' I said he was
my friend,' with a strong positive emphasis on 'my,' together
with a very long quantity," the falling circumflex of the fifth
will be heard.
By increasing the emphasis of surprise, and making the
interrogation more piercing, together with extended quantity
upon the word " your " in the sentence " Your friend," accom-
panied with the former example, the rising circumflex of the
fifth is heard.
"'I said he was my friend/ If the word c my 3 is uttered
with a strongly taunting, and at the same time positive expres-
sion, that word will show rising unequal circumflex. If the
word ' your ' in the sentence ' Your friend,' is colored strongly
with scorn and interrogation, it may be made to show the fall-
ing unequal wave."
If suspensive quantity with a plaintive expression is put
VOCAL EXPRESSION. 89
upon the words "poor" and "old" in the following sentence,
they will show the falling circumflex of the semitone. " Pity
the sorrows of a poor old man." The word "man " may be
made to display the rising circumflex of the semitone, by
making it plaintive, with long quantity, and causing the voice
to fall upon the second part of the wave.
Principles of Inflection. — I. The rising slide is pro-
spective-
While the emotions are going on and out to their goal, t]ae
rising inflection is used.
II. Rising tones appeal : —
1. To bespeak attention to something that follows, as-com-
pleting a statement.
2. For solution of doubt.
3. For the expression of the hearer's will, as in response
to a proposition.
4. To question the possibilities of an assertion, as in sur-
prise.
III. The falling slide is retrospective.
When the emotions have reached their goal they rest ; the
falling slide is used.
Falling tones assert : —
1. To express completion of statement.
2. To express conviction.
3. To express the speaker's will, as in command.
4. To express impossibility of denial. Rising tones are
deferential. Falling tones are peremptory.
IV. The circumflexes are compound in their meaning, par-
taking of the character of the rising and falling or of the fall-
ing and rising tone ; these, then, are querulous-assertive or
assertive-querulous .
Circumflexes partaking of the nature both of the rising and
falling slide are used, —
1. When the emotions are unsettled, as in mental per-
plexity.
90 VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
2. In double meanings, as in sarcasm, scorn, etc.
3. In conscious insincerity, as when a man of trade reo-
ommends for purchase some article with concealed defect.
His conscience and will opposing each other, puts the circum-
flex in the voice.
4. In wheedling and flattery ; there is insincerity, too, in
this.
5. In compliment, as when you wish to praise a boy for
some not very important but commendable deed; or when
you wish to make people feel comfortable.
V. Monotone. Monotone is reflective. It expresses the
moral states ; it suggests grandeur, awfulness, sublimity ; it
is the tone man should use in addressing the Deity.
VI. Semitone. Semitone is used in grief, sorrow, etc.
Faults. — 1. Habitual rising slides. These keep the audi-
ence in continual suspense ; they find no rest. We have
heard ministers who closed positively constructed sentences
with the upward slide, in the majority of cases.
2. Habitual downward slides. These are tiresome ; for the
listening mind instinctively rests at the downward slide, when
lo ! it must up and on, for the thought is not completed. Such
delivery is humdrum and tiresome in the extreme.
3. Habitual circumflex. This inflection lacks force and
dignity.
4. The recurring cadence given in regular succession, pro-
ducing what is called "sing-song."
5. Placing the inflection on the unaccented syllable.
6. Beginning the rising inflection too high, the falling,
too low.
Practice. — 1. Use the exercises as given under "Flexi-
bility," in Chapter V.
2. Think the thought, let the emotion grow out of it, but
feel genuinely the truth of what you have to read or speak.
3. Train the ear to detect the various slides.
4. Be able to give the slides at will.
VOCAL EXPRESSION. 91
5. Guard against the faults enumerated above.
6. Practise the rising and then the falling slides of the
second, third, fifth, and octave upon the following elements,
taking care to educate the ear to distinguish the effect : —
7. Make the circumflexes on these.
8. Sing these intervals.
9. Try to express the emotion of the piece, using only the
vowels of the accented syllables, as : —
a pa a go eii
" That you have wronged me doth appear in this."
The pitch here constantly becomes higher.
Falling Inflection : ■ —
1. To arms ! To arms ! Ye brave !
The avenging sword unsheathe !
March on, march 6n, all hearts resolved
On victory or death.
2. Hence ! home, you idle creatures, get you home !
You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things,
Begone !
Run to your houses, fall upon your knees,
Pray to the gods to intermit the plague,
That needs must light on this ingratitude.
3 Come to the house of prayer,
O thou afflicted, come !
The God of peace shall meet thee there,
Pie makes that house his home.
