QUESTIONS. 1. How is Elocution defined? 2. What is meant by quality of voice? 3. What are the most important properties of the voice with regard to quality? 4. What is meant by force of voice? 6. What is meant by the time of the voice? 8. What is the meaning of quantity as applied to the voice? 9. Give an example of long quantity. 10. Give an example of short quantity. 11. What is the meaning of abruptness as applicable to the voice? 12. How is pitch defined? 13. What is meant by the musical scale? 14. What are the particular modifications of pitch in speech? 15. How are the degrees of pitch measured? 16. How are the sounds of the scale produced? 17. What is a note? 18. What is the meaning of interval? 19. What is the meaning of a tone? 20. What is a semitone? 21. What are the different intervals of the scale called? 22. What is the key note? 23. What is the meaning of the term melody? 24. What is concrete melody? 25. What is discrete melody? 26. What is meant by intonation? RECITATION FIFTH. Of the Elements of Sound which enter into the concrete slide of the voice, when it is so managed as to give the greatest possible pleasure to the ear. We shall employ the letter I for the purpose of illustrating the slide of the voice. That element (as before stated) is a dipthong; being compounded of the opening sound of the element, and the obscure one of ee as heard in E-ve, upon which latter sound it dies away into silence. If I be properly uttered alone in a deliberate but natural manner, as it would be in the sentence, "I acknowledge him as my friend," it will open with some degree of abrupt fulness, will gradually lessen in volume as it proceeds, will terminate in a delicate vanish and will rise in pitch a tone or second during its slide. The circumstances to be displayed in this process and worthy of notice as elements of sound are, the force and fulness of the opening-the equable lessening of volume, the gradual change of sound from the opening part of the element into the obscure sound of ee-the extended quantity-the final termination of the progressively diminishing sound in a fine vanish upon the ee-together with the rise in pitch through the interval of a tone. The circumstances to which exclusive attention is next to be directed, are, the opening fulness, the gradually diminishing volume, and the final vanish. The contrast of the two extremities of the element, as to force or volume of voice, induced Dr. Rush, the ingenious discoverer of these circumstances, to give the name of radical to the first part of the element, and vanishing movement to the second, and he calls the whole movement which has been described, a radical and vanishing tone. The terms need never confuse the mind; the radical, means the beginning of a syllable, while the vanish is employed to express its termination. This gradually lessening volume of sound upon syllables and exquisite vanish with which they terminate, contrasted with their opening fulness, are circumstances which show the superiority of the human voice over all instruments. The full manifestation of the radical and vanish in the management of the slides of long quantity, or in other words, in the utterance of long syllables, in speaking, reading, and recitation, is in the highest degree captivating to the ear and is what gives smoothness and delicacy to the tones of the voice. In short syllables, the difference of the radical and vanish is perceptible though not so obvious. If the voice is destitute of the vanishing property it will sound coarse, harsh and heavy. On this account, much practice ought to be insisted upon in order to acquire these agreeable elements of the slide of speech. We therefore subjoin a table containing a certain number of alphabetic sounds, upon which it is important to exercise the voice with persevering assiduity. Under the head of quantity we shall subjoin a table of words, but the function described should be practised in the first place on alphabetic sounds. The long vowels show the properties of the voice just described, in the best manner. Their opening can be rendered abrupt and full, their quantity can be extended; they display the lessening volume of the voice, its final vanish, and change of pitch during its slide, more obviously than any other elements. Let the elements in the following table be sounded as often as is necessary to acquire a full command over the use of the voice above described. The following consonants will display the property of the voice we have described, though not so perfectly as the vowels. OF THE SLIDES OF SPEECH. We stated that the letter I, if sounded in a natural manner in the sentence, "I acknowledge him as my friend," rises a tone or second during its pronunciation. This may be proved by the use of the musical scale, thus. Let the letter be sounded with extended quantity, and let force be applied at its extremity so as to make the sound of the ee, (otherwise obscure,) very conspicuous, maintaining in all other respects the pronunciation the element had in the above mentioned sentence. its two extremes be now compared, it will be seen that the end is a second higher than the beginning of the sound. The existence of a rising third,* fifth, and octave, and of the same falling concrete intervals, may be demonstrated in a similar manner upon the element I. If The following is a scale showing the intervals of the different slides. * Though the sounds of the natural or diatonic scale are discrete and are produced by omitting the mewing sound formerly described as issuing from the string of a violin, yet the term concrete interval may be properly enough employed to mark the distance between the commencement and the termination of the slides of speech when they strike those points of the scale at which the discrete sounds are heard: and a concrete movement, with a full recollection of its nature may be hereafter denominated a concrete interval of a second, third, fifth, and octave, or a semitone: and the slides through these intervals may be called notes of speech. |