The consonants have been grouped by Hermann as follows:—
| Labials. | Dentals. | Gutturals. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Explosives— | |||
| a. Without the voice | P | T | K |
| b. With the voice | B | D | G |
| 2. Aspirates— | |||
| a. Without the voice | F | S (hard), L, Sh, Th (hard) | Ch |
| b. With the voice | V | Z, L, Th, Zh (soft) | Y in yes |
| 3. Resonants | M | N | N (nasal) |
| 4. Vibratory sounds | Labial R | Lingual R | Guttural R |
H is the sound produced in the larynx by the quick rushing of the air through the widely opened glottis.
Hermann's classification which I have given is especially valuable as regards the speaking voice, but Aikin classifies the consonants from the singing point of view, according to the more or less complete closure of the resonator.
| CLASSIFICATION OF CONSONANTS (AIKIN) | |
|---|---|
| Jaw fully open | H, L, K, G |
| Jaw less open | T, D, N, R |
| Jaw nearly closed, lips closed | P, B, M |
| Jaw nearly closed, upper lip on lowerteeth | F, V |
| Jaw quite closed | S, Z, J, N, Ch, Sh |
Aikin, moreover, points out that the English language is so full of closures that it is difficult to keep the resonator open, and that accounts for one of the principal difficulties in singing it.
"The converse of this may be said of Italian, in which most words end in pure vowels which keep the resonator open. In fact, it is this circumstance which has made the Italian language the basis of every point of voice culture and the producer of so many wonderful singers." As an example compare the English word 'voice,' which begins with closure and ends with closure, and the Italian 'voce,' pronounced voché, with its two open vowel sounds. The vowel sound ah on the note c is the middle tone of the speaking register, and as we know, can be used all day long without fatigue; therefore in training the voice the endeavour should be made to develop the register above and below this middle tone. In speaking there is always a tendency under emotional excitement, especially if associated with anger, to raise the pitch of the voice, whereas the tender emotions lead rather to a lowering of the pitch. Interrogation generally leads to a rise of the pitch; thus, as Helmholtz pointed out, in the following sentence there is a decided [!-- pagenumber --]fall in the pitch—"I have been for a walk"; whereas in "Have you been for a walk?" there is a decided rise of pitch. If you utter the sentence "Who are you?" there is a very definite rise of pitch on 'are.'