IV

RESONANCE

Resonance

"WE HAVE BEEN dealing with the functional elements of our subject : these elements, both mechanical and instinctive, which are in a way the cause of the tone or voice produced. We now have to appreciate the effect of that cause.

We have said that the thorax should do for vocal tone what the body of a violin does for the vibration of the strings. The vocal tone produced in the larynx is merely an initial vibration, but beauty and depth of tone depend upon the

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resonance produced by the thorax, the foremost and most important of the resonators.¹

Correct breath-supply, correct vocal cord adjustment and balance and emotional poise are interdependent. If breath supply is in excess or insufficient, vocal tone will suffer the constriction of the laryngeal muscles and if such a constriction is there, whether the cause be the breath-supply or uncontrolled emotion, true thoracic resonance will not be possible.

The poise of the body should be erect but at the same time naturally relaxed; the shoulders or the dorsal muscles should not be in any way bunched-up or tense. The thorax should be regarded as a musical instrument which will faithfully amplify the sound produced by the vocal cords.

The thoracic vibration can be tested by placing the finger on the breast bone, the ribs or the spinal column.

¹. It is with this thoracic resonance that one achieves richness of" tone. If a student has a voice that is pitched too high, an excellent exercise is to practice those sounds that can be resonated in the thorax, such as :

Alone, alone and far from home. All alone on

the rolling sea.' Say ' Ding dong, ding dong.' The liest time place your hand on your forehead and pitch the voice towards the head. Then put your hand on your chest and low-pitch your words to the chest. Notice the greater depth of resonance.

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The Mouth

The primary function of the mouth in speech is the formation of the vowels and consonants, but this forming of vowels and consonants has a very important part to play with regard* to resonance. The first thing to remember in order to obtain full resonance value from the mouth is to open it as wide as the formation of the vowel will allow. It will be found in most cases that double the wideness is more effective with students who have had no experience of public speaking.

The second thing to remember is the necessity of raising the soft palate if full resonance is to be achieved. This is done by the use of an easy exercise.

Open the mouth as if for a yawn (if you do actually yawn so much the better) and at that moment try to formulate the Italian open "a" as in "large", retaining the idea in the mind of the raised soft palate; let out your yawn, at the same time sounding the open "a".

It should be clear now what has happened : by raising the soft palate, the narrow connection between the mouth and the pharynx has been widened, so opening up to a much more mature and mellow resonance coming from the back of the throat in a controlled manner through the mouth and increasing the resonance value of the mouth.

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The third thing to remember is the position of the chin. The positioning of the chin is very important and is dependent on the relaxed movement of the lower jaw.

The lower jaw can be extended forward with the lower teeth projecting under the upper teeth or the reverse attitude can be affected by drawing the jaw back with the upper teeth projecting. The forward dropping of the jaw produces the correct position for more effective speech.

it should, of course, be fully understood that this must not be forced into position, but should be a relaxed movement forward with no effort or strain.

The Nose

The nasal cavities are important both negatively and positively. When used consciously with the other resonators plus a well-balanced feeling, they help greatly to increase clearness of resonance, but when used without that balanced feeling, they distort the purity of the vowel pronunciation, for all true English vowels are entirely free from any nasal resonance.

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Any tendency, therefore, to force the vocal tone through the nose should always be vigorously and positively discouraged.¹

It is well known that in singing the sinuses often come into play as resonators; this is because there is much more control in lowering the soft palate for that particular tonal value. If such control can be brought in to aid clear speech without subtracting anything from the spontaneity or harmony established, then so much the better, but one should always be prepared for the danger of vowel distortion, especially with young students over-eager for power and resonance at any price.

Team Work

All these resonators, the thorax, the throat, mouth and nose, form a group interdependent upon one another because they communicate with

l One of the main causes of flatness of lone or a drawling monotonous speech is talking through the nose. To obviate this defect, hold the nose and say, May make no meaning^ " Notice how muffled it sounds, and that only the three basic sounds " M " N " NG resonated mainly in the nose.

Say '" They are manning the boats. "

Vibration should be fell in the nose only when you pronounce the word " manning "'. not on any of the other words. If there is vibration on any of the other words, your speech is probably nasal.

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one another, so much so that any vibration of the vocal cords must cause some resonance in the throat, the mouth, as well as in the nasal cavities.

If we are to get the best out of these resonators and they are to work as a well-organised team we should see that the poise of the body is correct.

The stance should be firm but so balanced as to be able to move the weight of the body easily from one leg to the other. The shoulders should never be bunched-up in any way, they must be deliberately dropped, consciously relaxed. (It is at times quite surprising how often a student has to be reminded of this).

This insistence on dropping the shoulders is a very important starting point for an integral attitude of relaxation but it. does not mean a lack of firmness of resolve or any unnatural drooping.

The idea is to promote the very necessary relaxation of the extra-laryngeal muscles. If these are at all constricted in any way, the result is the closing of the recesses on each side of the larynx.

The movement of the larynx is closely associated with the indrawn breath; when a deep breath is inhaled, it will be noticed that the larynx moves downward and forward.

So it is evident that the teamwork of the resonators must, to a very large extent, depend

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upon the correct poise of the body, its stance and relaxed-but-firm attitude, if" a clear vocal tone is to be achieved.

Voices that tend towards harshness, or shrill, grating or brassy voices are caused by tension in the throat muscles and jaw. A good exercise for this tension is :

Slump forward in your chair. Allow your head to drop, your jaw to sag and your shoulders and arms, to flop. Then very gently roll your head in a circle; do this for about three or four minutes. Then open your mouth wide and yawn. Say very deliberately the words : "week" "dock" "song" "squeeze" "draw" "maw" " Manitoba ".

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