lowered under the nose, it makes a point of resonance for the middle
range of voice, by permitting the overtones to resound at the same
time in the nose. (See plate, middle range.)

[Illustration: Red lines denote middle range of soprano, contralto,
and tenor.

In the German names of the notes, _h_ represents _b_ in the English.]

[Illustration: Red line denotes peak, or softest point of the palate.]

Thus the palate performs the whole work so far as concerns the
different resonances, which can be united and separated by it, but
must _always work together in close relation, always bound together in
all tones, in all kinds of voices_.

The lowest chest tones of the bass, the highest head tones of the
soprano, are thus the two poles between which the entire gamut of all
voices can be formed. From this it can be perceived that with a
certain degree of skill and willingness to work, every voice will be
capable of great extension.

SECTION XII

THE SENSATION OF THE RESONANCE OF THE HEAD CAVITIES

The sensation of the resonance of the head cavities is perceived
chiefly by those who are unaccustomed to using the head tones. The
resonance against the occipital walls of the head cavities when the
head tones are employed, at first causes a very marked irritation of
the nerves of the head and ear. But this disappears as soon as the
singer gets accustomed to it. The head tones can be used and directed
by the breath only with a clear head. The least depression such as
comes with headaches, megrim, or moodiness may have the worst effect,
or even make their use quite impossible. This feeling of oppression is
lost after regular, conscious practice, by which all unnecessary and
disturbing pressure is avoided. In singing very high head tones I have
a feeling as if they lay high above the head, as if I were setting
them off into the air. (See plate.)

Here, too, is the explanation of singing _in the neck_. The breath, in
all high tones which are much mixed with head tones or use them
entirely, passes very far back, directly from the throat into the
cavities of the head, and thereby, and through the oblique position of
the larynx, gives rise to the sensations just described. A singer who
inhales and exhales carefully, that is, with knowledge of the
physiological processes, will always have a certain feeling of
pleasure, an attenuation in the throat as if it were stretching itself
upward. The bulging out of veins in the n