o a spontaneous activity that, left
unhindered, does its part in perfect nicety.

The vocal cords must, in their action, be free from the disturbance of
uncontrolled breath action below them, or the hindrance due to
misdirected effort above them. To direct consciousness to the vocal
cords is to cramp them and prevent that free vibration and that
perfect relaxation of the throat without which pure tone and true
pitch are impossible.

As a surgeon I well know the value of thorough anatomical knowledge,
but from the singer's standpoint I cannot too strongly emphasize the
unwisdom of directing the attention of sensitively organized pupils to
their vocal mechanism by means of the laryngoscope. This instrument
belongs to the physician, not to the singer.

The importance of the third factor, the _resonator_, has been
considered in Chapter V, on Resonance, but the fourth element in voice
production, _articulation_, is so cooerdinated to resonance that the
significance and primacy of the latter are too often overlooked.

Placing or "focusing the voice" I have found to be chiefly a matter
of control and use of the resonator, consisting of chest, pharynx,
mouth, and the nasal and head cavities.

A tone lacking in resonance is ineffective,--devoid of carrying
power,--is diffuse and unfocused; while a resonant tone, no matter how
soft dynamically, has carrying power and is focused in its vibration.

Now "voice placing" depends primarily on correct _vowel placing_,
which in turn depends on proper adjustment of the resonators, which
again depends chiefly on the positions and motions of the organs of
articulation. The interdependence of tone quality and pronunciation is
therefore obvious.

Constant emphasis must be laid upon the fact that focusing a tone is a
matter of resonance, and that perhaps the most important element in
this is _nasal_ resonance. In this country, particularly, teachers
have, in their desire to overcome the too common nasal twang,
mistakenly sought to shut out the nasal chamber from all participation
in speech and song.

There are those who, partly recognizing the importance of _head_
resonance, would secure it while ignoring _nasal_ resonance. It is
impossible to secure head resonance in this fashion, for it is only
through free nasal resonance that the cooerdinate resonance in the air
sinuses above the nasal cavity and connected with it can be
established.

The fear of nasal twang and failure to dist