Vocal expression in speech; a treatise on the fundamentals of public speaking adapted to the use of colleges and universities

Front matter

GORDON -LYMAN

Book , Q &

COPYRIGHT DKFOSIT.

Preface

This treatise on vocal expression in speech offers an exposition of the scientific basis of the speech arts. So far as the author knows, this exposition is now presented for the first time in any treatise. It is in line with modern psychology and physics.

The terms used throughout the work have departed as little as possible from the terms already sanctioned by long usage ; where there is a departure, the terms have been such as have been approved in the kindred art of music.

This treatise presents also practical methods for voice cultivation and vocal interpretation based on the principles of the science and art of speech. The selections for practice have been carefully chosen with reference to their availability for classroom work, having been given a thorough trial there. Many of them are new and appear for the first time in such a manual.

The author is under great obligation to many firms and authors for the use of copyrighted selections. Many acknowledgments are made in immediate connection with the selections. Especial thanks are due to the following publishers and authors : to Houghton Mifflin Company for the use of extracts from Emerson's Essays and Poems, from Lowell's Poems, from Crother's "The Gentle Reader," from Hawthorne's " Marble Faun," from Holmes's "Autocrat of the Breakfast Table," from Longfellow's " The Ride of Paul Revere," from Trowbridge's "The Vagabonds";

VI VOCAL EXPRESSION IN SPEECH

to Longmans, Green & Co. for the use of extracts from the works of Ruskin ; to B. W. Huebsch for the use of selections from Griggs's "A Book of Meditations"; to David C. Cook Publishing Company and to the authors quoted for selections by Cochran and Wells which appeared in the Young People s Weekly ; to Small, Maynard & Company for the use of Mrs. Gilman's "A Conservative"; to Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co., and to the author quoted, for the use of "Across the Fields to Anne " and " If We Had the Time " ; to Silver, Burdett & Company, and the editor of the volume quoted, for the use of A Laughing Chorus from " Nature in Verse"; to the Leland Powers School of the Spoken Word for the use of their arrangements of "The Coming of Arthur" and a scene from "David Copperfield " ; to Harper and Brothers for the use of an extract from an article by Mackye in the North American Review ; to the Outing Publishing Company for the use of "A Day in June" by C. W. Stevenson ; to the editors and publishers of Collier's The National Weekly for the use of " Charlie Johnson's Fine " ; to the publishers of Smart Set for the use of the poem, "A Wanderer's Litany"; to Emerson Hough for the use of an extract from his lecture, "Plain Americans " ; and to many others, not only for the use of selections but for helpful suggestions and criticisms.

HENRY E. GORDON

Introduction

Two main purposes. Two main purposes may control in the study of any phase of public speaking. It may be studied from the standpoint of general culture, or from the narrower standpoint of a vocation. It may form one of the courses in a curriculum designed to arouse an appreciation of the noblest productions in all forms of art and science, or it may appear as a course in a technical institution with the sole purpose of securing skill in a practitioner whose success in his vocation is more or less dependent upon a developed talent in public speaking.

The primary purpose. But whatever the ultimate end in view, the first step in the study of a particular phase of public speaking should be for the purpose of culture. Lack of a broad, sympathetic appreciation of the world of science, art, and religion will operate as a serious check in the development of a good speaker. This fact is largely lost sight of by the student of the art. He demands vocational work at once. His general attitude towards the subject causes him to wait until he is facing a definite problem, e.g. he is assigned some part in a literary program, elected to appear in a public debate, or invited to respond to a toast at a banquet, when, as he too frequently thinks, a few hours of training is all that is necessary. In the hands of a thorough and conscientious teacher he learns, to his amazement, not only that he lacks the cultural basis for proper presentation, but also that he fails in many other important respects: that his knowledge of the English language is totally inadequate ; that he is incapable of pronouncing many of the commonest English words with any degree of accuracy; that his enunciation is so faulty that an audience cannot understand what he says ; and, finally, that the very means of expression, his voice and action, are entirely unfitted to convey his thought.

