ORTHOPHONY. CHAPTER I. RESPIRATION, OR EXERCISES IN BREATHING. Gymnastic and calisthenic exercises are invaluable aids to the culture and development of the voice, and should be sedulously practised, when opportunity renders them accessible. But even a slight degree of physical exercise, in any form adapted to the expansion of the chest, and to the freedom and force of the circulation, will serve to impart energy and glow to the muscular apparatus of voice, and clearness to its sound. There is, therefore, a great advantage in introducing some preliminary muscular actions, as an immediate preparation for vocal exercise. These actions may be selected from the system of preparatory movements taught at gymnastic establishments; or they may be made to consist in regulated walking, with a view to the acquisition of a firm, easy, and graceful carriage of the body, with appropriate motion of the arms and limbs, in the systematic drill in gesture, in its various forms, for the purpose of obtaining a free, forcible, and effective use of the arm, as a natural accompaniment to speech, or in the practice of attitude and action combined, in the most vivid style of lyric and dramatic recitation, so as to attain a perfect control over the whole corporeal frame, for the purposes of visible expression. Some preliminary exercises, such as the preceding, having been performed, and a sufficient period for rest and tranquil breathing having elapsed, the next stage of preparatory action may be as in the following directions: 1. Attitude of the Body, and Position of the Organs. Place yourself in a perfectly erect but easy posture; the weight of the body resting on one foot; the feet at a moderate distance, the one in advance of the other; 1 the arms akimbo; the fingers pressing on the abdominal muscles, in front, and the thumbs on the dorsal muscles, on each side of the spine; the chest freely expanded and fully projected; the shoulders held backward and downward, the head perfectly vertical. 2. Exercises in Deep Breathing. Having thus complied with the preliminary conditions of a free and unembarrassed action of the organs, draw in and give out the breath very fully, and very slowly, about a dozen times in succession. Let the breathing be deep and tranquil, but such as to cause the chest to rise fully and fall freely, and at every effort fill the lowest air cells of the lungs. 3. Exercise in "Effusive" or Tranquil Breathing. Draw in a very full breath, and send it forth in a prolonged sound of the letter h. In the act of inspiration, take in as much breath as you can contain. In that of expiration, retain all you can, and give out as little as possible, merely sufficient to keep the sound of h audible. But keep 1 The habit of keeping the chest open and erect is indispensable to the production of a full, round tone of voice. But it is of still higher value, as one of the main sources of health, animation, and activity. The effect on the student of the preceding exercises in breathing is usually soon perceptible in an obvious enlargement of the chest, and habitually erect attitude, an enlivened style of movement, a great accession of general bodily vigor, an exhilarated state of feeling, and an augmented activity of mind. To persons whose habits are studious and sedentary, and especially to females, the vigorous exercise of the organs of respiration and of voice is in every point of view an invaluable discipline. ADDITIONAL BREATHING EXERCISES. 3 it going on as long as you can sustain it. In this style of respiration the breath merely effuses itself into the surrounding air. 4. Exercise in "Expulsive" or Forcible Breathing. Draw in a very full breath, as before, and emit it, with a lively expulsive force, in the sound of h, but little prolonged, in the style of a moderate whispered cough. The breath in this style of expiration is projected into the air. Repeat this exercise, as directed in the statement preceding. 5. Exercise in "Explosive" or Abrupt Breathing. Draw in the breath, as already directed, and emit it with a sudden and violent explosion, in a very brief sound of the letter h, in the style of an abrupt and forcible, but whispered cough. The breath is, in this mode of expiration, thrown out with abrupt violence. Repeat this exercise as before directed. The above exercises are sufficient for ordinary use, but the following are also of service in expanding and strengthening the lungs. Caution should be observed in these, and indeed all forms of vocal training, that no discomfort be created by the exertion. Practice will soon render even the most difficult drill agreeable. But if forced beyond the natural power of endurance, the breathing exercises will injure rather than develop the voice. ADDITIONAL BREATHING EXERCISES. Sighing. Sighing, as a natural effort, designed to relieve the lungs. and accelerate the circulation, when depressing emotions or organic impediments cause a feeling as if the breath were pent up, consists in a sudden and large inspiration and a full, strong, effusive expiration. In vocal training it becomes a most efficacious means of free, unembarrassed res piration, and consequently of organic energy and of full voice. It should be repeated as the other exercises, and practiced through both the nostrils and the mouth; the former being its gentler, the latter its more forcible form. It should be produced also in the tremulous style of inspiration, in which the sigh resembles a series of prolonged and subdued sobs. 1 Sobbing. Sobbing, as an instinctive act, consists in a slightly con: vulsive, subdued, and whispering gasp, by which an instantaneous supply of breath is obtained, when the stricture caused by the suffocating effect of grief would otherwise. obstruct or suspend too long the function of inspiration. The practice of the sob facilitates the habit of easy and rapid inspiration, and the expression of pathetic emotion. Gasping. Gasping is an organic act corresponding somewhat to sobbing, but much more violent, as belonging to the expres sion of fierce emotions. Its effects as an exercise, in disciplining the organs, are very powerful, and its use in vehement expression in dramatic passages highly effective, and, indeed, indispensable to natural effect. Panting. Panting, as a natural act, in a highly excited state of circulation, whether caused by extreme muscular exertion or by intense emotion, consists in sudden and violent inspiration and expiration, the latter process predominating in force and sound. It is the only form of respiration practicable in high organic excitement. The practice of panting as an exercise imparts energy to the function of respiration, and vigor to the organs. Its effect is inseparable from the ex pression of ardor and intense earnestness in emotion. |