is evidenced specially in
the quality of the tones. Some form of throaty quality always mars the
voice when the throat is in a stiffened condition. In this regard the
voice refuses to fulfill the demands of the ear. Even though the singer
hears, and indeed feels, the effects of the muscular tension, and
strives to remedy the fault of production, the voice still refuses to
respond.

This incomplete command of the voice is frequently observed, even among
singers of very high standing. At first sight the condition here
described seems to disprove the statement that the voice normally obeys
the ear. But there is no real contradiction of the psychological law of
vocal command in the case of a stiff-throated singer. For one thing,
whatever degree of command the singer possesses is obtained in
accordance with the law of guidance by the ear. Moreover, the failure to
secure perfect response is due solely to the interference with the
normal workings of the voice, occasioned by the state of throat
stiffness. Far from this form of muscular contraction being a
contradiction of psychological principles, it will be found on
examination to be in perfect accord with well-established laws of
physiological psychology.

It is hardly to be supposed that the singer consciously and voluntarily
contracts the muscles of the entire vocal mechanism and so deliberately
brings about the stiffening of the throat. True, this can readily be
done. We can at will sing throaty and nasal tones. But this form of
voluntary throat tension is not, properly speaking, an incorrect vocal
action. So long as the vocal organs respond to the demands of the ear,
the vocal action is correct. Only when the voice refuses to obey can
the action be described as incorrect.

A satisfactory definition of the various modes of vocal action can now
be given. The correct vocal action is the natural operation of the vocal
organs; the voice normally obeys the commands of the ear. An incorrect
vocal action occurs when the throat is stiffened by the involuntary
contraction of the muscles of the vocal mechanism.

This definition of the vocal action does not solve the problem of
tone-production. It is still to be determined how the involuntary
contraction of the throat muscles is caused.

CHAPTER II

THE CAUSES OF THROAT STIFFNESS AND OF INCORRECT VOCAL ACTION

Involuntary contractions of the voluntary muscles can occur only as
reflex actions. If the muscles of the vo