No man made instrument can ever match the exquisite beauty of tone and cadence of the natural, unspoilt or cultured human voice.

Now many ailments can be cured, alleviated, and what is of greater moment, prevented by voice culture, which, of necessity, involves full, rhythmic breathing; the very basis of good sound production. The use we put that sound to depends again upon the training in the correct use of the tongue and lips, and English people generally are woefully lazy in this particular respect, speak­ing through their teeth and mumbling their words.

H. G. Wells once said that "words are powerful things"; but how very much more effective is the spoken word when uttered by a free use of tongue and lips by a voice that is vibrant in its quality, rich in expression, makings one fully conscious of the presence of a strong, magnetic personality, however soft or gentle is the enun­ciation of the words. There is indeed great POWER in words, not only in the actual words themselves but in how they are ex­pressed. They can also be "tyrannous" vide Stuart Chase's unique book, "THE TYRANNY OF WORDS."

However, the acquirement of a good, resonant voice is not an easy matter. There are many hindrances and difficulties to be overcome, the removal of which constitutes a considerable part of the whole educative process in voice production. These manifest themselves in enervation and contraction of the vocal apparatus, with obstructive phlegm as a result of a catarrhal condition of the vocal chords in the larynx. In perhaps most cases it is a hidden catarrh of which most people are unaware. The result of singing exercises must serve to cleanse the affected, irritated mucuous membranes, as well as to regenerate and strengthen them, so that they can be made immune to any infection.

There are so many people, who suffer from catarrh, varying from acute catarrh of the throat to very distressing chronic bronch­ial catarrh. Constant associated symptoms are colds and suscept­ibility to atmospheric conditions. Such catarrh does not remain localised. It extends to the throat and nose. Below the larynx, catarrh of the respiratory passages or bronchioles or lung apices prepares the way for worse complaints. Bear also in mind the harm done to the voice by smoker's catarrh.

This catarrh cannot be separated from the condition of the voice, i.e., voice culture must include its removal and cure, or conversely the therapeutic treatment must include the culture of the voice.

Many sufferers from catarrh are most dissatisfied that the nature of their trouble is not recognised. For example, a patient was operated on for a polypus on the right vocal chord; the bene­ficial effect of the operation, however, was not lasting in that later another similar one was indicated. However, the patient refused this to be performed, and rightly so, for a chronic catarrh had brought about the trouble in the vocal chords (weakness, fatigue, cramp, severe hoarseness). Voice culture dealt with the root of the trouble, so that the second operation became superfluous, and the patient has remained free from throat and voice trouble for very many years, whilst formerly he used his voice only with great difficulty.

In point of fact treatment by voice culture was not dreamt of, but its training was undertaken because of its aesthetic value.

Whoever had been ordered to take care of the voice by RESTING it, scarcely had the courage to trust a school which insisted upon the cultivation of the voice. It must be pointed out, however, that a curative result can not be brought about merely by singing of folk and classical songs or by participating in singing in a choir in spite of the fact that the organs of voice will thuswise be used. But it must not be overlooked that the voice will be used with all the inherent, acquired mistakes and deficiencies. To over­come these is truly a matter of voice production under expert guidance.

Voice inefficiency evidences itself externally by a long narrow neck with FLABBY musculature and FLAT chest. Another sign of a wrongly produced voice is the mouth being awry when speaking or singing.

The conventional suppression of habitually "clearing the throat" can only further conditions for catarrh. It should be in­dulged in whenever possible without, of course, causing offence to anyone.

In catarrhal subjects the chest tone, i.e., of deep, manly pitch proves loosening and healing, whilst the falsetto voice furthers the elasticity of the vocal chords, because of its high vibratory char­acter.

One might mention in passing that in the culture of the voice age does not count. With the development of the voice the morale of the individual is raised. The exercises result in enhancing courage and energy where these are found wanting. The pupil gains quite a new attitude towards life. He has it in his own hands to foster this new state of mind by home practice.

Conscientious practice improves one's ability in sports of all kinds. While gymnastics and physical exercises usually train principally the extremities without appreciably altering the wrong use of the self, bad posture or flat chest not being thereby correct­ed, voice culture excludes all unnecessary and upsetting move­ments, so that an optimal effortless posture results of itself, as it were, and an enlarged "sports heart" need not be feared.

