_to my pupils_ style in singing by w.e. haslam new york: g. schirmer 1911 copyright, 1911 by g. schirmer 22670 prefatory note "of making many books there is no end." surely, the weary observation of the sage must have an especial application to the literature of song. one could not number the books--anatomical, physiological, philosophical--on the voice. a spacious library could easily be furnished with "methods" of singing. works treating of the laws governing the effective interpretation of instrumental music exist. some of them, by acknowledged and competent authorities, have thrown valuable light on a most important element of musical art. had i not believed that a similar need existed in connection with singing, this addition to vocal literature would not have been written. in a succeeding volume on "lyric declamation: recitative, song and ballad singing," will be discussed the practical application of these basic principles of style to the vocal music of the german, french, italian and other national schools. w.e. haslam. 2, rue maleville, parc monceau, paris, july, 1911. introduction in listening to a patti, a kubelik, a paderewski, the reflective hearer is struck by the absolute sureness with which such artists arouse certain sensations in their auditors. moreover, subsequent hearings will reveal the fact that this sensation is aroused always in the same place, and in the same manner. the beauty of the voice may be temporarily affected in the case of a singer, or an instrument of less æsthetic tone-quality be used by the instrumentalist, but the result is always the same. what is the reason of this? why do great artists always make the same effect and produce the same impression on their public? why, for instance, did the late mme. tietjens, when singing the following passage in handel's _messiah_, always begin with very little voice of a dulled quality, and gradually brighten its character as well as augment its volume until she reached the high _g_-[sharp] which is the culmination, not only of the musical phrase, but also of the tremendous announcement to which it is allied? [music: for now is christ risen, for now is christ risen.] this last tone was delivered with the full force and brilliance of her magnificent voice, and was prolonged until the thrill produced in the listener became almost painful in its intensity. again i ask, why did this world-famous singer perform this passage _always_ in the same way? unreflecting people may reply vaguely that it was because the artist "sang with expression." but what constitutes "expression" in singing? no great artist--no matter what the vehicle or medium through which his art finds manifestation--does anything at random. "the wind bloweth where it listeth" only in appearance; in reality, it is governed by immutable law. similarly, the outward form of an art is only apparently dictated by caprice and freedom from rule. the effective presentation of every art is based on well-defined and accepted principles. and it is with the earnest desire to throw light on this most important phase of vocal art, that i present the principles of "style in singing." contents page prefatory note v introduction vii chapter i: elements of vocal training 1 emission of voice 2 chapter ii: the value of technique 7 chapter iii: analysis of style 12 colour 14 accent 21 intensity 27 phrasing 32 portamento 37 variations of tempo 41 chapter iv: tradition 44 pointage 61 chapter v: répertoire 91 chapter vi: conclusion 98 style in singing chapter i elements of vocal training if the practical education of the singer be analyzed, it will be found to comprise four fundamental elements: (1) pose: or emission of voice; (2) technique: or the discipline of the voice considered as a musical instrument; (3) style: or the application of the laws of artistic taste to the interpretation of vocal music; (4) répertoire: or the choice, in the literature of vocal music, of works most suited to the voice, temperament and individuality of the particular singer. i have classed these four elements in their relative order. they are, however, of equal importance. until the pose and technique of a voice are satisfactory, attempts to acquire style are premature. on the other hand, without style, a well-placed voice and an adequate amount of technique are incomplete; and until the singer's education has been rounded off with a répertoire adapted to his individual capabilities, he is of little practical use for professional purposes. * * * * * emission of voice great natural gifts of temperament and originality may, and sometimes do, mask defects of emission, particularly in the case of artists following the operatic career. but the artistic life and success of such a singer is short. violated nature rebels, and avenges herself for all infractions of law. a voice that is badly produced or emitted speedily becomes worn, and is easily fatigued. by an additional exertion of physical force, the singer usually attempts to conceal its loss of sonority and carrying-power. the consequences are disastrous for the entire instrument. the medium--to which is assigned the greater portion of every singer's work--becomes "breathy" and hollow, the lower tones guttural, the higher tones shrill, and the voice, throughout its entire compass, harsh and unmanageable. in view of its supreme importance, it is scarcely necessary to dwell upon the self-evident fact that this foundation--emission, or placing of the voice--should be well laid under the guidance of a skilled and experienced singing-teacher. nothing but disappointment can ensue if a task of such consequence be confided, as is too frequently the case, to one of the numerous charlatans who, as oscar commettant said, "_are not able to achieve possibilities, so they promise miracles_." the proper classification, and subsequent placing, of a voice require the greatest tact and discernment. true, there are voices so well-defined in character as to occasion no possible error in their proper classification at the beginning of their studies. but this is not the case with a number of others, particularly those known as voices of _mezzo-carattere_ (_demi-caractère_). it requires a physician of great skill and experience to diagnose an obscure malady; but when once a correct diagnosis is made, many doctors of less eminence might successfully treat the malady, seeing that the recognized pharmacopoeia contains no secret remedies. let the student of singing beware of the numerous impostors who claim to have a "method," a sort of bed of procrustes, which the victim, whether long or short, is made to fit. a "method" must be adapted to the subject, not the subject made to fit the method. the object of all teaching is the same, viz., to impart knowledge; but the means of arriving at that end are multiple, and the manner of communicating instruction is very often personal. to imagine that the same mode of procedure, or "method," is applicable to all voices, is as unreasonable as to expect that the same medicament will apply to all maladies. in imparting a correct emission of voice, science has not infrequently to efface the results of a previous defective use, inherent or acquired, of the vocal organ. hence, although the object to be attained is in every case the same, the _modus operandi_ will vary infinitely. nor should these most important branches of classification and production be entrusted--as is often the case--to assistants, usually accompanists, lacking the necessary training for a work requiring great experience and ripe judgment. to a competent assistant may very properly be confided the preparation of technique, as applied to a mechanical instrument: all violins, for instance, are practically the same. but voices differ as do faces. the present mania for dragging voices up, and out of their legitimate _tessitura_, has become a very grave evil, the consequences of which, in many instances, have been most disastrous. tolerable baritones have been transformed into very mediocre tenors, capable mezzo-soprani into very indifferent dramatic soprani, and so on. that this process may have answered in a few isolated cases, where the vocal organs were of such exceptional strength and resistance as to bear the strain, is by no means a guarantee that the same results may be obtained in every instance, and with less favoured subjects. the average compass in male voices is about two octaves minus one or two tones. i mean, of course, tones that are really available when the singer is on the stage and accompanied by an orchestra. now, a baritone who strives to transform his voice into a tenor, simply loses the two lowest tones of his compass, possibly of good quality and resonance, and gains a minor or major third above the high g (sol) of a very poor, strained character. the compass of the voice remains exactly the same. he has merely exchanged several excellent tones below for some very poor ones above. i repeat, one who aspires to be a lyric artist requires the best possible teacher to guide his first steps; he may consult an inferior or incompetent professor, when so firmly established in the right path that he cannot possibly be led astray. it is a common belief that singing-teachers of reputation do not care to occupy themselves with voice-production, or are unable to teach it. this is a serious error. a competent professor of singing is as capable of imparting the principles of this most important branch, as of directing the more æsthetic studies of style and répertoire. all the really great and illustrious singing-masters of the past preferred to "form" the voices of their pupils. to continue and finish a predecessor's work, or to erect a handsome and solid structure on defective foundations, is always a difficult task; sometimes an impossible one. then, as regards the pupil, particularly one studying with a view to a professional career, a defective preparatory training may eventually mean serious material loss. the money and time spent on his vocal education is, in his case, an investment, not an outlay; the investment will be a poor one, should it be necessary later to devote further time and expend more money to correct natural defects that ought to have been corrected at the beginning of his studies, or to eradicate faults acquired during their progress. furthermore, the purpose of some part of a singer's preliminary education is to strengthen and fit the voice for the exacting demands of a professional career. as the training of an athlete--rower, runner, boxer, wrestler--not only perfects his technical skill, but also, by a process of gradual development, enables him to endure the exceptional strain he will eventually have to bear in a contest, so some of a singer's early studies prepare his voice for the tax to which hereafter it will be subjected. if those studies have been insufficient, or ill-directed, failure awaits the débutant when he presents himself before the public in a spacious theatre or concert-hall and strives, ineffectually, to dominate the powerful sonorities of the large orchestras which are a necessity for modern scores. a sound and judiciously graduated preparatory training, in fact, is essential if the singer would avoid disappointment or a fiasco. the vocal education of many students, however, is nowadays hurried through with a haste that is equalled only by the celerity with which such aspirants for lyric honours return to obscurity. chapter ii the value of technique briefly defined, the singer's technique may be said to consist principally of the ability to govern the voice in its three phases of pitch, colour, and intensity. that is, he must be able to sing every note throughout the compass of the voice (pitch) in different qualities or timbres (colour), and with various degrees of power (intensity). and although the modern schools of composition for the voice do not encourage the display of florid execution, a singer would be ill-advised indeed to neglect this factor, on the plea that it has no longer any practical application. no greater error is conceivable. should an instrumental virtuoso fail to acquire mastery of transcendental difficulties, his performance of any piece would not be perfect: the greater includes the less. a singer would be very short-sighted who did not adopt an analogous line of reasoning. without an appreciable amount of _agilità_, the performance of modern music is laboured and heavy; that of the classics, impossible. in fact, virtuosity, if properly understood, is as indispensable to-day as ever it was. as much vocal virtuosity is required to interpret successfully the music of falstaff, in verdi's opera, as is necessary for _maometto secondo_ or _semiramide_ by rossini. it is simply another form of virtuosity; that is all. the lyric grace or dramatic intensity of many pages of wagner's music-dramas can be fully revealed only through a voice that has been rendered supple by training, and responsive to the slightest suggestion of an artistic temperament. in short, virtuosity may have changed in form, but it is still one of the cornerstones of the singer's art. an executive artist will spare no pains to acquire perfect technical skill; for the _métier_, or mechanical elements of any art, can be acquired, spontaneous though the results may sometimes appear. its primary use is, and should be, to serve as a medium of interpretation. true, virtuosity is frequently a vehicle for personal display, as, notably, in the operas of cimarosa, bellini, donizetti, and the earlier works of rossini and verdi. at its worst, however, it is a practical demonstration of the fact that the executant, vocal or instrumental, has completely mastered the mechanical elements of his profession; that, to use the _argot_ of the studios, "_il connaît son métier_" (he knows his trade). imperfect technique, indeed, is to be deprecated, if merely for the reason that it may debar a singer from interpreting accurately the composer's ideas. how seldom, if ever, even in the best lyric theatres, is the following passage heard as the composer himself indicated: [music: "plus blanche" les huguenots: act i meyerbeer plus pure, plus pure qu'un jour de printemps] or the concluding phrase of "celeste aida" (in _aida_, act i), as verdi wrote it and wished it to be sung: [music: un trono vicino al sol, un trono vicino al sol.] at present the majority of operatic tenors, to whom are assigned the strong tenor (_fort ténor_) rôles, can sing the higher tones of their compass only in _forte_, and with full voice. thus an additional and very charming effect is lost to them. yet adolphe nourrit, who created the rôle of raoûl in _les huguenots_, sang, it is said, the phrase as written. the late italo campanini, sims reeves, and the famous spanish tenor gayarré, were all able to sing the [music] _mezza voce_, by a skilled use of the covered tones. i do not ignore the fact that cases occur where artists, owing to some physiological peculiarity or personal idiosyncrasy, are unable to overcome certain special difficulties; where, indeed, the effort would produce but meagre results. but such instances are the exception, not the rule. the lyric artist who is gifted merely with a beautiful voice, over which he has acquired but imperfect control, is at the mercy of every slight indisposition that may temporarily affect the quality and sonority of his instrument. but he who is a "singer" in the real and artistic sense of the word, he who has acquired skill in the use of the voice, is armed at all points against such accidents. by his art, by clever devices of varied tone-colour and degrees of intensity, he can so screen the momentary loss of brilliance, etc., as to conceal that fact from his auditors, who imagine him to be in the possession of his normal physical powers. the technical or mechanical part of any art can be taught and learned, as i have said. it is only a case of well-guided effort. patience and unceasing perseverance will in this, as in all other matters, achieve the desired result. nature gives only the ability and aptitude to acquire; it is persistent study which enables their possessor to arrive at perfection. serious and lasting results are obtained only by constant practice. it is a curious fact that many people more than usually gifted arrive only at mediocrity. certain things, such as the trill or scales, come naturally easy to them. this being the case, they neglect to perfect their _agilità_, which remains defective. others, although but moderately endowed, have arrived at eminence by sheer persistence and rightly directed study. it is simply a musical version of the hare and the tortoise. * * * * * but we must make a great distinction between the preliminary exercises which put the singer in full possession of the purely mechanical branch of his art (technique), and the æsthetic studies in taste and the research for what dramatic authors call "the science of effect," or style. the former must be thoroughly accomplished, otherwise the latter cannot be undertaken satisfactorily. a good and reliable technique is undoubtedly of primary necessity. but it is by no means all. one may have a voice which is well-posed and of good resonance, and also have sufficient flexibility to perform neatly all the rapid passages with which the pages of the classic composers abound. but this is not singing; nor is the possessor of these an artist. he has simply the necessary and preliminary knowledge which should enable him to become one, by further study of the æsthetic side of the art of singing. he has, as it were, collected the materials necessary for the erection of a splendid edifice, and has now to learn the effective means of combining them. so, when the voice is "formed," a frank and easy emission obtained, a sufficiency of technique acquired, the next step in the singer's education is the practical study of the problem of style. chapter iii analysis of style what is style? in reality the question is two-fold. one may have style; and one may have _a_ style. the former is general; the latter individual. the former can be taught and learned, for it is based on certain well-defined rules; the latter is personal--in other words, is not universally applicable. not infrequently it is a particular application of those rules which gives the impress of originality. but correct taste must first be formed by the study of the noblest creations in the particular art that claims attention. in singing, as in the sister arts, the laws which govern style must be apprehended and understood before individuality can be given full scope. otherwise, what to the executant would appear as original might, to correct taste and judgment, appear ridiculous and extravagant. a genius is sometimes eccentric, but eccentricity is not genius. vocal students should hear as many good singers as possible, but actually imitate none. a skilled teacher will always discern and strive to develop the personality of the pupil, will be on the alert to discover latent features of originality and character. he will respect and encourage individuality, rather than insist upon the servile imitation of some model--even though that model be himself. as the distinguished artist victor maurel has justly observed: "of all the bad forms of teaching singing, that by imitation is the worst" (_un problème d'art_). in singing, as in painting, a copy has never the value of the original. moreover, slavish imitation in any art has a deleterious influence. but to respect irreproachable examples and fitly observe sound rules, whose very survival often justifies their existence and testifies to their value, is always of benefit to the artist. to imitate is to renounce one's individual expression of an ideal and present that of another. but to observe established and accepted laws, laws founded on truth and consecrated by time, is not to imitate, when those laws are applied in an original and individual manner that is in harmony with the personality of the interpreter. "_l'art est un coin de nature vu à travers un tempérament._" in literature, each writer has his own special style which may easily be recognized; but all follow the same grammatical rules. a correct style in singing consists in the careful observance of the principles of technique; a perfect diction; the appropriate colouring of each sentiment expressed; attention to the musical and poetic accents; judicious and effective phrasing (whether musical or verbal), so that the meaning of both composer and poet may be placed in the clearest light. * * * * * let us analyze style in its three principal aspects: colour, accent, and phrasing. colour of all the elements of style in singing, the most potent and effective--the one, indeed, that is essential for the success of the lyric artist--is the ability to vary the vocal timbre; that is, to sing with colour. this desideratum of varied tone-colour is sought even by instrumentalists. nay, the instrument itself is sometimes constructed with this object in view. witness the invention of the "soft" pedal, which is intended not solely to reduce the intensity of tone in the pianoforte--that may be accomplished by a modification of force in striking the note--but to give the tones a darker, more sombre quality, or colour. to vary the tone-colour, a violinist or 'cellist draws the bow across the strings close to, or distant from, the bridge, in accordance with his desire for a reed-like or flute-like quality of tone. anyone who has listened to the performance of the slow movement in paganini's concerto in _d_, by an ysaye or a mischa elman, will have remarked how the skilful use of varied tone colour and other devices imparts a wonderful charm to music intrinsically of but mediocre value. a singer may have a good quality of voice; but that is normal. if he can vary it only in degrees of loudness (intensity) and not in differences of timbre (colour) he cannot be ranked as an artist. no matter how great the natural beauty and sonority of his voice, his performance will always be monotonous, if he has only one tint on his vocal palette. in speech--from which the effect is borrowed--utterances of grave and serious meaning, and those of gayer import, are not made with the same colour of voice. a brighter quality (_voix claire_) is used instinctively for an ejaculation uttered by one to whom pleasant or joyful news has been communicated. on the contrary, should it be the cause of sorrow or grief for the listener, he will use--should he have occasion to reply--a darker quality of voice (_voix sombre_). such phenomena are physiological. the vocal organs are the most sensitive of any in the human economy: they betray at once the mental condition of the individual. joy is a great tonic, and acts on the vocal cords and mucous membrane as does an astringent; a brilliant and clear quality of voice is the result. grief or fear, on the other hand, being depressing emotions, lower the vitality, and the debilitating influence communicates to the voice a dull and sombre character. on this question of colour in the voice, the masterly writer and critic legouvé says: "certain particular gifts are necessary if the speech is to possess colour. the first of these is metal in the voice. he who has it not will never shine as a colourist. the metal may be gold, silver or brass; each has its individual characteristic. a golden voice is the most brilliant; a silvery voice has the most charm; a brassy voice the most power. but one of the three characteristics is essential. a voice without metallic ring is like teeth without enamel; they may be sound and healthy, but they are not brilliant.... in speech there are several colours--a bright, ringing quality; one soft and veiled. the bright, strident hues of purple and gold in a picture may produce a masterpiece of gorgeous colouring; so, in a different manner, may the harmonious juxtaposition of greys, lilacs and browns on a canvas by veronese, rubens, or delacroix. "last of all is the velvety voice. this is worthless if not allied with one of the three others. in order that a velvety voice may possess value it must be reinforced (_doublée_) with 'metal.' a velvety voice is merely one of cotton."[1] [footnote 1: these admirably expressed views illustrate and exemplify the principles i laid down in a _conférence_ (paris, 1902) on voice-production (_pose de la voix_), wherein i demonstrated the possibility of acquiring, by the aid of the resonating cavities, a greater sonority, more in conformity with the demands and necessities of present-day music.] it may be of interest to notice that the quality which in france is designated "timbre," is called by the italians "_metallo di voce_," or, "metal of the voice." those who heard madame sarah bernhardt fifteen or twenty years ago will readily understand why her countless friends and admirers always spoke of her matchless organ as "_la voix d'or_." the late sims reeves, the famous tenor, was a perfect master of all varieties and shades of vocal colour, and displayed his mastery with certainty and unfailing effect in the different fields of oratorio and opera. in the recitative "deeper and deeper still," with its subsequent aria "waft her, angels, through the skies" [handel], he ranged through the entire gamut of tone-colour. as edgardo in donizetti's _lucia di lammermoor_, he launched the "maladetta" phrase of the curse with a voice that was almost "white" with frenzied rage; while the pathetic sombre quality he employed in the "_fra poco a me ricovero_" fitly accorded with the despairing mood and gloomy surroundings of the hapless edgardo. some singers control but two colours or timbres--the very clear (open) and the very sombre (closed), which they exaggerate. in reality, however, the gradations between them can be made infinite by the artist who is in possession of the secret--especially if he has the ability to combine colour with intensity. an illustration of this is found in the example cited in the opening paragraph of the present work:--"for now is christ risen." not only did mme. tietjens make a gradual _crescendo_ from the first note to the climax, but the tonal colours were also subtly graduated from a comparatively sombre quality to one of the utmost clearness and brilliance. [music: as sung by mme. tietjens for now is christ risen, for now is christ risen from the dead.] as contrasting examples in which the two principal colours may be employed effectively, i may cite the bacchic air, "_ô vin, dissipe la tristesse_," and the pensive monologue, "_être, ou ne pas être_," both from the opera _hamlet_, by ambroise thomas. the forced, unnatural quality of the first calls for the use of a clear, open, brilliant timbre. [music: ô vin, dissipe la tristesse qui pèse sur mon coeur! a moi les rêves de l'ivresse, et le rire moqueur!] but for the second, "to be, or not to be": [music: être, ou ne pas être! ô mystère! mourir! dormir, dormir!] a sombre, closed timbre is necessary. the opening recitative of vanderdecken in _der fliegende holländer_ by wagner would be absurd, and utterly out of harmony with the character and his surroundings, if sung in the open timbre. perhaps i ought to explain that "open" (_voix claire_, fr.), and "closed" (_voix sombre_, fr.), are technical terms, of which the equivalents are accepted in all countries where the art of singing is cultivated; terms that apply to _quality_ of tone, not to the _physical_ process by which these effects are produced. such a mistake is not infrequently made by vocal physiologists who are not practical musicians or singing-teachers. nor must the term "clear timbre" be understood to mean the "white voice" ("_voix blanche_," or "_voce bianca_"); this, like the guttural timbre, being only occasionally employed for the expression of some violent passion, such as hate. like the admirable paintings of eugène carrière, for instance his masterly portrait of paul verlaine, a song, sometimes an entire rôle, may be worked out in monochrome; though the gradations of tint are numerous, they are consistently kept within their preconceived colour-scheme. some few exceptional singers, like jean-baptiste faure or maurice renaud, have this gift of many shades of the one colour in their singing of certain rôles. the colour is determined by the psychological character of the personage portrayed; a gay, reckless don giovanni calls for a brighter colouring throughout than that necessitated by the music allotted to a gloomy vanderdecken or an embittered and vengeful rigoletto. one may, therefore, formulate the following rule: the general character of the composition will decide the tonal colour appropriate for its general interpretation; the colouring necessary for its component phrases will be determined by the particular sentiment embodied in them. emotions like sorrow, fear, despair, will find fitting expression in the sombre quality of voice, graduated in accordance with the intensity of the emotion. the opposite sentiments of joy, love, courage, hope, are fittingly interpreted by gradations of the clear and brilliant timbre. the dark or sombre voice will be used in varying shades for the recitative from _samson_ (handel), "oh, loss of sight:" [music: oh, loss of sight, of thee i most complain!] while the clearest and most brilliant timbre possible to be obtained is plainly indicated for the same composer's "sound an alarm!" from _judas maccabæus_. [music: sound an alarm, your silver trumpets sound!] it was a rule formulated by the old italian school of singing, when _l'arte del bel canto_ in its true sense did really exist, that no phrase--musical or verbal--should be repeated with the same nuances. very many instances might be given of the happy effect obtained by observing this rule. one will suffice. it is taken from the lamento of queen catherine (of aragon), who, slighted by henry viii. for anne boleyn, sighs for her native spain. [music: lamento henri viii: act iv saint-saëns mon espagne chérie! mon espagne chérie!] sudden contrasts of colour are of great dramatic effect. a good illustration is found in the air "_divinités du styx_," from gluck's _alceste_. this contrast is still further heightened by a sudden change of both intensity and tempo. [music: divinités du styx! divinités du styx! ministres de la mort!] this last phrase, "_ministres de la mort!_" should be sung in a very sombre voice of almost guttural character. it is, indeed, in the recitatives and declamatory passages of gluck, handel, sacchini, that lyric artists will find unsurpassable material for study. requiring, as such works do for their perfect interpretation, all the resources of colour, accent, and phrasing, such study is the best possible preparation for the fitting musical presentment of the lyric drama in some of its later phases. colour, then, is the basic element of style in singing. it is reinforced by accent, which, as the name implies, is the accentuation of details that require to be brought into prominence. this subject, therefore, next claims attention. * * * * * accent in singing, two kinds of accent are recognized, the musical accent, and the poetic, or verbal, accent. the first appertains to the domain of sound; the second, to the domain of significance. the first, for æsthetic reasons, throws into relief certain tones of a musical phrase; the second brings into prominence the sentiment underlying the poem or text. note, also, that in spoken declamation, accent applies to a syllable only; in singing, the verbal accent affects an entire word. in its relation to style, the musical accent must be carefully distinguished from the metrical accent which is determined by time, or measure, as well as from the verbal accent whereby the import of a word is rendered clear to the listener. here is an example of musical accent, from act iii of verdi's _ballo in maschera_: [music: saper vorreste di che si veste quando l'è cosa ch'ei vuol nascosa.] the accents (marked thus [accent symbol]) give to the musical phrase a piquancy that is admirably in keeping with the gay and careless character of the page, oscar, who sings it. in fact, as regards style, musical accent is particularly valuable in song for the purpose of setting forth the true character of the music. hence, it may be regarded as a means of characterization. this use of accent for characterization is also quite distinct from its use with "accidentals," or tones foreign to the prevailing tonality. in the former case, sentiment dictates its employment; in the second, the accent guarantees, as it were, the accuracy of the singer's intonation. by the faint stress laid on the foreign tone, the listener is assured that the executant is not deviating from the true pitch. in the following examples, the tones marked [accent symbol] are "accidentals," and for that reason should receive a faint stress. the first example is from _la forza del destino_. [music: verdi madre, madre, pietosa vergine, perdona al mio peccato, m'aita quell'ingrato] [music: "je dis que rien" carmen: act iii bizet vous me protégerez, seigneur!] these different uses of accent are well illustrated in the following example. [music: "come unto him" messiah handel take his yoke upon you, and learn of him.] the tone allotted to the second syllable of the word "upon" is accentuated to affirm the accuracy of the singer's intonation; the slight emphasis of the word "him" brings into relief the meaning of the text. this latter, then, is an illustration of verbal, or "poetic" accent which, i repeat, throws into relief, without consideration of its musical value or position, some word of special significance in the verbal phrase. to render the poetic meaning of the text clear to the listener, a correct use of verbal accent is imperative. its importance and effect, particularly in recitative and declamatory singing, are analogous to the importance and effect of emphasis in spoken language. the example is from _samson_ (handel): [music: o loss of _sight_, of _thee_ i _most_ complain.] here i may point out that in _cantabile_ phrases the stream of sound, notwithstanding its division into syllables by the organs of articulation--lips, tongue, etc.