92 VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION,
Rising Inflection, i. Cicero's accusation of Verres : —
Is it come to this ? Shall an inferior magistrate, a governor, who holds
his whole power of the Roman people, in a Roman province, within sight
of Italy, bind, scourge, torture with fire and red-hot plates of iron, and at
last put to the infamous death of the cross, a Roman citizen?
2. Must I budge, must I observe you?
Must I stand and crouch under your testy humor ?
Rising and Railing : —
I. Tread softly, bow the head,
In reverent silence, bow;
No passing bell doth toll,
Yet an immortal soul
Is passing now.
2. Stand ! The ground 's your own, my braves !
Will you give it up to slaves ?
Do you look for greener graves ?
Hope you mercy still ?
3. Can honor set a leg? No! Or an arm? No! Or take away the
grief of a wound? No! Honor hath no skill in surgery then? No!
What is honor ? A word. What is that word, honor ? Air. Who hath
it ? He that died on Wednesday. Doth he feel it ? No! Doth he hear
it? N6 ! Is it insensible, then? Yes, to the dead. But will it not live
with the living ? No ! Why ? Detraction will not suffer it.
Minor Rising Inflection : —
1. Oh ! pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth,
That I am meek and gentle with these butchers.
2. Give me three grains of corn, mother,
Only three grains of corn.
Minor Railing Inflectio?i : —
1. O my son Absalom! my son, my son Absalom! would God I had
died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son !
2. OI have lost you all,
Parents, and home, and friends.
VOCAL EXPRESSION. 93
Circumflex Inflections : —
■I. What, sir! feed a child's body, and let his soul go hungry! pamper
his limbs, and starve his faculties ?
2. What should I say to you ? Should I not say,
Hath a dog money ? Is it possible
A cur can lend three thousand ducats ?
3. There was in our town, a certain Tom-ne'er-do-well, an honest fellow,
who was brought to ruin by readily crediting that "care will kill a cat."
Poor fellow ! he never considered that he was not a cat ; and accordingly,
he made it a point not to care for anything. He did not care for his
father's displeasure, and he was disinherited. He did not care for money,
and he was always distressed. And lastly, he did not care for himself,
and he died in the workhouse.
Monotone : —
1. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabbaoth.
2. And I heard a voice saying unto me, write, etc.
94 VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
CHAPTER VIII.
MELODY OF DISCOURSE.
Narration, negation, affirmation, every passion and emo-
tion, has its own peculiar melody. Without understanding the
words spoken, we can tell whether the untrammeled person
speaks in anger or complacency, whether in joy or grief, by
the melody of his speech.
The stronger and more pronounced emotions usually ex-
press themselves naturally in their own melody ; but all the
emotions are not controlling. Many speakers utter the most
benevolent emotions in the most discordant fashion ; ethers,
again, express the language of anger in the tamest manner.
Speech is characterized by variety in pitch (radical pitch
and inflection), time, force, movement, accent, quantity, stress.
Discrete pitch. Discrete pitch, previously discussed under
inflection, is made by a different impulse of the voice for the
different pitches. It makes the intervals distinct, and gives
variety to the utterance.
Melody arising from difference in discrete pitch. Such is the
demand of the ear for variety, that if three syllables be uttered
upon the same pitch the effect is monotonous.
Simple melody. In plain, unemotional narrative the dis-
crete pitch of the discourse seldom moves from word to word
by more than a tone. The slides also usually make intervals
of only a tone. Although the proximate syllables may differ
by only a tone, yet this melody admits of a great variety of
combinations ; for the last syllable of a sentence might pos-
sibly be a whole octave above or below the starting-point, hav-
ing made a variety of melodious phrases in the mean time.
VOCAL EXPRESSION. 95
No prescribed order of these intervals can be written out.
They must depend upon the mental and emotional attitude of
the reader or speaker. If the mind is not constrained, and is
keenly alive, there will be variety enough to prevent dulness.
The extemporaneous speaker will usually be more free from
this fault of sameness. Readers and speakers from manu-
script will have to be more watchful. Care must be taken by
all, to avoid falling into the rut of a single emotion.
Strong emotion, violent passion, and intense mentality ex-
press themselves by wider intervals.
Pitch is called high, medium, and low, according to the
range of pitch used.
i. High pitch suitably expresses joyousness, etc.
2. Medium pitch is used in unemotional discourse.
3. Low pitch is employed in seriousness, etc.
Cadence, Cadence is the discrete fall of the voice in pitch,
in closing a sentence not interrogatory. Variety, to satisfy
the ear and to complete the sense, depends measurably upon
the manner of closing a sentence, as well as upon the variety
of pitch during the progress of the utterance.
