the "uvula" hanging
down in the centre. It acts like a curtain. If we lower it, it hangs
upon the back of the tongue, shutting off the mouth from the throat,
thereby compelling the tone to pass through the nostrils, and thus
giving it a nasal quality. This nasal quality increases the more the
passages through which the tone has to travel are impeded; but the first
and indispensable condition for its existence is the lowering of the
soft palate. Raise this, and you may completely shut the nostrils and
yet produce a pure vocal tone. The reason is that, with the soft palate
_up_, the nose is shut off from the throat, thereby compelling the tone
to pass through the mouth.

But more, the soft palate is never still for a moment while we are
singing or speaking, as it assumes a different degree of tension for
every vowel and also for every pitch of the voice. We see, therefore,
that this curtain has great influence upon the management of the voice,
and we should do all we can to get it under our control. In order to
accomplish this, arrange a mirror so that you get the light reflected
upon the back of your throat without bending the head, stretching the
neck, or otherwise assuming an awkward position. I recommend reflected
instead of direct light, because with the latter it is almost impossible
to get a perfect sight of the soft palate without making any
contortions, and these, however slight, are fatal to success. The
management of the light will, no doubt, offer a little difficulty to
those not practised in these matters, but once made it is easily
rearranged, and the gain is great.

The mirror mentioned above is to throw the light into your mouth; you
will require another one in which to see the image. Now try the
following: Open your mouth and breath through the nostrils; the soft
palate will immediately drop upon the tongue. Sing while it is in this
position, and you will produce nasal tone. Now breathe through the
mouth, and the soft palate will rise. Raise it higher still, by
attempting to yawn, till the uvula almost disappears. Sing again with
the soft palate in this position, and if nothing else interferes you
will produce pure vocal tone. If you sing up and down the scale you will
perceive that the soft palate to some extent rises and falls with the
pitch of your tones. You will also notice that the tension of it
increases as you approach the the limit of one register, and that it
diminishes as soon as you change