--should pour forth smoothly and uninterruptedly. the full value of each tone must be allotted to the vowel; the consonants which precede or end the syllables are pronounced quickly and distinctly. in declamatory singing, on the contrary, the consonants should be articulated with greater deliberation and intensity. [music: handel (messiah) i _know_ that my redeemer liveth.] here an emphatic accent on the consonant "n" irresistibly suggests the idea of knowledge; that is, of absolute certainty, not of mere belief. very frequently the metrical accent does not coincide with the syllabic accent: the musical accent will fall on an unaccented syllable, or vice versa. particularly is this the case when the composer is not perfectly familiar with the rules that govern the prosody of the language to which he is setting music. in the operas of meyerbeer many passages occur in which it is necessary to readjust the syllables to the notes on account of their misplaced accent. here is an illustration from hoël's grand air in _le pardon de ploërmel_ (meyerbeer), act ii. (note that the tonic accent in french falls _always_ on the last pronounced syllable.) [music: (as printed) et ranimez, ra_ni_mez ma foi.] the error is easily remedied: [music: (should be sung) et ranimez, rani_mez_ ma foi.] in the contralto aria "he shall feed his flock," in handel's _messiah_, the unaccented word "shall" falls on the most strongly accented note of the bar. if performed thus, it would give a most aggressive character to the passage, implying that some one had previously denied the assertion. this would be entirely at variance with the consolatory and peaceful message that is contained in the text and shadowed forth in the music. [music: (as printed) he shall feed his flock like a shepherd. (should be sung) he shall feed his flock like a shepherd.] instances of faulty syllabic accent abound in handel's works, both his english oratorios and his italian operas. many examples could be quoted. here is a phrase from the beautiful air for mezzo-soprano sung by ruggiero in the opera of _alcina_. [music: (as printed) verdi prati. (should be sung) verdi prati.] in mendelssohn's _elijah_, the following phrase is nearly always sung as written, unless the singer is familiar with the best traditions: [music: give me _thy_ son!] it may be that the artists who slavishly follow the published text fear being accused of altering the composer's music, or are ignorant of the fact that there exists a better version, which is this: [music: give _me_ thy son!] it will be seen that the music is not changed in the least; the musical and verbal accents have been merely readjusted and made to coincide. in order to avoid the disagreeable effect of singing one half-bar _andante_ to the syllable "_si_" (pronounced like "zee" in english), the following phrase of marguerite de valois in _les huguenots_ (meyerbeer), act ii, is changed thus: [music: (as printed) en aucun temps n'eût choisi mieux. (should be sung) en aucun temps n'eût choisi mieux.] * * * * * intensity in musical terminology every gradation of volume in sound, from the faintest to the loudest, enters into the category of intensity. one of the accepted rules of the _arte del bel canto_ was, that every sustained tone should be coloured by some graduation of intensity. thus the ability to augment and diminish the volume of tone was so highly esteemed--indeed, so essential--that singers spent much time in acquiring the _messa di voce_, that is, the steadily graduated emission of tone from the softest degree to the loudest and again to the softest: _p_ [crescendo symbol] _f_ [decrescendo symbol] _p_. this exercise invariably formed a part of each day's study, and was practised on several vowels throughout the scale, except the extreme tones, save in rare instances. it was, in fact, indispensable that the singer should be able to colour every tone in three forms of graduated intensity: soft to loud _p_ [crescendo symbol] _f_; loud to soft _f_ [decrescendo symbol] _p_; and soft to loud and soft again _p_ [crescendo symbol] _f_ [decrescendo symbol] _p_. this command of intensity, therefore, is invaluable. but it is even more effective when the artist has the power to combine the various gradations of intensity with different shades of colour; in other words, when he can sing a tone _crescendo_ and _diminuendo_ in the clear and sombre timbres. the passage, already cited, from alceste's great air in gluck's opera _alceste_, furnishes an admirable illustration of the dramatic emotion created by a sudden contrast of intensity as well as colour. in the invocation "ye ministers that dwell in night!" the clear timbre is used with gradually increasing volume until at the phrase (sung _adagio_) "ministers of death!" the timbre changes abruptly to a sombre quality with sinister effect, which effect is augmented by being sung _pp_. [music: gluck (alceste: act i) divinités du styx! divinités du styx! ministres de la mort!] a still more striking example of the impressive effect produced by sudden contrasts of intensity is offered in the magnificent air "total eclipse," from _samson_ (handel). in it, a judicious use of tone-colour, accent, and variations of tempo, all combine to elucidate in the highest possible degree the idea of both composer and poet: [music: sun, moon and stars, sun, moon and stars are _dark_ to me.] the words "sun, moon and stars" should be given strongly accentuated, and the tempo gradually accelerated. the repetition of the phrase should be sung with still greater intensity; then, at the passage "are dark to me," the colour of the voice changes to one of very sombre quality, and the original tempo is resumed. the first consonant in the word "dark" should receive a slight stress. the _crescendo_ has always been a favourite device of composers, particularly of those who write for the lyric theatre. it was an effect held in high esteem by rossini, who introduced it constantly in his operas--witness his overtures and ensembles. all are familiar with the wonderful _crescendo_ which precedes the appearance of the knight of the swan, in _lohengrin_, where the sonorities are augmented by gradual additions of voices and instruments until the culminating point is reached. an instance more poignant still is found in the great "liebestod" in _tristan und isolde_. although hérold, the french composer, observed that in working up to a climax one should begin a long way off, a singer must be careful not to reach his maximum of vocal sonority before the musical climax is attained. the tenor duprez created a sensation that is historic, in the long _crescendo_ passage in the fourth act of _guillaume tell_, by gradually increasing the volume of sound, as the phrase developed in power and grandeur, until the end, which he delivered with all the wealth of his exceptionally resonant voice. before closing this chapter on intensity, i should advise singers whose voices possess great natural volume or power not to abuse this valuable quality by employing it too frequently. the ear of a listener tires sooner of extreme sonority than of any other effect. talma, the great actor, wrought many reforms on the french dramatic stage, not only in costume--prior to his time greek or roman dress only was worn in tragedy--but also in the manner of delivering tragic verse. against the custom, then prevalent, of always hurling forth long tirades at full voice, he inveighed in these terms: "of all monotonous things, _uproar_ is the most intolerable" (_de toutes les monotonies, celle de la force est la plus insupportable_). an artistic singer will use his most powerful tones, as a painter employs his most vivid colours, sparingly. * * * * * phrasing phrasing is simply musical punctuation. in singing, it may be separated, like accent, into two divisions: musical and poetic, or verbal, phrasing. if the following passage were performed by an instrument, it would not require any particular grouping or phrasing: [music] but when sung, it would fail in effect if not performed with a very slight pause after the word "nobis," thus: [music: ave maria luzzi ora pro nobis, maria.] as another illustration of the excellent effect of correct phrasing may be cited the song _psyché_, by paladilhe. its effect is heightened if the musical phrasing be judiciously combined with a change in colour and intensity: [music: quand il les flatte, j'en murmure!] (should be sung): [music: quand il les flatte, j'en murmure!] it is the clashing of the musical and verbal phrasings that often makes translations of lyric works unsatisfactory. the two phrases are independent, not welded together. so far from being "music wedded to immortal verse," these instances resemble those _ménages_ wherein each unit leads a separate existence. when this is the case, the singer must decide as to whether the musical phrase, or the poetic phrase, demands the greater prominence. the following phrasing and colouring would be good and effective if the passage were played on an instrument: [music] but if sung thus, as it sometimes is by careless artists who pay little attention to the verbal significance of what they are singing, it would sound absurd, because the poetic phrasing is entirely ignored. the correct way of performing the passage (from the aria "voi che sapete," in act ii of mozart's _nozze di figaro_) is the following: [music: donne, vedete, s'io l'ho nel cor.] in the next extract (from act iv in _un ballo in maschera_, by verdi), it will be noticed how oblivious the composer was of the claims of verbal phrasing. the whole _scena_ is admirably written for the voice, and contains many graceful passages of great melodic charm. but although the music may claim to represent the character of the situation as a whole, it is disfigured by the complete disregard of the sense of certain groups of words: [music: come se fosse l'ultima ora del nostro amor, come se fosse l'ultima, l'ultima ora, ora del nostro amor, del nostro amor? oh, qual presagio m'assale, come se fosse l'ultima ora del nostro amor, se fosse l'ultima del nostro amor] the words "_come se fosse l'ultima ora del nostro amor_," constitute one phrase. it would be extremely difficult, impossible even, for many, to sing the passage in one breath. but the first musical phrase ends after the word "_ultima_;" to separate it from the next word, "_ora_" (second and third bars), thus: "last--hour," is impracticable. it would be out of the question to destroy the musical phrase by breathing after the word "_ora_," in the third bar. if the text is phrased when spoken as it is when sung, the incongruity is at once apparent. the published score gives a pause [fermata symbol] after the word "_ora_:" "_ultima ora_ [fermata symbol] _del nostro amor_." this phrasing is good and effective, especially if the artist changes at once to the sombre quality after the pause, and finishes the phrase _piano_ and _rallentando_. one very often hears it, however, given with a pause for breathing after the high _a_; the unfortunate singer having prolonged the tone until, in order to continue, he is compelled to take in more air. the result is the absurd phrasing given below: [music: l'ultima ora del nostro amor] in the final cadenza, the composer has cut out the word "ora" altogether. the whole air is of interest to the musical student, as it shows clearly the little value attached by verdi, at that period of his career, to the exigencies of the verbal or poetic phrase. this neglect of the verbal punctuation is in marked contrast to the care he bestowed on it in his later works, witness _aida_, _otello_, and particularly _falstaff_. here i may say that it is sometimes necessary to alter the words on account of the impossibility of performing certain passages as written. in the earlier published scores of _samson et dalila_ (saint-saëns), the following passage in act ii, "mon coeur s'ouvre à ta voix," as the composer wrote it, occurs as one phrase: [music: ah! réponds à ma tendresse!] this being impracticable of execution in one phrase, and there being no opportunity of retaking breath until the close of the passage, it was altered in the later editions, and now stands thus: [music: ah! réponds, réponds à ma tendresse!] this device of repetition, applied either to a word or to part of a phrase, is perfectly justifiable in cases where the artist, for physical reasons, is unable to sing the phrase in one breath. i give an excerpt from weber's _der freischütz_ (grand air, act ii): [music: oh lovely night!] this may be sung: [music: oh lovely, lovely night!] the concluding bars of the waltz-song in act i of gounod's _roméo et juliette_, are often phrased as indicated in the brackets, in order to give the singer a chance to take breath, which is done after the _c_ natural: [music: ah! (comme un trésor.) comme un trésor.] as discrepancies between the musical and verbal phrases, such as those i have instanced, abound in certain of the old operas which still keep the stage and form a part of the permanent répertoire of every lyric theatre, the artists singing them are compelled to choose between sacrificing the words or the music. the former alternative is generally preferable, the musical phrase in many such cases being of the greater relative importance. another way is, to meet the difficulty boldly by supplying another text which mates itself more happily with the musical phrase. personally, i adopt the latter alternative without hesitation, when preparing artists to sing these works. * * * * * some minor effects utilized in style in singing may be briefly alluded to: _portamento_; variations of _tempo_. portamento this is effected by the voice gliding from one tone to another, and is equally available on stringed instruments, the violin or 'cello, the mandoline or zither. it is a grace of style much abused by inartistic singers. being an ornament, good taste dictates that it be used sparingly. a frequent sliding from one tone to another is a grave fault, and most disagreeable to a cultivated ear. to sing _legato_ is one thing; to sing _strisciato_ is another. hence, its use on two consecutive occasions is rarely admissible. but without a sober and discreet use of the _portamento_, the style of the singer appears stiff, angular--lacking, as it were, in graceful curves. it must always be performed by carrying the tone and syllable to the next tone; never by anticipating the latter: [music: mozart (nozze di figaro) do fa deh vieni, non tardar,] but it sometimes happens that, while desiring this grace, the composer does not indicate his wish quite correctly. here is an instance by f. thomé: [music: et nous dansions un boléro.] were it performed as printed, it would be very bad style, as it violates the rule that the succeeding syllable shall not be anticipated. undoubtedly, what the author wished is the following: [music: et nous dansions] sometimes the composer himself indicates clearly his intention that this effect should be used, as in the following examples: [music: reyer (la statue) pour s'évanouir, au réveil.] [music: celeste aida (aida: act i) verdi del mio pensiero tu sei regina, tu di mia vita sei lo splendor.] [music: song "heure du soir" for tenor léo delibes partout s'élève un chant bien doux, un chant bien doux, sous la brise toute embaumée.] [music: from "la bohème," act i puccini mi chiamano mimi, ma il mio nome è lucia.] (notice the phrases marked _a_ and _b_.) the words and indications for the use of the _portamento_ in each of these last four examples are by the respective composers, and as printed in the published editions. a _portamento_ should never be sung so slowly as to convey the idea of a badly executed chromatic scale; and, as a rule, it is best not to use one between any lesser interval than a third, unless for some particular effect, or at the close of a slow movement, as in the aria "he was despisèd," in _the messiah_: [music: and acquainted with grief.] it is also effective in connecting syllables in phrases of a smooth, lyric character: [music: nozze di figaro: act ii mozart (as printed) in braccio al idol mio. (should be sung) in braccio al idol mio.] the _portamento_ being an embellishment that pertains to the _cantabile_, it is very little used in declamatory singing. but frequently in the recitatives of classic works occur phrases of declamatory recitative, interspersed with passages that are purely lyric in structure. to each of these divisions must be given its appropriate style. for instance, after the opening phrases of obadiah's exhortation, "ye people, rend your hearts," in _elijah_, up to the end of the phrase "return to god," all is purely lyric declamation. but at the words, "for he is slow to anger, and merciful," this should cease, and the succeeding phrases be given with all the graces that are permissible in _cantabile_ singing; not in the hard, dry manner affected by some of the modern tenors in oratorio. [music: i therefore say to ye, forsake your idols, return to god; for he is slow to anger, and merciful.] * * * * * variations of tempo these are of value in bringing out the musical and poetic significance of certain compositions; notably the operas of bellini, donizetti, and the earlier works of verdi. but i would caution singers to exercise discretion in this much-abused effect. variations of tempo, the _ritardando_, _accelerando_, and _tempo rubato_, are all legitimate aids demanded by expression. but unless their use is determined by sound judgment and correct musicianly taste, the effect speedily becomes vulgar and monotonous. knowledge, and a taste formed in good schools, must be the guide of the vocalist in the use of variations of tempo. i have said that the operas of bellini, donizetti and verdi abound in instances requiring the hastening or slackening of the tempo. but the device is also highly esteemed by the ultra-modern italian school, as may be seen in studying the scores of puccini, mascagni and leoncavallo. here is an illustration of its effective use in the air "connais-tu le pays?" from _mignon_ (act ii), by ambroise thomas. madame christine nilsson (countess casa miranda), who "passed" the rôle with the composer, always sang the phrase thus, although these indications do not appear in the published version: [music: hélas! que ne puis-je te suivre, vers ce rivage heureux, d'où le sort m'exila!] again, in the fine song _der asra_, by rubinstein, the musical, as well as the dramatic, effect of the poem is heightened by the use of the _accelerando_, which interprets with musical vividness the impetuous avowal by the slave of his passion for the princess, after his calm answer to her questions as to his name and birthplace. "_ich heisse mahomet, ich bin aus yemen, und mein stamm sind jene asra, welche sterben, wenn sie lieben._" (heine.) [music: und mein stamm sind jene asra, welche sterben, wenn sie lieben.] chapter iv tradition tradition plays a more important part, perhaps, in the interpretation of the classic composers' writings for the voice than it does in their purely instrumental works. the old masters left few--sometimes not any--indications as to the manner in which their music should be rendered. thus its proper performance is largely determined by received oral tradition. the printed scores of the classics, except those that have been specially edited, throw little light on their proper interpretation, or even at times on the actual notes to be sung. to perform exactly as written the operas of gluck, notably _armide_ and _orphée_, the operas of mozart, the italian operas and english oratorios of handel, the oratorios of bach, haydn, and mendelssohn, would be to do the greatest injustice to these composers and their works. it is a prevalent idea that all departures from the published text are due either to caprice, or to vanity and a desire for personal display on the part of the soloist. as though singers had a monopoly of these defects! let us consider some of the principal causes of such changes in the text, and the reasons why these modifications do not always appear in the published versions. in the original editions of many of the earlier operas, as those of mozart, etc., the unaccompanied recitative (_recitativo secco_) is not barred. as with the plain-chant of the church, only the _pitch_ of the tone is indicated. its _length_ was left to the discretion of the artist, who was supposed to be familiar with the accepted style of delivery termed "_recitativo parlante_." the example is from the recitative "dove sono," in act iii of _le nozze di figaro_, by mozart: [music: e susanna non vien! sono ansiosa di saper] this should be sung as below: [music: e susanna non vien! sono ansiosa di saper] the substitution of another note for the one actually written, both in recitative and aria, was also strictly regulated under the system or convention then in vogue, one perfectly understood both by composer and singer. in all the earlier italian operas, and in the english oratorios of handel, this system was followed: [music: recit. "behold, a virgin shall conceive" messiah handel (sung) emmanuel; (printed) and shall call his name emmanuel;] [music: aria. "i know that my redeemer liveth" messiah handel (sung) liveth (printed) i know that my redeemer liveth] [music: recit. "non più di fiori" la clemenza di tito mozart (sung) vitellia! costanza (printed) ecco il punto, o vitellia! d'esaminar la tua costanza] [music: "in questa tomba" beethoven (sung) oscura (printed) in questa tomba oscura] this substitution, therefore, of another note--a tone or semitone higher or lower, according to the phrase--is not only legitimate but essential in all music written in the italian manner. another cause of changes being necessary in the vocal part of many of the older classic writers, particularly of oratorio, is the frequently faulty syllabic accentuation. i have already mentioned this defect in the chapter on accent. handel, for instance, although living nearly all his life in england, never became quite master of its language; hence the numerous cases of the misplacing of syllables in his oratorios. this defect is also noticeable, but not in the same degree, in his italian operas. the books of _elijah_ and _st. paul_ (mendelssohn), and _the creation_ (haydn), were originally written in german, and therefore suffer somewhat in this respect when the translated english version is given. this fault is also noticeable in the english versions of bach's _passion_ (st. matthew), and mendelssohn's _psalm cxiv_. in the first quoted of these two works, in the response for double chorus to the question, "whether of the twain will ye that i release unto you?" the accent falls on the first syllable "_ba_-rab-bas"; in the second of the two works (_114th psalm_), the accent is placed on the last syllable, thus: "hal-le-lu-_jah_." neither of these accentuations is in accordance with english custom. a singer, therefore, is perfectly justified in rearranging the syllables in order that, as far as possible, the musical and verbal accents shall coincide. but there are rigorists, unaware of the usages and conventions previously spoken of, who are very severe in their judgment when any deviation is made from the printed score with which they follow the performance of classic works. such severity is unmerited, because unjust. although such persons sometimes inveigh against any and every change from the strict letter of the printed music--ignorant of the possibility, that only in this way can its spirit be respected--the changes in a multitude of cases are essential because due (1) to reverential deciphering of an obsolete musical notation, (2) to improvements in musical instruments, or (3) to the sanction and authority of the composer himself. sometimes it is an orchestral conductor who reproaches the solo singers with their want of respect for the composer, because he hears at times interpolations or changes which find no place in his own score. the singers are accused of "altering the composer," of "taking liberties with the text." and yet these very changes may be traditionally correct; they may be in accordance with rules and conditions prevalent at the time the music was written, and employed on account of a desire to interpret the composer's own intentions, and not from mere vanity or caprice. nor are these necessary changes and departures from the printed scores of the classics confined to the vocal parts of the music composed by the old masters. as a matter of fact, the deviations which, in performance, are sometimes made from the printed edition of a musical composition, arise from a variety of causes. one of these is the discrepancy that exists between various editions of the same work; and sometimes the confusion is complicated by different versions having been prepared by the composer himself. this is notably the case with gluck's _orphée_, first written to an italian libretto by calzabigi and produced at vienna. when marie antoinette called her former viennese singing-master, gluck, to paris, she gave him an opportunity of displaying his genius by facilitating the production of his _iphigénie en aulide_ at the opéra, in 1774. its enthusiastic reception recalled to the composer the like success which had attended the production of his _orfeo_ at vienna. he immediately set to work to revise it for the paris opéra, and fit it to a new french text, the latter supplied him by moline.[2] [footnote 2: sir george grove, in the "dictionary of music and musicians," p. 611, says that the french text is by _molière_! this is a self-evident error.] but the title-rôle in the original italian version was written for, and sung by, guadagni, an artificial contralto (_contralto musico_). in its newer french dress the part was transposed and rearranged for the tenor legros; who, judging from the extreme altitude of the _tessitura_ employed, must have possessed either a _haute-contre_, or a very high light-tenor voice, and who may have employed the falsetto. this high _tessitura_, combined with the fact that the pitch has risen considerably since it was composed, renders the french version impracticable for tenors of the present day. here are the concluding bars of the famous air as written in the original italian version, and the same phrase as altered by gluck, when produced in paris. [music: "che farò senz' euridice?" dove andrò? che farò? dove andrò senza il mio ben? (as originally written by gluck for the italian version, vienna.)] [music: "j'ai perdu mon eurydice" sort cruel, quelle rigueur! je succombe à ma douleur, à ma douleur, à ma douleur! (as altered by gluck for paris; sung by the tenor legros. from a manuscript copy, bibliothèque de l'opéra.)] [music: "j'ai perdu mon eurydice" sort cruel, quelle rigueur! je succombe à ma douleur, à ma douleur, à ma douleur! (as sung by mme. viardot-garcia, théâtre-lyrique, paris; the part being restored to the original voice and key, but the change at the end, made for legros, retained.)] the finale to the first act was also changed; a tumultuous "hurry" for strings, evidently designed to accompany the change of scene to hades, being now replaced by a florid air, probably introduced at the desire of the principal singer as a medium for the display of his vocal virtuosity; a concession often exacted from composers of opera. this interpolated air was for a long time attributed to a composer--bertoni--who had himself composed an opera on the subject of _orphée_. later researches have, however, proved that this air is by gluck himself, taken from _aristeo_, one of his earlier works. when the famous revival of _orphée_ took place at the old théâtre-lyrique in paris, the rôle of orphée was restored to the type of voice--contralto--for which it was originally composed, and confided to mme. pauline viardot-garcia. she retained the air introduced for the tenor legros, but of course transposed, and with a reorchestration by camille saint-saëns; the now famous composer having at that time, by the request of berlioz, undertaken to continue and complete the revision of gluck's complete works, known as the pelletan edition.[3] [footnote 3: see very interesting article signed c. saint-saëns in the _écho de paris_ for july 23, 1911.] other changes from the first italian score were also made by gluck in the later french version. here is an example; being the recitative immediately preceding the great air of orpheus in the last act: [music: (original italian version, as written for vienna.) misero me! la perdo, e di nuovo, e per sempre! o legge! o morte! o ricordo crudel! non ho soccorso, non m'avanza consiglio! io veggo solo (oh fiera vista!) il luttuoso aspetto dell'orrido mio stato! saziati, sorte rea! son disperato!] [music: c'est moi, c'est moi, qui lui ravis le jour. loi fatale! cruel remords! ma peine est sans égale, dans ce moment funeste, le désespoir, la mort, c'est tout ce qui me reste! (as written for the paris version, the rôle of orphée being then sung by a tenor.)] [music: c'est moi, c'est moi, qui lui ravis le jour. loi fatale! cruel remords! ma peine est sans égale, dans ce moment funeste, le désespoir, la mort, c'est tout ce qui me reste! (as sung by mme. viardot-garcia, the rôle being then restored to the contralto voice as in the italian version, while the changes made by gluck for the paris version were retained. this is now definitively adopted at the opéra-comique.)] again, discrepancies exist between various published copies of the same work, arising from the fact that sometimes the editors of these revisions may have mistaken the intentions of the composer. or, influenced by pardonable human vanity, they may have felt impelled to collaborate more directly with the composer, by adding something of their own. there is valid reason for the additional accompaniments, with which mozart has enriched the original scores of handel's _messiah_ and _alexander's feast_; and we have evidence of the skill, and can divine the reverence, with which these additions were accomplished. but how fatal would have been the results, had the delicate task been attempted by one in whom these qualities were lacking! also, there is every excuse for the additions made to gluck's _armide_ by meyerbeer for the opera of berlin; and we have the direct testimony of saint-saëns, who has examined this rescoring, as to the rare ability and artistic discretion with which the work has been done.