[Footnote: See exercises described in a later chapter.]

If the voice be perfectly free, it is then capable of expressing truly all
that the person thinks and feels. The first desirable end sought, then, is
freedom. What is freedom, and how secured? When all cavities of resonance
are accessible to the vibrating column of air the voice may be said to be
free. By cavities of resonance is meant the chest (trachea and bronchial
tubes), the larynx, pharynx, the mouth, and the nares anterior and
posterior, or head chambers of resonance. The free tone is modified
through all its varieties of expression by those subtle changes in form,
intensity, movement, inflection, and also direction, which are too fine
for the judgment to determine, or even observe successfully. These
varieties are made possible by the very organism of the voice, which is
vital, not mechanical, and are determined by the influences working from
the mind through the nerves which control this wonderful living
instrument. This is governed by the law of reflex action, by which
stimulation of any nerve center produces responsive action in other parts
of the body. The voice will obey the mind. Right objects of thought will
influence it much more perfectly and rapidly than the mere arbitrary
dictates of calculation.

Right psychology would be the only thing necessary to the thorough
cultivation of the voice if the conditions were so perfect that there were
no habits of stricture and our instrument were thus in perfect tune. And
in spite of the fact that it is not usually found in perfect tune, the
influence of practice under right mental conditions is the most potent and
indispensable part of voice culture. Let this fact not be lost sight of
while we are discussing those more technical methods of training which are
designed to tune and regulate our instrument.