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extensible) is reached, the pillars of the fauces are lowered, in order to leave the way for the head tones to the head cavities entirely free. In doing this, the sides of the tongue are raised high. Every tongue should occupy only so much space as it can occupy without being a hindrance to the tone.
The bad, bad tongue! one is too thick, another too thin, a third too long, a fourth much too short.
Ladies and gentlemen, these are nothing but the excuses of the lazy!
[Illustration: Red lines denote that with the inspiration of breath: I, the diaphragm is sensibly stretched backward; II, enlarges the capacity of the chest by the drawing down of its floor; III, and so forms the supply chamber for the breath; IV, indicates the pressure of the breath against the chest tension muscles; V, the attack.]
SECTION XXIII
PREPARATION FOR SINGING
No one can sing properly without first preparing for it, mentally and physically, with all the organs concerned in the production of the voice.
We have in this to perform three functions, simultaneously:--
First, to draw breath quietly, not too deeply; to force the breath against the chest and hold it there firmly till the upward and outward streaming--that is, singing--begins. (See plate, The Path of the Breath.)
Second, to raise the soft palate at the same time toward the nose, so that the breath remains stationary until the singing begins.
Third, to jerk the tongue backward at the same time, its back being thus raised, and elastic, ready to meet all the wishes of the singer,--that is, the needs of the larynx. The larynx must not be pressed either too low or too high, but must work freely. The breath is enabled to stream forth from it like a column, whose form is moulded above the larynx by the base of the tongue.
When these three functions have been performed, all is ready. Now the pitch of the tone is to be considered, as the singing begins.
The consummatio