Now, tone is contingent upon the breath. Without it there can be no voice. Breath is the motive power of tone. And in speaking and singing the greater part of the energy required should be used in controlling the breath. The energy is in the boiler, not in the whistle. It is to the action of the strong muscles governing breath that we must look for relief from the needless tension of the delicate muscles of larynx and throat. If the voice tires easily, or is hard, rasping, or otherwise faulty, first aid should be given to the breathing.

1. Management of the breath. The first thing every human being does in this world is to breathe, and he does it without knowing why or how. Breathing to sustain life is instinctive. It does itself. But, since speech is an acquired. thing, we are obliged to learn how to manage the breath for speaking. With certain modifications the muscular action in breathing to promote life and to produce tone is the same. Breathing for life purposes is easy and so natural and automatic that we seldom think of it, and the control of the breath for speech should become as easy and automatic. The breath for speech should be taken in and given out in the same way as it is in the life breathing of the normal person who is unhampered by bad habits or tight clothing.

If you observe the breathing of a child, you will detect very little movement of the chest but a good deal of action at the center of the body. The diaphragm is doing most of the work. When the breath is taken in, the diaphragm contracts and draws down and there is a resultant expansion all round the middle of the body below the ribs. At the same time the short ribs low down at the sides are pushed out. When the breath is expelled, the diaphragm relaxes and the parts at the middle of the body return to their normal position. This is the case when people breathe as nature intended they should. But, unfortunately, the majority of adults

leave off breathing as they should, and manage to get along with a little shallow breathing at the top of the lungs. Perhaps this habit of superficial breathing begins in the schoolroom, where pupils are required to sit several hours a day. The sitting position, especially when one leans forward over desk or table, is not conducive to deep and normal breathing. Moreover, tight clothing, which limits action at the middle of the body, necessitates high chest breathing. When one forms the habit of shallow breathing the diaphragm becomes inactive and correspondingly weak, and, if allowed to remain idle long enough, it is reluctant to act at all when required to do so. But, possibly just for exercise and to keep itself from becoming altogether dormant, and taking advantage of times when it will not have to work very hard, it wakes up when we lie down to rest or sleep and assumes its normal action. But whatever the cause may be, almost every one breathes normally when lying at ease on the back. And everybody should breathe in the same way, that is, with the use of the diaphragm, when standing or sitting or walking. Practice the following exercises until the action of breathing when lying down is made habitual under all conditions.

Exercises in breathing

1. Lie flat on your back on the floor or a couch, place one hand at the middle of the body just below the ribs and the other on the chest, and observe the action when you inhale and exhale. If you breathe naturally, you will notice a good deal of movement at the diaphragm, and relatively little at the chest.

2. While lying flat, take your breath, hold it and mentally count five; then let the breath go. Take the breath again, hold it while silently counting ten, then exhale. Repeat the exercise, counting to fifteen. Give about one second for each count. You will note that whatever effort is made in breathing is

made when the breath is being taken in, and that with exhalation there is relaxation and a sense of relief.

3. Now stand erect, and with hands in the same position as in exercises 1 and 2, breathe as before. If the action is not the same as when you were lying down, repeat 1 and 2, then try the standing exercise again. When you are lying down watch what the actions and muscular sensations are, how easy the movements are; then in the standing position let yourself breathe just as easily and in the same way as when lying down.

Continue these exercises until you breathe as normally when in a standing position as when lying flat. This may be accomplished with the first attempt, or it may take a week. In any event, keep trying until you breathe as you should, which means, with the action of the diaphragm.

4. After you are able to breathe well when standing, take an easy, not too full, breath, holding it for five counts; ten counts; fifteen counts; twenty counts. Be sure to relax well after each attempt. When you take breath for the higher numbers, see to it that you do not return to the high chest breathing and in so doing permit the diaphragm to quit work.

5. Take deep breathing exercises in the open air, or in a wellventilated room, two or three times a day. Here are some. (a) With body held erect and arms hanging loosely at the

sides, throw out all the breath, then inhale deeply through the nostrils and, as you do So, raise your arms at the sides, stretching them out as far as you can, and bring them well up over your head. When the hands are over your head see that the palms are up. Hold the position while you mentally count five. Drop the arms slowly, exhaling as you do so. Repeat and hold while you count ten; fifteen; twenty.

