The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1909-03-12

apUggio, the breath prop, OF which |
have told you so much. People ask
whether there are such things as vocal
registers Certainly there are. There
are three always and sometimes four
In very li"h voices. The ordinary reg.
listers are the low, the middle, the high
voice, or head voice, and sometimes
the second high voice, which has been
called the tlngellant voice.
A vocal register Is a series Of tones
which are produced by certain posi-
tion of the larynx, tongue and palate.
In the woman's voice the middle regis
ter takes In the notes from e on the
first line of the staff about TO middle
G. The head voice begins at middle G
and runs up sometimes to the end of
the voice, sometimes to Il fiat or G,
where II joins the second head regis
ter, which | have heard ascend into a
whistle In phenomenal voices cultivat-
ed only in this register and useless for
vocal work
Though the registers exist and the
tones in middle, below and above are
not produced in the same manner, the
voice should be 50 eQualiZed that the
change in registers cannot be heard
And n tone sung with head voice
and in the low voice should have the
same degree of quality, resonance and
power
AS the voice ascends In the scale
each note is different, and as one goes
on up the positions Of the organ of the
throat cannot remain the same for
several different tones. But there
should never be an abrupt change, Ell
Their audible to the audience or felt in
the singers throat. Every tone must
be imperceptiby prepared, and upon
the elasticity of the vocal organs de-
ponds the smoothness Of the tone pro-
duction. Adjusting the vocal appara-
tus to the high register should be both
impercrptibe and mechanical when
ever high note has to be sung.
In the high register the head voice
or voice which vibrates in the head
cavities, should be used chiefly. The
middle register requires palatal reSO-
nance, and the first notes of the head
register and the last ones of the mid
die require a iudicious blending of
both. The middle register can be
dragged up to the high notes. but al
ways at the cost first of the beauty of
the voice and then of the voice itself
for no organ can stand being used
wrongly for long time.
This is only one of the reasons that
so many fine big voices go to pieces
long before they should
In an excess of enthusiasm the
young singer attempts to develop the
high notes and make them sound-in
her own ears. at all events-as big as
the middle voice The pure head tone
sounds small and feeble to the singer
herself. and she would rather use the
chest quality, but the head tone has
the piercing, penetrating quality which
makes it tell in a big hall, while the
middle register, unless used in its
right place, makes the voice mufiicd,
heavy and lacking in vibrancy. Though
to the singer the tone may seem i'm
mcnSc. in reality it lacks resonance.
\ singer must never cease listening
to herself ntclligently and never neg
lect cutvating the head tone or over
tone of the voice. which is its saliva
tion, for ii means vibrancy, carrying
power and youth to voice. without
it the finest voice soon becomes worn
and off pitch Used judciously It will
preserve voice into old age.