ot an advocate of too fixed and rigid a
method. He, too, proceeds from tone to method, and he goes even
further for his tone than did the old Italian masters. For whereas
they began with the tone as it issued from the singer's lips, the
modern physiologist of voice-production begins with the singer's
mental audition--with the tone as the singer conceives it and to which
his vocal tract should automatically set or adjust itself even before
the breath of phonation leaves the lungs.

With the beginner, the attack should first be performed on the easy
singing notes of his voice; and although this book does not aim to be a
singing-method, but rather a physiological basis for one, it may be said
here that _a_, pronounced as in "_ah_" and preceded by _l_--that is to
say, _lae_--makes an admirable vowel-sound and syllable on which to begin
training the voice. The vowel-sound alone is too open. An absolutely
pure tone can be produced upon it, but it will lack color. It will be
a pure tone, but otherwise uninteresting. With the consonant added, it
obtains color and gains interest. Voice is indebted in an amazing degree
to the consonants. Sing the phrase "I love you," and put the emphasis
on "you," which, for practical purposes, is a pure vowel-sound. The
emotional vocal effect will not be nearly so great as when the emphasis
is put on "love" in which the vowel _o_ is colored by the consonant _l_.

This can be explained physiologically. All vowels primarily are made
in the larynx by the vocal cords. The _coup de glotte_ really is
the process of vowel-making without the aid of consonants. This process
of vowel-making is so smooth and open that a succession of legato
vowel-sounds can be produced with only one stroke of the glottis, the
vowel sounds flowing into each other, or each, seemingly, issuing from
the other. Consonants are formed within the upper cavity of resonance,
the mouth, some by the tongue alone, some by the combined action of
tongue and lips. Voice-color being largely determined by the
resonance-cavities, the articulation of consonants in the resonance-cavity
of the mouth covers the open process of vowel-formation and gives color
to the resultant word and tone. Thus, when "love" is sung, although _l_
is not a strong consonant but one of a small group called subvocals,
it is sufficient to cover and color the open _o_ production.

The easy singing range of each individual voice usually is about
identical with the pit