CHAPTER II.

OF TONES AND MODULATION.

THE Word TONES, in its most comprehensive sense, denotes the whole range of perfect sounds which are produced, either by man, the inferiour animals, or musical instruments: but, in a rhetorical sense,

TONES Consist in the various sounds of the voice in its ascent from a low to a high pitch, or in its descent from a high to a low one.

MODULATION denotes the variations of the tones in their ascending and descending progressions from one note to another.

To the wisdom and goodness of his Creator, man is indebted for that peculiar endowment called the power of speech. In order that he may be enabled to exert this faculty to the greatest advantage in effecting all its important purposes, the same divine wisdom and goodness have been displayed, in bestowing upon him those peculiar and various tones of voice which constitute another characteristical feature of that pre-eminence which he holds over the rest of the animal world. All animals, it is true, express their various feelings by peculiar tones; but those possessed by man, are the more delicate, melodious, and comprehensive, in proportion to the elevation of his rank in the scale of being. There is not an act of his mind, an exertion of his fancy, nor an emotion of his heart, which cannot be expressed in a manner exactly suited to the degree of his internal feeling. Hence, it is chiefly in the correct and appropriate use of these tones, that the life, the spirit, the beauty, and the harmony of delivery consist.

TONES.

A scientifick analysis of the speaking voice, may, perhaps, be facilitated, by borrowing, under this head, the terms adopted

in musick. The notes or variations of tone within the compass of the voice in reading and speaking, are the same in number as those employed in singing.

The NATURAL or DIATONICK SCALE Consists in a succession of eight sounds either in an ascending or a descending progression.

The eighth sound or note in the scale, is called an Octave. The diatonick scale consists of five tones and two semitones. The distinction between the terms Note and Tone should be carefully observed.

A NOTE consists in a sound produced at any point or place in the scale, considered without reference either to its rise or fall.

A TONE consists in the rise or fall of the voice from one point in the scale to another, except the spaces between the third and fourth, seventh and eighth, places, which are occupied by semitones.

A SEMITONE consists in the rise or fall of the voice through a space in the scale half as great as that taken up by a tone.

The semitone is employed in the language of love, tenderness, petition, complaint, and doubtful supplication.

If the words eyes and cruel, in the following example, be pronounced in a plaintive manner, they will be uttered in a semitone: "Put out my eyes! It is too cruel."

A MONOTONE Consists in the pronunciation of several syllables in an unvaried tone; that is, without that variety of tones which constitutes modulation.

If, in reading the annexed example, the words poor and old be pronounced in a plaintive tone, and each with a sameness of sound corresponding with that of the other, it will illustrate both the semitone and the monotone:

"Pity the sorrows of a poor old man."

It is possible to utter in a monotone, any succession of letters, syllables, or words, even to an indefinite extent; but the laws of melody require the monotone to be but sparingly employed.

INTERVAL. The distance between any two points or places in the scale, is called an INTERVAL.

The intervals of the scale are numerically designated by including both of the extremes: thus, when a sound ascends or descends from the first place in the scale to the second, or from the second place to the first-from the second to the third, or from the third to the second, it is said to pass through the interval of a second; when it passes from the first place to the third, or from the third to the fifth, and so forth, it is said to pass through the interval of a third; and when it passes from the first to the fifth place, or from the fourth to the eighth, through the interval of a fifth: and so of the rest.

The QUALITIES or KINDS of voice are distinguished by the terms, rough, smooth, full, harsh, soft, slender, and so forth.

ABRUPTNESS, as applied to the voice, denotes a sudden and full discharge of sound, as contradistinguished from its more gradual emission.

This abruptness of sound is well exemplified by the explosive notes of a bassoon, and some other wind instruments.

PITCH.

PITCH denotes the place in the musical scale, of the sound or note we strike.

The upward and downward movements of the voice as it passes through the various intervals of the diatonick scale, are either concrete or discrete.

When the slide of the voice consists of one continuous, uninterrupted stream of sound, it is called a CONCRETE Sound; but when the stream of sound is not continuous, that is, is interrupted in its descent or ascent by breaks, it is called a DISCRETE sound or movement.

