ELEMENTARY EXERCISES FOR THE VOICE. THE following exercises are designed for the practical application of the principles discussed in the foregoing remarks they consist, accordingly, of examples selected with reference to those parts of elocution which are immediately applicable to the training of the voice for the purposes of the pulpit. To students who had already acquired a knowledge of the general principles of elocution, from the manuals formerly mentioned, or from any similar source, the exercises now presented will suit the purpose of special application to professional uses; and to persons who had not previously made elocution a particular study, they will serve as a partial substitute for a more extended course of elementary discipline. ARTICULATION. The Fundamental Sounds of the English Language.* "Tonic" Elements. [So classed by Dr. Rush, from their susceptibility of "intonation."] Simple. †A-ll, A-rm, A-n, Ai-r, E-rr, E-nd, I-n, E-ve, O-r, O-n, U-p, Oo-ze, L-00-k. * The inadvertency of attention, or the ascendency of erroneous habit, being the principal causes of indistinct enunciation, the rigorous practice of the above elements, becomes, even to professional speakers, a useful exercise, as a means of securing attention to details. †The Italic letters contain, in each instance, the element of sound, which is the object of direct attention. Each element should be repeated after the pronunciation of the word in which it occurs. Compound. A-le, I-ce, O-ld, Ou-r, Oi-1, U-se (the verb,) U-se (the noun).* "Subtonics." [So denominated by Dr. Rush, because of their inferior susceptibility of intonation, when compared with the "tonic" elements.] L-u-ll, M-ai-m, N-u-n, R-ap, Fa-r,† Si-ng, B-a-be, D-i-d, G-a-g, V-al-ve, Z-one, A-z-ure, Y-e, W-oe, Th-ine, J-oy. "Atonics." [So called from their deficiency as to capacity for intonation.] P-i-pe, T-en-t, C-a-ke, F-i-fe, C-ea-se, H-e, Th-in, Pu-sh, Ch-ur-ch. Combinations. Bl-ame, Cl-aim, Fl-ame, Gl-are, Pl-ace, Sl-ay, Spl-ay, Br-ave, Cr-ave, Dr-ain, Fr-ame, Gr-ain, Pr-ay, Spr-ay, Tr-ace, Str-ay, Shr-ine, Sm-all, Sn-arl, Sp-ace, St-ay, Bo-ld, E-lf, E-lk, E-lm, He-lp, Fal-ls, Fau-lt, E-lve, Mai-m'd, Glea-ms, A-nd, Gai-ns, Ba-nk, Da-nce, A-nt, Ba-rb, Ba-rb'd, Ha-rd, Ha-rk, Ma-rk'd, A-rm, A-rm'd, Ea-rn, Ea-rn'd, Hea-rse, Du-rst, Ba-rs, Ma-rt, Ca-rve, Ca-rv'd, Cha-sm, Rea-s'n, A-sp, Va-st, Pa-ss'd, Ma-kes, A-ct, Wa-k'd, Wa-ft, Qua-f'd, A-pt, Su-pp'd, O-p'n, Ta-k'n, Sad-d'n, Gra-v'n, Brigh-t'n, Ca-ll'st, A-rm'st, Ca-nst, Du-rst, Mi-dst, Hea-rd'st, A-rm'dst, Lea-rn'dst, A-ble, Trou-bl'd, Am-ple, Top-pl'd, Cra-dle, Bri-dl'd, Ma-rl, Wo-rld, Ri-ngs, Ha-ng'st, Wro-ng'd, Wro-ng'dst.§ * For explanation of the few points of difference in arrangement, between the above table and that of Dr. Rush, see statements in the volume on Orthophony. †The five elements at the beginning of the above table, may, from their comparative approach to vocality, be termed, “pure subtonics." The combination of elements is, in every case, indicated by italics. Every combination should be repeated separately, after pronouncing the word in which it occurs. For a list of common errors in articulation, see American Elocutionist. The elementary sounds and combinations contained in the preceding tables, should be repeated till they can be enunciated with perfect exactness and well-defined character, in the full style of public speaking. Distinctness of enunciation will be much promoted by a careful, slow, exact, syllabic and literal analysis of selected words, read with special precision and force, for the purpose of practising a clear, firm, well-marked articulation. This exercise is rendered still more conducive to its intended effect, if lines or sentences are read in inverted order, so as to detach them from their ordinary associations of sound. A useful exercise for the purpose of securing a critical knowledge of orthoëpy, and a strict accuracy of habit in pronouncing, is to read aloud several columns, daily, from Worcester's edition of Johnson and Walker's dictionaries, as combined by Todd, and by Smart,* while close attention is paid to observe whether the sounds of the voice correspond precisely to the notation of the orthoëpy. A copious list of words commonly mispronounced, even in the pulpit, formed a part in the original plan of the present work. But the extent of the list rendered it impracticable to