V The Voice. (46)
Pitch and Compass
The natural pitch of the voice is its keynote, or governing note. It is that on which the voice usually dwells, and to which it most frequently returns when wearied. It is also the pitch used in conversation, and the one which a reader or speaker naturally adopts—when he reads or speaks— most easily and agreeably.
The compass of the voice is its range above and below this pitch. To avoid monotony in reading or speaking, the voice should rise above or fall below this keynote, but always with reference to the sense or character of that which is read or spoken. The proper natural pitch is that above and below which there is most room for variation.
To strengthen the voice and increase its compass, select a short sentence, repeat it several times in succession in as low a key as the voice can sound naturally; then rise one note higher, and practice on that key, then another, and so on, until the highest pitch of the voice has been reached. Next, reverse the process, until the lowest pitch has been reached.
Examples in Pitch (46)
High Pitch.
NOTE.—Be careful to distinguish pitch from power in the following exercise. Speaking in the open air, at the very top of the voice, is an exercise admirably adapted to strengthen the voice and give it compass, and should be frequently practiced.
1. Charge’! Chester” charge’! On’! Stanley, on’!
2. A horse’! a horse’! my kingdom’ for a horse’!
3. Jump far out’, boy’ into the wave’! Jump’, or I fire’!
4. Run’! run’! run for your lives!
5. Fire’! fire’! fire’! Ring the bell’!
6. Gentlemen may cry peace’! peace’! but there is no peace!
7. Rouse’ ye Romans! rouse’ ye slaves’! Have ye brave sons’? Look in the next fierce brawl To see them die’. Have ye fair daughters’? Look To see them live, torn from your arms’, distained’, Dishonored’, and if ye dare call for justice’, Be answered by the lash’!
Medium Pitch. (47)
NOTE.—This is the pitch in which we converse. To strengthen it, we should read or speak in it as loud as possible, without rising to a higher key. To do this requires long-continued practice.
1. Under a spreading chestnut tree,
The village smithy stands’;
The smith, a mighty man is he,
With large and sinewy hands’;
And the muscles of his brawny arms
Are strong as iron bands.
2. There is something in the thunder’s voice that makes me tremble like a child. I have tried to conquer’ this unmanly weakness’. I have called pride’ to my aid’; I have sought for moral courage in the lessons of philosophy’, but it avails me nothing’. At the first moaning of the distant cloud, my heart shrinks and dies within me.
3. He taught the scholars the Rule of Three’, Reading, and writing, and history’, too’; He took the little ones on his knee’, For a kind old heart in his breast had he’, And the wants of the littlest child he knew’. “Learn while you’re young’,” he often said’, “There is much to enjoy down here below’; Life for the living’, and rest for the dead’,” Said the jolly old pedagogue’ long ago’.
Low Pitch. (48)
1. O, proper stuff!
This is the very painting of your fear:
This is the air-drawn dagger which, you said,
Led you to Duncan. O, these flaws and starts,
Impostors to true fear, would well become
A woman’s story at a winter’s fire.
Authorized by her grandam.
2. Thou slave! thou wretch! thou coward! Thou little valiant, great in villainy! Thou ever strong upon the stronger side! Thou fortune’s champion, thou dost never fight But when her humorous ladyship is by To teach thee safety! Thou art perjured too, And sooth’st up greatness. What a fool art thou, A ramping fool; to brag, and stamp, and sweat, Upon my party! thou cold-blooded slave!
3. God! thou art mighty! At thy footstool bound, Lie, gazing to thee, Chance, and Life, and Death; Nor in the angel circle flaming round, Nor in the million worlds that blaze beneath, Is one that can withstand thy wrath’s hot breath. Woe, in thy frown: in thy smile, victory: Hear my last prayer! I ask no mortal wreath; Let but these eyes my rescued country see, Then take my spirit, all Omnipotent, to thee.
4. O Thou eternal One! whose presence bright All space doth occupy, all motion guide, Unchanged through time’s all-devastating blight! Thou only God, there is no god beside! Being above all things, mighty One, Whom none can comprehend and none explore; Who fill’st existence with thyself alone,— Embracing all, supporting, ruling o’er,— Being whom we call God, and know no more!