And it is _only_ tones like these--that it is
possible to so adorn, and decorate, and beautify, with the due amount of
emphasis, and accurate intensity of emotional feelings, and exquisitely
shaded and ever-varying tinges of color in expression--that can prove
capable of captivating the heart of the hearer, that can graphically
impress the listener with such sentiments as the vocalist desires to
convey."
We will take for our first study a single tone about the middle of the
voice. In studying placing and resonance, we must of course observe all the
rules laid down in regard to the action, position, etc. Do not take a
voluntary breath before acting--do not start the tone before the action,
two things which require constant watching on the part of the beginner.
Either of them will virtually cause defeat.
Remove all obstruction by seeking the level of the tone through flexible
action. Think the tone forward and high. Place by impulse, and never by
local effort. Have the sensation as though the tone started forward and
high, as though it impinged against the roof of the mouth, and instantly
reflected into the low cavities, and especially into the chest. In doing
this, relax the jaw, let go all face and throat contraction, expand the
body, and think and feel the chest vibrant and filled with tone. In this
way the tone may be started high and reinforced or built down by the added
resonance of all the inflated cavities.
Another way to do this, is to start the tone spontaneously by impulse
through correct action; in doing so, think and feel as though the tone
placed and reflected at the same instant, forward against the roof of the
mouth and on the chest,--as though the contact or impingement of the tone
were felt at both places simultaneously.
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