Psycho Vox; or, The Emerson System of Voice Culture

by Charles Wesley Emerson

In taking a limited or superficial view of the doctrine of evolution, some have been led to look at matter as the only environment. It is this which has made the age materialistic. We are hardly aware of the extent to which this tendency to materialism biases and influences us in regard to religious and secular education. Those who have the most faith in God and His providence are scarcely conscious of how much they are affected by the prevailing thought that material environment alone shapes and influences the development of individuals and the destiny of the human race. If we recognize that the spirit of God is our most immediate environment, the study of evolution is safe.

This view is suggested even by the study of physical science. The scientist, in his analysis of matter, ascertains that it is divisible into molecules, and that nothing is an absolute solid. Each molecule has a sphere of its own, in which it acts separately, and, in a certain sense, independently of other molecules, and vibrates as freely as oscillates the pendulum of a clock. You say, “The pendulum of a clock has room to oscillate.” This is equally true of each molecule; it has room to vibrate without interfering with other molecules or preventing them from vibrating. All the molecules that compose a certain substance are rushing toward each other; but a sacred sphere encloses each, thereby establishing its eternal separateness. This revelation of science of the eternal separateness of molecules points to the silent sea of Thought which encloses every molecular island. What is this silent sea of thought but the presence of Deity? If He encloses every molecule, does He not surround the human soul? Is it unscientific to say, in the language of scripture, “In Him we live, and move, and have our being”? Whither shall I go to escape His presence? “If I ascend into heaven, Thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, Thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uppermost parts of the sea, even there Thy hand shall lead me and Thy right hand shall hold me.” If we take a sufficiently broad view, science itself will lead us up the shining way to where we shall recognize His presence on the throne of the universe.

If we follow this doctrine of evolution, step by step, it will lead us to perceive that God is in every fact of nature. Watch an acorn as it develops into the sturdy oak. No scientist will say that a material environment is its only condition of growth. He will say, “There is life in the acorn itself.” What is this life? Here the great scientist bows his head. The power of life in the acorn suggests to him the presence of the Infinite. Were it not for God’s purpose manifested in giving the acorn life, the germ could not develop under the influence of the moisture, the sunlight, and the earth. Its dominating environment, then, is the presence of Him who relates it to its material surroundings.

Without the Infinite Mind in the universe there could be no evolution. No man can be broadly and fully educated unless there is joined in his mind both the light of science and the light of revelation. Prophecy outruns science, and is the herald of truth. Science, no surer, and vastly slower, follows with its confirmations. The doctrine of evolution, studied in the light of divine revelation, becomes of great value to us.

We cannot understand the doctrine of the Evolution of Expression until we first see evolution written on the broad expanse of nature. The four volumes of the Evolution of Expression taught in this college represent the four principal steps in the unfolding of the powers of the orator. It has been said that poets are born, not made. This statement contains only a modicum of truth. We say such a one was born a poet because very early in life he seemed to show poetic feeling and to express his thoughts in poetic forms. All great poets, musicians, and orators have been educated; some may not have studied under masters, but all have applied themselves to the means of education which was within their reach.

The study of eloquence has been, to a great extent, a sealed book. It was observed that when the orator spoke on a lofty subject, his voice became grand, and was called “orotund”; when he spoke on common subjects, his voice became simple; this was called “pure tone”; when he spoke on subjects of mystery and sublimity, the voice became “aspirate orotund.” All these things were noted; and teachers of oratory said to their pupils, “As the orators used the orotund, aspirate, pure tone, etc., we will teach you these forms of voice.” When Webster spoke of the value of the Constitution of the United States, and used an orotund voice, as only a Webster could, was he thinking of his voice? No; he was thinking of convincing his hearers of the great value of the Union. Shall I affect people as did Webster by using these tones when reading a passage from his speech? No. The human soul says, “I will respond to anything genuine; but I can never be impressed, though I may be amused, by those who try to imitate the genuine.” Webster’s thoughts, like vast waves of the ocean, surged through his voice and formed themselves into tones clear, direct, incisive, and sublime.

I recognize but one power in education, and that is mind. When God created my body, He ordained that my soul should rule it. When He made the mouth, larynx, muscles of respiration, etc., He ordained that the soul should rule them. My soul, master; they, servants. The servant knows his rightful master’s commands, but the stranger he will not obey. The infinite God rules all worlds, and all parts of all worlds. As God is the master of the illimitable universe, so He has placed within man’s body, which is man’s little universe, a natural master—the soul. All its agents must be commanded and employed by the master within.

For many years there has been an attempt to reduce vocal culture to the conscious manipulation of the vocal organs. This was once my method of teaching; but I have changed entirely and most radically. I believe and have taught for many years that certain mental states produce definite effects upon the vocal organs. Our object in this college is to induce such states of mind as shall produce the desired effects in vocal expression. The mental states operate directly through the cranial nerves upon the vocal organs, and instantaneously change their activity.

In my early teaching I made an attempt to cultivate the voice by dealing directly with the vocal organs themselves, but later I discovered that certain states of mind caused all the vocal organs to act in right relations to each other for the production of different tones. I also found that certain states of mind affect and control all the muscles which aid in voice production. To ascertain what states of mind produce certain effects, and how to induce these states of mind, was my field of study for a number of years. At last I was rewarded by discovering what states of mind would induce the desired forms of expression, and also what methods to use to cause the right activities of mind which would, without fail, bring the proper tones of voice in expression. It devolves upon the teacher to know how to induce the states of mind which will produce the required action of the vocal organs, and through this the desired tone. Every day in our work here in the Evolution of Expression, we are obeying the true pedagogy of vocal technique. The methods by which we induce certain states of mind in a pupil are definite and technical. If I were writing for a teachers’ manual, I would tell the teacher how to induce in the pupil the proper states of mind; but my present purpose is simply to show that certain states of mind will produce definite effects in the voice.

One who watches the effects of this method of teaching, which depends for results upon inducing the required states of mind, will marvel at the results. Not only can more be accomplished in three months than could be accomplished by the old methods in three years, but results can be attained by this that could never be reached by any mechanical method.