Taste cultivation. Taste, then, must be stimulated as the initial act in the evolution of a public speaker. With this end in view a great help will be found in the study of literature with reference to its vocal interpretation. Here are recorded the ideals of the best men and women of all time. The mind of the embryo speaker must be steeped in the rich literary expression of the strong life of humanity. He must joy in the epic simplicity of Homer, the lyric intensity of Tennyson, the dramatic movement of Shakespeare, and the oratoric glow of Demosthenes. While growing into this assimilative relation, at best a long and evolutionary process, the learner is acquiring a technical power which must prove a help from a vocational viewpoint; but culture, not skill, is the end sought.

A danger. One danger, at least, arises in such study. The student is apt to prepare himself for vocal interpretative work from a scientific rather than from an artistic standpoint. That is, a philological and minutely critical study of the text may be made, which may lead to a stimulation of the intellect alone, or actually crowd out a possible artistic appreciation of the selection studied. Such study may even make it distasteful to the reader. Under the guidance of

INTRODUCTION 3

a teacher unsympathetic with the real needs of a learner even Shakespeare may become loathsome to him. This is a real danger.

The scientific, minute study of Shakespeare, the use of his plays for grammatical analysis, philological investigation, historical research, — as now common in the high school, — belongs only to the last years of the college and to the graduate school. The proper study of Shakespeare in the high school is to feel ': to read Shakespeare, see Shakespeare, play Shakespeare. This might awaken love. It must certainly result, in the high school, in a truer, broader acquaintance ; in the college, in a truer, sounder criticism ; on the stage, in a truer and more frequent presentation. 1

A second danger. Another danger is possible in cultural study ; the student, while learning to appreciate, may fail to acquire the technical power to present in adequate form the material which taste has learned to approve. The high estimate of the merit of a dainty sonnet or vigorous ballad is no guaranty of its adequate expression through voice and action. A certain amount of skill of a technical sort must be acquired, and the fundamental emotion of the true artist must be awakened. The culture process must arouse the mind, kindle the imagination, awaken the dramatic instinct, — secure more or less response from the whole being. There must be present a genuine play-instinct. The student must enjoy speaking, abandon himself with gladness to vocal expression, not blindly and riotously but with a love of play such as the child feels, spontaneous, free, and genuine. " What, get up and play before an audience ? ' ' Yes ! Why not ? Except you become as a little child you are shut out from every worthy kingdom, and most of all the kingdom of art.

The artistic spirit. How shall this spirit of joy in action be acquired ? The usual reply to this question is, Dh, just be natural ! Here is a liability to much trouble. Not one student in a thousand can follow this worn-out maxim and be right. Man is a bundle of habits, and in vocal and pantomimic expression most habits are bad. To be natural is, in most cases, to be habitual and so probably wrong. Training, the effort to secure good habits and normal action, daily and unremitted, is the price which must be paid for naturalness. This thought has been well summed up by Professor Genung in these words : " Art at its highest and nature at its truest are one."

Summary. The culture process, then, must seek to arouse a joyful appreciation. This appreciation cannot reach its flood tide except through normal conditions in voice and action. The whole body is the vocal instrument. All its powers must be organized under the centralizing control of a mind ambitious to give a service to the world, the vital motive of which shall be a joyous appreciation.

The vocational process. With this end partially or fully attained the learner may proceed to vocational work. He may desire to teach public speaking or wish to enter some profession where speaking is essential, or he may look forward to a career upon the platform as a lecturer, or reader. As already pointed out, the work of such a student should be controlled by the purpose to cultivate taste and train all the faculties for service under its guidance. Without this the work is almost futile. With it vocational work becomes a matter largely of practice. Practice does not make perfect, but thorough, conscientious practice tends toward perfection. The student must have an audience upon which to exercise his talents. If he is to be a lawyer,

INTRODUCTION 5

he must work out the problem of the address to the jury and the judge. He is likely to be called into politics, and so must study the problems of the political harangue, the legislative debate, and the after-dinner speech. He may look forward to the teaching profession, where he may be called upon to conduct institutes, lecture at Chautauqua assemblies, or engage in university extension work. So with each vocation specific practice is needed. Clinics, so to speak, must be opened, where the learner may gain proficiency in operating.