Cadence properly includes two other syllables, preparatory
to the last one, and is necessary to distinctly separate the dif-
ferent ideas of discourse. In simple thought, not interrogative,
emphatical, or emotional, the following cadences are used : the
cadence of three syllables separates ideas most, the cadence
of two less (this is the best ending for plain thought), and
that of a single one, the least. The voice must slide clown a
tone on the final syllable of a cadence, but upon the others it
may slide either up or down, and with longer intervals.
Faults. — Faults of pitch. Speaking on too high or too
low a pitch. This fault was discussed under " Inflection."
In simple melody the most common fault is sameness, result-
ing from unvaried discrete pitch. Sometimes many words are
spoken on the same pitch. This is the real "monotone,"
Akin to it is the habit of employing the same two or three
96 VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
intervals over . and over again, producing another kind of
"monotone," so called.
Improper use of semitone. Unless called for by strong
expression of mournful feeling, the use of the semitone gives
an undignified, hypocritical whine. This fault is most fre-
quently found in the pulpit. " I pray you avoid it."
In pausal melody. — Want of cadence. The repose of
the cadence is grateful to the ear. Some speakers never
make a cadence, and the listener, kept in anticipation all the
time, must look up to find out when the speaker is through, as
the voice gives no indication.
Feeble e?idi?ig, resulting from an imperfect cadence, and
expending all the force before the close. Be careful not to
let the voice get so low in pitch as to prevent a strong ending
on the last words.
False cadence, resulting from the voice falling discretely on
the last syllable more than one tone.
A recurring pausal melody produces another kind of monot-
ony, called " sing-song." The ear anticipates this melody, and
expects it at certain intervals. One must be careful to avoid
this fault in reading metrical composition ; for the recurrence
of the measure, or sound in rhyme, especially invites this fault.
Again, the style of some speakers in the construction of
sentences invites recurring melody.
The following, quoted by Dr. Barber from Dr. Johnson, is
a striking example of this faulty style : —
" Homer was the greater genius, Virgil, the better artist. In the one,
we most admire the man ; in the other, the work. Homer hurries us
with a commanding impetuosity; Virgil leads * us with an attractive
majesty. Homer scatters with a generous profusion; Virgil bestows
with a careful magnificence."
Some speakers fall into this melody as a trick of voice, and
sometimes, it seems, because it is easier to give than another,
as an old song is easier to sing than a new one. Monotony
at the close of the sentence is especially noticeable. "
VOCAL EXPRESSION. 97
Practice. — i. Analyze the sense of the author.
2. In style, construct the sentences so that the formal
recurrence of similar clauses and sentences may not lead to
the repetition of the same phrase of melody.
3. If the reader or speaker clearly and deliberately thinks
the thought, and appreciates the full significance of the lan-
guage used, he will help himself largely to a correct use of
pitch, slides, and cadence.
4. Let the voice range about its middle pitch.
5. Train the ear to detect monotony, recurring melody,
feeble endings, and avoid them.
6. Keep the mind free from constraint ; avoid drifting on
one emotion.
Measure of Speech. — Accent. In the production of all
immediately consecutive sounds, the voice acts by alternating
pulsation and remission. Two heavy, or accented, syllables
cannot be uttered in immediate succession by a single vocal
impulse. The word " kingdom " can be uttered by a single
effort of voice, consisting as it does of an accented and an
unaccented syllable ; but " king, king," requires two efforts
with an appreciable hiatus or pause between them.
Accent is the property of syllables ; its use is familiar to
all. The accent on short syllables is the effect of increased
force ; on long syllables it is the effect of time and force.
Measure. — A perfect measure in speech consists of one
or any greater number of syllables, not exceeding five, uttered
during one pulsation and remission of voice. Syllables of
long quantity may form a measure; those of short quantity
cannot.
Prose, as well as metrical composition, may be constructed
with reference to the number of accented and unaccented
syllables in a sentence.
Every measure, in speech as in music, should occupy the
same time in utterance. The imperfect bars would then
require silence to take the time not occupied with the syllable
7
Rocks
P
a u
fens
P
a u
dews
ind
a u
P
A
a
u
98 VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
or syllables. This gives an easy and effective delivery, and
allows ample time for breathing without breaking the sense.
The bar | is employed to separate one measure from
another. A measure with one syllable, of course, indicates
slow movement, while a measure with four or five syllables
indicates rapid movement. The mark P indicates pause ;
a, the accented syllable; u, the unaccented.
Caves P lakes P
a u a u
bogs P I
a u
shades of death
a u a u
universe of death P
a u u a u
The rest in the above measures occupies the time of the
word " and."
The pause is very essential to easy delivery, and to the
sense.
Again, breathing must still be carried on in speech.
