Quantity and Quality
The tones of the voice should vary also in quantity, or time required to utter a sound or a syllable, and in quality, or expression, according to the nature of the subject.
REMARK.—We notice a difference between the soft, insinuating tones of persuasion; the full, strong voice of command and decision; the harsh, irregular, and sometimes grating explosion of the sounds of passion; the plaintive notes of sorrow and pity; and the equable and unimpassioned flow of words in argumentative style.
The following direction, therefore, is worthy of attention:
The tones of the voice should always correspond both in quantity and quality with the nature of the subject.
Examples
Passion and Grief
“Come back! come back!” he cried, in grief.
“Across this stormy water,
And I’ll forgive your Highland chief,
My daughter! O, my daughter!”
Plaintive
I have lived long enough: my way of life
Is fallen into the sear, the yellow leaf:
And that which should accompany old age,
As honor, love, obedience, troops of friends,
I must not look to have.
Calm
A very great portion of this globe is covered with water, which is
called sea, and is very distinct from rivers and lakes.
Fierce Anger
Burned Marmion’s swarthy cheek like fire,
And shook his very frame for ire,
And—“This to me?” he said;
“And ’t were not for thy hoary beard,
Such hand as Marmion’s had not spared
To cleave the Douglas’ head!
Loud and Explosive
“Even in thy pitch of pride,
Here, in thy hold, thy vassals near,
I tell thee thou ’rt defied!
And if thou said’st I am not peer
To any lord in Scotland here,
Lowland or Highland, far or near,
Lord Angus, thou hast lied ‘”
REMARK 1.—In our attempt to imitate nature it is important to avoid affectation, for to this fault even perfect monotony is preferable.
REMARK 2.—The strength of the voice may be increased by practicing with different degrees of loudness, from a whisper to full rotundity, taking care to keep the voice on the same key. The same note in music may be sounded loud or soft. So also a sentence may be pronounced on the same pitch with different degrees of loudness. Having practiced with different degrees of loudness on one key, make the same experiment on another, and then on another, and so on. This will also give the learner practice in compass,