[4] [footnote 4: see _écho de paris_, _op. cit._] from this evidence it appears that in the score as left by gluck, the trombones do not appear at all in _armide_. the drums, and stranger still, the flutes, are heard only at rare intervals; while the whole orchestration--sometimes a pale sketch of the composer's intentions--shows a haste and lack of care in marked contrast with the pains bestowed on the scoring of _alceste_, _iphigénie_, and _orphée_. the revisions and additions spoken of were undertaken by highly competent authorities, actuated only by the wish to restore in its purity the idea of the composer; and who to zeal, added the more valuable quality of discretion. ancient music, owing to the development of and changes in the instruments for which it was composed, can rarely be given as written by the author. even if the instruments of modern invention be eliminated, the orchestra of to-day is not the orchestra of handel. the oboe, for example, has so gained in penetrating power that one instrument to each part now suffices; in handel's time the feeble tone of the oboe rendered a considerable number necessary. the perfection of certain instruments, too, is the cause of modifications in the music written for them. the limited compass of the pianoforte, for example, was certainly the sole reason why beethoven failed to continue in octaves the entire ascending scale in one of his sonatas. had the piano in his day possessed its present compass, he would undoubtedly have written the passage throughout in octaves, _i.e._, as modern pianists play it. if a rigid adherence to the printed letter of ancient music is to be strictly observed, without consideration of the many causes that render this procedure undesirable, let consistency be observed by pushing the argument to its logical conclusion, _viz._, returning to the instruments used, and the composition of the orchestra that obtained, when these works were written. those who accuse artists of introducing changes, of not performing the music as the composer wrote it, should be quite sure as to what the composer really did write, since many changes are made both before and after the work is printed. they should also be certain that these changes are not such as the composer may have, or would have, sanctioned, seeing that by their use his meaning is more clearly expressed. at the _concerts spirituels_, given at the church of the sorbonne, paris, may be heard very excellent performances of oratorio by ancient and modern composers, from handel and bach to claude debussy; though i do not know whether or no _l'enfant prodigue_ (the prodigal son), by debussy, is properly styled an oratorio, seeing that it was recently given in london on the stage as an opera. these performances at the sorbonne are marked by a reverential attention to detail; the soloists, chorus and orchestra being very competent, and the conductor--m. paul de saunières--a musician of ability and experience. in spite of these great advantages, however, the works of several of the old classic composers suffer somewhat, by certain authentic traditions and conventions being either unknown or ignored. to cite only one instance out of many: at the sorbonne, the opening bars of the second movement of the recit. in _the messiah_, "comfort ye my people," etc., are performed as printed: [music: the voice of him that crieth in the wilderness] this music is written in the italian "manner," consequently its performance should be in conformity with the usages and conventions which obtained when the work was composed. one of these, as i have pointed out, was the substitution of one note for another in certain places; another, that in declamatory recitative, or _recitativo parlante_, the chord in the orchestra should come _after_ the voice ("_dopo la parola_"). these words appear in many scores of the italian operas, even of the present day. but when they do not, the musical director is supposed to be familiar with the custom. the following, therefore, is the authentic mode of performing the passage in question: [music: the voice of him that crieth in the wilderness] apart from these defects in the rendering of the ancient classics, it would be unjust not to acknowledge the great artistic merit and value of the performances, given--as oratorio should be--in the church. to hear _l'enfance du christ_ (berlioz) as performed at the sorbonne, with its particular facilities for obtaining the _ppp_ effects of the distant or receding angelic chorus, is to be impressed to a degree impossible of attainment in the concert-room. let those purists who resent any "tampering"--as they term it--with the composers' music listen to the following phrase, sung as it is printed in the ordinary editions: [music: the first-fruits _of_ them that sleep.] then let them hear it given according to the authentic and accepted tradition, and say which of the two versions most faithfully interprets the composer's meaning. [music: the first-fruits of _them_ that sleep.] * * * * * let us now consider alterations which do not appear in the printed editions, and yet may have been made or sanctioned by the composer. in comparison with painting and sculpture, music and the literature of the theatre are not self-sufficing arts. they require an interpreter. before a dramatic work can exist completely, scenery, and actors to give it voice and gesture, are necessary; before music can be anything more than hieroglyphics, the signs must be transmuted into sound by singers or instrumentalists. wagner embodied this truth in his pathetic reference to _lohengrin_: "when ill, miserable and despairing, i sat brooding over my fate, my eye fell on the score of my _lohengrin_, which i had totally forgotten. suddenly i felt something like compassion lest the music might never sound from off the death-pale paper." in other words, _lohengrin_, though finished in every detail, was merely potential music. to make it anything more, the aid of singers and orchestra are essential. composers and dramatic authors, in fact, _create_ their art-works; but it is their interpreters--actors, singers, instrumentalists--who _animate_ them, who breathe life into them. one of the inevitable consequences is, that the composer's ideal can never be fully attained. but changes in performance from the printed text of a composition are frequently the work of the composer himself. if really an artist, he is rarely perfectly satisfied with his completed work. the difference between his ideal and his materialization of it, is a source of anguish for him. the journey made by a vision of art from the brain that conceives it to the hand that imprisons it in marble, or depicts it in colour, or pens it in words or music, is a long one. and much grace or power, beauty or grandeur, is inevitably lost on the way. this is the explanation of the disappointment of all true artists with their creations. this is the origin of their endless strivings to perfect their works; the first embodiment is not a perfect interpretation of the artist's inspiration, and further reflection has revealed to him an improvement. the process is endless. _a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what is heaven for?_ if one wishes to surprise genius labouring to give birth to perfection, one should consult the later editions of victor hugo's works and note the countless emendations he made after their first publication--here a more fitting word substituted, there a line recast, elsewhere an entire verse added, or excised, or remodelled. this work of incessant revision is not restricted to poets. composers of genius are also inveterate strivers after perfection, are continually occupied in polishing and revising their music. and not all the modifications they make, or sanction, are recorded in the printed versions. for many are the outcome of after-thoughts, of ideas suggested during the process of what i have called transmuting musical hieroglyphics into sound. such modifications, usually decided upon in the course of a rehearsal--i am now considering particularly operatic works--are frequently jotted down, a mere scanty memorandum, on the singer's part or the conductor's score. but they are the work of the composer, or have received his approval, and, although not noted in the printed editions of his compositions, are transmitted orally from conductor to conductor, singer to singer, master to pupil. and thus a tradition is perpetuated. but the question of changes goes even further. prior to the advent of wagner, the singer was allowed great license in operatic works. this license was principally manifested in a two-fold form. the first is called _pointage_ (french), _puntatura_ (italian), and means the changing of the notes or contour of a musical phrase; the second is termed _changements_ or _variantes_ (fr.), _abbellimenti_ or _fioriture_ (it.), and refers to the interpolation and addition of ornaments, _i.e._, embellishments and cadenzas. * * * * * pointage this, as i have said, is the technical term given to the modification or rearrangement of the notes of a phrase, so as to bring it within the natural capabilities of the artist singing the rôle. a few illustrations will make the nature of _pointage_ clear. in rossini's _guillaume tell_, although it is written in a different style from his former works, whence less necessity for interpolations and modifications, occurs the following terrible passage for the principal baritone: [music: mais je connais le poids des fers, mais je connais le poids des fers.] every vocalist knows the difficulty experienced in singing very high tones to different syllables, each requiring a different conformation of the buccal cavity. the passage quoted--expressing tell's bitterness at the recollection of his past sufferings in prison, "well i know the weight of galling chain"--has to be declaimed with great energy. so far as the relative value of the notes is concerned, it is entirely _ad libitum_, the rhythmical figure in the orchestra having ceased one half-bar before. it is said that dabadie, a _basso cantante_ rather than baritone, to whom was entrusted the rôle of tell on the first production of the work at the opéra, paris, on august 3, 1829, finding it impossible to sing the phrase as written, had recourse to a professor. he advised the _pointage_ given later. this change became traditional, and has since been followed, except, it is said, in the case of massol, who succeeded dabadie. he, being possessed of a very sonorous voice of exceptional compass, was able to give the phrase as written. this change, or _pointage_, must have been heard by rossini, and so must have been tacitly approved by him. this is the change made by dabadie: [music: mais je connais le poids des fers, mais je connais le poids des fers.] in italian lyric theatres, _pointage_ becomes necessary in many french operas, owing to the prevalent custom of allotting to contraltos certain rôles written for soprano and known as "dugazon rôles" (from madame dugazon, who created the type). the parts of siebel in _faust_ (gounod), urbain in _les huguenots_, stéphane in _roméo et juliette_ (gounod), are all written for soprano, and when sung in italian require not only transposition of the principal airs, but the use of _pointage_ in passages where transposition is impossible owing, for instance, to the participation of other characters in the scene. thus the air sung by the page urbain (_les huguenots_) on his entrance is sung in the french theatres as written by meyerbeer, _i.e._, in _b_ flat. in theatres where the italian version is given, this air is transposed a third lower into _g_, necessitating later numerous _pointages_, for the reason already given. i said that many deviations from the printed text are the work of the author, or are authorized by him. a moment's reflection will convince one of the truth of this statement. the singer chosen--usually by the composer himself--to "create" a rôle, _i.e._, to interpret for the first time some part in a new opera, generally studies it with the composer, or under his direct supervision, and thus learns, directly or indirectly, his ideas as to the meaning, style of execution, tempi, etc., of the music. very often during rehearsals, when the composer begins really to hear his own work, he makes modifications in certain passages, alterations of the words or suppressions of the notes that are either ineffective, or lie awkwardly for the voice. but the opera has already been printed for the convenience of the singers and choristers studying the rôles and choruses; consequently, such modifications, rearrangements, and "cuts" (as excisions are termed), do not find their way into the published scores. meyerbeer, as i have been informed by competent authorities, was constantly modifying his compositions. with him, the work of revision and emendation was never finished. it is said that this was more especially the case with his last opera, _l'africaine_, which he was continually altering and revising, never being able to satisfy himself. two versions of the libretto were prepared for him by scribe, and two distinct settings of the music are published, although only one is performed.[5] [footnote 5: cases are numerous of changes made by composers even after their work has been produced. the fountain scene in _lucia_ was entirely remodelled by donizetti, some time after its original production at milan, the first setting being replaced by the "regnava nel silenzio" now used, written for persiani when the opera was first given at the san carlo, naples.] in nelusko's first air occurs the following passage, in which a great _crescendo_ is marked, culminating _ff_ on the word _rien_: [music: non, n'ôtent rien à ta majesté!] although the opera was produced after the composer's death, jean-baptiste faure, the great baritone chosen to create the rôle of nelusko, studied it with meyerbeer, who authorized several verbal and musical changes in it. [music: non, n'ôtent rien, non, non, non, n'ôtent rien à ta majesté!] without the first alteration it is impossible to realize the composer's wish for a climax on the word "_rien_"; the second change is due to the fact that the _tessitura_ of the phrase is somewhat high, and faure, who was a low rather than high baritone, dreaded the high _f_-[sharp]. indeed, it was for this latter reason that this most accomplished singer never sang in verdi's operas. according to his own statement, he had to deny himself this pleasure, because most of the baritone parts in the italian composer's operas are written in a high _tessitura_. when gounod wrote his _faust_ for the théâtre-lyrique, paris, spoken dialogue was used in place of the recitatives subsequently added by the composer when the work passed, ten years later, into the répertoire of the opéra. in its earlier form, therefore, it belonged to the category of _opéra-comique_, in which tenors were then permitted to use the falsetto voice for their very highest tones. this custom, though sanctioned in _opéra-comique_, was not permitted or accepted in _grand opéra_, to which gounod's work in the revised form now belongs. at the beginning of the sixth bar from the end of the tenor _cavatina_ in the garden scene: "_salut! demeure chaste et pure_," occurs the high sustained _c_. not all tenors who sing the rôle are possessed of the much-coveted "_do di petto_," so a discreet _pointage_ becomes a necessity, since the tone was originally intended, as i have said, to be sung in falsetto. those robust tenors who, possessing this tone, launch it out at full voice, unheeding the delicate accompaniment with violin obbligato in the orchestra, and the calm, mystic serenity of the surroundings, are surely more desirous of drawing the attention of the public to themselves, than actuated by an artistic desire to interpret faithfully the scene as intended by composer and librettist. it was owing to the use by light tenors of the so-called falsetto voice, now no longer in favor with the public, that such of the _opéras-comiques_ by boiëldieu, halévy, auber, etc., which still keep the stage, necessitate frequent _pointage_, in order to render their execution compatible with existing requirements. sometimes a composer utilizes an exceptional voice, as was the case with the rôles written for martin. this singer must have possessed either a strong tenor voice with exceptional low tones, or a baritone voice with perhaps an unusual command of the falsetto--history furnishes but vague information on this point. in any case, the rôles written for him--called martin-tenor or martin-baritone parts--are now assigned to the ordinary baritone. _pointage_ then becomes inevitable, as in the case of hérold's _zampa_, the compass required as printed being from [music] in the rôles, such as _mignon_ (thomas) and _carmen_ (bizet), written for madame galli-marié, their respective composers themselves have so arranged the parts that they may be sung by either mezzo-soprano or soprano. the rôle of mignon has alternatives, in order that it may be sung by three types of female voices. the roulades and cadenzas were subsequently added by the composer for madame christine nilsson. if the rôle is sung by a high soprano, mignon's first air, "connais-tu le pays," is transposed a tone higher into _e_ flat. in the famous duet between raoûl and valentine in the fourth act of _les huguenots_, the composer has given alternative notes for those tenors who do not possess the exceptional altitude required for the higher of the two: [music: ah! viens! ah! viens! ah! viens! or viens! ah! viens!] i heard recently, however, a performance of this opera, in which the tenor sang the whole of the music as written, without either transposition or _pointage_. so it was sung, i should imagine, by the famous adolphe nourrit, who created the rôle; but the pitch at that time (1836) was lower than it is at present. thus composers have recognized the necessity at times of _pointage_ in certain rôles written for exceptionally gifted singers, in order to render possible to the many that which was originally written for the few. changes from the published version have also been made--and proving effective have passed into tradition--by singers who, exercising the liberty then accorded them by composers, have slightly modified certain passages for several reasons: for instance, to augment the effect by making the phrase more characteristic of the vocal instrument, or to express more forcibly the composer's idea. the following illustrations will render my meaning clearer. the changes originated in the causes i have mentioned, and are attributed to madame dorus-gras: [music: "robert, toi que j'aime" tu vois mon effroi! tu vois mon effroi! change -froi! ah! grâce, grâce pour moi-même, pour toi-même.] the phrase "grâce, grâce," in which isabelle implores robert of normandy's forgiveness, occurs three times. when it recurs for the last time, a change from the printed text is not only justifiable; it is demanded, in order to give additional intensity and power to the phrase, and to avoid the monotony caused by mere repetition. this modification is all the more defensible, as the composer has substituted the orchestra, with the strings _tremolo_, for the rhythmical harp-figure with which he accompanies the phrase on its first and second presentations. here is the accepted traditional change: [music: grâce, grâce pour moi-même, pour toi-même.] again, to sing the final cadenza of this air as meyerbeer briefly indicated it, would be impossible and absurd: [music: (as printed) ah! grâce pour moi. (as sung) ah! grâce, ah! grâce pour moi.] other changes have their origin in the fact that sometimes a great climax is rendered impossible of realization because the musical phrase culminates on a vowel-sound difficult of emission on that note, and devoid of sonority; another word has sometimes to be substituted. for this reason, in the first air of alice in the same opera (_robert_), "_va, dit-elle_," a verbal rearrangement is always resorted to: [music: sa mère va prier pour lui, sa mère va prier pour lui, sa mère va prier pour lui, va prier] to avoid the disagreeable and ineffective result produced by the high descending passage on the word "lui" (pronounced in english as "lwee"), the last few bars are performed thus: [music: sa mère va prier, sa mère va prier] when _la tosca_ (puccini) was produced in french at the opéra-comique, paris, the unfortunate artist to whom was allotted the tenor rôle was expected by the translator to sing at full voice, and after a crashing chord from the entire orchestra, marked _ffff_ in the score, the following words: [music: au péril de ma vie] as it was found to be out of the question to produce the effect desired with the words as they stood, the phrase was afterwards changed to: [music: pour combattre l'infâme] frequently modifications, most happy in their effect, are due to the inspiration of a particularly gifted artist. madame viardot-garcia, finding the phrase of the cabaletta in the aria "_se romeo t'uccise_" (_romeo e giulietta_, bellini) somewhat weak and ineffective, made the skilful _pointage_ here given: [music: (as printed) ma su voi ricada il sangue (as sung by mme. viardot-garcia) ma su voi ricada il sangue] a great artist may feel at times the inadequacy of the phrase as it stands to convey justly the composer's idea. take, for instance, the well-known change which every soprano who sings the rôle of leonora introduces in the _miserere_ scene of _il trovatore_. the passage occurs four times in succession, and as printed becomes commonplace and monotonous. [music: di te, di te scordarmi! di te, di te scordarmi!] the accepted traditional change certainly conveys the impression of leonora's gradually increasing anguish and terror; not the idea that it is introduced merely to exploit a high tone: [music: di te, di te scordarmi! di te, di te scordarmi!] that this departure from the text must have been sanctioned by verdi, is, i think, proved by the fact that it has always been sung thus, and the composer himself must often have heard the substitution. he would certainly have forbidden its use, had he not approved of it, for he was particularly averse to having changes made in his music. the following anecdote illustrates this trait in his character. it was related by the late mme. marie saxe, better known under her italianized name of marie sasse. this distinguished soprano singer, a member of the paris opéra for a number of years, was engaged to give a certain number of performances at the opera of cairo. _aida_ was one of the operas stipulated for in her contract. she had never sung the rôle, and in studying it found the _tessitura_ of the music, at one or two points, a little too high for her natural means. as she was compelled by her contract to sing the opera, she asked verdi to make some slight changes to bring the music within her reach. but he refused absolutely to make the least alteration. madame saxe was specially selected by meyerbeer to create the rôle of sélika in _l'africaine_. she studied the part for three months with the composer, and sang it when the work was first given at the paris opéra. she was also chosen by richard wagner for the part of elisabeth when _tannhäuser_ was given its stormy performances, with niemann in the title-rôle, at the same theatre in 1861. madame saxe possessed a score of _tannhäuser_ with the inscription in the composer's handwriting: "_a ma courageuse amie mademoiselle marie saxe._ _l'auteur_ richard wagner." the slight modifications, or _pointages_, asked from verdi, were not, i was assured by madame saxe, of a character to alter either the rôle or the opera, and she remarked (i quote her own words): "why should verdi have shown himself more unreasonable or less yielding than meyerbeer or wagner?" (_plus intransigeant, plus intraitable que_ meyerbeer _ou_ wagner?). * * * * * in tradition, however, there is the true or accepted tradition--so called because believed to have been sanctioned by the composer himself, or approved of by competent authorities and its use warranted by time--and the false. this latter is simply an accumulation of excrescences superimposed on the original by individual whim or personal fancy. these have been invented by singers desirous of bringing into relief certain special and peculiar gifts, or who have mistaken, perhaps forgotten, the original and authentic tradition. thus their artistic heritage has become so altered and disfigured by successive additions, or "machicotage," as to bear no resemblance to the original, this being buried under a heap of useless complications. but it may be asked, are there no authoritatively correct printed editions of such classics with the accepted traditions and the proper mode of their performance expressed in modern musical notation? yes: but they are incomplete, being for the most part confined to airs and other excerpts, instead of the complete works themselves. in this connection, i may cite the admirable edition of the "_gloires d'italie_" by the late erudite musician and authority, gevaert, for so many years director of the conservatoire at brussels. these editions are characterized by a scrupulous fidelity to the composers' text as it was understood when written, as well as by great taste and musical sense of what is appropriate and fitting, in such ornaments as the editor has introduced, when these have been left to the discretion of the singer. the solo parts for the principal singers in mozart's operas of _don giovanni_ and _le nozze di figaro_, edited and revised for performance by the well-known singing-master and excellent musician, signor randegger, are also admirable. but other editions exist which do not bear the same imprint of authority, or conscientious care in their revision, as do the versions just mentioned. in the edition of the well-known air "_j'ai perdu mon eurydice_" (_che farò senza euridice?_) from _orphée_ (gluck), revised by madame pauline viardot-garcia, no mention is made of two traditions which have been used and handed down by a number of the most famous singers of the rôle of orphée. i give them here: [music: (as printed) déchire mon coeur. j'ai perdu mon eurydice (traditional changes) ah! déchire mon coeur. j'ai perdu mon eurydice] the change on the third repetition of the principal theme is quite in accordance with the license then accorded in such airs. in a special version of the opera _armide_ (gluck), revised and edited by the late sir charles hallé, the first bars of the great air of armide in the first scene of the fourth act, "_ah! si la liberté_" (ah! if my liberty must from me then be taken), are printed thus: [music: ah! si la liberté] the situation is where armide perceives the knight renaud in the gardens of her enchanted palace, whither he has come to destroy the sorceress on account of her magic arts. although the enchantress knows that the mission of the knight is to deprive her of liberty, she herself succumbs to the fatal passion of love. i have briefly described the scene in order that my meaning may be clear. in the second half of the first bar, the _acciaccatura_ was never intended by the composer to be actually sung as printed. it was his only way of indicating the sob or sigh whereby armide finishes her exclamation, "ah!" the effect is called "the dramatic sob," and is known to every opera-singer. here is the composer's meaning, as far as it is possible to convey it in writing: [music: ah! si la liberté] (a _portamento_ must be made from the first note to the next, when the breath must be taken quickly to give the idea of a sob or sigh.) again, in a recent edition of the same air by the distinguished composer vincent d'indy (_nouvelle édition française de musique classique_), occurs the following: [music: tu règnes dans mon coeur!] the effect of the _f_ sharp in the last bar, if sung against the harmony given, in which the preceding chord is resolved, would be intolerable. surely, the composer intended a pronounced _rallentando_ on the latter half of the bar, and a carrying of the voice by a _portamento_ to the last note. thus: [music: tu règnes dans mon coeur!] in the edition of the immortal air in the opera of _xerxes_, universally known as the "largo of handel," also revised and edited by d'indy, may be noticed the following: [music: non v'oltraggino mai la cara pace, ne giunga a profanarvi austro rapace!] of course, every operatic conductor knows that the chord in the orchestra must be played "after the voice," as the technical phrase has it. but not every pianist or organist is familiar with this usage, and the effect would be very disagreeable if given as written. it should be performed thus: [music: non v'oltraggino mai la cara pace, ne giunga a profanarvi austro rapace!] besides, why claim that a certain edition is "revised and edited," when all the care and musical knowledge seem to have been expended on the harmonies only? surely, the voice-part in these classics is not without its need of elucidation. an edition of _the messiah_, revised for performance, can scarcely be called accurate when such defects as the following occur: "and [fermata symbol over "they"] they ---[breath symbol] were sore afraid." the following is the authentic mode of performing the phrase: "and [fermata symbol over dash] ---[breath symbol] [slur symbol and "sombre" over the following words] they were sore afraid." in the same edition for the solo singers occurs: ("behold and see"): [music: if there be any sorrow like un_to_ his sorrow.] but by a slight syllabic rearrangement, the disagreeable accent on the last syllable of "un-_to_" is avoided, and the accent placed on the word "his," to which it belongs, while the composer's music remains untouched. [music: like unto _his_ sorrow.] again, in the same air occurs: [music: (as printed) like un_to_ his sorrow. (should be sung) like unto _his_ sorrow.] while recognizing the benefits conferred by some of these specially prepared editions, there remains still more to be accomplished in this direction before the work is complete. a flood of light has been thrown on the dark and nebulous places of the instrumental classics by various distinguished and highly competent musicians. it is sincerely to be hoped, in the interests of this branch of the æsthetics of vocal art, that those competent to speak with authority will do so, in order that in this direction also "the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain." i admit that this question of revising the composer's written text is an exceedingly delicate and difficult one. it should be attempted only by those possessed of the requisite authority, those who combine tact and taste with judgment and experience. to these qualities should be added a sincere and reverential desire to place in the highest relief the meaning of both poet and composer. * * * * * i have said that the license formerly accorded by composers to singers--particularly operatic singers--manifested itself in a twofold form. the second of these phases was the introduction in the body of a theme or melody, and also at its close, of embellishments. sometimes the composer briefly sketched these ornaments; at other times their places only were indicated. the ornaments in the body of an air are known as _abbellimenti_ or _fioriture_; those at its close, as _cadenze_. here is an example of the former, taken from the duet in _elisa e claudio_ by mercadante: [music: se un istante all'offerta d'un soglio vacillasse il mio genio primiero.] the following is the same passage ornamented: [music: se un istante all'offerta d'un soglio vacillasse il mio genio primiero] (as sung by mme. malibran. quoted from "_mécanisme des traits_," by de la madelaine, 1868.) the rôle of rosina in rossini's _il barbiere_ has long been a favourite peg with prime donne on which to hang interpolated ornaments for the display of their vocal agility. some of these are not always in good taste, being trivial or banal in character, thus concealing the natural charm of the original melody under a species of henri herz variations. others, however, such as those used by the patti and the sembrich, for instance, are of great originality and excellent effect. here are some of the traditional ornaments and cadenzas sung by certain famous singers of the past in rosina's entrance cavatina: "_una voce poco fa_." this air was originally written by rossini in _e_ major, the part of rosina being intended for a mezzo-soprano, and was thus sung by the late paulina viardot-garcia. this exceptionally