Natural breathing is rhythmical, suggesting that the same
may be most economically accomplished by rhythmical breath-
ing during speech; then the beating of the heart, sending
blood to the lungs for purification, the action of the lungs,
and the production of voice are in harmony, and, of course,
friction is avoided. The speaker who neglects accent, as
related to melody and pause, labors hard in delivery, and
wearies himself unnecessarily.
"All persons who speak agreeably and smoothly, speak for
the most part by measure." Solely on the ground of ease in
delivery, every speaker should studiously regard measure in
speaking.
VOCAL EXPRESSION. 99
Quantity. Quantity, or the time occupied in uttering the
vowels of any syllable, is closely connected with measure of
speech. Some syllables are naturally long, others naturally
short, depending upon the quantity of the vowel of the
syllable.
In uttering "a," a full sound at the beginning, succeeded by
a vanishing effect, will be perceived by the ear. Prolonged,
the sound will be found to be a compound or diphthong tone.
a = a-f-e; I = I-)-e; = o-j-°°; u = u + oo; e =
e + ee. e, u, a. are naturally short.
Long quantity in speech produces the effect of smooth de-
livery, and enables one to fill out a measure without rest, in
slow and dignified utterance.
Vowels naturally long, when given in short quantity are
harsh and jarring.
Faults. — i. Lack of full quantity on the long vowels.
This breaks the measure, and makes the delivery difficult.
2. Hastening on with no pauses to separate the ideas dis-
tinctly. Grammatical punctuation does not indicate the only
pauses.
3. Pausing at regular intervals without reference to sense.
Regularly pausing at the end of each verse [line] of poetry.
4. Accompanying faults 1 and 2 is the destructive habit of
running out of breath.
Practice. — i. Give long quantity to the proper vowels
on separate words. Select words of many syllables, and pro-
nounce them deliberately, bringing out every syllable.
2. The same in reading or speaking, with reference to
pauses.
3. Seek pauses, without breaking the expression, for the
purpose of breathing.
Stress. — Stress is the application of force to vocal tone.
Dr. Rush was the first to analyze this quality in speech.
An explosive force at the beginning of a syllable is called
Radical Stress, represented to the eye by (» " Arm, " ARM."
100 VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
It is used to express vehemence, strength of will, and pas-
sion. Dignified and clear utterance requires its use.
" Up drawbridge, grooms ! What, warder, ho !
Let the portcullis fall."
Median stress (O) may be compared to the musical swell.
It is used to express tranquil and fervent emotion. It is
smooth and continuous, and is adapted .to poetic expression.
A degree of this stress is one distinction between the voice
of a man of culture and a boor. This stress makes special
use of long quantity. " O GOLDEN hour."
" Father, thy hand
Hath reared these venerable columns ; thou
Didst weave this verdant roof ; thou didst look down
Upon the naked earth, and forthwith rose
All these fair ranks of trees. They, in thy sun,
Budded and shook their green leaves in the breeze,
And shot toward heaven."
Terminal stress «) places the force on the final part of
the tone. A growl, ending in explosion, illustrates this quality
of voice. This quality suitably expresses stubborn passion,
scorn, contradiction. It brings the diaphragm into unusual
action. " I scOFF you."
" Speak of Mortimer 1
Zounds, I will speak of him ; and let my soul
Want mercy, if I do not join with him.
He said he would not ransom Mortimer;
Forbade my tongue to speak of Mortimer."
Compound stress (X) unites the radical and terminal
stress. It is used to express contending emotions, as in sar-
casm, contempt. It usually accompanies circumflex inflection.
" Hath a dog money ? "
Thorough stress ( ) is the full sustained force. It is
VOCAL EXPRESSION. IOI
used in shouting and calling. The boor speaks with thorough
stress. Its legitimate use in expression is limited. "Boat
ahoy ! Boat ahoy ! "
Intermittent stress (^££z£~) is the tremor of the voice. It
is characteristic of feebleness, old age, grief. It may be used
in pathetic utterance. Used excessively it greatly mars de-
livery.
" Pity the sorrows of a poor old man,
Whose trembling limbs have borne him to your door."
" What ! canst thou not forbear me half an hour ?
Then get thee gone, and dig my grave thyself ;
And bid the merry bells ring to thine ear,
That thou art crowned, not that I am dead.
Let all the tears that should bedew my hearse
Be drops of balm to sanctify thy head."
Faults. — i. Lack of median stress.
2. Capricious use of the several kinds of stress, without
due reference to expressiveness.
3. Faulty use of the intermittent stress ; trying to put pathos,
solemnity, seriousness, in the voice by employing tremolo. This
is a weakness very common to the pulpit.
Practice. — 1. For facility in use, practice the several
kinds of stress.
2. Feel deeply the truth to be uttered.
3. Use the appropriate stress in the light of the above
instruction.
