The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-18
Cultivation Of Tho Speaking Voice.
Soft, Gentle and LOw-An Excellent Thing In Woman.

body properly, the chest would raise of itself and good breathing would come naturally.
 The correct poise, once acquired never should be lost. When we walk the straight iine from the ear to the nstep should net be piohen. The body should move forward With the foot, not after 1t. When we sit. the polse of the body should remain perfect, our weight resting upon the thighs not on the spine. After little practice in noisin1 the body correctly our brea thing viii he deep and dlaphIagmatic. ns it should.
 'ihe vocal instrument is like an organ tbo diaphragm While inhaling and exhaling actlhg as the bellows, the throat doing sery Ice as tho pipes through whchthe air Is car ried to the resonators, while the fin of'fne tongue and the lips in enunclation may be hkened to the keys with which the tones are produced. With her respiration natural and noiseless every woman has a perfect ana tuneful instrument at her command
 Unfortunately, few American women un- dorstand the instrument or how to produce musical notes upon It. The throat is merely the plpe of theseocal instrument. In speak ing, as in singing, it has no use except as the channel of the air. In talking, the throat should remain relaxed. It should never be moved in forming the syilables any more than are the pipes of an organ.
 This is where the average American woman makes her mistake She forms her
 
 forces the sound too high, pinching the tone and shutting off the nasal resonance. She should let 1t issue between these extremes and form 1t Into words upon the tip of the tongue and the lips, which constitute the keyboard of the voice. It is in this correct placing of the voice that the whole secret of Its beauty lies. If your voice tires when you read aloud, the trouble Is that you are talking down in the throat, irritating 1t by putting 1t to use for which 1t is not ln- tended. If your tones are nasal you are going to the other extreme and placing them too high.
 ''fo perfect the enunciation practice with the letters of the alphabet and learn to place each tone in the front of the mouth. With the exception of five sounds-b, p, m, and v-every syllable should be formed solely with the front of the tongue. B and m are lip sounds. In pronouncing tc, de, le, ne aud re the tongue should just touch the back of the teeth. Ke. ge and ie are formed little further back, with the tongue touch ing the palate. Many persons think that to enrnciate clearly it is necessary to move the lips great deal and open the mouth wide. Except when pronouncing p, b, m, and V, the lips should scarcely move
 While practcng these syllabes try to obtain q perfect resonance, which acoompa nies the welplaeed voice, making 1t musical. In the organ. though every note is distinct and clear, the vibration of each continues blending and softening the whole. So. when we are speaking properly, though every syl- fable is enunciated separately, the air in. stead of being cut off sharply after each sound. as it Is when we speak in the throat, continues to pass unlnterruptedly Into the nasal and oral cavities, which form the resonators, blending and softening the sounds. In singing the musical scales every note is pearl, as Is every word in the speak ing voice, and the continuous resonance is like the string which holds the, pearls to- gether.
 ITO test your resonance, while you are talking press the tips of the nostrlls to- gether with thumb and finger. If your resonance is good the nostrils will pun out and the sound be choked. If closing the HOblrliS mahts Sihaii ihpicssion upon your speech, 1t shows that you are not nsing the nose as you should
 "Test the speaking voice with the plano and see how unconsciously we all speak upon musical notes. Everyones natural voice lies upon a certain key, and from this its infections rise and fall, according to the laws of harmony. In speaking the voice reverts to the tonic, and frequently leaps an entire octave In the rising infec- tion.
 Every woman with sufficiently musi. cal ear should place her speaking voice with the aid of the plano and experiment to see how her intonations rise and fall musically in conversation.