gifted artist, possessing a voice of very great compass, was enabled to sing not only the rôles assigned to mezzo-soprano contraltos, such as orphée, or fidès (_le prophète_), which she created, but also the parts given to dramatic sopranos. mme. viardot was thus able, with some slight modifications, to sing norma, desdemona (_otello_: rossini), rachel (_la juive_), etc. the rôle of rosina has now definitely passed into the possession of florid or _coloratura_ sopranos; much, therefore, of the music is of necessity transposed, the air in question being now sung one half-tone higher, in the key of _f_. here is a change used by mme. cinti-damoreau, who sang the music in the original key. the composer wrote: [music: si lindoro mio sarà.] mme. cinti-damoreau sang thus: [music: si lindoro mio sarà.] in the same bar mlle. henrietta sontag, who sang the air a semitone higher, introduced the following: [music: si lindoro mio sarà.] rossini wrote no cadenza to the air: [music: lo vincerò!] cadenza of mlle. sontag: [music: ah! ah! ah! lo vincerò!] i have already spoken of the bad taste exhibited by some mediocre singers in covering a coloratura air with so many roulades, etc., as to render it barely recognizable. it was after hearing one of his own arias overloaded and disfigured in this manner that rossini, who was noted for his biting wit and stinging sarcasms, is said to have remarked: "what charming music! whom is it by?" bellini, donizetti, and composers of their school, sometimes did little more than hand over to the singer engaged to create their works a rough sketch, as it were, which the artists were supposed to fill in and perfect. singers were expected to add such _fioriture_, or "flowers," as would best display their salient points of style and individual characteristics. the cavatina, or slow movement of the aria, was the medium which called for the qualities of expressive singing, while the cabaletta was a vehicle for the display of virtuosity and technical mastery. in this latter movement, the equivalent of the rondo in instrumental music, the performer was left perfectly free to use such embellishments as set forth his own gifts to the greatest advantage. some singers excelled in bold and rapid flights of scales, chromatic and diatonic; others, in the neat and clean-cut execution of involved _traits_ or figures. it must be remembered, that the great singers of the past were perfectly competent to add these ornaments themselves, as they possessed a complete and sound musical education. more: sometimes these singers even collaborated with the composers. crescentini, the last famous male sopranist, is reputed by history or legend--the two are not infrequently synonymous--to have been himself the composer of the well-known aria "_ombra adorata_," introduced by him in zingarelli's opera _romeo e giulietta_, as also of the prayer sung by romeo in the same work. his singing of it is said to have moved his audience to tears, and gained for him the decoration of the iron crown, conferred upon him by napoleon i. the emperor also induced him, by the offer of a large salary, to settle in paris as professor of singing. when these great artists--their career as public singers being ended--began in turn to form pupils, they were admirably fitted for the task of imparting instruction, being excellent musicians, and, as i have said, composers of no insignificant merit. they had a sound theoretical knowledge, compared with which that of many of our modern singers seems but a pale and feeble reflection. the collaboration of composer and interpreter is not altogether unknown in the domain of instrumental music. is it not historical that mendelssohn profited largely from the wise counsels of the celebrated violinist ferdinand david in the composition of his concerto for violin and orchestra? this does not mean that david contributed any musical phrases or ideas to the work; but that his practical knowledge of the special characteristics and capabilities of the solo instrument enabled him to suggest how the composer's thoughts might be most fittingly presented. returning to the question of the introduction of ornaments, etc., into a composer's work, the following extract may be of interest to the musical student. it is from a volume of criticism, now out of print, a copy of which is possessed by the present writer. the article appeared in _la patrie_ more than forty years ago, and was called forth by the ornaments written by the then well-known singer and teacher of great ability, stéphan de la madelaine. these changes were for the great air of agathe in the second act of _der freischütz_, and were the cause of much discussion among the music-critics of the time. "following the example of celebrated vocal virtuosi whom he had formerly known, and availing himself of the license then permitted, the master (de la madelaine) has introduced several alterations (_changements_). these, however, in no sense clash with the original character of the air itself. "that the introduction of such ornaments has caused an outcry, is not surprising. we should remember, however, that the _freischütz_ was written at a period when, in certain places, the composer left the field entirely open to the singer, permitted him to make such changes as he might deem necessary. it must not be thought that in so doing the interpreter corrects the composer: he simply seeks to express, to the utmost of his abilities, the intention of the author. "the operas of bellini, of rossini, and, in general, of all the italian masters, are full of these intentional gaps (_lacunes_) which were filled in by the singers. nay, in the earliest days of the neapolitan school, still greater liberty was allowed; the recitatives were all improvised by the executants, and were not even noted down. each singer made his own, which the _maestro al cembalo_ accompanied with a few simple chords. "in the cavatina in _norma_, each _cantatrice_ introduces her own changes on the recurrence of the principal theme, and the public applauds. why then this outcry against the same procedure in _der freischütz_? "_that this custom or practice might lead to great abuse and that it is necessary to uproot it gradually, is our opinion._ but this radical reform can be realized only in forthcoming works; those of the ancient school ought to be interpreted by following the conventions which the composer himself has respected. "that the _changements_ written by m. de la madelaine for the air of the _freischütz_ are permissible, is proved by the fact that weber himself has sanctioned and approved them, as, if need be, a great number of contemporaries can attest." (franck-marie.) whoever has had the good fortune to hear mme. marcella sembrich in the rôle of amina, in bellini's _la sonnambula_, will have heard an excellent example of remarkable technical skill or virtuosity, with irreproachable taste regulating its display. the ornaments and changes used by her in the _rondo finale_, "_ah, non giunge_," are models of their genre. what else could be expected of an artist so gifted as to be able to perform the lesson-scene in rossini's _il barbiere_ (introducing therein the air with variations by proch) in italian; and in the course of the same scene sing, in german, "_ich liebe dich_," by grieg, and play the andante and rondo russe, for violin, by de bériot, and a valse by chopin on the piano? the opera, _la sonnambula_, requires much rearrangement both of the music and of the verbal text, to which it is badly fitted. the greater part of the music written for elvino has to be transposed, mostly a third lower, in order to make it practicable under existing conditions. no effect whatever could be made were a cantatrice to follow implicitly the written notes of this opera, such being merely a rough sketch, as it were, of the composer's ideas, which the singer is supposed to complete. several instances from the andante "_ah! non credea mirarti_," will suffice to prove this. the following is the printed version. [music: ah non credea mirarti, sì presto estinto, o fiore.] this is but a suggestion of the composer's idea. the artist will therefore not follow too closely the printed version; but following the evident indications for a pathetic and expressive _cantabile_ will perform it thus: [music: ah! non credea mirarti, sì presto estinto, o fiore.] again a brief outline, as printed: [music: passasti al par d'amore, che un giorno, che un giorno sol durò.] which, if sung as follows, fills in the details: [music: passasti al par d'amore, che un giorno, che un giorno sol durò.] also the passage in the same aria, where amina sobs as she slowly lets fall to the ground the blossoms given her in the first act by elvino, requires an entire rearrangement of the syllables to bring out the composer's meaning. [music: che un giorno sol durò, passasti al par d'amor, d'amor.] let any one go over this passage carefully, and he will be convinced that it is, as i have said, merely a sketch of the composer's idea. as it stands in the published version it is impossible of execution, and if it were possible, would be devoid of all effect: the syllables being wrongly placed, no opportunity for breathing is given the singer, and the final cadenza is marred by being allotted to the word "amore." here is a revision of the latter, the cadenza being one i wrote for a pupil, mme. easton-maclennan, of the royal opera, berlin: [music: che un giorno sol durò, passasti al par d'amor, ah! d'amor.] it will thus be seen, from the numerous foregoing examples, that these ornaments and interpolations are not added from a vulgar idea of correcting or improving the composer's music, but are strictly in accordance with certain conventions thoroughly understood by both composer and singer. to omit them, or follow too closely the printed text, would be to ignore the epoch, school and character of the music; a careful study of which forms one of the cornerstones of interpretation. a skilled artist will always strive to analyze and interpret the intentions of the author. if one to whom is confided the vocal part of a composer's work were to limit himself to a mathematically correct reproduction of the written notes only, instead of searching below the surface for the author's meaning, his performance would merely resemble the accurate execution of a _solfeggio_ by a conscientious scholar. it would have the same relation to high artistic effort as the photographic reproduction of a landscape bears to the same scene as viewed and transmitted to canvas by a great painter. the sincere artist will carefully consider every detail. he will not be content to study his own part only, but will study the orchestral score which accompanies it. he will, in fact, follow the example set by good string-quartet players, who listen attentively to the other instruments during rehearsals, so that the perfect welding together of the different parts may form a homogeneous whole. such an artist, in complete possession of the mechanical resources of his art, will utilize them all to embody perfectly that which, with the composer, existed only as a mental concept, inadequately transcribed, owing to the limitations of his media--pen, ink and paper. and it is only when in possession of the authentic traditions of oratorio and opera that the singer, such as i have supposed, will be able to vivify these great creations, will be able to invest them with warmth and colour, and thus make clear all their meaning, reveal all their beauty. chapter v répertoire although répertoire forms no integral part of style, being rather the medium for its practical application, a few words on this important subject may not be out of place. the répertoire necessary for a singer may be divided into two sections, opera and concert. the latter includes oratorio and cantata. in spoken drama, a performer may begin his career by playing the youthful lovers, and end it by impersonating the heavy fathers. he may first sigh as romeo, and later storm as capulet. not so in opera, or lyric drama, where the line of work to be followed is determined at the outset by the type of voice possessed by the aspirant, and which line (or _emploi_, as it is termed) he follows of necessity to the end of his professional career. i know there are some few instances of artists who, later, have successfully adopted rôles demanding another range than the one needed for their earlier efforts. but it is an open question whether the performer's instrument really changed. it must either have been wrongly classified at one of the two periods, or the vocal keyboard--so to speak--transposed a little higher or lower. the character of the instrument remains the same; a viola strung as a violin would still retain its viola quality of tone. the case is different where a soprano who may have begun by singing the florid rôles of opera, has so gained in volume of voice and breadth of style as to warrant her devoting these acquisitions to characters requiring more dramatic force than was needed, or could be utilized, in coloratura rôles. mlle. emma calvé, mesdames lilli lehmann and nordica, are notable examples of this. each of these distinguished artists began her career by singing what are known as "princess" rôles, before successfully portraying carmen or the brünnhildes. as a rule, it is by singing many different rôles that the lyric artist gains the skill and sureness that may ultimately render him famous in a few. mlle. grandjean, now principal first dramatic soprano at the paris opéra, began her career there--after a few appearances at the opéra-comique--by singing the very small part of the nurse magdalene in wagner's _die meistersinger_. perseverance, if allied to ability, can accomplish much. when the type of voice and the natural temperament of the singer do not accord--as sometimes happens--he would be unwise not to adhere to the work for which his vocal means, not his preference, are best adapted. to follow the contrary path, and essay rôles requiring for their fitting expression more dramatic fire and intensity than his vocal instrument can supply, would be to shorten his career, owing to the certain deterioration and possible extinction of the voice. there are sufficient voiceless examples to prove, were proof needed, the truth of this assertion; and their atonic condition is due to the cause mentioned. the first requisite for the aspirant who wishes to follow the operatic career is undoubtedly a voice possessed of the three essential factors of quality, power and compass; what is termed in italy a "_voce di teatro_," or voice for the theatre. but an opera-singer is actor as well as singer, and in this direction more--much more--is now demanded of him than formerly. but to those possessed of what is known as the instinct of the theatre, or scenic instinct, the gestures and attitudes of the operatic stage, being largely conventional, are soon acquired. scenic accomplishments are undoubtedly necessary to the stage-singer, but his mimetic studies should not preclude him from making himself a thorough master of the vocal side of his art. there is a difference between an actor who sings, and a singer who acts. besides the mimetic faculty, certain physical gifts are also needed by the opera-singer, according to the requirements of the line of rôles to which he is inevitably assigned by the nature and type of his particular voice. it is true that stage artifice has now reached great perfection; but it has its limits, and cannot accomplish miracles. it requires much imagination and great generosity on the part of the public to accept a tenor, whose waist-girth would not unfit him for the part of sir john falstaff, as a youthful and romantic romeo, or a half-starved and emaciated rodolphe. illusion is rudely shaken, if not absolutely dispelled, in witnessing a soprano, whose age and _embonpoint_ are fully in evidence, impersonate a girlish gilda or a consumptive traviata. such discrepancies may be overlooked by the public in the case of old established favourites, but it would be unfortunate for the débutant to commence with these drawbacks. and yet there have been a few famous artists whose extraordinary vocal talent atoned for other very pronounced defects. such an one was the pisaroni, a celebrated contralto, said to have been so ill-favoured that she always forwarded her likeness to any opera director to whom she was personally unknown, who offered her an engagement. but so exceptional were her voice and talent, that certain of her contemporary artists have declared that by the time pisaroni had reached the end of her first phrase, the public was already conquered. as personal preference is very often mistaken for aptitude or natural fitness, a lyric artist is not always the best judge as to which of the rôles in his répertoire are really fitted to display his abilities to the best advantage. the singer combines in himself both instrument and performer; therefore he rarely, if ever, hears himself quite as does another person. until possessed of the ripened judgment gained by experience, he would do well to be guided in this matter by one who, to the knowledge required, adds taste and discernment. that a liking or preference is sometimes mistaken for the aptitude and gifts necessary for the successful carrying out of certain work, is too well known to be even questioned. it is the constantly recurring case of the low comedian who wishes to play hamlet. a young tenor whose great vocal and physical advantages made him an ideal duke in _rigoletto_, a fascinating almaviva in _il barbiere_, found but little enjoyment in life because his director refused to allow him to try otello and tannhäuser, for which he was vocally unfitted. never show the public what you cannot do, is the best advice that can be given in such cases. even the finest and most experienced singers are occasionally liable to make mistakes in the choice of rôles. madame patti once sang carmen, and madame melba essayed brünnhilde; but i am not aware that either of these famous cantatrices repeated the experiment. * * * * * for those who intend to follow a concert-singer's career, there is a vast literature of vocal music specially written for this purpose, from which to select. there are few modern operatic excerpts which do not suffer somewhat by being transplanted from the stage to the concert-platform. in no case is this more clearly proved than in the selections so frequently given from wagner's music-dramas. of course, i am speaking more particularly of those extracts which require the services of a vocalist. such selections given in the concert-room are in distinct violation of the composer's own wishes, frequently expressed. besides lacking the necessary adjuncts of gesture, costume and scenery, the musical conditions of the concert-room are very unfavourable to the unfortunate singer. he has to struggle to make himself heard above the sonorities of a powerful orchestra generally numbering over a hundred musicians, and placed directly around and behind him, instead of on a lower level, as in the case of a lyric theatre. besides which, wagner's works can now be heard in all large cities under the conditions necessary for their proper presentment, and as intended by their author-composer. therefore, there is no longer the same reason as may have existed years ago, for the performance of extracts at purely symphonic concerts. in cases where the singer has to select numbers for a symphonic concert and to be accompanied by an orchestra, there is a mine of wealth, not yet exhausted, in the operas of the older classic composers. these, being less heavily orchestrated than the ultra modern works written for the theatre, do not suffer in the same degree from the different disposition of the orchestral instruments. there are also a few vocal numbers with orchestral accompaniments written in the form of a "scena," such as the "ah, perfido" of beethoven, and the "infelice" of mendelssohn, which might possibly form an agreeable change to the frequenters of symphonic concerts, jaded a little, perhaps, with the oft-repeated "dich theure halle" and "prayer" from _tannhäuser_. in order to render them more in keeping with the conditions of symphonic concerts, orchestral accompaniments, to many songs by the classic composers, have been made by excellent musicians from the original piano-part. the ethical question involved in the presentation of such works in a form other than that written by the composer, need not be considered here. each artist must decide the matter for himself. so far as songs with accompaniments for the piano are concerned, there is a mine practically inexhaustible and from which new treasures are constantly brought to light. for recital purposes, the choice and sequence of a programme is second in importance only to its execution. and although suppleness and adaptability are valuable, even necessary, qualities, in a concert-singer, he will sometimes find that certain songs--admirable in themselves--are unsuited to him, for reasons which it is not always possible to define. in such cases it is not a matter of compass, or _tessitura_, of voice, or even temperament; there is some hidden lack of sympathy between the composer and his interpreter. a song should seem like a well-fitting garment; not only admirably made, but specially designed for the person who wears it. chapter vi conclusion the art of singing is at present in a period of transition; and all unsettled conditions are unsatisfactory. former standards are being thrown down; and the new ones are not yet elected, or, if chosen, not yet firmly fixed in the places of the old. all arts have a period in their history when they seem to reach their culminating point of technical perfection. perhaps this point is reached when the art is practised for its own sake, without giving much consideration or attributing special importance to what it expresses. sculpture reached its apogee under the greeks, who, more than any other race, prized form--particularly as manifested in its highest expression, the human figure. painting also was at its climax of technical development during the renaissance, when life was full of movement, and costume picturesque. but at this period in each of the two arts, skill was regarded as of more importance than the subject. in other words, the perfection of the sculptor's statue or the scene depicted by the painter was of more interest and importance than the object or scene itself. if the work were admirably executed, the story it told had relatively little importance. singing, which is speech conveyed through music, similarly reached its highest point of technical excellence when the voice of the singer was considered as little more than a mechanical instrument; when beauty of tone-quality and perfect virtuosity were the only ends for which to strive. this period was at its height with farinelli, caffarelli, gizziello, and ended perhaps with crescentini. that these singers possessed extraordinary technical skill, or execution, is amply attested by the exercises and airs, still extant, written for them by porpora, hasse, veracini, and others. that they also had musical sentiment or expression, is authoritatively proved from the emotion caused in their auditors by their performance of a slow movement or _cantabile_. but it was musical expression only, and as if performed on a solo instrument, as a flute or violin, which does not possess the faculty of uttering words. the operas in which these singers appeared had some plot or story, it is true; but its importance was of the slightest--analogous to, and of the same value as, the subject in painting and sculpture at corresponding periods of their history. but singing, like these two sister-arts, has passed the period when it was, or could be, appreciated purely for the perfection of its technique. it has developed and broadened in other directions, and more now is demanded of the singer than mere mechanical perfection. composers--notably gluck--began to perceive the great possibilities to be attained by the development of the greek lyric ideal; that is, the presentation of the poetic idea by, and through the medium of, music; instead of being, as formerly, merely its excuse, a framework for the musician upon which to hang melodies. although gluck, like all innovators, was considered by his contemporaries as a revolutionary and iconoclast, he only strove to develop and perfect an art that had already existed in a primitive form. this was the art of animating a poetic idea by means of melopoeia; which wagner later developed still further. * * * * * gradually, two essentials of good singing--tone-quality and truth of intonation--began to be neglected. but why should either of these two factors be less essential to a singer than to an instrumentalist? of late it has been tacitly assumed, if not boldly claimed, that sentiment, passion, temperament, atoned for--even if they did not entirely replace--voice and lack of skill in the artist. but what constitutes an artist? art has been defined by an english lexicographer as "doing something, the power for which is acquired by experience, study or observation;" and an artist, as "one skilled in the practice of any art." the french writer d'alembert says, "_l'art s'acquiert par l'étude et l'exercice_" (art is acquired by study and practice). if these definitions of art be accepted, its external expression or manifestation is essential through some vehicle or medium, otherwise there is neither art nor artist. concepts or ideals have their genesis in mind, but were they to remain there, the poet, painter, sculptor or musician (composer or interpreter) would have no right to the title of artist, because his concepts remained in thought-form only, and unexpressed. therefore, as a composer can be accepted as artist only when he has given that to the world which entitles him to the distinction, how can his so-called interpreter be considered an artist when, through insufficiency of technical ability, he is unable to present satisfactorily the author's concept? no matter in what abundant measure such a performer may possess the good qualities of earnestness, conviction and sincerity, he is not an artist. "_poeta nascitur, non fit_," has long been accepted as a truism; and similarly, it is supposed that the artist also is born, not made. but seeing that the mechanical side of any art is learned by experience, study, or observation--still to quote the definition--without which an adequate manifestation of that art is impossible, then certainly the artist is made. he is born with certain qualities necessary for the artist, it is true; but failing his technical skill, these other gifts can never be fully utilized. it is to be deplored that the studies of many vocal aspirants are not conducted on the same plan that is followed by those who desire to attain perfection on a musical instrument. these acquire a technique, and learn or study many works which may broaden or perfect their style, before commencing to prepare a répertoire. the opposite course is followed by many students of singing, who study rôles, instead of learning first how to sing. the full meaning of the highest examples of the modern lyric drama can be made apparent only by those who have fully mastered the vocal, as well as the mimetic, side of lyric art. too much importance is, in my opinion, attached to the latter branch, at the cost of the former. i repeat, an opera-singer should be a singer who acts, not an actor who sings. * * * * * on the occasion of the bestowal of awards at the paris conservatoire in august, 1905, m. dujardin-beaumetz, under-secretary for the fine arts, in his address to the students made pointed allusion to the difference of results between the instrumental classes and those for singing. said the orator: "it is claimed that singing is in a state of decadence, and that the cause is largely due to the style of modern music. it is rather owing to the fact that this art is not studied at present with the same methodic diligence that formerly obtained. i would remind the students of singing that they gain nothing by neglecting the earlier studies, and that their professional future would be better assured if it rested on a solid basis of vocal technique. it is, therefore, in their interest that, with a view to assure this important point, certain reforms will be instituted."[6] [footnote 6: one of these reforms was that the first year's study is to be devoted entirely to tone-formation; no attention being paid to the employment of the tones in melody. nor are the professors of singing at the conservatoire now selected--as was formerly the case--exclusively from among ex-opera-singers.] the professors of the classes for singing were also advised to draw more on the great classic writers for the voice, instead of confining themselves principally to the operatic répertoire. every art reaches its apex of perfection, and then seems to decline; it may even temporarily disappear. but, being immortal, it is never lost. it finds other modes of manifestation, and reappears in other forms. the principles on which it is founded do not change; but constantly changing conditions necessitate a new application of these principles. this necessity was acknowledged for poetry itself by andré chénier: "_sur des pensées nouveaux, faisons des vers antiques._" (let us embody modern thoughts in classic verse.) music follows the great laws of development to which all things are subject. it would be foolish, nay, impossible, to try to resuscitate an old form of art. foolish, because the art itself would have lost all except its archaic charm or interest; impossible, because conditions have so completely changed that the attempt would be merely the galvanizing of a corpse, not its reanimation. similarly, the art of singing can be successful only in proportion as it recognizes the existence of other conditions. these it meets by observing the old principles, but changing their mode of application. the education of the singer of to-day requires to be conducted on broader and more comprehensive lines than in the past, on account of the different conditions which have presented themselves. singing--that is, the alliance and utterance of music and poetry--is one of the highest manifestations of the beautiful, and is man's supreme and greatest creation. therefore, singing will not seek in future to rival a mechanical instrument. it will, it is evident, give to the poetic idea a prominent, though not a predominant, place. but this poetic idea can be revealed to the listener only by a singer who is master of all the technical phases of his art. these component parts of his vocal education must of necessity comprise--as was laid down in the opening chapter of this work--pose of voice, technique, style, and répertoire. it has been demonstrated that the first of these elements is essential, because the other stones of the complete structure cannot be successfully laid on an insecure foundation. the singer must have the second, or he will be unable to materialize his concept, like an unskilled carver who possesses the necessary material and tools, but lacks the technical ability to utilize either. he must possess colour, whereby his vocal palette is set with the varied tints necessary for the different sentiments to be expressed; accent, so that character may be given to the music and appropriate emphasis to the text; and phrasing, in order that he may punctuate the music effectively and the words intelligently. perfect master of these, he is in possession of all that goes to make up style. and, if these premises be accepted, it must be evident that he is in possession of the qualities that were necessary to make singers great in the past, and are indispensable to make them great in the future. [illustration: image of the book's cover] seed thoughts for singers. by frank herbert tubbs, _musical director, new york vocal institute_. [illustration: colophon] new york, frank h. tubbs, 121 west 42d street. 