Force. — Force, as applied in stress, is quite distinct from
its application in the various degrees of loudness. The ap-
plication of force in stress has respect to the way in which a
tone is opened, continued, or closed. Any stress may possi-
bly be given with loud or gentle force.
The degree of force, loudness, depends upon (a) the num-
ber of persons to be addressed, {b) the character of the emo-
tion to be expressed. The following caution is to be ob-
served : —
102 VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
i. The speaker is not necessarily heard because he shouts.
The carrying quality of voice depends first upon its purity and
articulation. Shouting sometimes prevents one from being
understood.
2. The strongest bawling and declamation does not express
the deepest emotion. Vociferation is loud, but empty.
Gentle Force is suitable to express chaste emotion, plain
thought, etc.
"Around this lovely valley rise
The purple hills of Paradise.
Oh, softly on yon banks of haze
Her rosy face the summer lays !
Becalmed along the azure sky,
The argosies of cloudland lie,
Whose shores, with many a shining rift,
Far off their pearl-white peaks uplift."
Moderate Force expresses ordinary discourse and lively
interest.
"Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If my
kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight,
that I should not be delivered to the Jews ; but now is my
kingdom not from hence."
Loud Force. — This is used in stronger emotion, suitable
in parliamentary discussion, etc.
"How far, O Catiline, wilt thou abuse our patience ? How
long shalt thou baffle justice in thy mad career ? To what ex-
treme wilt thou carry thy audacity ? Art thou nothing daunted
by the nightly watch posted to secure the Palatium ? Nothing,
by the city guards ? Nothing, by the rally of all good citi-
zens ? Nothing, by the assembling of the Senate in this for-
tified place? Nothing, by the averted looks of all here
present ? "
Very Loud Force. — This expresses strong emotion.
" Follow your spirits, and, upon this charge,
Cry, Heaven for Harry ! England and St. George ! "
VOCAL EXPRESSION. 103
Faults. — 1. Lack of energy in delivery, feeble enuncia-
tion, suggesting feebleness of mental action. Sometimes it
indicates downright laziness.
2. Uncalled-for declamation, shouting, suggesting the
effort to pass off noise for sense. Abuse of throat usually
accompanies this vicious delivery.
3. Spasmodic application of force, without reference to
fitness, at times a careless mumble, and again loud, as if the
speaker was suddenly awakened out of a reverie.
Practice.- — i. Take into consideration the character of
what you are delivering. Vary the force to suit.
2. Avoid feebleness, avoid shouting; make the sound
smooth and full; endeavor to make the tones carry, with as
little expenditure of force as possible. There should be no
"unpleasant reaction as to the feeling of the throat after
speaking. This is always a sign of misuse.
Movement. — The rates of movement in discourse are
as follows : —
1. Quick rate. — This expresses (a) rapid movement
through space ; (J?) joyful or intense emotion ; (V) suggests
lightness, etc.
Moderate rate is used in simple narrative or didactic
delivery.
Slow rate suitably expresses weighty, dignified matter,
profound emotions, slow movement through space, etc.
Very slow rate is to express solemn and very weighty
matter; labored, tedious motion.
Faults. — 1. Utterance too rapid to be distinctly under-
stood, and tiresome to the audience. Of course the rate of
utterance varies with the temperament of the individual, but
parts may be relatively fast or slow.
2. Dull, slow rate, dragging along on the final syllable, and
sometimes adding an "ugh." This is miserable. No audi-
ence can resist its bad effects, unless the speaker is tossing
them diamonds.
104 VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
3. Lack of variety in the discourse. The speaker rushes
along in a tiresome fluency or incessant loquaciousness, usu-
ally skipping all pauses. Fluency is not eloquence. Again
the speaker may trudge along at a dull, monotonous pace,
not having one spot of briskness.
Practice. — Endeavor to achieve facility in the most rapid
utterance. Take care not to sacrifice distinct articulation to
rate of movement.
2. Practise slow, deliberate movements. Make the time
on quantity, not between words. Persons with impetuous
rate should studiously practise slow rate. Persons with slow
rate should spur themselves to quick rate.
Qualities of Voice in Use. — Pure tone. This is the
clear quality free from breathiness, etc. It is used to express
plain thought and agreeable emotion, also sadness or grief,
when not mingled with solemnity.
" Ye bells in the steeple, ring, ring out your changes,
How many soever they be,
And let the brown meadow lark's note as he ranges,
Come over, come over to me."
Full tone. — This is the deep, large quality variously
called the "orotund," the "pulmonic," etc. It is used to
express grandeur, vastness, sublimity, etc.
" Roll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean, roll !
Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain."
Aspirate tone. — This does not make all the breath up
into voice, and is therefore not pure.
In rare instances it degenerates into a whisper. This qual-
ity expresses secrecy, darkness, indefiniteness, fervor, moral
impurity.