In Nature Cure, voice culture supplements or amplifies the treatment by light, air, water, heat, massage, dietetics, etc.

For the treatment of bronchial asthma breathing exercises have been known long ago. The asthmatic suffers periodically from difficulty in breathing because of a bronchial cramp, which hinders the expiration so that on inspiration a lifting up of the chest and shoulders takes place with the result that, in time, the chest and shoulders become "fixed." Medical science has produc­ed a whole host of "remedies" against attacks of asthma, not only in the form of medicaments but also in technical respect, e.g., pneumatic chambers with varying degrees of air pressures. What the artificial difference in pressure tries to attain can be more effectively, simply and naturally achieved by the sufferer himself by voice culture.

It would appear that the fact is overlooked that the voice and speech of the asthmatic are very weak, and that being so one is unable to hit upon what ought to be the obvious idea that a streng­thening of the larynx by work upon the voice would bring with it an improvement in respiration. The sounds produced extend their vibrations into the bronchial tubes and help in freeing their contraction. An asthmatic after some weeks' practice in voice production can effortlessly fill a large hall with his newly developed voice.

On the way to achieving this something important has taken place, viz., the secretion that previously could not be dislodged, is now loose, resulting in a great relief of the patient's condition. The one-time disturbed mucous membrane can now recover its normal function. The asthmatic learns to meet an attack when­ever such is threatened and to hinder its development by exercising his voice.

Those asthmatics who have undergone training in voice pro­duction have reported a feeling of freedom, easier breathing, devoid of a feeling of anxiety and that the voice culture treatment was better than any medicine, raising the spirits to a joyful degree for the work of improving the vocal capacity exercised a strong in­fluence in the way of inner release, which plays a role that is not to be underestimated, especially when psychological or neurotic conditions are present. Naturally for the achievement of the desired result there must be a readiness to persevere over a period of time. In those cases where the will to become well is lacking, and this cannot help but apply more to persons who have suffered from asthma for a long time, the prognosis is not so hopeful; but even here they must be persuaded to take up the exercises. Similar good results are achieved in the treatment of emphy­sema. This lung distension can occur as an occupational disease, especially in glass-blowers and in players of wind instruments. The elastic tissue of the lungs becomes overstretched. But if voice culture is undertaken early, and the earlier the better, then the conditions can either be avoided or improved.

In passing it might be mentioned that the slowest breathing animals live the longest and are the least subject to infection. Nowadays it is not the practice to rest the lungs in tuberculosis as formerly, since Dr. August Bier indicated that rest in TB is likely to do more harm than good; but great care must be exercised. Sufferers from lung TB should not do breathing exercises on their own. They must submit to careful instruction in voice produc­tion by a qualified teacher, who must be made aware of the pupil's complaint, so that he can proceed with due caution,

Dr. Siegfried and Dr. Wohlfarth, lung specialists, have blazed a new trail by employing exercises for the voice in TB cases and have reported results of their cases at the Convention in Bad Kis-singen, 1931.

After 10 years experience in two Institutions with men and women. Dr. Wohlfarth reported very convincingly upon the fav­ourable effect of voice exercises on the breathing and circulation. When one succeeds in improving the voice and breathing and lung activity in general, then one is on the way to effect a cure.

As stated in my article on Respiratory Therapy, the circula­tion is dependent upon the manner of breathing. Voice exercises aid the flow and the distribution of the blood in the body, as well as the speedy elimination of carbon dioxide. Respiratory move­ments work on the circulation as a subsidiary pump, and thus, to some extent, lighten the burden of the heart. For example it can be observed that after singing practice the pulse rate of 88 before is reduced to 72, or, in other words, an obvious arhythmical pulse before the exercise beats regularly after.

In singing practice a pressure is exerted on the blood vessels of the head, and the sinuses are subjected to an increased air pres­sure, so that there is, besides an influencing of catarrhal conditions in the nose, ear and sinuses, a possibility of an improvement in the vision in short-sighted persons suffering from arterio-sclerotic changes in the eyes. This may sound incredulous, but it is known that even breathing exercises alone, without singing, have effected considerable improvement in the acuity of vision, and singing les­sons have had the same, if not better, results.