Dangers. There are dangers, already pointed out, in the culture process. These dangers are greatly enhanced in the vocational process. To repeat, the student who approaches such work without gaining the development through culture is bound to fail, or at best to attain but a partial success. By the very nature of the case his work cannot be otherwise than superficial. Before an intelligent audience exterior polish, however good, only serves to render more conspicuous interior dullness. The man without taste but possessed of skill is liable to be a blind leader of the blind. Taste, appreciation, capacity to adjust himself to any environment — all are essential to the guidance of skill. A cultivated taste is the open-eyed condition of the mind.

The adjustment to audience. Public speaking is a social function ; a direct relation exists between the speaker and his audience. As the life of the body .depends upon its power to adjust itself to the circumstances of life, so the life of speaking depends upon the power of the speaker to adjust himself to the varying needs of his audiences. He must be able to play upon the lyrical and intuitive nature of woman, the logical and oratoric nature of man ; and if he has not culture, either as a result of deliberate training or otherwise, his playing is liable to produce nothing but discords. The speaker who fails of harmonic adjustment dies. He may go on speaking, more 's the pity, but there is some hope that his discordant utterances will eventually compel his retirement from the public platform. When the reader is a really beautiful young woman, whose every motion is graceful and whose voice is sweet music, this danger becomes more subtle. , The unthinking may applaud ; the judicious will grieve. The greater her success, the more is true art retarded, until people of culture cry out, " Can any good come out of the study of public speaking ? " Here, then, are two dangers from purely vocational work : the one for the student himself, that success without culture will mislead by effacing the highest ideal ; and the second, that the whole subject will be brought into contempt. Then let the student enter upon the study of public speaking with a realization that it is a serious, lifelong business ; that matter is more important than manner, taste than skill ; that culture must precede calling ; and that mind determines both manner and calling. The student has no call to speak to the universe until the universe has spoken to him.

Method. Experience has shown that as far as possible the student should learn by what may be called the laboratory method. He should have definite problems, the solution of which will demand serious consideration. There should be at least one piece of intensive work in connection with any course undertaken.

The inductive process. Success in acquiring power is best attained through the inductive process. Give the student a specific piece of work and by the process of

INTRODUCTION 7

discovery through his own presentation in vocal expression let him reach the laws of good form in speaking. Coaching is liable to defeat itself and is a confession of weakness, a lack of culture in the one coached.

Summary. The two main purposes in the study of any phase of public speaking or reading are cultural and vocational. The former is primary. In the cultural process of acquiring a knowledge of the subject, taste, not skill, is the objective point ; and yet voice and action, the media of mind expression, must become normal that the utterance may become natural. In the secondary process the vocational, actual practice involving the problems of specific vocations is fundamental, for skill is now the objective point. The process of work, whether cultural or vocational, should be evolutionary. The student should learn the laws underlying good work in public speaking by the inductive method of study. He should be so instructed that he will realize that learning to speak is primarily learning to think and feel.

Method suggested. It is not possible to prescribe a method of culture in vocal expression which will be completely adapted to the needs of all teachers and all pupils. The method suggested, however, has been tested by long use in the college classroom and has proved to be the most nearly ideal of the many which have been tried. This course is given for two hours a week throughout the year. The main purpose of the plan here advocated is to give the student a definite problem which may tax his powers to the proper limit.

The lecture recital. The student is required to prepare a lecture recital. In length it should be proportional to the time limit of the recitation hour so that at least two lectures may be given within that period. The selections from the author, book, poem, or whatever is the subject of the recital, should be given memoriter. Remarks such as introductory account of the author's life, method of writing, nature of work, etc. should be given extempore. The subject may be selected early in the course, so that the student may use the selections in connection with class work for special criticism. The lecture recitals can best be given near the end of the course. The members of the class not lecturing may be required to hand in written criticisms of these performances. The best of the recitals may be used for a series of public evening recitals.

