The Washington herald., 1920-02-22
CONCERNING THROAT ANATOMY

There is a belief prevalent and firm
ly established that it is not only un-
necessary. but actually dangerous for
i singer TO have any understanding
or knowledge of the mechanism which
produces the voice. 1t is held that
such knowledge makes a singer con-
scious of his threat in such a way as
to interfere with singing. This belief
has received support from statements
of famous singers who profess ignor-
ance of the anatomy of the throat.
and PATHS famous remark, "Jc nc
sais ricn," IN response TO a query as
to how she sang, has been quoted
until it is commonplace. The policy
generally followed is that, since the
vocal organ acts automatically. the
best thing to do is to leave it alone.
to ignore it, to forget the throat plays
any part in the production of the
voice.
1t is not necessary to be q great
student of psychology in order TO
realize that we have by no means
such absolute and arbitrary control
over our mind as we should like TO
have. To tell a person to leave his
throat alone" or mot to think about
it, Is almost the equivalent of a doc
tors advice to a patient troubled with
insomnia that ne go home and go TO
sleep. So many impulses are sub
conscious and so many others have
become unconscious it is not always
easy to determine just how they came
into existence. and the mere desire to
do or not to do a certain thing does
by no means always bring fulfillment.
In discussing the thoat, 1T must
always be remembered that we are
dealing with something which
serves a double purpose. At times
it is used for swallowing and at
others for singing or speaking. Fur
thermore. the tone-producing organ
of the throat, the larynX. is subcon-
sciously controlled, whereas the
swallowing mechanism is conscious
ly controlled. This swallowing
mechanism also plays an important
part in modifying the tone produced.
The action of the vocal organ can
only be induced by thought: that is
to say, we have to think a tone be-
fore the larynN adjusts itself so as
to be capable of producing it. Just
as the iris contracts and expands
when the eye is subjected to
stronger or weaker light without
our being conscious OF the fact, so
the larynx adjusts itself to produce
the pitch indicated by the thought
of the tone. We are no more capa-
BILE of consciously controlling the
aF ha 1or NJ
contracting or expanding the iris at
will.
1t is obviously neither the thought
nor the knowledge of the action OF
the threat which hinders the free
production of tone, but it is the lack
of accurate knowledge of the con
struction of the throat which per-
mits the actual, though unconscious.
contraction of that portion of the
throat which interferes w:th free
action Of -he larynx. No matter how
great our desire TO relax may be.
we need actual proof that the de-
sired relaxation has taken place, be-
fore we are justified in accepting 1t.
Were the throat constructed mere
ly for the purpose of singing or
speaking. we should not have to
know any more about It than we do
about the eye in order to see. Since,
however. 1t is not. the ostrich pol
icy OF IGNORANCE Is not one that can
he safely followed and must ulti-
mately give way to exact knowl-
edge and intelligent understanding
cf tlH construction and function OF
the troat. Once this has been ct
tanned. the fskas AAA fAnnias e tnAA.