It is not contended that these diagrams picture the actual form assumed by the resonance cavities very accurately. The various positions which the tongue and the soft-palate assume are not shown at all, nor, perhaps, is it necessary; for if the pupil is taught to drop the lower jaw to the right position for each sound, and to keep the tongue prone in the mouth, a mental picture of each tone will be formed, and the thought will regulate the action. When the pupil can think the sound desired, the conditions for its formation will be met by the vocal organs. The usefulness of diagrams will then cease.
Consonants and Articulation.
“Consonants are the bones of speech. By means of consonants we articulate our words; that is, we give them joints. We utter vowels, we articulate consonants. If we utter a single vowel-sound and interrupt it by a consonant, we get an articulation. Consonants, then, not only give speech its articulation or joints, but they help words to stand and have form, just as a skeleton keeps the animal from falling into a shapeless mass of flesh; therefore, consonants are the bones of speech. The consonant is the distinguishing element of human speech. Man has been defined in various ways according to various attributes, functions and habits. He might well be called the consonant-using animal. He alone of all animals uses consonants. It is the consonant which makes the chief difference between the cries of beasts and the speech of man.”—Richard Grant White.
Consonants are not to be sung. The effort so common among singers to pronounce, by sustaining consonant sounds, is entirely misdirected. M, n and ng, which are made by shutting off the escape of the air-current at either the lips or the hard-palate, and so forcing it through the nose, are often sustained to the detriment of beauty of tone and clear pronunciation as well.
Articulation, which is the pronunciation of a consonantal sound, is accomplished by interrupting the air-current, whether vibratory or not, at certain points. The interruptions are made by the meeting of the lips with each other or with the teeth, by the tongue with the teeth or hard-palate, and the root of the tongue with the soft-palate. The interruption may be complete, as in p or t, or only partial, as in th. The sound of the consonant results from the slight explosion or puff which follows the recoil of the movable parts from the point of contact.
All consonants may for singing purposes be considered as preceding or following some vowel-sound. If preceding, then after the sound is made the vocal organs must be adjusted at once for the proper formation of the succeeding vowel. If the consonant sound follows a vowel-tone, the movement of the vocal organs to the interrupting point must be quick and vocalization at once cease; for if the vowel-sound is prolonged after the production of the consonant, the effect will be an added syllable to the word as at-at-er, up-up-pah, etc. The movements of the organs of speech for both contact and recoil must be more rapid in singing to produce distinct articulation than in spoken language.
Slovenly habits of articulation in speech will reappear in song, and the converse is also true. The study and practice of phonics, which is now general in schools, is of the highest practical importance in singing, as well as in reading or speaking. As consonant sounds cannot be sung, they are best taught in spoken language. The application of the knowledge and skill thus gained is readily applied to the pronunciation of words in singing. If the vowel-elements have been carefully practiced in vocalizes, there will be little effort required to secure the correct formation of all the vowel-sounds of words.
The nasal twang must, however, be ruthlessly suppressed. As before suggested, this will frequently appear in words containing the sound of a as in at, past, fast, etc. It is recommended that such words be sung with a as in father, or if not quite as broadly, at least approaching the sound of ah.
If the movements of the vocal organs are quick, flexible and without muscular tension or stiffness, and if the mouth opens neither too much nor too little for each vowel-sound, words may be sung and understood while beauty of tone is not sacrificed.