MacbetJi. Didst thou not hear a noise ?
Lady M. I heard the owl scream, and the crickets cry. Did not you
speak ?
MacbetJi, When ?
VOCAL EXPRESSION. IO5
Lady M. Now.
Macbeth. As I descended ?
Lady M. Ay.
Macbeth. Hark ! Who lies i' the second chamber?
Lady JIT. Donalbain.
Guttural tone. — This is the vicious quality of voice
formed in the throat. It is sometimes called into use in
dramatic execution, as in expressing malevolence, passions,
utter disgust, etc.
Faults and Practice. — i. Avoid the habitual use of
any one quality.
2. The guttural and aspirated qualities are less frequently
used. They were previously enumerated as faults, but are
sometimes appropriately employed in expression. As a habit,
they are serious defects.
3. Practise to command the several kinds of voice.
4. Employ the voice that suitably expresses the matter.
Phrasing or Grouping. — The function of phrasing is to
unite the related parts of discourse, to separate the unrelated,
to give prominence to the most important, and to cast other
parts into shade.
The lack of inflectional forms in English, together with the
inversions of style, parenthetical and expletive clauses, etc.,
render it necessary to indicate by the voice the relation and
importance of the different parts of the sentence.
The means of phrasing are pause, pitch, and rate of utterance.
In this connection, we think it profitable to give only one
or two leading points in this part of analysis, without endeav-
oring to study the unending variety of related parts in con-
struction.
The principal parts of a sentence, however far they may be
separated by intermediate matter, must be plainly indicated.
This may be done usually by emphasis, and by placing
these related parts on the same pitch.
Parenthetical expressions, intermediate matter between
106 VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
the essential parts of a sentence, and, usually, relative clauses,
are to be subordinated by reading on a lower pitch with
increased rate of utterance. Occasionally, the rate is slower
for impressiveness.
The o Id idea in current discourse is to be slurred also.
" When, therefore, the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that
Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John {though Jesus himself
baptized not, but his disciples), he left Judea, and departed again into
Galilee."
" Joseph, who happened to be in the field at the time, SAW the carriage
approach, and in an ecstasy of delight, hastened to meet it."
The parts in small capitals in the above examples are to be
related by pitch and emphasis, just as though the direct cur-
rent had not been crossed by other streams. The words in
italics are to be given on a lower pitch, and in more rapid
movement. These are, of course, expressions of the strong-
est contrast. The finer shades of relation must first be
clearly distinguished by the mind, and then the organs of
expression must be trusted to render them.
Faults. — i. Too frequently allowing the voice to make
a cadence where the thought is not completed.
2. Uttering parenthetical matter on the same pitch, and at
the same rate as the direct current of thought.
3. Emphasizing the old idea.
Practice. — 1. Construct the language so that the related
parts may not be so complicated as to make it difficult to
express them vocally.
2. Carefully study the writing in the light of emf/iasis, as
well as grouping.
3. Practise reading complex and compound sentences,
separating the principal parts and reading them, then adding
the subordinate parts, and reading them in construction with
the whole sentence.
Climax. — There is an oral as well as a rhetorical climax.
There is a climax of the discourse as a whole, a climax of
VOCAL EXPRESSION. 10/
sentences and parts of sentences, to be taken into account in
delivery.
The speaker should not break out abruptly into a full
vocal effort at the beginning of his discourse, but gradually
rise as the matter increases in importance.
The climax of vocal effort is parallel to rhetorical climax.
The first clause should be uttered so as to prepare for the
second, the second for the third, etc., increasing in interest
and importance, till the highest point of thought and emotion
is reached.
Climax in discourses or sentences naturally comes before
the very end.
The most obvious elements in making vocal climax are
rise in discrete pitch and increased force.
Faults. — i. Uttering the different parts of a discourse
or sentence on the same level of interest.
2. Applying pitch and force at random.
Practice. — i. Construct sentences with reference to
oral climax. (See Rhetoric.)
2. Find the highest point; rise to it in pitch and force.
roar
and
devil come for
If the them,
not
I will send
them.
not
arms,
arts, or was ambitious ?
letters,
great in who
achieved anything
Who ever
Style. — Styles of discourse are named conversational, nar-
rative, narrative and descriptive, didactic, public address, declama-
108 VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
tory, emotio7ial, according to the characteristic drift of the voice.
The dramatic style combines all the rest.
"Drift is founded on the various modes of vocality, time,
force." Drift, or the leading melody or movement in delivery,
enables one to recognize one selection as joyous, another as
solemn, etc.
In addition to the leading characteristic of any delivery, it
will be seen that pitch, time, force, quality of voice, etc.,
vary on the different sentences ; hence drift does not mean
sameness.