1897. _copyright, 1897, frank h. tubbs._ preface. there are times when one feels that he must turn from himself and receive suggestion, if not direct instruction, from some one else. originating thought is more difficult than is the taking of other thought. by delving below the thought received we learn to originate. it is not necessarily an admission of weakness, that we turn to another, for busy life uses up our mental energy and throws us into mental inactivity. it is at such times that we turn to books and teachers. thought is a substance which, as such, is only in our day being fully investigated. it is the expression of an idea and is the direct cause of all action. the slightest movement is made possible only through thought on perceived or unconscious mental activity. the more thoroughly directed actions are the expression of considered thought. habit and movement by intuition are expressions of undirected thought. changing from the latter condition to that of planned or considered action makes all action stronger and more definite. the thinking man becomes the leader of men. "seed-thoughts" are such as produce other thoughts. hardly have we reached the realm of ideas. it is a step--not long, yet well-defined--from thought to idea. this little volume does not propose to take that step. it is content to stop, in all modesty, at that place. its suggestions are sent out to busy teachers and students to lodge in mind as plantings in good mental soil. that they will take root, spring up and bear fruit, is fondly hoped. what the harvest of thought in others may be is idle to speculate upon, but the hope exists that there may be two or three times the amount used in planting when all shall have been gathered in. in this hope the "seed-thought" is sent on its mission. 121 west 42d street, new york. index. chapter i.--success. 11 chapter ii.--desultory voice practice. 27 chapter iii.--alere flamman. 43 every one can sing, 43; sustain perfectly, 44; care of body, 45; friends can help, 48; renew thought, 49; speaking and singing, 50; associates, 51; purity of method, 52; mental recovery, 53; profession or trade, 53; heart and intellect, 54; time ends not, 55; power of thought, 56; nature seldom jumps, 58; be perfect, 59. chapter iv.--perfect voice method. 63 chapter v.--a paper of seeds. 79 analyze songs, 79; fault finding, 80; recover from mistakes, 80; songs for beginners, 81; criticism, 82; wait for results, 83; all things are good, 84; little things affect, 85; musical library, 86; change of opinions, 87; reputation comes slowly, 88; study poetry, 89; mannerisms show character, 90; provide for the young, 91; there are no mistakes, 93; regularity, 94; assert individuality, 96; educing, 97. chapter vi.--cuneus cuneum trudit. 101 vocal tone, 101; true art is delicate, 104; words and tone should agree, 105; preparation for teaching, 108; experience, 111; before an audience, 112; come up higher, 113; crude voices express no emotion, 114. chapter vii.--ambition. 119 chapter viii.--music and longevity. 137 chapter ix.--activity. 147 chapter i. success. _"i am what i am because i was industrious; whoever is equally sedulous will be equally successful."_ =bach.= _"to steer steadily towards an ideal standard is the only means of advancing in life, as in music."_ =hiller.= seed-thoughts for singers. i. success. a few decades ago a clumsy, lank, raw-boned boy roamed over the hills of the state of ohio. he was not marked with the talent of many, nor was he noted for anything in particular except, perhaps, an aptness in "doing sums." bare-footed, and with scanty clothing, he appeared at a school in a village near his home and begged admission. at first he was refused. persistence overcame the opposition and he entered, becoming in a short time by his application, the leading spirit in the school. the course of study there being completed, he went to an office across in delaware as a clerk. that year, the representative to congress from delaware, when about to appoint a youth to enter the naval academy at annapolis, announced a competitive examination. the country lad competed and secured the prize. friends whom he had made raised funds for the necessary uniforms. at the end of his course a good appointment in the navy followed. visits to various countries gave him command of three languages. a change to shore duty permitted him to study law. at a recent courtmartial trial at brooklyn he served as advocate for the government so acceptably that he has been offered and has accepted, membership in one of the largest law firms in new york. the change from the rough lad to the cultured advocate indicates success. on a bench in an old-fashioned shoe shop sat a young man working at his trade. a singing teacher, passing along, noticed the rich voice of the young man, singing as he worked. the teacher inquired where he sang in church and if he sang in public. learning that the young man sang no-where, had had no instruction or education, and lacked even the clothes necessary to a respectable appearance, he interested himself in the youth and lived to see him become the leading oratorio basso of america. success! you will say these two had great natural gifts, all their faculties, and had friends. another case: a boy at six, was left as a result of scarlet fever, stone blind. nor has he since seen a ray of light. a necessary faculty to success gone, is it? to-day that young man is one of the best musicians and singers; getting $1,500 for his choir singing. success. there is within each and every one _that ability_ and _prime element_, which, properly commanded and developed, compels success. but few understand themselves or realize the power within them. without comprehension of what is within, no start toward success can be made. a reason for absence of comprehension lies in the fact that but one side of self is ever seen, and that side is the grosser one. the body--a head, a trunk, arms and legs. these we see with our physical eyes and call the object, man. we incline to think if these parts are comely, well shapen, strong, beautiful, the possessor may march on to success. "trust not to appearance." were the body the root of all things, or of especial worth, the race would be to the swift, the fight to the strong. but that seen, felt, heard, is not the real self. within the body, as a dweller and a motive power, is the ego, the real self. it is that and that only which can be developed and which possesses those attributes, compelling, bye and bye, success. it is that which must, to some degree, be understood. _be the body what it may_, the real self has the power of expression and improvement. that real self will be spoken of as the ego, and its power considered. there enters into existence at birth or early in life an indefinable something. we term it soul, spirit, mind. when we meet or associate with a person, in a short time we recognise that mind. at first we may notice the body or even the dress and be influenced by it. in time we see back of that outward covering and see the mind behind it. after, we forget the body in the acquaintance with the mind. a homely person becomes illumined with new life. a beauty loses attraction. we have learned to know the ego in our acquaintance. that ego we come to know as all there is of the acquaintance. a dozen bodies in the dissecting room of the medical college are almost exactly alike. more alike than are the suits of clothes cast off last year by a dozen men. the ego from a dozen men will have small point of resemblance. the ego has so many characteristic elements that it makes possibility of development, throughout the years allotted to man while passing over the earth's crust, _into_ anything. the body is the home of the ego and the tool for its development and action. train the body to ability to respond to the demands of the ego, and keep it healthful, and no more can be done with it. for now nothing more need be said of the body. in speaking of the cause of non-success, limited success or disaster, reference to it will be made. attributes of mind lead always in the direction of progress. ego, mind, real self, is god within us. "he breathed in his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul." that "breath of life" is god. that cannot tend downward. the attributes of god are the attributes of the ego. love, thought, sympathy, ambition, helpfulness, desire for refinement, culture, expansion--these are such attributes. is any mind lacking these? if we say yes, look within ourselves and see if they are lacking in us. accord the same faculties or attributes of mind to each of our fellow men. these attributes cultivated will cause growth of the ego as surely as it is that god liveth and we are in him. but this growth makes the ego greater and by its reaching out after the things of the world and taking them to itself, produces that which we term success. understand, then, the ego. grow it. reach and possess. these attributes are the forces within each and these forces are the elements of success. but, asks one, what is the bearing of this on our study and on our singing. it has been plain to me as a teacher, and it grows stronger every year, that all success in singing arises from a comprehension of the ego within us, and the cultivation of these attributes bearing directly upon singing and music. three only of those attributes may be considered now. first,--ambition. what would you become? yes, a musician and singer. consult one who knows your body better than you and enough of your mind to judge well, and if he says you may become one, plan your life work to making your ambition gratified. aim high. but few persons lack the capacity of singing well. the goal of most is that, to sing well. at home only, it may be. for friends, and for self-pleasure. others would become professional artists. aim at the highest and best. no ambition is too high and, provided we will cultivate the ego, no ambition will remain ungratified. do not be modest in expectancy. nothing is too good or too high, too great or too noble for the god within us. therefore plan large things. _second_--thought. having planned a broad campaign and having resolved on faithfulness, bend the thought toward the result. now, thought is not the subtle nonentity we let ourselves consider it. the text of a book recently examined is, "thoughts are things." thought is an emanation of the ego; a messenger of the mind. we shoot thoughts out by the thousands and millions. generally we fly them at random. if they strike a mark we gain a result. stop shooting them at random, aim correctly, hit the mark each time and each thought brings a result. pure thought, the thought from the ambitious ego, is upward, and when centered, concentrated on the plan which ambition has prompted, it carries that plan onward--upward--to the end, _success_. concentration of thought, say you? do we not have it? let me ask you to fix the thought on one object five seconds. tear this paper slowly from end to end and think of nothing else while doing it. probably the thought during the five seconds will embrace a dozen things besides the act of tearing. of what paper is made, how far apart the lines are, be the texture fine, how much does it cost, some other paper bought last week, where you bought it, the salesman who served you, what a frightful rainy day that was, how you caught cold and what a scolding you got at home for being out--a long way from the act of tearing. the first thought is lost. concentrate. acquire the habit of concentration. in nothing more than in thinking should we say, "do one thing at a time." concentration of thought makes steady growth of the plan of ambition's suggestion and moves it on to success. _third_--expression. every growth produces another. emerson says in substance that the end of every act is but the beginning of another. it used to be said that if a man made $5,000 he was sure to become rich--meaning that the money invested and reinvested, and added to by constant earning, would surely bring wealth. every growth of attribute of mind, be it of those mentioned or of others, develops possibilities of further growth. love, a powerful attribute of the ego, first circles in the home, then expands into the circle of friends, then reaches the business, society, the world. one begins by caring for the want of a hurt bird or other pet. he ends by raising and healing mankind. one quietly slips a few pennies into the hand of an unfortunate. he ends by being a philanthropist. one speaks a kind word. he ends by raising the fallen. these, you see, touch upon sympathy, helpfulness. each attribute expands. have you followed? isn't this true? how, then, about desire for refinement? if the others expand, will not that? a noble thought, an association with the pure in art, and beauty in poem, story, song, sky, flower, but leads us to another even more beautiful. each touch of beauty, of docility, of refinement, expands that line of our ego, and we feel ourselves raised, drawing nearer and nearer that great mind, and keeping us more and more in that grace which passeth all understanding. the end _must_ be success in our plan. mental growth means more power to grasp and wrest from circumstances and the world itself, successful prosecution of the plan which ambition framed. successful prosecution means ultimate success. in mind i hear some one say, this is good theory and a beautiful picture. what of it is practical enough for my mind. let us turn for a few minutes to a darker side and then again to the brighter, and see if a practical word does not exist for each. what prevents success, and is there false success? a few minutes ago i spoke of the bodies which the ego inhabits. those bodies possess attributes and faculties. st. paul said once that he would be out of the body and be in the spirit; meaning, as i believe, that he would rather live in the ego, and not be hindered by the body. the body must be fed and clothed. it has appetites. appetite grows, requiring more delicacies, higher spiced and richer food, and perhaps more food. clothing takes much attention, and develops pride and vanity. has not each said many a time, "if i but had time to attend to study and did not have to attend to my clothes, my food, and take the time to earn money for them, i could do so much"? true, but the body is here and if these things are not done, the ego would have no home in which to stay. the care of the body is necessary. cannot, however, even these necessary demands be somewhat reduced for the sake of attending to the ego within, more fully? if not, cannot the appetite and the pride, which, after all, give no satisfaction when all is done, be so held in check by care and reasonableness that the demands of body will not grow upon us? after all, those necessary demands of body, grown abnormal, or into the unnecessary, are not so bad as other attributes of body. laziness! light gossip! fretting! uncleanness! disease! these things _can't_ be part of the ego, for the real man is the "breath of life"--god. they must be of body. they are the things which play havoc with our time, our energy, our thought. it is a commonly accepted belief that man must be now and then on the sick bed. that commonly-accepted belief is slowly but surely disappearing before the fact that the body only becomes diseased as it is neglected, overfed or attacked by bacillæ. if a plant dies we look for the worm at its root, or the insect on the leaf. if it has had good soil, earth and sun, we expect it to flourish. the body is the same material--dust. attend it, not abuse it, and except from contagion it will serve us without disease. solomon said, "know thyself." maybe he meant know to care for the body. when this is done the ego is allowed its chance to go to success. without it, the body, full of appetite, pride, hatred, laziness, envy, fretfulness and disease, weighs with compelling force, the ego down to earth. instead of success follows failure. emancipate the ego from the body before even planning. this body and this alone can cause failure. a success arising from a pretty face, a good figure, graceful dancing, agile singing and trifling speech is false success and is worse than failure. how about circumstances and their influences? surroundings. they surely effect us. yes, but just so surely as the ego throws off the lower self, within the body, and resolves to rise, just so quick will the circumstances and surroundings begin to change. just so fast as the ego develops its attributes just so fast will appropriate circumstances and surroundings for its further growth open. like begets like. water seeks its level. seek low things on bodily planes and low friends will surround you. like is with like. raise yourself a peg and you will find those with whom you can follow. your old associates will not go with you, and some will call you mean and cry, "come back," and try to pull you back. bid them adieu and go higher. _new_ surroundings are there and will make a place for you in them. the past becomes a stepping stone and if you have cleared the ego of your own body, you will rise again. like draws like. the new friends, the new town, the new music, the new activity will lend you their aid to go higher. clear yourself at each step of the weight brought on by body and circumstances will seem different. "god helps him who helps himself." those who would pull back are by our very inertia cast off. we rise to success. the thousand things which might be well said in connection with the subject must be left. recapitulation and application to the individual singing student show these: 1st. plan, and concentrate thought on its execution. 2d. cultivate the real self and not permit the shell or body to dominate. 3d. by that command of the self, win friends and compel success. that which conduces most toward success is even disposition and geniality. these grow into kindly independence which develops for us experience. how long, ask you, will it take to become an artist? no one knows. two minds differ--in fact, no two are alike. a few months suffice to make the crudest student an adept singer; or rather, is time enough to make him sing as well as his mind wishes. from that time on the voice grows better only as the mind grows and comprehends how to further use the voice. so, then, as soon as one can sing so as to acceptably please friends, it is a duty which the pupil owes himself to sing for those whom he pleases. the effort gives him experience and prepares him to meet the next circle. as the ability grows, seek to sing before greater artists, and with the best singers. the time will come--it may be one year, two years, three years, or even more--when it is best to go before the best artists of the world and secure their commendation and their co-operation (silently it may be) to further for you the prosecution and completion of your pre-arranged plan regarding your music. what matters it how long this takes. life is, if you are using it aright, a perfection of a plan of existence which will end only when we pass over the river. a portion, more or less long, used in making a musician and an artist, is but a part of the whole, and a development of the talent lent us by the good father, and which we, by our effort, eventually return to him, added to, and made beautiful because of the heavenborn art--music--which we have absorbed to ourselves. nor is this all, for in the development of our own talent we have carried the whole world unconsciously upward nearest the pure, the beautiful and the true. chapter ii. desultory voice practice. "_nothing should be done without a purpose._" =aurelius.= "_music is never stationary; successive forms and styles are only like so many resting-places--like tents pitched and taken down again on the road to the ideal._" =liszt.= ii. desultory voice practice. european schools and teachers stand aghast at what american pupils demand and at their expectations. accustomed to the years of attention to detail and to seeing their own students willing to wait long years before good results are achieved, they naturally think the american students wild. these americans want to do in one year what europeans are willing to use three or four years for. those teachers say it cannot be done and set down american students as conceited fools. while at first glance the teachers appear right, may they not be wrong? america to-day has more inventions in use, more quick ways of working in all lines of life, and can show quicker results in all lines of activity than any other nation. methods and ways have been devised and adapted to american speed in all branches. may such not apply to study? so this item is prepared in the interest of american students, living under american conditions. it is useless to say, "we live too fast." take facts as they are and adjust our custom to the day, place and situation. until within comparatively few years the plan for cultivation of the voice and preparation for song singing was to sing a few sustained tones for warming up the voice, as the saying was, and then to sing vocalizes. in the earlier stages of practice solfeggii and vocalizes of easy range and light character were employed. as these were acquired, similar ones of greater difficulty were used and as the singer gained confidence in himself and ability to sing better, the exercises were still increased in difficulty. the time employed in study extended over several years and with the result that those who had patience and perseverance became able to sing. not one, however, in a thousand, who studied ever arrived at a point which allowed him comfort in his singing or pleasure to his hearers. that is, to the idea of a practical mind, desultory voice study. it may be adapted to the contented plodding of an old world civilization, but is not in keeping with the age of electricity or of gigantic schemes. it must be kept in mind by every one that "old things have passed away and all things have become new." the very association about us makes mind keen to rapidity of action, speaking from incisive thought. a plodder stands back while the brilliant man moves to the front. by the plodder is meant he who is _willing_ to go slowly. by the brilliant man, he, though he may not have more native talent than the other, has by calling to his aid those commanding elements of success, moved surely and therefore swiftly, through the perplexities of every existence, to the front. every thing which cuts off wastefulness of time becomes a weapon with which to fight perplexities. in such an active life, he who would cultivate the voice and become a musician must map out for himself a course of study which will give him the best results in the quickest possible time. it is patent to every one who intelligently teaches that the road followed during the last few generations lacks these short roads to success. one asks, and with justice, if we have now found the royal road to learning which it has ever been said does not exist. if that means the road by which, at one bound, we reach perfection, the answer must be that no royal road has been found. there have been planned, however, ways of procedure which must shorten the trip. i know not when man first practised dentistry but this i do know, that the doctor of dental science who works on lines of even one generation back is valueless. to-day the terrors of the dentist's chair are reduced to a minimum, if not entirely removed. photography, a science of our day, has swiftly grown to an art. i recall a photographer who in 1870 was noted for perfect work. he was so satisfied with himself and his work that he neglected to use the new ways which were being discovered. in 1880 his work was considered so bad as to be condemned by all and his studio was forsaken. printing by the sun had not been discarded but how to use the science had been carefully advanced--wasteful and slow method discarded, and surer and better results obtained. is a musician less keen of perception and adjustment to circumstances than the dentist and photographer? pride rebels against an affirmative answer. then the natural deduction is that he has learned to apply new ways and methods, by and through which he can produce surer and more beautiful results than could his predecessor in his profession. as a first step toward progress he recognised the faults of the old way and sought a change from them. the chief of the faults lay in seeking to cultivate a sound. he said in substance, then, that "since cultivating a sound is wrong i consider that no such thing as sound exists. it cannot be perceived by any of the senses. it cannot be seen, tasted, smelt, felt, or even heard." (parenthetically, it may be said if one takes exception to the latter statement, that proof is given of the truth if one sings into a phonograph. the singer cannot recognise what the instrument sounds back as _his_ voice. others may recognise it but he cannot. the hearing of my voice by another, no matter how much _he_ may tell me about it, does not show me how it sounds, and i must conclude that i cannot hear it.) since none of the five senses can bear upon sound, for cultivating it, sound, or tone if you wish to call it so, is worthless. this then which the old teachers watched for years, was intangible, and to watch it to-day and to try to form singers by manipulating so subtle a thing, produces wastefulness, and desultory practice. go to the foundation. what produces voice? vibration of air reservoirs. what governs the air and gives the vibration? muscle. what are muscles, where are they, how can they be managed? they are contained within the portion of the body between the waist and the eyes, and form, while used in voice production, about all of that portion of the body, and they can be managed by the understanding and command of the mind. the general understanding of vocal anatomy, and the positive control of that anatomy that it may do just what the will demands is the foundation of voice practice. such positiveness makes possible the rapidity of vocal development akin to the surety of the dentist's art and the certainty of the photographer. the prime fault of old methods is, at one stroke, cut away. a new growth on the foundation appears. many musical journals discuss methods, italian, french, german. even wonder if we will ever have an american method. such discussion is waste. there is _one_ method. _all_ schools build on it. he who understands it best and is surest in teaching it, gives best result and is the best teacher. he, the best teacher, is such only when he applies his mind to each and every act of his pupil and banishes for the time being every other thought from mind. in a proper lesson every minute is used thoroughly. no sixty seconds can be thrown away. the mind of the teacher alert to the necessity of his charge makes every minute tell. with this as a preamble, turn to the pupil who is by himself to avoid desultory practice. you have a voice. every one has. yours, you know, is a very good one. you want (not, would like) in the quickest time to make it do just what you conceive a fine singer should do. then, know what is to be done, understand how to do it, and do it. the boys say "one to make ready, two to prepare, and three--." but you stand around making ready, preparing so long. why? do you know what is to be done? ask the teacher, and don't let him evade positive instruction. garcia, when asked the cause of jenny lind's great success, replied "she never tried to do anything 'til she knew how. more than once she has come to my house of an evening and said 'i did not fully understand what you told me to-day. will you explain it again?' after that she never needed to be told again." at a lesson understand what is taught. don't pretend you do when you do not. after going home from each lesson, write in a book kept for that purpose what has been said at the lesson. read that book often. this will fix in mind, as well as preserve for reference, the instruction, and make sure the understanding of it. then it is for you to do it. once the pianist played scales by the hour to limber the hand; now he thinks only of the muscle which causes each finger to strike, and makes that muscle work at once. what formerly took months to do he now does in days. desultory practice is avoided. a teacher in a certain city complained that another teacher got pupils by advertising quick method. cut off desultory practice, apply mind where brute force has formerly held sway, and quick method is the result. one reference to complaint brings others to mind. the most precious commodity known is time. twenty-four hours only in a day. how little and how valuable. yet if all is conserved, how much and how great. masonic instruction divides the day into three portions; one for our usual avocations, one for good of self and family, and one for refreshment and sleep. so much for instruction. can some wasteful acts of life be reduced or eliminated, that we may economize time, and what is better, form habit of utilizing all of the precious commodity? what a lesson one can draw on these elevated trains. each morn, a man (one man, or how many think you?) enters and finds a seat. immediately he is into his newspaper. a half hour later he gets out, having arrived at his station. what has happened? he has read the newspaper. no, he _hasn't_ read the newspaper. ask him what he has learned. he can't tell you. one item, two, three, perhaps--and these of little value. that is not reading. it is cursory glancing, desultory and wasteful. stop it. thirty precious minutes gone. a glance at a paper (provided one knows the general make-up of the paper he reads) tells him all in it of value. six minutes is enough, except when something of unusual moment is to be read, and that doesn't happen once a month. the other twenty-four minutes should go into some other purpose. a book, magazine, play, or even silent thought will give value for the twenty-four. at night, on the way home, the man skims through an evening paper. almost one hour of the twenty-four thrown away. compute the amount of educational advancement possible to this city were the hundreds of thousands of hours thrown away daily to be used in progressive study or thought. you and i help to waste, do we? the command of the mind is the underlying need of the student. it has come into thought that should one apply himself every minute to some work that he would fatigue and wear out. he could not stand it. wrong. the mind cannot wear out, even if it can fatigue. rest is the opposite of unrest, and unrest is equivalent to fatigue. the superficial reading or skimming, shifting of thought through the thousand objects which come before the mind gives the unrest and through it, the fatigue. stop the unrest, and let rest abound. rest comes through definite change of work. the man who leaves his office, rushes to mountain and farm, sees new scenes, faces, customs, eats new food, rides, fishes, swims, climbs and dances, is the one who comes back rested. there has been no unrest, but radical change. the first assistant engineer of the new york aqueduct was to me at one time an object of astonishment. it was said of him, "when he works, he works; when he plays, he plays; whatever he does it is for the time all in the world to him." at that time he held an important engineering position, was an officer in a military organization, secretary of a yacht club, active in church society, leader in literary circles in classic boston and never was rushed. the change of work was the secret of it all. rest came by turning out of mind what did not pertain to the act then in hand. every act was new. of a certain minister it is said "he can do more in ten minutes than most men do in a day." his church has fifteen hundred members and his sunday school a larger number. calls, sermons, the sick, weddings, funerals, the poor (for he had four charity societies), his family, young people's societies,--yet he has time for all and he sees callers, more in one week than you and i do in a year. how does he do it? what you and i waste time upon, he does not. no gossip, worry, standing before a mirror, dozing over dinner, or unrest for him. vary the monotony a little and find rest. don't fear doing too much. wear out, if need be, but don't rust. it is the busy man who has lots of time. do you want advice, a helping hand? avoid the lazy man, for he has no time for you. the busy man has. why is it that the busy teacher draws the most pupils? were he to half teach ten pupils they would leave him and no more would come. because he can attend to forty, and that by making to each a profitable half-hour, forty more come. the half supplied teacher is less able to teach his small flock than the pushed teacher. he _must_ turn quickly from act to act and thus keep rested, by change of scene, pupil, music and vivacity. "can you jump immediately from a lesson to the desk and write one of your magazine articles?" asks one. nothing easier. fix the mind on what is to be done that minute, and do it. it makes a heaven of earth. instruction which is not practical is little worth. you are interested in improving yourselves vocally. to you let me plan a first step toward preventing desultory voice practice. under four headings. practical ones. _first._--establish customs. the best one i know is to plan in advance to accomplish certain things. make up the mind what you would like to do. each night make out a little card of what is to be done next day. probably not half the things planned will be executed, at first. what of it. some have been done; but better, that unconscious growth which carries custom into habit will be developed and the system which will grow out of the custom of preparing the cards and attempting to work out that which was planned, will cut off more wasteful minutes than you admit are in your day. after a time it will come that all the items you write on the card at evening will not be too much to do on the following day. compare the card of the thirtieth day with that of the first and you will find you wrote quite as many (if not more) things to do and now you can do them all, and feel no hurry and far less fatigue. will you try that? _second._--give certain times each day to certain things. you can't? you can. i'll give proof you can. having planned what is to be done the next day and allowed that custom to become habit, will develop such regularity that each hour will have its regular work and nothing will crowd it out. the system produces it. turn a kaleidoscope. each jarring makes new adjustment of figure. your duty is a kaleidoscope. the proof is that every one who _tries_ such adjustment, succeeds. the school boy knows the time of bell ringing, the hour for arithmetic, geography, etc. the train man knows the minute to be at each station. the clerk or workman is ready to stop work at a certain time. certain theatres announce what scenes will be on at every minute of the evening. you think and would say, "but these admit of no interruption, and i may have interruptions." to which i say "these _permit_ no interruption, and if you were as systematic, you would permit none." a friend calls at the door to see you. you waste five minutes (only five?) talking to him. think it over. was that necessary? couldn't it have been said in two--one, or less? next time, kindly, but firmly excuse yourself. if the friend thinks you snubbing, you can afford that, for the friend is a wasteful one and better be dropped than allowed to spoil you. the fault when we waste time is in us, not in the friend. a lady called recently. "your time is valuable. i'll say in one word what i want." 