Arthur D Hewlett, MA, BLitt, LRAM.

Introduction to the First Edition

Sinus Tone Production is basically an explanation of how the voice works. It describes what constitutes the vocal instrument and what is the proper function of the vocal cords. Tone actually originates in the sinuses, which are cavities in the bone structure of the skull, while the so-called vocal cords assist in directing the flow of breath. The realisation of these facts leads to a vocal technique founded on acoustic principles and sensitive control.

This extract from the prospectus of the Ernest George White Society sums up what this book is about. White published his revolutionary theory of the voice in 1909 and spent the rest of his life, until 1940, in teaching and writing to make it known. The Society was founded in 1944 to be a means of preserving the knowledge of his discoveries, to which he gave the title of Sinus Tone Production. There has been some difficulty in deciding how this modern treatment of the subject should be presented. It could not fairly be offered as a self-tutor, for the help of a teacher well versed in the practical application of the theory is almost indispensable. It should not, for the most part, be disputatious: in White's lifetime there was endless contention to no purpose and it is clear by now that the truth or error of these theories cannot be established by abstract argument. So the book sets out to record the accumulated experience of a generation, some of those who learnt from White himself and have since taught on the lines he indicated, carefully recording and evaluating the results. For them the basic correctness of the sinus tone theory is now beyond question, though there are still details awaiting a fully satisfactory explanation.

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