s, and for
those who have feeble musical endowments it does little; but of this
subject and concerted singing generally again.

CHAPTER VIII.

FURTHER CONSIDERATION OF BREATHING, LARYNGEAL ADJUSTMENT, ETC.

Experience proves that breathing, for the speaker and singer, is one
of those subjects that may be very inadequately comprehended by the
student, and, the author regrets to say, may be positively
misrepresented by teachers and writers.

Some--indeed, a great many--teachers direct their students to employ
"abdominal" or "diaphragmatic" breathing, others "clavicular"
respiration. A little consideration must convince those who have read
the chapters on breathing that such distinctions, in which one part of
an entire process is treated as if it were the whole, cannot be
justified. By "clavicular" breathing some mean upper chest breathing,
and others a form of respiration in which the shoulders (clavicles, or
key-bones) are raised with inspiration in an objectionable manner. The
latter is, of course, to be condemned; yet, very exceptionally, a
tenor of excellent training may feel that he can, under the
circumstances of the hour, reach a certain tone very high in his range
only by the utmost exertion. We all know how a singer's reputation may
be more or less ruined should he fail to reach such a high note--one,
indeed, by which he may, owing to the vitiated taste of the public,
have acquired a reputation beyond his artistic merits. Under these
circumstances such a singer might be justified in a momentary use of
every resource of what physiologists term _forced respiration_,
including clavicular breathing; but in general any raising of the
shoulders should be absolutely avoided.

When "clavicular" breathing is used in the sense of upper chest
breathing, it is correct as far as it goes, but the term is not a
happy one to employ in this sense, and it has led to error in theory
and practice.

In the same way, "diaphragmatic" breathing is perfectly correct, but
its exclusive use cannot be justified, for Nature teaches us
otherwise. It is true that the lower part of the chest, which always
should expand with the descent of the diaphragm, is wider than the
upper; it is true that by a very well-developed diaphragmatic
breathing a singer or speaker is fairly well provided with breath
power; but why teach this method exclusively, when thereby the
voice-user is being robbed of possibly from one quarter to one third
o