Available subjects. A list of authors available for this work is herewith submitted. The student is advised to select an author who will furnish the greatest possible variety in the forms of literature to be studied. It is not, however, a bad plan to make an intensive study of some masterpiece, but such work is more difficult and is suitable only for the more advanced students.

The following list of authors contains certain initial letters which are to be interpreted as follows : D., dramatist ; E., essayist ; O., orator ; P., poet ; S., story-writer.

Addison. — E. P.

Aldrich. — P.

Ames. — O.

Arnold, M. — E. P.

Barrie, J. — S.

Beecher. — O.

Bossuet. — O.

Brooks. — O.

Brougham. — O.

Brown, A. — S.

Browning, R. — P.

Burke. — O.

Calhoun. — O.

Canning. — O.

Carlyle. — E.

Channing. — O.

Chatham. — O.

Chaucer. — P.

Choate. — O.

Cicero. — O. E.

Clay. — O.

Clough, A. H. — Cooper. — S.

Cowper. — P.

Curran. — O.

Dante. — P.

Demosthenes. — ' Dickens. — S.

Disraeli. — S. O.

INTRODUCTION

Dumas. — D. S.

Eliot. — E. S.

Emerson. — E. P.

Erskine. — O.

Everett. — O.

Field, E. — P.

Fielding. — S.

Fox. — O.

Franklin. — E.

Gladstone. — O.

Goethe. — P. D.

Goldsmith. — P. S.D.

Grady. — O.

Grattan. — O.

Gray. — P.

Hale. — E. S.

Hamilton. — E. O.

Hawthorne. — S.

Hayne. — O.

Henry. — O.

Herbert. — P.

Holmes. — P. E. S.

Homer. — P.

Hood. — P.

Howells. — S.D.E.

Hughes. — P. E.

Hugo. — P. E. S.

Ingelow. — P.

Ingersoll. — O.

Irving. — S.

Jackson. — P. S.

Junius. — E.

Keats. — P.

Kipling. — P. S.

Knowles. — D.

Lamb. — E.

Lanier. — P. E.

Lincoln. — O.

Longfellow. — P.

Lover. — S.

Lowell. — P.

Ly tton (Bulwer). ■ — S .

Macaulay. — E Macdonald. — S.

McLatren. — O. S.

Marlowe. — D.

Milton. — P.

Mirabeau. — O.

Moore. ■ — P.

Morris. — P. E.

O'Connell — O.

Parker. — S.

Patmore. — P.

Paul — O. E.

Phillips. — O.

Poe. — P. S.

Pope. — P. S.

Prentiss. — D.

Reade. — S.

Richter. — S. P.

Riley. _ P.

Rossetti, C. — P.

Rossetti, D. — P.

Rousseau. — P.

Savonarola. — O.

Schiller. — P.

Scott. — P. S.

Seward. — O.

Shaftesbury. — O.

Shakespeare. — P. D.

Sheridan. — O. D.

Sill. — P.

Southey. — P.

Spenser. — P.

Stevenson. — P. S.

Stockton. — S.

Stowe. — S.

Sumner. — O.

Swinburne. — P.

Taylor. — P. E.

Tennyson. — P.

Thackeray. — S.

Trollope. — S.

Trowbridge. — S. P.

Twain. — S.

Webster. — O.

Whitman. — P.

Whittier. — P.

Theory and practice. As already pointed out, the inductive process should be followed, or, in other words, theory should not precede practice. Begin the study of each phase of vocal expression with the reading of specific selections. The amount of theory w T hich the student is required to master must depend upon the individual student.

IO VOCAL EXPRESSION IN SPEECH

Correct breathing. 1 Each department of vocal expression makes both general and special demands in vocal training. The complete control of the specific organs of speech under a proper organization of the same is an essential and preliminary step. Any careful study of the healthy child in sleep will reveal the fact that the centering of the action in breathing makes the diaphragm the master of the situation. To give free play to the action of this important muscle there must be no serious restriction at the waist by clothing or otherwise. The diaphragm lies immediately below the lungs, and in contracting pushes the organs beneath downward. This downward pressure is converted into a lateral forward pressure by the restrictive action of the hip and back bones and appears as a slight and general expansion extending from the hips to the sternum or breastbone.