We further observe an effect on the glands. The sweat glands arc stimulated and people who never sweated could be bathed in perspiration on exercising the voice. In goitre a reduction of the thyroid gland can take place due to the improved respiration affecting the gland mechanically and relieving mental disturbances There is also the possibility, in certain cases of advanced age, to achieve a more youthful voice. There is also the beneficial effect constitutionally.

In conjunction with the improvement of the bodily posture, fatigue symptoms disappear in a striking fashion due to the in­vigorating and refreshing effect of singing.

Not less impressive is the general change for the better; patients become more active, more communicative in an interesting way and complaints about their sufferings get less and less.

The psychological effect of singing must not be lost sight of either, as our mood at any given time shows itself so clearly in our voice reaction.

One patient, who always spoke in a loud, agitated voice, found an inner peace and increased concentrative powers through voice training. He was warned by his doctor some years ago that unless he acquired the habit of slow, deliberate yet easy speech with clear enunciation of each word, paying especial attention to the pro­nunciation of the final consonants of each syllable and word he would never lose his extreme nervousness and recover his health, which was seriously impaired at the time. He carried out his doctor's instructions. He underwent training at the competent hands of a professor of elocution, with the result that all his unrest, anxieties and inferiority feeling, together with his nervy, inarticu­late, quick speech disappeared. His health was fully regained and his intellectual capacities were vastly improved which were also evidenced in his clarity of thought and reasoning powers.

Now I shall end this article on a personal note.

I became especially interested in the speaking voice when I, as a young man, was in Germany to acquire a knowledge of the language of that country, a language that is so involved and yet so thought-provoking.

Now, instead of taking lessons from a teacher of languages, who would have spoken German in his ordinary every day manner, I sought the services of a professor of elocution, who trained Ger­mans in voice production particularly for the legitimate stage, which instruction embraced high-German (Hochdeutsch), correct pronunciation, enunciation, articulation, modulation and delivery, as well as breath control, of course. Thus I was able to acquire almost a perfect accent (which was also helped by my Welsh origin), and also an excellent command of the spoken word.

On my return to England a few years later, I received tuition in elocution from a London specialist as I had, and still have, a great love of the "speech beautiful." This specialist in the art of elocution was a great Shakespearean. He was a dwarf of a man, stunted in growth with a terrible spinal deformity due to a severe accident in early childhood; he was ugly in appearance but WHEN THAT MAN SPOKE he appeared to be indeed transfigured. His voice was deep, clear as a bell and having a rich resonance, with perfect modulation and delivery consistent with the dignity of the subject he happened to be dealing with at the time. Here truly was a magnetic voice of the very first order. No wonder Martin Harvey, who was once his adjudicator at the Haymarket Theatre, and who had the most disconcerting habit of sitting with his back to the stage, so I was told, was compelled to turn around towards the stage and exclaim, "What a voice; what a performance!" It was Macbeth.

There are different ideas on the methods of voice production, but perhaps the most revolutionary is the one described in Ernest G. White's book "SINUS TONE PRODUCTION." The author, if I recollect aright, maintains that the vocal chords do not pro­duce the sound as is universally accepted to be the case, but that the chords are there for the purpose of controlling the breath, whilst the actual tone is produced in the sinuses of the cranium. The author puts forward very convincing arguments for his con­tention, and his book is well worth reading, and so is his "SCIENCE AND SINGING."

It is a thousand pities that this grand, dignified English langu­age of ours should be so maltreated in every-day speech not only grammatically but vocally. Just observe some of the interviews on TV and on the sound radio. How one can suffer from dis­cordant voices, inarticulate speech and bad grammar! And then we get plays the actors and actresses of which have mastered the art of good articulation, and it does not matter whether it be in dialect or in standard or Queen's English. But why confine this to the stage? Let us cultivate the beauty of speech and use it in our daily lives, and not be scared of consulting a dictionary over and over again in order to gain a command of words, and above all their intrinsic meaning. We should all be the richer in every way from such a study, and LISTENING then would become a real pleasure.

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