The practice of rhythm, or the practice of rhythmical accent, should be introduced, as the sense of rhythm is an important element in the development of expressiveness.
The object now is to secure sensibility and responsiveness in the voice. This opens the possibilities of vocal expression. When we speak of the nares anteri (or front head resonant cavity) as the dominant center of physical consciousness nothing mechanical is meant. One is conscious that the eye is fixed upon an object, but not therefore conscious of the action of the muscles used in turning it upon the object. One thinks not of the eye, but through the eye toward the object.
Finally, technique has as its object the training of the instrument to freedom and responsiveness; but the true art of vocal expression begins when the instrument is used in obedience to such objects of thought as should cause its strings to vibrate loudly or softly, all together or in partial harmony, in obedience to that vital impulse which the instrument itself was created to obey.
CHAPTER III. The Higher Development of the Voice by the Application of First
Principles.
There are four general forms of emphasis which serve as indications of the characteristics of expression. They are Force, Pitch, Volume, and Time. Force corresponds to life, or vitality, in the voice. Pitch corresponds to the range of the voice, and expresses affection or attraction. Volume measures the activity of the will through the voice, and Time, the expression of which depends principally upon movement, or rhythm, corresponds to the intellectual activities.
It will be understood that these forms of expression, or emphasis, are developed, according to the practice in the "Evolution of Expression," by means of purely mental discipline. It is nevertheless possible to reinforce these powers of the voice by technical practice with special reference to this development. In taking up this branch of the work the student is supposed to have fulfilled the requirements of the elementary voice practice, which, it will be remembered, includes the establishment of freedom by means of right direction of tone, the perfecting of the elements in polished articulation, the facile handling of the voice in combining various elements, and a certain degree of responsiveness in the practice of various musical qualities.