ning, and contraction of the throat. When perfectly used, the
voice does not convey any such impression of throat stiffness.

_The Open Throat_

Just as with the forward tone, the meaning of the open throat is best
brought out by contrasting the impressions made on the hearer by a
perfect and a badly used voice. A badly produced tone seems to be
caught, or as Tosi expressed it, "choaked in the throat." The singer's
throat seems to be tightened and narrowed so that the sound has not
sufficient passageway to come out properly. On the other hand, the
perfectly used voice comes out freely, without interference or hindrance
at any point in the singer's throat. There seems to be plenty of room
for the tone to come forth; in other words, the singer's throat seems to
be open.

All these impressions are purely a matter of sympathetic sensations. In
listening to a faulty singer the hearer feels a sensation of tightness
and contraction of the throat. A well used voice awakens exactly the
opposite sensation, that of looseness and freedom of the throat.

Here again is seen the difference between correct and incorrect singing,
empirically considered. Judging from the impressions made by rightly and
wrongly used voices, any incorrect vocal action involves a condition of
tightness and contraction of the throat. Perfect singing gives the
impression that the throat is loose and supple, and free from all
unnecessary tension.

_The Support of the Tone_

Following the plan of contrasting correct and incorrect singing, the
meaning of this precept is readily found. The perfect voice is felt by
the hearer to be firmly and confidently held by the singer in a secure
grasp of the throat muscles. Such a voice awakens the sympathetic
sensations of perfectly balanced muscular effect, similar to the
muscular sensations of the hand and forearm when an object is firmly
grasped in the hand.

A badly used voice seems to be convulsively gripped in the singer's
throat. The tones seem to fall back into the throat for want of some
secure base on which to rest. This impression is conveyed by a peculiar
set of sympathetic sensations of highly unpleasant muscular tension far
back in the throat.

This precept, "Support the tone," points to the difference already noted
between the right and the wrong vocal action. Badly produced tones
indicate a state of excessive tension of the throat muscles. Correct
singing gives the impression that the throat muscle