Faults. — i. Although drift does not mean sameness,
many readers and speakers are borne along on one emotion,
until finally in extreme cases there seems to be a total absence
of thought, and the delivery is a mere repetition of words.
2. Improper drift. A proper observance of drift is nearly
related to the "word fitly spoken, which is like apples of gold
in pictures of silver." Many ministers read the psalm of joy
and thanksgiving with the same minor sadness of the peni-
tential psalms. Too many ministers whine the glad tidings,
instead of joyfully proclaiming the gospel of good will.
Practice. — i. Adapt the style to the occasion and text.
2. Preserve the thread of the whole ; but insert the va-
riety of the parts.
3. Let the imagination have its play; be surrounded by
the atmosphere of the piece.
Imitative Modulation. — By the sound of the voice we
may imitate the sound or noise of external objects. The roar
of the ocean, the boom of cannon, the splash of the water,
the hiss of the snake, etc., are naturally given with qualities
of voice suggesting the sound, unless some vicious method
prevents.
A proper use of this modulation is valuable in making the
facts real to the audience. Exaggerated, it becomes obtru-
sive, and is therefore objectionable.
Transition is the various changes of pitch, force, quality,
VOCAL EXPRESSION.
109
rate of utterance, in the different parts of reading or speak-
ing. It is needed to give appropriate expression to the vary-
ing thought and emotion. Its effect is contrast of parts and
needful variety.
Practice. — 1. Keep the delivery conversational at basis.
Medium rate
and pitch.
Soft.
I rather think the gentle dove
Is murmuring a reproof,
Displeased that I from lays of love
Have dared to keep aloof."
Pure tone.
High pitch.
Medium rate.
" Flower in the crannied wall,
I pluck you out of the crannies ;
Hold you here, root and all, in my hand.
Little flower, — but if I could understand
What you are, root and all, and all in all,
I should know what God and man is."
Full voice.
Low pitch.
Loud.
" But I hear it rung continually in my ears, now
and formerly, — ' The preamble ! What will be-
come of the preamble, if you repeal this tax ? '
The clerk will be so good as to turn to this act,
and to read this favorite preamble."
Low pitch.
Median stress.
Slow rate.
Full voice.
Slightly aspi-
rated.
High pitch.
Quick rate.
Pure tone.
" Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place in all
generations. Before the mountains were brought
forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the
world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou
art God."
" One touch to her hand, and one word in her ear,
When they reached the hall door, and the charger
stood near ;
There was racing and chasing on Cannobie Lee,
But the lost bride of Netherby ne'er did they see."
Low pitch.
Slow rate.
Full voice.
Median stress.
" O God, thou bottomless abyss !
Thee to perfection who can know ?
O height immense ! what words suffice
Thy countless attributes to show ? "
no
VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
low pitch.
Monotone.
Loud.
High median
stress.
Aspirated.
Low.
Slow.
Faster.
Intermittent
stress.
" Toll, toll, toll,
Thou bell by billows swung ! "
" Forward, the light brigade !
Charge for the guns ! "
Lady M. Alack, I am afraid they have awaked,
And 't is not done. The attempt, and
not the deed,
Confounds us. Hark! I laid their dag-
gers ready ;
He could not miss them. Had he not
resembled
My father as he slept, I had done 't.
My husband !
Macbeth. I have done the deed. Didst thou not
hear a noise ?
High.
Pure tone.
Loud.
Softer.
Low.
Full voice.
Monotone.
Median stress.
Slow.
Middle pitch.
Slow.
Intermittent.
"Ring! Ring! Ring!
Joyful anthems full and loud ;
For angels of love
Came down from above,
And brought a new year from God."
" I am the resurrection and the life : he that be-
lieveth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he
live : and whosoever liveth and believeth in me
shall never die."
" By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down :
I yea, we wept when we remembered Zion."
Analysis of Expressive Voice. — An analysis of voice
based upon the mental, moral, and vital nature of man, pos-
sesses the value of a summary of the previous discussion on
expression. It will also consider the legitimate effect upon
the auditor.
Corresponding to man's mental, moral, and vital nature, we
have thought, affection, passion.
VOCAL EXPRESSION. Ill
Mentality. Naturally the voice in intense mentality assumes
a high pitch, with head resonance. The effect upon the ear
is that of a hard, metallic, narrow sound. Its leading use is
to convince the judgment. Persons of intense mental habits
use this quality of tone, unless counterbalanced by some other
influence. The mathematical professor says, " Now, young
gentlemen, you see that problem may be solved in two ways,"
in this hard, penetrating quality of voice.
Peevishness, complaint, scolding, slight pain, naturally
express themselves in this tone ; for they are intense mental
conditions.