RADICAL, CONCRETE, AND DISCRETE PITCH.

By pronouncing a vowel or a syllable, such as a, o, or name, for example, with distinctness and fulness at the opening, it will be perceived, if the sound be protracted, that the volume of voice lessens during its slide, and that it passes off in a delicate van

ish until it terminates at the point where sound and silence seem to meet. These slides of the voice are either upward or downward, so that, as the voice moves along from syllable to syllable, its relative pitch, or place in the scale, is, of course, continually changing, except when it advances in a monotone.

This difference, or change in the position of the voice, is indicated by Dr. Rush, by calling the pitch on which a syllable or word begins, in comparison with the pitch where it terminates, or of other, succeeding syllables, the RADICAL PITCH, in order to distinguish it from the place or pitch at which the voice arrives by its respective concrete or discrete movements; and this last-named place of the voice, or point in the scale, is denoted, relatively, either its Concrete or Discrete Pitch.

Every one must have observed, that he can pitch his voice almost any where in the scale he chooses. If, in pronouncing the letter o, a, or i, or the word lay, dote, or time, any one begin by opening the radical on a very low note, and then continue to repeat the same, by commencing one note higher, and then another note higher, and so on, running it up the scale as high as he can conveniently go, and then down again, in the same manner that we "raise and fall the eight notes" in musick, (only with the difference that he should not sing the letter or word,) he may readily convince himself of the variety and compass of the voice, in regard to pitch, which may be employed in reading and speaking. Similar experiments may also be made in pronouncing the following line, or, indeed, any other one.

"At the close of the day when the hamlet is still”—

In pronouncing this line, it may be proper to observe, the voice should not be permitted to fall at its close, but it should be suspended with the rising vanish, exactly as if something more were intended to be added in order to complete the sense.

In reading or speaking to a small audience in a small room, that pitch of the voice should generally be adopted which we employ in ordinary conversation. This pitch being the most natural, it will render our delivery the most easy to ourselves, and the most agreeable to the hearer. In addressing a large audience, it is proper generally to commence with the same ordinary pitch; but, as we advance, (especially in delivering our own sentiments,) we naturally increase the force of our voice, and allow it to slide into a higher tone; and if we become impassioned, and earnestly vehement, we do not "o'erstep the modesty of nature" by raising our key-note several tones above the one on which we commenced. Of the correctness of this re

mark, any one may satisfy himself by observing the elevation of tone assumed by persons speaking under the excitement of the stronger passions.

Reading being "a correct and beautiful picture of speaking," those rules which instruct us in the latter, may, in general, be properly applied to the former. To this position it has been objected, that, "when reading becomes strictly imitative, it assumes a theatrical manner, becomes improper, and gives offence to the hearer." To the author, this objection does not appear to be valid. To say that reading, by becoming "strictly imitative of speaking, assumes a theatrical manner," is no less than saying, that speaking is performed in a theatrical manner. This may sometimes be the case; but it is hoped that the day is remote, in which it will generally be so, for nothing, it is conceived, can be more directly opposed to genuine oratory, than a theatrical manner of speaking. To the author, however, it has always been a matter of astonishment, that players do not cultivate a manner of speaking less " theatrical;" for he has observed, that those rare geniuses among them who are looked up to as paragons of excellence, are invariably less theatrical, and more natural, in their elocution, than players of ordinary talents. He has also observed the same thing in orators. The greatest orators he has ever heard, are the most NATURAL speakers.

The same remark may likewise be extended to singers. There is a wide difference between cultivating the native powers, and perverting them, although the latter often passes currently for the former. If these observations are correct, a hint may be drawn from them, worthy the attention, not only of the player, but also of the preacher, the lawyer, the legislator, and all others who wish to improve their oratorical or their vocal powers.

In delivering his own sentiments, a speaker may justly be more vivid and animated than in uttering the sentiments of others. Hence, a greater degree of delicacy and moderation is necessary in reading than in speaking. Care should be taken, however, that this consideration do not lead the reader into the fatal errour of becoming too tame. A lifeless, indifferent, or cold, formal manner, should be assiduously avoided. The animation, the earnestness, of the reader, ought nearly to equal that of the publick speaker.