introduce it without swelling the size of the volume beyond its limited extent. It may be sufficient, perhaps, to refer here to the tables presented in the Elocutionist, as a specimen of the classes of words which are most liable to mispronunciation, and as an indication of the importance of the exercise suggested in regard to the use of the dictionary. The pulpit, in our day, and in this country, is so generally regarded as the standard of accuracy in pronunciation, that more than usual attention to this branch of elocution is justly required of ministers. But some young preachers, in particular, are too prone to shrink from their * Worcester's Universal and Critical Dictionary, published by Hickling, Swan, & Brewer. proper responsibleness as scholars, and to accommodate. their own style to mere popular usage, while others, from a fastidious anxiety about bare exactness, adhere to the letter of the law of nicety, and even transcend its requirements. Hence we hear, in some American pulpits, the pronunciations-airth, maircy, pairfect, from speakers who follow literally Walker's notation of orthoëpy, but do not pay attention to his own qualification of it. The former class of errors, however, that which arises from accommodation to mere negligent common usage, is the more prevalent, and particularly in New England. Hence the many broad and obsolete and peculiar sounds which characterize the pulpit pronunciation of this region. It would seem to be an axiom of education, that in an extensive country like the United States, all young persons should be everywhere trained to do their part in preserving the unity of language and the refinement of custom. A liberal education should enable every young man to fill with propriety the office of public speaker, in any part of his native country. But the fact is quite otherwise. Our young New England clergy usually carry with them their marked local peculiarities of usage in pronouncing, and throw an unnecessary impediment in the way of their own acceptance as speakers elsewhere. A few months or years, it is true, usually suffice to rub off such points. But a seasonable attention would prevent their existence. The pulpit orators of our Middle and Western States, are very generally chargeable with gross negligence and improprieties in pronunciation, which a little study in early years would have sufficed to correct. The pulpit cannot command the respect of any but the illiterate, while it tolerates a slovenly inaccuracy and low taste, in the use of language, or in the manner of pronouncing the most ordinary forms of expression. The minister, as an educated, or, at least. a reading man, should ever feel that he is looked to as a model in this particular, and that his influence in this, as in other things, is either upward or downward. EXERCISES IN QUALITY. "Pure or Head Tone."* This quality of voice belongs to moderate, soft, and subdued utterance, as in the expression of pathos, repose, and solemnity, when not accompanied by grandeur or sublimity. The object in view, in the practice of such passages as the following, is, to secure the power of moulding the voice into perfectly clear, pure, and smooth sound, as the true and proper habit of utterance, but particularly important in all passages of tender and softened effect. This mode of voice characterizes the appropiate reading of some of the Psalms, many of the most affecting hymns, and all the subdued appeals of direct address, in discourses from the pulpit. Pure head tone is of as much service to the public reader and speaker as to the singer. It renders the emission of vocal sound at once clear, easy, natural, and agreeable, and enables the performer to exert his organs without fatigue. The following, and all other exercises, should be repeated till a perfect vocal execution is attained. To secure fully the quality in view, the "tonic" elements should be repeated in the same style. The ear and the voice will thus become perfectly attuned to the effect. Pathos. Ode to Peace.- Cowper. "Come, peace of mind, delightful guest! * Properly, pure "head tone,”—the "quality," or resonance, which is naturally inseparable from the upper "register," or range of notes uttered by the human voice. This species of quality is the opposite to "pectoral," the resonance of the chest, in the execution of the deep, bass notes which form the lower "register." |