'twas said, and she went. kind lady! to whom? me? not at all. she is one of the busiest women in the city and couldn't afford to give much of her time to the errand, but neatly complimented, in order to cover what some might call selfishness. be wise. that kindly habit comes from preventing waste. _third._--banish every low or lowering thought. for now, for no reason except to save time, and help form habit which prevents waste. every thought has its sure influence. every thought of envy, hatred, jealousy, of crimes, accidents, misfortunes, sorrows, our own or those of others, is an evil. it takes time out of life and saps life-activity. supplant it with pure and good thought. health, brightness, pleasure, art and beauty are subjects which lift. upward, upward, toward heaven! that must be the student's mental attitude. enough would drag down. cast the down view away. look up and go up. you do not study for the purpose of going downward. upward again to the top--and _you_ must do it by having your thought good and pure. _fourth._--interest friends in your practice. only one word about that. no one can long go in any mental work alone. progress _is_ mental work. rising draws others to and with us. see a little whirlwind take up the dust. it gathers more and more until a column twenty or thirty feet high is before us. tell father, mother, friends, those you can trust, what you hope to do and what your efforts to accomplish that, are. seeing you in earnest they will help--with misgivings at first, may be, but they will join the column and make one with you sure. summary, briefly. by systematic utility, every minute contributes to progress, forming habits which prevent wasteful thought and fatigue. the customs of former years need not be followed because direct result will come from direct application of thought to study. old world ways and past generation ideas do not belong to-day in either teacher or pupil, and, therefore, are to drop out. the wastefulness of uncertainty and evil in mind may be overcome by directness of effort until good habit crowds out the evil. the first and all important step is the plan of action. acknowledge no limitation to growth. love soundness, careful thought, steadfast purpose. chapter iii. alere flamman. "_his tongue was framed to music, and his hand was armed to skill; his face was the mould of beauty, and his heart the throne of will._" =emerson.= "_slow, indeed, at times, is the will of the gods, but in the end not weak._" =euripedes.= iii. alere flammam. everyone can sing. the culture of the voice has come to be looked upon as a great and serious undertaking, and of such magnitude that but few have time for it, and those only should attempt it who have exceptionally fine voices. this is a mistake. nearly everyone can sing, and if all would attempt to improve the voices they have by observing a few common-sense rules, it would soon be apparent that there are many more good singers among the masses than it is supposed exist, and these singers will learn how much can be done to add to their own comfort, by a little outlay of thought. culture of the voice has been made a mystery by charlatan teachers and for a purpose. think out how the conversational voice works and then consider what difference there should be between that and the singing voice. nature planned the speaking voice and in doing it, gave us the line of development to follow in bringing into use the singing voice. the change from speaking to singing voice is where the quack enters with his mystery. there is no mystery. use the voice as in speaking but pitch it at higher and lower points than are used in speaking. this is the foundation of the singing voice. only one caution is needed. never strain the throat. if, after a little practice, fatigue is felt or the tone is husky, stop practice. do not try to do it all at once. a little each day added, will, in a few months, do all that is wanted. do not expect, however, that any amount of study by one's self will make an artist. one can sing, by self-study, so as to get much pleasure, and so as to give pleasure to friends; but something more serious and extended is needed to make the artist. sustain perfectly. sustaining perfectly the reservoir of air is the greatest _desideratum_ in using the voice. acquiring ability to do so is a puzzle often to students. the reason is in the fact that no muscles which are directly under the control of the will can be caused to act upon the air column. the chief organ of respiration is the diaphragm, and as years of teaching bring experience which is definite in results, we find that the diaphragm is the only muscle which holds the air column in check. that muscle situated within the body cannot be held by any visible power. the _thought_ of holding it still will make us hold our breath. trying to assist such holding by muscles of the chest, abdomen or throat, only defeats our purpose and makes the diaphragm give way. that large muscle will do the whole work if we will let it. the thought, as said above, is what will make it remain quiet. that thought may take various forms. what assists one does not appeal to another. but here is an assisting thought which does much good to the majority of students. of course when the breath is taken the diaphragm is down and the waist is spread. then the chest, bronchial tubes, windpipe and mouth are full of air. now allow that air to be as still as the air of the room. practise sustaining tone with any vowel, preceding each effort by taking position suggested above, and with the thought of keeping the air in the body just the same as, and a part of, the outer air. then allow tone to float in the air, permitting no force whatever. care of the body. singers seem to think but little of the tools with which they carry on their life work. that is the rule. now and then a singer takes the opposite course and becomes unreasonably careful of his tools. in that case he is worse off than the careless. the "happy medium" is in all things the desirable state. our tools as singers are enclosed within the body and are the body. to have the body ready to respond to the musical demands it must be well and strong. to keep it well should be our first care. happily we are so made that by following a few simple rules of living the body goes on through a long term of years without getting seriously out of order. some persons can boast that they are never ill while many report but one sickness during a decade. the needed attention to the bodily wants, has, in these cases, been properly given. if all were as careful to do the same and not overdo the matter, perfect health would be the rule and not the exception. the body needs nourishing food, clothing to preserve nearly uniform temperature, sufficient sleep, generous exercise, and thorough cleansing. nothing more. neglect of these, or as is more often the case, overdoing some of the first, is cause of disorder and disease. a singer cannot afford to have the tools of his employment other than in first-rate condition. if he does he enters his work, unnecessarily handicapped. general advice regarding the eating and drinking is often given. making it more specific, we would say, eat only such food as is easily digested and insist that it shall be thoroughly cooked. supply the body with enough such for its maintenance only. the singer, again, cannot afford to eat what is not needed, be that of kind or amount. most persons in running a furnace will feed fuel twice a day, at night and morning. in specially cold weather giving the fire a little extra fuel at noon. this is a good rule for feeding the body. avoid over-feeding. the object of eating is to nourish the body and not to gratify appetite. it makes little difference whether the palate is pleased or not. the body could be nourished on food which does not taste so good as some other. eating, to most people, is more palate gratification than anything else. in doing so, the body is overfed and clogged. singers cannot afford that. sleep. to recover the waste of body at each days' work, quiet restful sleep is needed. eight hours, or better nine, out of each twenty-four. in a cool room where possible and with plenty of fresh air. people who eat rationally need not fear taking cold by sleeping in a room with a draught of air through it. fresh air, fresh, good food and cleanliness are necessary to the best results in singing study. no rule can be given about bathing. some students can stand a thorough bath every day. others, only once in ten days. a sponge bath, if no other, should be had daily, that the pores of the body may be kept open and clear. clothing should be sufficient to keep the temperature of the body even. no need of wrapping the throat even when going into the open air, if the temperature of the body generally is even. we do pamper our bodies and think we are uncomfortable. in one sweeping sentence, be vigorous and good-natured and the body will the better serve us. a long walk each day in the fresh air adds to that vigor, and also to our good-nature. friends can help. advice of friends is a source of value or injury to the singing student. advice has its influence. every word spoken about one's voice and singing helps or injures. if placed in a circle which condemns every effort we make we are held back by that very influence from doing our best. every judicious word of praise helps us upward. a pupil who is struggling by himself, without a word of cheer in his own home circle has a hard fight of it. for that reason it is very necessary that pupils whose desires are similar, and whose aims are toward the highest, should be gathered together. they help by their words, and often by their looks, the anxious student. "forsake not the assembling of yourselves together," applies. after a pupil's recital, a judicious teacher will tell his pupils the kind things which the others have said. if unkind things should be said (but a teacher who is himself kind will not hear unkind things) he will keep those to himself, guiding himself, however, by those comments in the future treatment of that criticized pupil. in this connection, a word to the members of the family of the student. a mother, who steps into the practice-room occasionally when she hears good singing and says, "that was good. i see you are improving," aids the student as much as a half-dozen lessons will aid. a brother who banters his sister about her singing when he really enjoys it, knows not, oftentimes, that his banter hurts and harms. to be sure, the partiality of the home circle may foster false hopes, but since nearly every one can learn to sing well if rightly trained, that will do less harm than cold indifference and cruel banter. renew thought. the teacher who does not live in high thought, and who does not attempt to attain a high ideal, does poorer work than he thinks he does. it is an easy matter to settle into a rut and to follow certain lines. these wear themselves out. new ways of imparting time-honored teaching, although they may not change the principles of teaching, must be constantly sought. they will only come to mind by keeping the thought in the highest realm of intellectual possibility to that teacher. one who contemplates with restful care, in that higher realm, the beautiful in music, the way of influencing mind, and the most direct way of causing students to attain that which they need, will ever renew his method of teaching. such renewal will contain something better than he had before. unless constant renewal, or at least frequent renewal, takes place, the rut will be entered upon. the longer one follows it, the deeper he becomes settled in it, and the harder is it to get out from it. speaking and singing. the basis of good singing is good speaking. the speaking voice in common use during conversation covers a range of five or six notes. frequently lower and higher notes are called into use, but the high and low notes of the singing voice are seldom used in conversation. the organs which produce voice, from their constant use respond involuntarily to the will. they also do correct work. it is seldom that a person, unless he has deformity, has trouble to pronounce any word or syllable, while talking. would this were true of singers. the student would greatly lessen the amount of his labor and also reduce the cost of his musical education if he were able to speak the words as correctly and as easily while singing as while speaking. it is toward this imitation of the speaking voice that one must constantly strive if he would make rapid progress in voice development. when he has reached the point where he can sing every vowel and consonant perfectly, and with as little effort as when speaking, on every tone of his singing voice, and then have that voice loud enough to be well heard in any hall, the voice is completely and well cultivated. associates. singers cannot afford to miss the chance to be among great men. as a class, musicians are narrow and that arises from the necessity of giving so much time to technical study. when the chance to meet and associate with men of broad minds comes, take advantage of it. even if the contact be not close some of the light shining from the great mind will illumine us, and will make us brighter. the great mind is drawing from inspired source, maybe, and the light which comes from that mind drives out darkness from whatever it covers. light and darkness cannot remain together. let the mind be thrown open to receptivity when one is in the presence of the acknowledged leader and good clear light, it may be from heaven, will flood the mind and illumine it. purity of method. purity of vocal method must not be departed from by teachers. the introduction of new ideas is at best a hazardous undertaking. in the routine of teaching week after week and month after month the teacher finds himself casting about for a new idea. he finds something which pleases him and tries it on his pupils. most teachers can look back at experiments which have failed. better decide on a few basic principles and cling to them. the desire to try something new is very liable to be the result of fatigue from overwork. better take a holiday; go away from the classroom and rest. come back to first principles again and go to work. the result at the end of the year will be better. every teacher as he grows older resolves his ways of cultivating the voice into something very simple but which, as it condenses, becomes more powerful. there is only one right way and deep thinkers settle on that alike in time. mental recovery. a teacher cannot do better for himself and his work than to occasionally close the office door and sit quietly by himself for a half-hour. at such time crowd out the thought of all work, all planning, all worries, and all demands. bring the mind as nearly as can be into inactivity. one will find in the hour when work is resumed that more of value will flood into the mind, he knows not from whence, than he can catch and apply in a great many hours. how many of us have times of refreshing. it is work, work, hour after hour and the wonder is that we do so much and yet do so little. leave out some of the work and call activity of mind to our aid and we will do more work with much less effort. profession or trade. an item recently seen reads, "we would rather be a music teacher in an obscure town than be a prosperous tradesman in a large city." that has the sound of enthusiasm, and is the feeling of one who has the good of his fellowmen at heart. every man who enters a profession gives up his life to do good. but few men in any professional life ever make more than a good living. some can, indeed, save enough to make occasional investments, and these (if judgment has been good) secure a moderate fortune. but no man ever became wealthy from his profession alone. a professional man, however, gratifies his better nature and satisfies cultivated tastes. a man in trade becomes so engrossed in business that his better nature (his refined taste) is dwarfed. that comfort of mind which the professional man has is more to him than the bags of gold of the merchant would be. probably the writer who made the remark quoted, had in mind the opportunity which the music teacher has to do good. it is a grand field of work, and one who has been engaged in it for several years wants no other. to lead the public by teaching and by public performance into the knowledge of the highest art, is a privilege which should be prized. the music teacher, (even if not so placed by common opinion) stands with the minister and the physician in the good which he does the community. heart and intellect. let not the heart be the ruling power all the time. if it is, art sinks into sentimentality. allow the head to rule alternately with the heart. intellect must be applied if any satisfying musical result is to be obtained. emotion is good, but it needs curbing, shaping and restraining. emotion, long sustained and unbridled, becomes nauseating. emotion in itself is beautiful, but like fire and water, if it once becomes the master, wastes and destroys. emotion, aroused by imagination and directed by intelligence, serves to give taste to all musical rendition. one without heart is non-satisfying as a singer. be he ever so intellectual, his singing is cold. intellect alone, unaided by heart, is like polished steel--cold, brilliant and dazzling. intellect and heart combined are like the same surface engraved and enamelled in artistic design--chaste, delicate and finished. time ends not. we may say with emerson that "time has his own work to do and we have ours," and with wood, "labor is normal; idleness, abnormal," but in music there must be times of cessation from labor. call it change of work, if you choose rather than admit that labor has ceased, but experience shows that no musician can safely follow his calling year in and year out, with no regular period of rest, and save his mind and body. sooner or later comes a collapse. the human machine breaks down. then we shall think of emerson and wood as unsafe leaders. time has his work, but he works in such deliberation and in such ever-changing form that were he one who could feel fatigue, he need not feel it. time is from eternity to eternity. time does not occupy a human machine. the music teacher does. many a teacher has toiled beyond his strength this year. many will next year. who will take thought for himself and break loose, if but for a few weeks, and postpone the time of breaking down? one might say, that with time, the human soul is from eternity to eternity and there is no breakdown. true, but the residence of that soul while it is in this period of existence, demands much of its attention. that cannot properly be given when the exacting duties of the class-room drag on week after week, till they number fifty-two, and then begin at once another weary round. admit that there are limitations, and, in cordial co-operation with existing laws, select and use the days of idleness, even if one has said that idleness is abnormal. power of thought. the power of thought to exert influence is only in our day being understood. how to utilize it is not yet in such degree of comprehension that it can be told so that all are able to use the force which they contain. thought is a tangible essence passing from the human mind and lodging upon the object toward which it is sent. definite thought is more powerful than is illy defined thought. speech enables us to crystalize thought and to empower it with added force. the time given to framing sentences enables us to put thought into definite form. a step beyond speech is obtained in singing. when learning our songs we revolve the thought to be expressed in mind. the measure of the music gives time to concentrate the thought contained into its most powerful form. the rhythm and vibration which accompany music and singing, enhance the power of thought. whenever we sing in the true spirit of the sentiment uttered we send out shafts, so to speak, of pure thought. not one of those is lost. it lodges somewhere, and as all good can never do harm, our good thought, sent in song, must do good to those who come within our influence to receive our good shafts. a singer who uses music for vain display loses the opportunity for good. there is no good thought in such singing. if there is any thought at all it is of the lower order. it lodges also, but it appeals to that which is vain and low in our hearers. what wonder is it, then, that ofttimes our hearers make unkind remarks about us and our singing! it is our fault that we have stirred up in them the spirit of vanity and criticism. our thought has often challenged such spirit in them. let our thought be changed, and only the good which is contained in poetic art sent out to them and their attitude toward us will change. there is no unpleasant thing which comes to us but that we stimulated it and created it. we can make our musical surroundings by sending out powerful shafts of pure thought. nature seldom jumps. nature seldom moves by jumps, and a student who reaches the best use of his voice learns that he must do that through natural laws. in other words, that he must acquire all things through naturalness. what wrongs have been done to students under the shield of so-called naturalness! many teachers who claim that they are cultivating the voice by natural laws, know nothing of what it means to be natural. naturalness means the expression of our own nature. if a teacher uses the natural method he but points out to his pupils their true natures and holds them to that correct use of such that they return to their normal condition. the necessities of our modern living have made most of us feel that we must put a side of ourselves outward which shows off well. in singing we develop abnormally something which we fancy will please our hearers and bring us applause. we try to hide our defects and admit that we do. aside from the question of honesty, is it policy to do so. most firmly, should be the answer, no! it destroys the naturalness of the singer and substitutes artifice. any spurious issue will be detected sooner or later. besides, is it not much more comfortable to have the real than the counterfeit? be natural, then. many students are impulsive. it was to these that the remark that "nature seldom jumps," was made. in natural action everything is deliberate and restful; controlled and sure. nature makes but few angles, but moves in graceful curves. good quality of tone on one note and poor quality on the next, is not natural. nature does not jump from one voice into another. nature demands symmetric cultivation of the whole voice, and not the display of a favored part. be perfect. do not be content to merely make progress. (if one feels that he is at a standstill, or worse, going backward, he should stop all study till he can go forward). merely making progress means that to reach great result, a long time must elapse. to make a great artist requires years of musical and intellectual training; to be able to sing as perfectly as the body is capable of acting, requires but a few weeks, or at most, a few months. why will students take lessons year after year and not sing any better than they did soon after they began? it is not necessary if the student is willing to go rapidly. "be ye perfect," applies to singing as well as to anything else in life. if the injunction to be perfect has any meaning at all, and no one has any right to doubt but that it meant, when it was spoken, just what the words contain, that applies very thoroughly to singing. the very essence of life itself is more fully operative in singing than it is in anything else. if so, to be perfect in singing is to be perfect also in the essence of life. the injunction was not to become perfect by a long course of training. the present tense was used and it meant just what was said. "be ye perfect," _now_. by proper mental conception of the true principle which underlies voice culture and by demonstration with concentrated thought, the possibility of any individual body can be at once brought out. on this account, the long years of wasteful practice which people use in cultivating the voice is not only unnecessary, but foolish and wicked. chapter iv. perfect voice method. "_observe how all passionate language does of itself become musical,--with a finer music than the mere accent; the speech of man even in jealous anger becomes a chant--a song. all deep things are song._" =carlisle=. iv. perfect voice method. a teacher of voice and singing who does not believe his way is the best in the world is in one of two positions:--either he is a scamp, passing off spurious goods for real worth, or he is doing the best he can in his knowledge and present situation, waiting for the time when he can obtain instruction in a better method. if a teacher believes he has the best way of teaching he has a perfect right to so express himself, and to use that method in his teaching. he may be wrong in his opinion but that does not effect his right to work on the lines of his opinion. some day something may show him he is mistaken and such a man will be very liable to correct his error and, taking the newly found way, progress in that. a teacher who knows he is far from right and still works on, is not worthy of consideration as a teacher. one who uses the profession of voice teaching merely for livelihood and who cares not whether he does good or harm is little better than criminal. such there be and such there will be until a time arrives in which teachers will be granted authority to teach from some recognized institution, without whose permission to teach, it would violate a law of the land to advertise as a teacher. just such control as is kept over medical practice will some day be had, but not in our generation. hundreds of teachers of the voice in all parts of our land are teaching up to their light, hoping the time may come, and to most it does come sometime, when they may get away from the office and study still farther into voice and music, thus making better their ability. that class has already done much for singing and music. it might be said that all that has been done has come from that class, for no teacher feels that nothing remains for him to learn. singing, too, is a subtle thing. a teacher feels every little while as if his good way were slipping from him, and if he cannot get out of his work and brush up with a master, he will lose all the ability he has. the best teachers do leave their work, go to some other teacher, may be not better than they are, and have their work inspected and made better. a salesman from a furniture house once put the matter tersely:--"when i go out from the house on a long trip, i start with a plan of what i will say and how i will make my sales. in a little while i get rusty, and saying the same things over and over again makes me hate them. then my business falls off. i go into the warerooms again for a time, hear the firm talk up goods in a new way, meet other salesmen and hear how they talk, and off i go again on my trip fresh and bright." no work gets into a groove more easily than teaching. when working in a rut the teacher produces small results. the successful teacher tries every expedient in his power to get all the result he can. sometimes, it may be remarked incidentally, he is called by a pupil lacking in appreciation and discernment, an experimenter, because he changes his plan of working. but he can endure that provided he gets definite results from his teaching. the best way for the teacher who must plod on by himself through long years is that he should once in every few months sit quietly alone and think over what his voice method is, how he is applying it, and what the result is. below is the thought of such an hour condensed into comparatively few words. the heading of this article indicates that this is the opinion of the writer at the present time. the thinking which may come in the next ten years may show he could have thought better now, but this is to him now, a perfect voice method. the voice is produced by the body; it was originally planned for speech and not for singing; attributes of the voice are range, power, quality, and flexibility; into the voice can be injected, language; the action of all physical portions are under the command of the mind. there are four portions of the body which are brought actively into use for the production and management of the voice, and these permit voice culture to be divided into four departments. these must first be brought into correct action. natural action is correct action. what the world has considered as correct action may be wrong, for on most matters the opinion of the world is incorrect. a few clear-headed men have again and again appeared in various affairs and shown the world the mistake into which it had fallen. may be this is true of voice culture. it is safe to follow nature. the first department of voice culture is, as most persons admit, the respiratory department. breathing. that goes on from the time we are born till we die. generally as children we breathe well and correctly. when manhood arrives most of us have interfered with nature's way of breathing and have interposed