the pupil to open his in like manner. I then direct him to pronounce, after me, the following syllables: gả, gả, gả, gá; gẻ, gẻ; gì, gỉ; gỗ, gỗ, gỗ; gù, gả, gủ ; gou. kå, kå, kå, kå; kẻ, kẻ; ki, kỉ; kỏ, kỏ, kỏ ; kú, ků, ků; kou. ág, ég, ig, ôg, úg, oug; åk, åk, ik, ök, åk, ouk. When neither of these schemes proves successful, I request the pupil to press his tongue downwards, and backwards, with his index finger, while I do the same, and pronounce after me the syllables in the preceding exercise. This I have never known to fail. Some children omit the element z when it follows d, and the element sh when it follows t; for instance, they pronounce John, don, and Charles, tarles, etc.* My method of correcting these defects is to contrast the false pronunciation with the true one, as in the following exercise: då, dźả; då, dźå; då, dźå; då, dźâ; dě, dźẻ; &c. The v and w are confounded by some persons; for instance, when they would say vine, they say wine, and vice versa. An attention to the proper postures of the mouth in the production of these elements, will soon enable the pupil to correct this fault. The following exercise, founded on the principle of contrast, should be frequently practised by the pupil, in the most energetic manner: vả, wả; vả, wả; vả, vả; vá, wá ; vẻ, wẻ; vẻ, wẻ; &c. In correcting faults in articulation, I often find it advantageous to exercise the pupil before a mirror, that he may observe the contrast between the movements of his own mouth and those of mine. *J is a compound of d and z in azure; and ch is equivalent to tsh. SECTION II PITCH. PITCH is the degree of the elevation of sounds. As pitch regards the elevation of sounds, it respects their acuteness and gravity. I use the term pitch in its widest signification. In the science of music, it is used not only in the sense in which I employ it, but it also has a special application: in the latter, it is applied to the medium note, the regulating note to which instruments are brought by the act of tuning. When applied in this sense, it is termed concert-pitch. The note which has been adopted, by common consent, as the pitch-note, is A, the open note of the second string of the violin: it is written in the second space of the treble staff. A lax division of pitch is into high and low; in other words, into acute and grave (those notes being called high, or acute, which are above the natural pitch of the voice; and those low, or grave, which are below it). Strictly speaking, the application of high and low to pitch, is without philosophic foundation; it has originated, not from any principles in the acuteness and gravity of sound, but from the relative position of the notes in the graphic scale. This is obvious from the fact that the degrees of the scale may be exemplified in a horizontal line, by varying the forms of the graphic notes, as was done by the Greeks. An exact division of pitch, as demonstrated by the diatonic scale, is into tones and semitones.* The word tone, as here employed, signifies a certain degree of difference in pitch between two notes, as that between the first and second note of the scale. But in some cases we use the word tone as synonymous with note; for instance, in some persons the tones of the voice are more musical than in others—that is, the notes of the voice. The diatonic scale consists of seven sounds, moving discretely from grave to acute, or from acute to grave, by different degrees of pitch, of which the semitone may be the common measure, or divisor, without a fraction. * Diatonic [Greek dia, by or through, and rovos, sound]. Ascending or descending by sounds whose proximate intervals are not more than a tone, nor less than a semitone. The scale, however, is not complete without the octave, which is a repetition of the first note in the eighth degree. The notes do not ascend by equal degrees of pitch, but by tones and semitones, the semitones occurring between the third and fourth, and seventh and eighth. The order of the scale, therefore, is as follows: two tones and a semitone, three tones and a semitone. And should it be desirable to extend the series of sounds, the eighth note of the first octave will become the first note of the second octave; the eighth note of the second octave, the first note of the third, and so on. In teaching the pupil to "raise and fall the eight notes," as it is called, the monosyllables Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Si,* may be employed. Diag. 1 is a graphic representation of the scale. The heavy, horizontal, parallel lines represent