Читать книгу Sanders' Union Fourth Reader - Charles W. Sanders - Страница 22

QUANTITY is two-fold;—consisting in FULLNESS or VOLUME of sound, as soft or loud; and in TIME, as slow or quick. The former has reference to STRESS; the latter, to MOVEMENT.

The degrees of variation in quantity are numerous, varying from a slight, soft whisper to a vehement shout. But for all practical purposes, they may be considered as three, the same as in pitch;—the soft, the middle, and the loud.

For exercise in quantity, let the pupil read any sentence, as,

"Beauty is a fading flower,"

first in a slight, soft tone, and then repeat it, gradually increasing in quantity to the full extent of the voice. Also, let him read it first very slowly, and then repeat it, gradually increasing the movement. In doing this, he should be careful not to vary the pitch.

In like manner, let him repeat any vowel sound, or all of them, and also inversely. Thus:

[Illustration]

[Transcriber's Note: The illustration is a row of the letter "O," increasing in size across the page, followed by a row of the letter "O" decreasing in size. The presumed intent is to convey loudness.]

REMARK.—Quantity is often mistaken for Pitch. But it should be borne in mind that quantity has reference to loudness or volume of sound, and pitch to the elevation or depression of a tone. The difference may be distinguished by the slight and heavy strokes on a bell;—both of which produce sounds alike in pitch; but they differ in quantity or loudness, in proportion as the strokes are light or heavy.