something quite different from that we used earlier. this has come largely from faulty civilized eating, so that the organs of digestion are constantly troubling us. the stomach, liver, etc., exert decided influence on the diaphragm which is the chief organ of respiration. we, also, have grown nervous as years have come, because of the demands of active life upon us. that nervousness keeps all the muscles of the body in a state of unnatural strain, and this strain has even caused us to breathe differently from what nature planned. the very first step toward good voice method is to bring the breathing apparatus back to working order. as said above, the chief organ of respiration is the diaphragm, and that is a large muscle which cuts across the body at the edge of the ribs. its centre, right in the middle of the body is constantly moving downward and upward. when it goes down the breath enters the body; when it comes up the breath comes out. stop that muscle and breath is held. stripped of all confusion that is all the description needed of inhalation, exhalation and breathing-holding. if some who read this would not say that this is too simple, and that they knew more than this article says, the subject would be dropped there. at most, all that can directly be added is to prolong the lowering and raising the diaphragm so that it is done by long strokes. some one says we have been taught about spreading the sides, expanding the abdomen, filling the back, keeping the chest still, and a dozen more things. examine the above, and if opposing effort to the free movement of the diaphragm in its upward and downward journey is avoided it will be found that all which is of good in inspiration and expiration is contained in the above. a most useful exercise for the development of strength in this organ of respiration is to slowly perform the act of panting in the same way that a dog pants. but about holding the breath. that is the most important thing about breathing. it says above that if the movement of the diaphragm is stopped, the breath will be held. sure enough. then why can't we all hold the breath? we can. holding the breath in that way a little while every day and caring to keep it so whenever using the voice will so complete the strength of the diaphragm that it will stay still a very long time, much longer than it takes to sing any phrase in music which is written. the majority of pupils--yes, all of us, teachers and pupils, when they seek to let the diaphragm stay still try to assist it to do so. we try to hold the breath by the muscles of the chest, by those of abdomen, or by shutting off the throat. now these do not assist the diaphragm to stay still, and on the other hand, they prevent the diaphragm from staying still. they make it move. some one says, or thinks if he doesn't say it, that unless the diaphragm moves when we begin to sing that no tone can be made. that is one of the mistakes of the world. some teachers have even said that we must press the air upward as we sing, so that the vocal bands may make it into tone. that is absurd. keep back all pressure from the vocal bands. if the slightest air pressure is put upon them they are over-worked. hold still the diaphragm and the air is held loosely suspended throughout the chest, the bronchial tubes, the windpipe and the mouth. then in this air the vocal bands work. they will help themselves to just the right amount of breath, to make into tone without any assistance from you. you can't make nature work. you can permit her to work in her own way. when we speak of the vocal bands we are talking of something which pertains to the second department of voice culture--the throat. there can be, and need be, very little said to the pupil about the throat in its action during singing. teachers do say many things. one thinks the larynx--the protuberance known as the adam's apple--ought to be pressed down, and kept so. another thinks it ought to be forced upward. still another says it should be allowed to be low at one time and high at another. there is just one way of settling the matter. how is the action when we act naturally? nature built the throat for conversational voice. if we are to use it for singing we can't do better than to follow the suggestions of nature as to the way the throat moves while speaking. then on those ways let the throat act while singing. sound several notes with the same vowel in the conversational voice and see what the larynx does. some one suggests that this ceases to be conversation and becomes singing. but it doesn't. conversation runs easily through an octave of tones. generally we use three or four tones. when we are very quiet or are sad the voice lowers a few notes. if we are very merry or are angry the voice ascends. we talk at the "top of the voice," literally. if we do so in speaking, surely we may lop off the many vowels and the consonants and speak, conversationally--on several tones. it will be found that the larynx moves freely. that being the case, he is a very foolish man who could make the larynx go down and stay there. again, with the tip of the finger on the larynx say the different vowels. it will be seen that the larynx changes position at each change of vowel. let it so change when we sing. the great opponent of such action is the stiffening of the cords of the neck--the muscles on the sides of the neck. in connection with the work to be looked after in the third department, yet to come, the way of removing that stiffness will have mention. within the larynx there are many delicate muscles which are performing their various functions. what they do, and how they do them has been the subject of study through several generations and the question is not solved. an eminent physician has for several years been photographing throats while producing tone. about four hundred different throats have been photographed. in an article published by him in january of this year, he says: "i have not yet permitted myself to formulate a theory of the action of the larynx during singing, for even now, after a large number of studies have been made, the camera is constantly revealing new surprises in the action of the vocal bands in every part of the scale." with that true, the only way open for us is to seek ease and comfort of action and never force any part of the throat to overwork. the third department in voice culture relates to the pharynx, or back of the throat. it seems as if any thinking student would realize that in order to acquire a rich tone, resonant with pure sound, the pharynx must be allowed plenty of room, yet many shut it off making a very small chamber. well, it is the teacher's work to find some way to open a roomy space. one of the best ways is to draw a picture of a cross-section of the mouth from the lips to the back wall of the throat, showing a large arch at the top of the section. convey to the pupil's mind the idea of room and he will be most liable to produce the room. sometimes, although it is of doubtful propriety to make any local application for special purpose, the use of the word oh, as an exercise, will permit the pupil to enlarge the pharyngeal chamber sufficiently for any need. this will come up later in connection with another thought. a very important branch of voice culture, the quality of tone, has to do with the pharynx. not much can be said of it now but just a little in connection with a perfect voice method. when singing, we should express something. the emotion in mind must have its appropriate setting. that setting comes chiefly from the quality, and the quality arises from the shape of the pharyngeal cavity. as in all nature's plan we must not try to _make_ the pharynx do anything. we may _permit_ it, and if we do, nature will have her way and will do just right. the emotion of the mind expresses itself upon the face. a face plastic and delicate, changes expression a hundred times a minute, maybe. just so, if we permit it, the emotion of mind expresses itself on the pharynx. we cannot see the expression of the throat as we can that of the face, but we can hear it. that the pharynx may be able to receive the expression of the mind it must be plastic and delicate. if so, just the right form will be assumed for the idea we would express, and the proper quality would be given the tone. we--many of us--don't permit this. we try to shape the pharynx. stop trying and let the muscles of the back of the throat come to a state of rest. then willing them to remain so, sing. sing anything. don't change the feeling, and good quality will fill the tone wherever the voice moves--whether it be high or low, loud or soft. so by this restful way of singing the stiffness of the cords of the neck will be removed and the larynx will move easily and flexibly. in fact, all rapid singing grows out of the restful singing. the use of all embellishments, too, comes through this restful singing. it is to be kept in mind that so long as we employ artificial methods of holding the air column, and so long as we force tones through rigid vocal bands, just so long will we be prevented from obtaining restful action of the pharynx. each part must act correctly and no part must interfere with another. the articulatory department is all which remains to be described. singing employs words, and words are made up of letters. letters are made up of consonant and vowel sounds. consonant and vowel sounds, save one alone, are made by changing the tongue or lips, or moving the jaw. there are but few changes which may be made--less than a dozen. six of those pertain to the tongue, one to the jaw and three to combination of tongue and lips. what these are need not be detailed now. sufficient to say that any action made during conversation may be made while singing and must be made in the same way as in conversation. two ideas advanced by some teachers which are very wrong should be noted. one is that the singer should practice with a spoon in the mouth to hold the tongue in place. as if nature didn't know what the tongue ought to do! the other is that the mouth should be widely opened, "to let out the tone," as old singing school teachers used to say. the tone doesn't come out of the mouth any more than out of the cheeks, chest or head. allow the tone to be made properly, then given quality and resonance by a well arched pharynx and it will come out, no matter where or how. someone asks if there is any real objection to widely opened mouth. certainly, there is. were it merely that the facial expression were destroyed, that would be enough, but that is not the worst of it. opening widely the mouth destroys the shape of the pharynx and all richness is lost. notice a bell. so long as it remains bell-shaped, it has resonant ring. bend its shape so it resembles a pan and the ring is gone. one thought more in connection with articulation. it used to be said that all attention should be given to vowels. not so, in the light of to-day. attend to the consonants and the vowels will take care of themselves. correct speech in song, only, will make good singing. while watching the resonance of the tone as made in the pharynx note the delays made by thoroughly (not violently) sounding the consonants. those delays, prolonged greatly, permit expansion of the pharynx, and perform the work mentioned before which was given the vocal sound, _oh_, to do. to sum perfect voice method up into a sentence it is that by which we command with no apparent effort the column of air, keeping it away from the vocal bands, and, therefore, permitting the quality of tone in the pharynx to be pure; that by which the larynx acts freely, with no strain upon it; that by which thought may instinctively make its impression on the pharynx to give quality to the tone; and that by which we can make consonants and vowels in that pure tone, so that words conveying the thought of the mind may go out to our hearers. chapter v. a paper of seeds. "_he who is a true master, let him undertake what he will, is sure to accomplish something_." =schumann=. "_to engender and diffuse faith, and to promote our spiritual well-being, are among the noblest aims of music_." =bach=. v. a paper of seeds. analyze songs. every song or other vocal composition should be analyzed as the first step in its study. the first theme noted, and the second also, if such there be; the connecting bars; the points which are descriptive or which contain contrasts; the phrases which may present difficulties of vocalization; the climax; and, as well, what relation the prelude and other parts of the accompaniment bear to the song. it is probable that before the pupil is capable of doing this by himself, the teacher must do it for him, not on one song merely, but on a dozen or twenty. a wise teacher will gather his pupils to hear him analyze music now and then. it saves time at individual lessons, for the analysis will be understood by a group as easily as by an individual. it matters not so much that the pupils are not to sing those particular songs, for at the gathering, the way to do the thing will be learned. then as other songs are taught at private lessons, the pupils will be prepared to receive quickly, the instruction. fault finding. pupils may be sure that teachers do not find fault with them merely for the purpose of finding fault. if the teacher is worthy [of] that respect which leads pupils to study with him, he doesn't find fault except when it is necessary, and then he does it with dignity. if the teacher is constantly fault-finding, and does it in an irritable manner, you would better leave him at once. now and then we learn of a teacher who gets his pupils so nervous that they burst out crying. it is not well to remain long with such a teacher. the pupil goes to him with fear which spoils the first of the lesson, and surely after the cry, the lesson is spoiled, for no good vocal tone can then be made. at a lesson all should be restful and dignified. recover from mistakes. next to him who makes no mistakes, is he who recovers from and disguises the errors. at best a performance full of errors of pitch, word, tone and quality is but a patched garment. apply the mind to eradicating every error. perhaps the most common thing for students to do is to try over again, while at practice, the music in which the error has been made, but doing it without thought. it is far better to think what the error is, what caused it, how it should be removed, and then begin the practice which will remove it. oh, if the hours of wasteful practice could only be gathered up into useful hours, how much better off the whole would be! the least wasteful thing is to stop practice and _think_. songs for beginners. when selecting songs for study for beginners, only those which have smooth and well defined melodies should be selected. modern composers seek by the strangest harmonies, following each other without coming to points of definite rest, to do things different from what has been in use so long that it is looked upon as common. the pupils in their early study cannot understand such music, and while bewildered by it, they misapply what they know to be correct use of the voice. the first selections should be simple, melodious, and of easy range. the songs of mozart and mendelssohn are much better for early use than are those which are being published now. as the pupil advances in the knowledge of songs add in any quantity the latest and most weird music, providing it has merit. criticism. the phraseology of newspaper criticism often disturbs musicians, especially those who are very sensitive, and sometimes arouses their ire so that they make reply. in doing so they make a mistake. they place a weapon for further attack in the hands of the critic and add to the force of his remarks by showing that they have hit the mark. one does not prize a shot which goes wide of the point at which it was aimed but is quite proud if, by chance, he hits the bull's-eye. the sensitive man in his reply shows how fortunate the critic is in his shooting. it is not easy to bear the remarks of a harsh critic and it is much harder to draw from them any good lesson. (whether one may draw a lesson from criticism is not open for remark at this writing.) yet, when one gives serious thought to the criticism which seems so cruel he will learn that no one has been hurt by it except the critic himself. he has lowered his thought from a high plain and has made his nature, thereby, coarse and uncomfortable. that cannot come to anyone, even for a few minutes without making him less manly. out of the fullness of his heart at that moment the critic has written and sent out into the world that which lowers. what he sows, that shall he also reap, and in due time his unkindness will come home to him. if he can bear his own act the musician can endure it for the brief time that the "smart" is there. none should ever forget that a man can injure himself but no one else on earth can injure him. wait for results. some of us are slow to learn the lesson, waiting for results. we feel that at one bound we must and will achieve the great success which is our ideal. youth is enthusiastic and believes in itself. nothing daunts it, save the realization of limited success and that realization comes not quickly. there are circumstances which cannot be forced; there are laws which prevent our reaching too far or going too quickly. under them we chafe but in time we come to know that those laws place boundaries of limitation about us. we then begin to inspect the laws just as one bound with cords might be supposed to study his binding after having tried in vain to tear himself free. then is when he discovers that by knowing natural law he can shape his course so that he is not antagonized but aided by his environments and curbings. he then discovers that he can even use the laws which seemed to restrain as his power. but it takes long to learn that lesson. stripes, which cut and burn, must have been received before one can know that he must not fret and be impatient for quick results. "patience overcometh all things." "seek and ye shall find." remember that the early fruit decays quickest. the rosy apple, when all of its fellows are green, has the worm at the core. if you are worthy of results they will come to you, but not in your way or time perhaps. you can afford to wait. all things are good. certain quotations and sayings, through familiarity, lose their point to us. we not only are not impressed by them but forget that they are truths. do you recall "all things work together for good?" does that mean anything? does it mean what it says? does it mean nothing? it means nothing or else exactly what it says, and you may be sure that the latter is the true meaning. what are "all things?" the few which seem bright, maybe; and those which to most of us seem evil, do not belong to "all things." but may we not be at fault in our idea? we are, _we are_. whatever appears to happen to us (although nothing ever happens in the common meaning of that word) belongs to "all things" and at some time we will be able to look back and say from the heart that all was well with us. little things effect. every shade of tone has a meaning which is either artistic or inartistic and one who has developed his appreciation of artistic rendition can so use his tone that just the right effect will be produced with his tone. a noted cartoonist recently showed by two little dots the ability which he possessed to change the character of his picture. he had drawn a sketch of a sweet young girl; rosy cheeks and cherry lips; big sleeves and a gainsborough hat; the most demure and modest little girl ever imagined. then to carry out a joke he changed the position of the eyes, just rubbing on two dots. the character of the whole picture now changed. the demure little girl became the sauciest miss that could be imagined and one could almost imagine a shrug to the shoulders. are singers less able to portray in art than is the cartoonist? if we know the resources at our command and how to use them we can give expression just as well as any other artist can. we do not always know how small a thing can change all expression. the bright face, the warmer tone, the more elastic delivery of voice, quicker attack, all have their value in expressing something. not enough attention is paid to personal appearance before an audience. there are a few things which can be prepared before our appearance which can make the whole performance more artistic. the way of walking across the stage, taking position before the audience, manner of holding the music, of turning its leaves, way of looking up while singing, way of leaving the stage; all these have to do with artistic rendition. they should be taught to pupils by the teacher and should become part of the pupils' instruction. we give all attention to tone and that is only part of the instruction which the student needs. the other matters must not be left to chance. the little things point out the difference between the singer and the artist. musical library. a musical library should be a possession of every singer. there are less than two hundred books on music printed in english, on subjects directly connected with music and singing. these contain all which has been printed which has any great value. many are books for reference and a few contain direct practical instruction. each teacher and all earnest students should see how many of these they now possess and plan to develop the library. all the books need not be purchased at once, nor is it wise to obtain books and put them away on the shelves just for mere ownership. get one book at a time, one a month perhaps, and read it carefully enough to allow you to know what is in it. then put it away for reference. it takes but a few minutes to refresh the mind on what is read. a dozen books a year added in this way will, in a dozen years, give a valuable library. what is more valuable to the owner is that he has lodged in his own mind for every day use more than a hundred good ideas. books taken from the public library and returned to it do not have the lasting value that one's own books have. the sense of ownership is worth something. change opinions. in these days of invention, discovery and progress, no one need be ashamed of changing his opinions. in vocal music the ideas most commonly held twenty years ago are being exchanged for something new. the man who has made a change is often sneered at as "having a method." he may have that, but he may only have advanced to new ground which is to be occupied by common opinion a dozen years from now. the man who changed early was in advance of his fellows and would attract attention. who thought, outside of a very small circle, only forty years ago, that the music of wagner would become the most popular of any age? it is to-day the music of the present and we are already looking for a "music of the future." the present time is, in the manner of dealing with the singing and speaking voice, a transition age. ideas which are being taken up now were scouted as nonsense twenty years ago. they will be commonly accepted ten years from now. it is better to join the army of progress, and change early, even if it does raise a laugh. reputation comes slowly. reputation which will last comes only by slow degrees. man may spring into notoriety at a bound because of some fortuitous circumstance and he may hold the prominence which he gains by his strength of manhood, but the cases of this kind are rare. it is by "pegging away" at something which one knows to be good until by the merit of the "something" and the worth of the labor put into it, attracts the attention of a few judges of its worth, that a reputation is begun. it is begun then, only. some more of the same work must follow but those who have seen the worth now assist in thought as well as in word and the circle which appreciates the worth grows. when good reputation has begun nothing can stop its growth except some unwise or unmanly act of the person himself. for this reason no man need strive after reputation. do well what is good and the result will take care of itself. the reputation will not come because of striving. it will come to any man who is doing good work and living a right life. it takes time to make the lasting reputation and that impatience which so often influences americans, prevents the growth of many a reputation. study poetry. every singer should be an earnest student of poetry. there are minds to which poetry does not appeal as does the practical prose. but in all minds there is enough of latent love of poetry which can be developed until poetry appeals with even stronger force than does prose. can your heart glow with the beautiful sunset? do you joy over the song of the bird? has the spring blossom a message of delicacy to you? then have you that love of nature which can give you understanding of the poet. a faculty of mind exercised grows with its use. a singer _must_ have imagination. without it, the best vocalization lacks the spark of true life. without it, coldness displaces warmth, and darkness, light. the very essence of poetry is imagination. one word in poetry often suggests that which practical prose uses ten words to express. the study of poetry, that is, making poetry a study so that one knows what is in it, helps make good singers. he who has not yet thus used poetry may well plan something new for his winter evenings. mannerisms show character. mannerisms give knowledge to the observing person of our character and intellectuality, and, on that account, are to be studied and used to our advantage. such as would prepossess our hearers in our favor should be retained and such as would be unpleasant to the majority of people should be trained out of our unconscious use. but few think long enough about a singer to be able to tell their reason for liking or disliking him. the voice and art may be good and yet the audience may not like him. on the other hand, the voice may be meagre and the music faulty, yet there will be personal charm which is captivating. the manners which express the better side of our individuality will be those retained. certain it is, that manners are the expression of individuality and there are no two persons whose action is just the same, any more than that there are two faces or two voices alike. it is doubtful whether one can judge the good and bad in mannerisms in himself. we are so liable to accept our intention for actual performance that we deceive ourselves. then, too, mannerisms which would be permitted in one place are not admissible in another. the ways of a german dialect comedian would not serve the shakesperian comedian nor would the physical accompaniment of the songs of the london music hall be proper for the _lieder_ of schubert. the teacher enters at this place and by judicious physical drill, based upon the knowledge of what is wanted in true art, shows the singer what to cure and eradicate and what to make more prominent, wisely retaining those mannerisms which show the higher, nobler and more pleasing part of the singer's individuality. provide for the young. parents see the necessity of providing the means for their children to learn to take care of themselves. a fortune left to a son frequently, if not generally, proves a curse. a "good match" may turn out badly for a daughter. a few hundred, or even one or two thousand, dollars invested in musical education is sure to permit the son or daughter to earn a comfortable living. it will be more than a generation before the field for musical activity is supplied. more than that, in music, every further elevation of the public increases their desire for better and more expensive things in music. there is no prospect that the musical field will be over supplied with artists and teachers. happily, the profession is open to women as well as to men. our daughters can, then, receive preparation for independence in it. the necessity for marriage for mere living has gone by. daughters are as independent of marriage as are sons. the time was when boys were held in greater esteem and value than were girls because they could take business positions and acquire wealth. the new openings for women have changed this. woman is making a place for herself, not through the ballot and because of political influence, but because she is taking position in the business and professional world. everyone, man or woman, should be prepared to take some position which permits a living income to be made. parents are using music as the means of independence to their children. it is better to spend the hundreds of dollars in education in music than to invest that sum in any way to provide a fortune for the children. the life-income from the investment is better for the children. there are no mistakes. how often does every one of us make the "mistake of a lifetime?" probably everyone has made that remark many times regarding himself. the circumstances of life have seemed to point out a certain path. we have followed it. later we felt it to be wrong. it was a mistake. did it do us any good? no. did we learn any lesson? no. will we not make another "mistake of a lifetime" to-morrow, if we have the chance? yes. such is human nature. so we go on. but there is another side to the shield. there are no "mistakes of a lifetime," if we sum up the whole life. none of us can do that yet, but we can put a number of years together and see a result in them. how about that mistake over which you have been mourning? was it a mistake? is it not possible that if you had what you think would have been yours had you taken a different course, you would be worse off than you are now? a young man who is making his mark recently said, "i am glad my father lost his property. had i been supplied with a lot of money while at college, i would have been a profligate." when the father lost his money he probably thought he had made the "mistake of a lifetime." which would any father prefer, poverty or a wrecked family? many pupils rue a supposed mistake in the selection of a teacher. there is no mistake. every teacher who can attract pupils can teach something and every pupil can learn something of him. the mistake, if one was made, was by the pupil, in not learning what that teacher could teach, and when he had gotten that, in remaining longer with him. don't talk about the mistakes but so shape circumstances that all events may be used for good. there is something which can be utilized in everything which happens to us. the bee finds honey in every flower--more in some than in others, to be sure, but none are without sweetness. regularity. "it is the regularity of the laws of nature which leads us to put confidence in them and enables us to use them." thus writes dr. mccosh and he was a keen observer of men and things. his remark suggests that teachers can and will be trusted and used who, by their regularity, awaken confidence. he who attracts and enthuses can for a time command attention. his work will only be lasting and his hold upon the musical public be good when there is something of permanent value behind the enthusiasm. slowly but surely we are reaching the knowledge that in music there is all of life, and that only as we make music part of ourselves is our life rounded. we have reached the place when we can feel that he who has no love of music suffers an infirmity akin to the loss of sight or hearing. we have also reached the belief that everyone must cultivate the musical faculty. we are passing through this life to one beyond and he who raises himself nearest the perfect man, best uses the span from birth to death. in and through music, especially on its side of education, more can be done than can be in any other way. general culture, college education, mental development are, in their proper place, to be used but neither will do so much for man as will music. in thus developing that faculty we acquire something also, which, as executant musicians, gives us delightful influence over our fellows. such is the possibility of a teacher to so make mankind better that he becomes a noble instrument of service in god's hand. but he who knows his position best and by regularity of mind, body and estate, by system, certainty and reliability, obtains the confidence of the musical public, can best be used as an instrument in that service. assert individuality. personal freedom of action must for a time be surrendered by pupil to teacher but it should be for limited time only. the impress of the teacher's mind can be made upon the pupil in two seasons of study if it can be at all. perhaps most pupils receive all that the teacher can give them in six months. as soon as they have that should they leave that teacher? not at all. they should then begin the use of their own individuality--letting it, little by little, assert itself. the practical application of individuality should be as carefully attended to as is any part of the pupil's education. perhaps it should have more attention. more than one, more than a thousand, every year wrecks her good and great future by what we term wilfulness or waywardness. the name is misapplied. the individuality is then asserting itself and it is then that the pupil needs the skillful and firm hand of the master. the keen clear judgment which comes from experience is worth to the pupil more than the cost of many lessons. the life is planned then. it is a time of bending the twig; the tree grows that way. the wrecking which is so often seen arises because the pupil changes to a teacher who does not understand the case. the new teacher must study it all over. before that can be done the pupil is spoiled and disappears, disappointed and disgusted. receive the personality of the teacher, pupils, but then allow him to lead you onward as you bring out your own individuality. educing. educing is bringing out or causing to appear. teachers impart and call that educating. the reverse of the common way is best. instead of imparting all the time to the pupil seek to draw out from the pupil that which is in him. cause it to appear. in this way will one's teaching faculty be improved and he will become the better teacher. often the education must be against counter influences and, it seems frequently, as if it were against the wish of the student himself. yet the skillful teacher can overcome the prejudice of the pupil and the adverse influences, and reach his results. a help in thus using one's skill lies in the fact that what is to be drawn out lies divided into two distinct classes. one is that which pertains to execution and the other to knowledge. they are widely separated. the first is to be trained so that it cares for itself without the thought of the student or singer and the other so that it is always ready to respond to the quickest thought. there is in the two classes variety enough to keep the most active teacher on the alert and to make for him the highest kind of ministration to mankind which is open to anyone. later may come the comfort of joining the two classes, synthetically, thereby making the rounded and completed artist. it occurs to one's thought at once that he who would draw out what there is in another, must know something of the machinery which he would cause to act and also of the mind which is in command of that machinery. this is the basis of the teacher's education, without which he cannot be a good teacher. as a young teacher he has the right to teach those who know less than he does. he imparts then. as an educator he must be more than what he was at first. he must keep his own education above that of his fellows and he must become able to educe. chapter vi. cuneus cuneum trudit. "_art! who can say that he fathoms it! who is there capable of discussing the nature of this great goddess?