The test of correct breathing. This correct action in breathing may be easily tested. Place one hand just beneath the sternum and the other upon the " small of the back." If the action in breathing is normal, there will be an expansive movement due to the contraction of the diaphragm. It will be stronger in front. To test the movement still further (throwing the voice to a distance), call, with considerable volume of tone, the name " John ! " Before uttering the word take a deep, full breath, bringing into action the great breathing muscle. Then when the muscle is thoroughly contracted and giving the lungs a strong support, utter the word. If the work is correctly done, an outward pressure, both before and behind, will be distinctly felt.

1 Read " Voice, Song, and Speech," by Lennox Browne and Emil Behnke.

INTRODUCTION II

With this free, natural action* of the diaphragm thoroughly developed a great physical step has been taken, which means ultimately, under persistent and correct practice, a complete control of the voice. But frequently pupils are found whose habits of speech are so bad that the attainment of this step in vocal control is insufficient. Where the action is not centered beneath the lungs, it is usually so distributed that there is considerable movement above the lungs. Some of this is essential, — the movement of the vocal bands, the action of the tongue in forming sounds, the opening and shutting of the mouth, etc. ; but frequently, so far as the jaw and tongue are concerned, these actions are so done that there is much restriction, which prevents pure tone and correct touch. With the center of power at the diaphragm this restrictive action may be lessened, but generally some specific attention must be paid to the movement of the jaw and tongue.

For example, in making the vowel e the tongue is lifted and placed high in the mouth. If the mouth is kept almost shut, the tongue will be nearly in place for this action. Hence, in general, the mouth is kept nearly closed in forming this sound. When a loud utterance of this letter is demanded, much of the sound will be forced through the nose and this vowel will have a nasal quality. Such bad habits as these may be only partially corrected by the cultivation of correct breathing.

To test whether the action of the jaw and tongue is correct, use the sound which under normal conditions will be made when these organs are completely relaxed. It is called the " Italian a." It is marked a. This is the first sound of human language and forms the basis of the words "pa," "ma," which are used to designate the names of parents. Let the jaw completely relax ; feel the weight of the tongue lying lazily in the mouth ; and, having taken a deep breath, utter the sound a a. If the muscles immediately beneath the jaw show contraction, i.e. if the tongue moves at all, then the action is faulty.

In every other vowel sound the tongue moves somewhat, but it should perform its functions with as little action as possible (never closing the passage to the throat), and the jaw should always be relaxed. To utter correctly the letter e, then, relax the jaw as though the sound a were going to be uttered, and the discovery may follow that the jaw and tongue are both lazy and relaxed.

The nature of the vocal programs. -It follows that the programs for vocal training offered in this book will seek first, a general development, by centering the breath at the diaphragm and by freeing the action of the direct organs of speech ; and second, specific action to secure range in speech melody, resonance in speech quality, agility in speech rhythm, and power in speech dynamics.

Program for breath control, i. Practice the breathing exercises as suggested above. Do not overdo the matter. Always vary the program with the use of joyous, lyrical, emotional lines, like

Hurrah ! the foes are moving. Hark to the mingled din

Of fife, and steed, and trump, and drum, and roaring culverin.

Remember that every exercise in speaking is an exercise for the cultivation of the breathing powers.

2. Learn the principal vowel sounds as given in Webster's International Dictionary or any other standard. The following will be sufficient :

INTRODUCTION 13 a, a, a,

e, e, u, u, 00 (repeated for rhythmic effect), ou, oi.

Several exercises may be made from these sounds :

a. Let them be given with a strong falling inflection. Note that the breathing is correctly done ; it must be deep and full. After the breath is taken it should be sustained during the utterance. If the utterance is powerful and explosive in nature there will be a slight outward pressure at the waist, as already pointed out. When the sound or word has been uttered, let there be a complete release of the breath — a thorough relaxation of the diaphragm — and a new breath taken for the second sound, etc.

b. Give the sounds again with a rising inflection. Let the power come from below the lungs, not from above. Remember that no muscle grows in strength except by use. Exercise the diaphragm just .as you would any other muscle. Help will come from the application of the imagination to the work in hand. Think beautiful sounds, rich harmonies, and noble aspirations.

c. Give the sounds slowly, with one breath for all and on one pitch. In other words, chant them, solemnly and beautifully, in that part of the range of your voice where such action comes most easily.