Passional. The vital or passional nature expresses itself
by the large, full tone, on low pitch with force. Its effect
upon the ear is that of largeness, strength. It is adapted to
move the passions. Persons of strong, vital habits naturally
use this tone. Mere animality, the swaggering barkeeper,
the bully, illustrate the lowest stratum of this voice. The man
mortally wounded expresses his agony in groans. This
quality of voice legitimately expresses strong passion. It is
the prevailing voice in parliamentary discussion, and strong
composition cannot be appropriately expressed but by its
use.
Affectional. The affectional or moral nature expresses
itself by the medium pitch, gentle force, smooth quality. Its
effect upon the ear is gentleness, evenness. It is adapted to
persuade. It lies between and balances the mental and vital
qualities, suggesting the central truth of the purest religion,
viz. : that the affectional or love nature of man should bal-
ance and control the intellectual and passional.
One of these qualities does not exclude the others. They
blend variously; but usually one of them characterizes the
composition.
A triangle will suitably represent this analysis to the eye.
112
VOCAL CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
Quality.
f Hard metallic
.) Shoulders elevated indicate passion.
(c.) Shoulders depressed indicate feebleness.
(a 7 .) Shoulders brought forward indicate pain.
"Liars do not elevate the shoulders to the required height."
The elbows are a thermometer of affection, self-will, self-
esteem, self-consciousness.
The positions are distinguished : —
1. The normal position at the side.
2. The elbows turned out slightly. This indicates tender-
ness, and may be carried on to force and activity, self-asser-
tion, conceit, strength, arrogance.
3. The elbows turned in. This indicates self-suppression,
poverty of spirit, weakness, inferiority, self-consciousness, im-
potence, humility, subordination, fear.
The wrist is a thermometer of vital energy of mind.
The wrist turned back up indicates normal repose. The
wrist turned edge up indicates preparation. The wrist
turned front or 'face up indicates action.
The orator needs great suppleness of wrist to give freedom
to the play of the hand.
Inflections of the Arms. — 1. Calm repose. This is the
natural, easy position, with arms quietly by the side.
2. Resigned appeal to heaven. , In this action the arm
without lifting is turned face out, the hand is turned palm
slightly up ; the face is turned in opposition, and uplifted to
heaven.
3. Accusation. In accusation, the arm is stiffened at the
side ; the eye first accuses and centres upon the object, then
the stiffened arm and hand are lifted till the eye sees the
object down the arm.
4. Imprecation* The arm is elevated overhead. The
THE LIMBS IN EXPRESSION. 133
hand is formed into a claw, ready as a bird of prey to pounce
upon its victim.
5. Remorse. In remorse the hand is made to grasp the
back of the head, the forearm pressing against the face.
6. Grief or shame. The face, in this emotion, is hid by
the hand spread over it.
7. Tender reproach. To express this, the hand is slightly
closed, and drawn across the chest, away from the object,
while the face is turned upon it in reproach.
8. Pathetic repulsion. To express this emotion, the hand
moves toward the object from the seventh position, while the
head moves in the opposite direction.
9. Befiediction. In benediction, the hands are lifted, the
backs up.
The above series, with one or two exceptions, is better
adapted to dramatic expression ; but as a practice for ora-
torio, it presents the feature of variety.
The following series is more oratoric in character.
1. Repulsion. In repulsion, the hand is lifted, palm out,
thumb near the ear. It is then shoved out straight in front,
while the head moves back in opposition.
2. Attraction is the opposite of repulsion.
3. Supplication. In supplication, the arm is lifted tc
heaven, the hand open and held half horizontal. Do not
hold the arm immediately in front.
4. Appellation. In appellation, the forearm is lifted per-
pendicular, the palm of the hand out.
5. Affirmation. In this gesture the hand is thrown down
in front, the palm out.
6. Salutation. The hand is raised gracefully, the head
inclining to meet it ; after they have approached near each
other, the hand is thrown gently forward, the head moving in
opposition. The hand is lifted in proportion to the amount
of deference or respect expressed. Common salutation of
134 ACTION -LANGUAGE CULTURE AND EXPRESSION.
men who are equals is frequently made by a wafture of the
hand from the region of the stomach.
7. Negation. The arm is thrown across the space in front
of the student toward the back, the palm down.
8. Declaration. This is the same movement, with the palm
of the hand half up.
9. Rejection. This is the same as negation, with the thumb
edge of the hand down. It sweeps all out of the way.
The following angles exhibit the different degrees of eleva-
tion in affirmation.
X
\-
D
EC
/ .
>\7 /
■3
-1
O
) II. Orators : Their Art and their Apes.
Instruction begins first Monday in dctober.
Si Be^agon Street, Boston, Mass.