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(6) Manage the breath as before and bring the arms up front, extending them well out and up. Hold and count as in the preceding exercise.

(c) Place the hands at the chest with elbows held up, throw

out the breath, inhale slowly, unfold the arms, and extend them out and back as far as you can. Repeat, counting silently as in (a) and (b) above.

(d) With hands hanging at the sides, take a deep breath, hold it firmly, bring up the hands and strike the chest rapidly and lightly. Strike well up and down and around to the sides. In taking this exercise do not hold the breath more than five or ten seconds and, if you are not used to it, do not repeat the exercises more than twice at any given time.

Exercises for ease at the throat

After you are able to control the action of the diaphragm with considerable ease, begin the following exercises.

6. Stand erect, with head easily poised, open the mouth as you do for saying "ha," take an easy breath through the mouth1 and, without moving the jaw or tongue or throat, exhale through the mouth rather slowly, allowing a second or two for it. Repeat this three or four times to make sure that there is no action of the jaw, lips, or tongue.

7. Now take the breath, as in exercise 6, begin to exhale as before, but after the breath is well started, merge it gradually into the easiest possible tone, "ha," prolonging the sound a second. Make this tone so easily that you are not aware of any effort whatever in the throat. Do not move the tongue or jaw, but leave all muscles completely relaxed. If the tone has a hard, metallic, or rasping sound, it is not being made easily enough. Try again and again, using plenty of breath, until the tone is soft and smooth. Place the fingers on the larynx, or Adam's apple, and see that there is no tightening or lifting just as the tone begins. Repeat this exercise until you are able to blend the breath into tone without perceptible effort or action above the diaphragm. 8. Take the same exercise (number 7), but, instead of allowing breath to pass out before the tone is started, initiate the

1 When one is speaking, most of the breathing is done through the mouth. In the act of speaking one finds it awkward to close the lips or to raise the tongue at the back to keep the air from passing through the mouth. If you wish to demonstrate this, try reading aloud or speaking several sentences, taking pains to inhale each new breath through the nostrils, and notice how unusual the action is. Many vocal exercises require mouth breathing, but let it not be understood that such breathing is encouraged when the voice is not being used. Always breathe through the nostrils when not speaking.

tone at once, keeping the same open, soft quality. Try the exercise on different pitches, beginning with the pitch you have been holding; then sound the first note above; the second above; and so on for four or five notes. Descend the scale to the original pitch. Prolong these tones two or three seconds, using a good deal of breath with free action of the diaphragm.

9. Repeat exercise 8, and, as the tone is held, gradually increase the volume. Prolong the sound five or six seconds. Try the exercise on various pitches. Do not allow the quality of the tone to change with the increasing loudness. Avoid hard or rasping sounds.

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10. Observe the same conditions as in exercise 9, but, instead of making the sound "ha," begin with "hō," holding the tone as before and increasing the volume gradually, but as the volume increases slowly merge "hō” into “a” (as in arm) thus, "hō-a." Hold the sound six or eight seconds. Practice the exercise on various notes of the scale, but do not try extreme pitches. With the transition from "hō" to "a" see that the action of the jaw, tongue, and lips is very simple and easy. Let the tongue lie quiet in the bottom of the mouth out of the way, the tip of it resting against the lower front gums, as it lies after speaking "la." 11. Sing the scale from low to high notes, and back again, using the vowels but beginning the series each time with “a,” thus, à ā ē īōū. Sing them as one continuous sound, blending one into the other without interruption of the tone. In this, as in all the above exercises, see that the tone is produced with as much ease at the throat as when you were merging the breath into tone (exercise 7). The action of the tongue and jaw in forming the different vowels should be very easy and free.

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2. Clearness of tone. In the foregoing set of exercises you will have noticed that the tones of your voice were not altogether clear or pure or sweet, but were somewhat breathy. Though they were easily made, too much breath was used for the production of the best kind of tone, and not all the breath which passed through the larynx was vocalized. The