3 . Use a series of dramatic words, exclaimed with more or less explosive action, like

Well, well ! Hold ! Ha, ha ! Ho, ho ! Victory is won ! Hark !

Such exercises should be multiplied with as much variety as possible in the vowel sound. For a good test as to whether the vocal control is improving, the following might occasionally be used :

Now you see the water foaming all around. See how fast you pass that point ! Up with the helm ! Now turn ! Pull hard ! Quick ! quick ! quick ! pull for your lives ! pull till the blood starts from your nostrils, and the veins stand like whipcords upon your brow. Set the mast in the socket ! hoist the sail ! Ah, ah ! it is too late ! Shrieking, cursing, howling, blaspheming, over they go ! — Gough

For further tests use the following exercises under speech melody: numbers 22, 23, 24, 31, 32, 33, 34, and 36.

Chapter I Essentials In Vocal Expression

I. Fundamentals

The beginnings of public speaking. If we should trace back to their beginnings all arts which employ the human voice — acting, singing, speaking, literature (before writing) — we should in all probability arrive at one and the same point, namely, a communal performance of some sort, a vocal utterance in connection with a communal dance or a piece of communal work. In the dance success in war, in the chase, or in the harvest found utterance physically and psychically. In work the rhythmic unity of communal action may have furnished an exhilaration for rapid and continued action. The community at play united in a dance movement, controlled by the rhythmic life of the body, while they sang crude songs and acted out in a representative way the scenes celebrated.

At first the songs were, perchance, but vague sounds. Then gradually a few words, repeated over and over again, were used. These words responded in rhythmic movement to the action of the body. Thus, perhaps, poetry was born.

It is interesting in this connection to see how differently this same matter may be handled by different authors. Professor F. B. Gummere, in his " Beginnings of Poetry," puts it in this way (he is speaking of "Rhythm as the Essential Fact of Poetry") :

l6 VOCAL EXPRESSION IN SPEECH

It is not hard to follow so plain a hint as one finds in the ethnological evidence ; the actual habit of individual composition and performance has sprung from choral composition and performance. An entertainer and audience, an artist and a public, take for granted preceding social conditions ; and it is generally admitted that social conditions begin with the festal dance as well as with communal labor. Where and when the individual recitative became a thing of prominence, as it undoubtedly did, is a matter to be studied in the individual and centrifugal impulse, in the progress of the poet: hence it is enough to show that rhythmic verse came directly from the choral song, and that neither the choral song, nor any regular song, could have come from the recitative. They need a developed stage of speech when the logical sentence has shaken itself free, to some extent, of mere emotional cadence and of almost meaningless repetitions. Here indeed begin the orator, the teller of tales, the artistic poet; but dance, song, and poetry itself begin with a communal consent, which is expressed by the most exact rhythm.

Mr. H. B. Alexander dissents somewhat from the above in his work, " Poetry and the Individual." Where he is speaking of the ( ' Evolution of the Poetic Spirit," he says :

The characteristics of this early consciousness are apparent : first, interest absorbed by the immediate object of attention ; second, communal inspired expression. But in the instances cited — cooperative labor and the dance — we are in the presence of some advancement in social evolution. Song could hardly have been brought forth from chance congregations of paleolithic savages except the' instinct and need for it already existed in the individual. We must conceive a leader of the primeval chorus. All the bright day he follows the chase. He sees a haughty roebuck startled in the glade. It leaps away in terror, the bough-filtered light of the sun flecking the satiny haunches. The buck ! The bounding buck ! He hurls his flintpointed dart, and turning away with his prize, he fashions a little song celebrating the one event that has made his day worth living : " O the buck ! The bounding buck ! " And at night beside the feast-fire, he repeats it till all take up the chorus.