the notes; and the spaces between them, the consecutive intervals of the scale. |-8--Do- THE DIATONIC SCALE (Diag. 1). -7--Si -6--La- -5--Sol 4-Fa- -3--Mi- -2--Re- 1-1--Do--' An interval is a difference in pitch. Intervals are either discrete or concrete. A discrete interval is the difference in pitch between any two notes which vary from each other in acuteness and gravity. A concrete interval is that portion of the scale through which the voice slides on a concrete of speech. The difference in pitch between the first and second + Pronounced Dỗ, Ra, Mề, Tả, Số!, La, Sở. note of the scale, is called the interval of a tone, or second; between the second and third, a tone; between the third and fourth, a semitone; between the fourth and fifth, a tone; between the fifth and sixth, a tone; between the sixth and seventh, a tone; between the seventh and eighth, a semitone. Medium Compass of the Human Voice. Natural Voice. Falsetto Voice. Diag. 2. 7- Si 6-La 5-Sol 4-Fa- 2-Re -Do 7- Si 6-La 5-Sol 4-Fa 2 -Re -Do Si -La 5 -Sol 4-Fa Treble. Tenor. Bass. The difference in pitch between the first and third note of the scale, is called the interval of a third; between the first and fourth, the interval of a fourth; between the first and fifth, the interval of a fifth; between the first and sixth, the interval of a sixth; between the first and seventh, the interval of a seventh; between the first and eighth, the interval of an octave. The intervals between the first and third, fourth and sixth, and fifth and seventh, are called major thirds; because they contain two tones, or four semitones; but as the intervals between the second and fourth, third and fifth, and sixth and eighth, contain but three semitones, they are denominated minor thirds. In the expression of our thoughts by oral language, we employ three sorts of voice-the natural voice, the falsetto voice, and the whispering voice, which I shall now attempt to describe. The medium compass of the voice, in those whose voices have been properly cultivated, is three octaves.* There is, however, a point of pitch at which the voice, in ascending *It is said that the ear is capable of perceiving nine octaves. the scale, is said to break. This point, in a majority of persons, is about two octaves above the lowest note of the voice. The natural voice embraces all the notes below this point; the falsetto, all the notes above it (see Diag. 2). The Italians call the natural voice voce di petto, and the falsetto voice voce di testa;* because they suppose the former to come from the chest, and the latter from the head. This error has arisen from a want of anatomical and physiological knowledge of the vocal organs. Voice is never formed in the chest or in the head; it is always formed in the upper part of the larynx, at the aperture of the glottis. It is, however, formed higher or lower in the throat, according to its degree of acuteness or gravity. At the command of the will, the larynx may be elevated or depressed, and the aperture of the glottis enlarged or diminished. The larynx is the most depressed, and the aperture of the glottis the most dilated, when the gravest sound is formed; and the larynx is the most elevated, and the aperture of the glottis the most contracted, when the acutest sound is formed. Hence grave sounds appear to come from the chest, and acute ones from the head, or roof of the mouth. From this circumstance, no doubt, has arisen the error of calling the natural voice voce di petto, and the falsetto voice voce di testa. The whispering voice does not, like the natural voice and the falsetto, owe its peculiarity to pitch, but to the absence of what is generally understood by the term vocality. The compass of the whispering voice is about an octave. My own extends through ten degrees of the scale.† The natural pitch of the female voice is an octave above that of the male voice. The pitch of the female voice corresponds to that of the violin; the pitch of the male voice, to that of the violoncello. The voices of boys are of the same pitch as the female voice—one octave above a man's voice. When boys are about the age of fourteen, their voices undergo a change of pitch. The notes of the falsetto voice ‡ are called treble; the Voce di petto (Ital.), voice from the breast. voice from the head. Voce di testa, + Notes analogous to those of the whispering voice may be made on the German flute, and some other wind instruments, through the compass of an octave. When I speak of the voice, I speak of the adult male voice, unless otherwise stated. |