_" =beethoven=. "_whatever the relations of music, it will never cease to be the noblest and purest of arts_." =wagner=. vi. "cuneus cuneum trudit." vocal tone. all vocal tone used in singing when produced at the vocal bands is small and probably always about alike. the tone which we hear is "colored", "re-inforced" etc., on the way from the vocal bands to the outer air. in order that the tone shall carry well and be heard in purity throughout a hall, the initial tone must be added to. this is done by its reverberation in cavities where there is confined air. by confined, is meant, air which is not being greatly disturbed. there are four such cavities, or chambers, in connection with the production of voice. the chest, the ventricles, the inner mouth and the nose. to have the tone resonant the air in these chambers must be held in confinement. the way they can be utilized is best illustrated by the drum. a blow on the drum-head sets the air in the drum into vibration and that air re-inforces the tone caused by the original blow. tone made by the vocal bands is re-inforced by vibration in the chambers of the body, and the connection of these chambers with the outer air sets into vibration the air of the room. something might be said about the thickness of clothing to be worn over the chest while singing. it is certain that thick woolens worn during singing, absorb much of the vibration of the tone and lessen the amount of voice. tone comes from the whole body and chiefly from the chambers in which air is confined. our singing tone does not come out of the mouth alone. it comes from shoulders, back and chest without going near the mouth. the stillness with which the air is held in the chambers of vibration has much influence upon the volume of tone, and upon the quality. just now we will consider the chamber within the mouth. the space between the back of the throat (as seen in a mirror) and the teeth is this chamber. the air in this must be held as still as it can be. the practical way of doing it, and the way of telling pupils how to use themselves so that they can do it, tax the ingenuity of the teacher. a picture, or an image, is the best way perhaps. the air in the mouth should be like the water of a still lake. into it, at one end, a gentle stream may flow. it does not disturb the lake. it causes a ripple where it enters. it may raise the elevation of the water in the lake, and the superfluous water may flow off at the other end of the lake. now, suppose a mountain stream comes rushing into the lake. it stirs everything up, and rushes out at the outlet in the same rough way. in the still chamber of air in the mouth there must be no "mountain streams." the quiet lake must be imitated. a little air, which has been vibrated at the vocal bands may enter it, and not disturb it. that initial tone, always a quiet one, will be re-inforced by vibration in the mouth and will issue forth large and round. the amplitude of vibration will determine its volume. the shape and size of the cavity of reverberation can constantly and instantly change and by such change the tone can be regulated. the chamber of still air cannot be utilized unless the organs of respiration are working correctly and strongly. a forceful blast of air sent through the mouth will dissipate all vibrating waves. it is useless to try to the initial tone until after the diaphragm is in good working order. when that is all right then employ the re-inforcing chamber in the way given above and resonance of tone will be obtained. it is by so using the respiratory column and re-inforcing the tone made by the vocal bands that a person can be made a good vocalist in a few weeks. it is not necessary to take years to cultivate the voice. (it _is_ to make a good singer.) from five to eight weeks, if the student does right, will perfectly cultivate a voice. true art is delicate. all true art is delicate. music is the most delicate of all arts. music is expressed through thought and emotion. in this, music has much the advantage over sister arts. the sculptor can chisel his thoughts into marble, and there they can imperishably remain. to what small extent can he express human emotion! the painter also places his thought on canvas. as his art is more easily within his grasp, to change at will, he is enabled more fully to express emotion than is the sculptor. his finished work remains. while at work upon it he may change here and there to suit himself. that line and that shade of color, if not satisfactory, can be changed. not so in music. at one stroke--in one tone even--the musician must express his emotion--and that expression, once uttered, is all that he can use of his art. it is a delicate thing and requires sure thought, complete mastery of emotion, and perfect ability in execution. each and every stroke must be perfect. voice culture is the preparation of the body and its expression--voice--for use in this delicate art. voice culture is that through which we approach art. it cannot be roughly handled. if art is to be delicately used, it must be delicately approached. he whose vocal practice is forceful and rough will never know the delicacy of true art. he may become a vocalist after whom the ignorant public will clamor, but he can never be an artist. seek the delicacy of true art, or decide to be forever a rough mechanic. one may hew wood or quarry rocks, or he may be a worker among jewels and precious stones. it is a time to say "decide this day which you will serve." the two masters do not belong to the same firm and both cannot be served at the same time. words and tone should agree. while singing, words and tone should agree. what does that mean, asks one. it can be well stated when we consider how they do not agree. if one sings "sing ye aloud, with gladness," with a sombre tone the words and tone belie each other. this result invariably follows the attempt to cultivate the voice on vowels only, or on one single vowel. he who watches tone while cultivating his voice reaches this result. we express our thought while singing in words. words are made by the organs of speech, the chief of which are the tongue and lips. the tone receives its expression from the pharyngeal cavity. if tone and words agree, the tongue, lips and pharynx will work harmoniously in accord. it is when one or the other does not work correctly that one belies the other. training of the organs of speech has been written upon so extensively that for now more need not be said. suffice it to say, that the organs of speech can be trained upon a few enunciatory syllables in a short time, so that every word can be distinctly understood. there is no excuse whatever for our singers remaining so indistinct in their singing. the way of getting the tone to agree with the words, is what may be considered now. as said above, tone is regulated, so far as quality goes, in the pharynx. that organ can be put into working order and kept so through the expression of the face. the same thought is expressed on the throat which is expressed on the face. the same set of nerves operates the two organs. to show what is meant, recall that if you hear someone utter a cry, you know from its sound whether it is a cry of fright, of happiness, of fear, of greeting, of anger, or whatever it may be. the position and shape of the pharynx has made the cry what it is. one standing near the person would see on his face the look which corresponds with the cry uttered. in this case the word and the tone correspond. it is not easy to reach the pharynx for voice culture, except through the face. it can be reached in that way. the tone for general use in voice culture should be the bright one. then the expression during vocal practice should be a bright one. all vocal exercises should be, on this account, practised with the face pleasant and expressing happiness. this fact led many teachers, years ago, to have their pupils smile while singing. it led to most ludicrous results. the teachers said, "draw back the corners of the mouth, as if smiling." very well. that may be good, but it has no particular beneficial influence on the pharynx, or upon the tone produced. the mouth is not the seat of expression in the face. not that there is no expression to the mouth, but its changes are limited. the eyes are much more thoroughly the seat of expression, and through them the pharynx can be reached. let the eyes smile. let the whole face take position as if one saw something irresistibly funny, at which he must laugh. practice with the eyes in this way will brighten the whole voice. it will relieve strain upon all the facial muscles and will render the organs of speech more pliable, too. having obtained such control of the eyes that one expression can be placed in them, the student can attempt other desirable expressions. he will find that whatever is used in and about the eyes will affect the kind and quality of tone. he may arouse his interest in some particular thought and hold that in mind as he sings; the voice will then have warmth of tone and will readily receive meanings. he may express varying degrees of surprise in the face and he will find varying degrees, to correspond, of fulness and roundness go into the voice. the use of expression in the face as a means of giving character and quality to tone opens a field of experiment and experience which will lead any teacher to practical and beneficial result. it is not a new idea. salvini, the great actor, has given some very useful thought on that subject. little of such instruction, important as it is, has gone into print. yet it is so important. preparation for teaching. there are many who become teachers of singing without knowing what they are doing. no one who wishes to enter the profession should be kept out of it. there is room in it for many times the number engaged. it is to be earnestly recommended, however, that he who intends to become a teacher should decide beforehand what kind of work he intends to do, and after he has begun, he should bend his energy to make that branch successful. there are, at least, three distinct specialties of the singing teacher. first, rudimental music; second, voice culture; third, artistic singing. he who thinks he can excel in all has very great confidence in his own ability. perhaps most of those who become teachers have no adequate knowledge of what the profession is, but enter into it for the purpose of making a living. after becoming a teacher he discovers that something is wrong, and the last person whom he thinks wrong is himself. probably he has never decided on a specialty and properly prepared himself for that. thus we see men who know something about music, teaching singing. they know nothing of practical voice culture, but attempt to teach singing. they ruin voices and wreck their own happiness. the first duty of a singing teacher is to study enough of anatomy and physiology to enable him to know exactly what parts of the body enter into voice culture, where they are and how they work. the dentist makes his specialty, filling teeth. but he would not be given his diploma if he did not know anatomy. his course in the medical college is the same as that of the physician. it differs in degree, but not in kind. such should be the education, to a certain extent, of the vocal teacher. this education cannot be had from any books now published. plain anatomy can be given in books, but the student should also see the parts described in the subject. he should then examine, so far as may be, the action of these parts in the living body. he must then make his own deductions. it may seem strange that that is necessary, but such is the subtlety of voice culture, that hardly two theorists agree in their deductions. until some recognized body of men decides on definite things in voice culture, reducing one's theoretical study to practical uses must stand. as important as such study, too, is the preparation of the artist mind. one can teach voice culture mechanically and obtain good result, but be very deficient in the art of music. it is often said that "artists are born, not made." that is a mistake. no man was ever an artist by birth. some men may be more appreciative of beauty than others but all men have enough within them to serve as the basis of artistic education. that education should be carried to a considerable distance before teaching is commenced. almost as soon as the voice is capable of making any tone, music must be put into study. appreciation of music itself as an art, must be a part of the good teacher's preparation. knowledge of greater and better music comes from that appreciation with the years of experience in teaching. if the artist mind has not begun to assert itself before business is attempted, business will be likely to absorb the teacher, and he stands the chance of never being an artist. one who combines scientific knowledge of voice culture and an understanding of the art of music is well equipped for entering the profession of teaching vocal music. only such should enter it. with that as foundation, the experience of each year will make him a better teacher. without that as foundation he will probably remain, vocally and musically, about where he was when he began. financial success may come, but musical success never can. experience. a very good reason, but one which individuals can attend to, why we have so few artists among singers, is that so few take time to gain experience. there must be many appearances before audiences before the _amateurishness_ is worn off. singers often think, when they hear a noted singer, that they could do just as well as that and perhaps better, and yet they cannot get professional engagements. it may all be true, that they can do just as well as the artist, but in appearance and self-command they may be deficient. experience cannot come in a day or a season. if it could what a crowd of singers would become noted. it takes much time--years of time. one cannot safely feel that he has had experience enough to place himself among the professional singers until he has appeared at least fifty times. how many of our readers have done that? many visit the large cities and seek engagements who have great talent and have the probability of complete success in them, but who have had so little proper experience that their first appearance in the large city, would be a failure. managers of experience perceive this state of affairs and refuse to give engagements on that account. gain that appearance necessary to the artist by singing before public audiences everywhere, at church festivals, benefit concerts, parlor receptions, college recitals, anywhere where an audience can be entertained. study your influence over your audience and learn how to so express your art in your voice and singing that your audiences are your subjects. concert after concert must pass before you know your own power in song. year after year will go bye, before it is safe to approach the critical audiences of large cities. before an audience. when singing before an audience in a hall, do not look on the music. a glance at it may be made from time to time but keep the eyes off. a singer appears very ridiculous if he looks on the page. a song is a story told by the singer in the singing voice. it is not a lesson read from a book. the story cannot be well told if the singer has only half learned it. if he is confined to his notes he attracts attention to himself and that spoils art and the artist. it is best to learn by rote the music to be sung, and when it can be done, to leave the music in some place out of the hands. if it must be carried, have it as much out of the way as possible. a singer of much fame, spoiled his evening's work recently by fixing his eyes on his music all the time while singing. this may have been an exceptional evening, but if he does that all the time, he is no artist, in spite of his repute, and ought not to receive engagements even if he has a fine bass voice. come up higher. the man makes the musician as does the musician make the man. the rules of life which make men better make the musician better. there is a constant call in life to "come up higher!" he who has lost the sound of that call is at a standstill, or rather, since there can be no stopping, he is sinking from the place once gained. get within the sound of that call and heed it. there are no heights so great, but that they form the base to heights beyond. music is so rich and full that no man can understand it all and no man has reached the highest place in it. the call ever sounds "come up higher!" music fills all which contains life, and uses all materials for its transmittance. the air, a subtle ether, is filled with a still finer ether, on which sound travels. that ether is filled with vibration. it is ever present. the connection with it can be made at any moment and the musical thought can be sent off into unlimited space, to influence all within that space. to be able to use this at its best the thought which is musical must be raised to divine thought. the possibilities in that are boundless. musicians cannot stop. the year may roll around and one may feel himself doing a great and good work, doing a work which seems to be well rounded; a work which leaves the musician, as the end of a season rolls around, exhausted from labor, and ready to say that the end of his work is reached, that he has gone to his greatest height. not so, however. next year is a height to be ascended, and that of the present moment is but the base of that greater height. music calls "come up higher." crude voices express no emotion. an untrained voice can never have correct emotion expressed in it. the voice responds as truly to the thought which passes in the mind as does the leaf bend before the breeze. the singing voice is an extension of the speaking voice, and since nature planned only for speaking purposes, in order to have the organs which produce voice in proper condition for singing, there must be that degree of physical drill which makes the vocal apparatus able to convey in proper pitch and quality, the thought of the mind. the untrained voice will not do this. the throat becomes rigid, the pharynx strained and in-elastic. emotion cannot be expressed when the vocal apparatus is thus held. one may have a beautiful natural voice and he may arouse the enthusiasm of certain of his hearers, but he cannot, without careful training do a tithe of what he is able to do. that is sufficient reason for teachers to urge all who sing at all to place themselves under the best of tuition. all who talk pleasantly have the power to sing. the exceptions to the rule are so few that they amount to but a very small percentage. but all who do sing, if they would rightly use their gift should train themselves to do whatever they do, well. chapter vii. ambition. "character is the internal life of a piece, engendered by the composer; sentiment is the external expression, given to the work by the interpreter. character is an intrinsic positive part of a composition; sentiment an extrinsic, personal matter only." =christiani.= vii. ambition. the very first question to ask of an applicant for vocal lessons is "what is your ambition?" by that, i mean, the teacher should know at the very start what purpose the pupil has in study, or if he has any purpose. the intention of the pupil should make a difference in the consideration given to the pupil in the matter of voice trial. if an applicant says he wishes to sing in opera and the teacher sees that he lacks all capacity for such high position, he should frankly say so; if the applicant says that he wishes to learn to sing well that he may have pleasure in his own singing and give pleasure to his friends, that should be taken into account. such person, provided he has any voice and musical instinct, can reach the height of his ambition and his study should be encouraged. the first visit of an applicant to a teacher is a most important event in the life of the pupil. the importance of it is not appreciated. to very many persons it marks a change--a veritable conversion--in their lives. a mistake made by the teacher with regard to the future of the pupil is a serious matter. that visit gives the teacher his chance to plan his treatment and is akin to the diagnosis of the physician. the pupil places himself in the hands of the teacher as thoroughly as does the patient give himself over to the physician. the case assumes importance from this fact. responsibility by the teacher is assumed. the musical future of the pupil is in his hands. it may be for the good of the pupil that he found his particular teacher and it may not be. "what is your ambition regarding your music?" is the safeguard of the teacher. knowing that, he can have a basis for examination and a ground for promises to the student. in the large cities, teachers are troubled with that which would be very amusing were it not for the sad part of it. students of music come from the smaller cities and from the country and begin a series of visits to the different studios for the purpose of selecting a teacher. everyone seems to recommend a new teacher and the student calls upon all. the result is surely disastrous to the pupil. he or she is left in doubt as to whom to go for study. the different promises made, the compliments paid, the hopes of ambition raised, are all enough to unbalance the judgment of older heads than those who usually seek the music studio. when a teacher is finally selected, it takes a long time to settle down into confidence in him so that the best result can be obtained. i said it would be amusing to the teacher were it not sad. i have known persons to boast that they had had "as good as a lesson" from the different teachers visited. i even know men who are teaching voice culture and singing in this city who claim to teach certain methods, and all they know of those methods is what they picked up in the interviews which they pretended were to see about arranging for study. as if any man of experience would give (or could give) his instruction in a talk of ten or fifteen minutes! the men who have ways of teaching which are so good that they bring valuable renown are too shrewd to be caught in any such way as that. what shall be done about such persons? nothing. let them alone. they die out after a time. were there any way to prevent other people from following their example it would be a most excellent thing. but as society is made up, as long as the flash of a piece of glass passes for the sparkle of a diamond just so long will the cheater spring up, flourish and disappear. a question more to the point is "how can the racing from studio to studio be stopped?" i frankly say that i do not know. generally i avoid bringing up a subject which has not in my own mind reached solution. i can suggest remedies if not cures. by writing about it some little help may be given the student. the remedy--nearly all city teachers have some special branch, a branch in which they obtain satisfactory results. one succeeds in italian opera, another in voice culture; one in rudimental study, another in oratorio; one has many pupils in church choirs, another forms delightful classes of society pupils. "what is your ambition?" find that teacher whose general reputation is in that which you want to do and be, and commence study with him. a very few lessons with that teacher--say ten lessons--will tell the student whether he is the right teacher or not. probably the teacher will prove satisfactory. if not, by that time--acquaintance with the teachers of the city will permit more certain selection, the second time. "but," say you, "those ten lessons have cost something." true, but they have not cost half as much as it costs to settle an unbalanced mind. to return to the first question, what is your ambition? has it ever occurred to you to wonder what becomes of all the music students--how many are there? who can tell? one teacher boasts of having given four hundred vocal lessons last month; another caps that by claiming five hundred. allow for all exaggeration, and say that these teachers (and thirty or forty others had as many students at work) had all they could do. they had from thirty to fifty pupils under study. what is to become of them, and how many ever amount to anything? the teacher has responsibility. he who receives every person who applies, especially if he tells him what a good voice he has and how well he can sing after a term or two, borders very nearly upon the scoundrel, or else the fool. if he thinks he can make a singer out of every person who comes to him he is the fool; if he flatters a person whom he knows can never become a singer, he is a scoundrel. he who is wise will find out the desire of the applicant and tell him frankly whether or not he can reach the desired goal. if he thinks it cannot be done there is no objection to his pointing out some other channel of musical usefulness and advising him to enter that. if the applicant has no aptitude for the desired study the only honest course is to tell him not to waste time and money on his voice. any conscientious teacher feels a shudder sometimes over the responsibility of his position when the thought comes up "what becomes of all the music students?" we can ask "what becomes of the pins?" and have the question answered. the material of which they are made can be supplied anew. "so," say you, "will new pupils come." but those who are now studying must be made something of. the day they begin study a new world opens to them. is it for good or ill? that remains for the teacher to solve. every true teacher improves every pupil who studies with him. some of them will become good singers and fine musicians. these are the ones most talked about and the teacher finds pleasure in the added reputation which they bring, but the others have the right to demand that they shall be raised to a higher plain of life because of their music lessons. what becomes of all the ambitious youths and maidens who study singing? only one or two now and then amount to very much in professional life. thousands attempt to be "patties," but who has reached her height? some one is at fault that this is so. whatever belongs to the singing teacher, let him assume, but let him keep in mind that there is something to guard in the future. over in milan, ten years or more ago, while a student there, i met a great many americans who like myself were there for study. i was told that at least two thousand american young ladies were there. probably more than half of them expected to become successful singers in grand opera. how many successful singers in grand opera have appeared during the last ten years? a very few surely. what has become of the "ninety and nine?" of that, say nothing. i saw the wretched lives they were leading at milan--most of them--and advised, nay, begged, that they would go home to america and do anything for a living if they must work, rather than to stay there. taking in washing would be much more ennobling than what some of them were doing. whose fault was it that so many were there, and that so many are there all the time? teachers of singing here at home must sooner or later realize that they did it. how, when, or for what purpose? well, much might be said which will not be. had an honest expression of the belief regarding the possibility of gratifying the original ambition been given, very much of the wrong done could have been avoided. one of the reasons why many people try to learn to sing is because some one has urged them to do so. the person who arouses the interest in another does a necessary act, and yet there should be a good degree of caution used in the matter. this article will be read by thousands who are now students, and as the aim of the magazine is to educate, let us see what word can be formed in the idea of this paragraph, which will make students better able to use judgment in inducing others to study. do not cease in the efforts to bring others into musical work, but let your effort be tempered with discretion. when you hear a person sing who evidently enjoys it, whose face beams with pleasure, and whose voice pleases her hearers; when, in a word, you hear one who has a voice, and has intelligence enough to understand himself and his music, then learn if he has given serious study to music. if not, urge him to see a master at once. do not, however, when you hear a person labor through a song, with act painful to himself and everybody else, urge him to go a teacher, "and learn how." well, reader, "what is _your_ ambition?" have you any? if not, get one pretty soon. i would say that before another sun sets, you should have a settled purpose in your vocal study and follow that purpose to a definite end. that matter settled you will do more than ever before. it is a matter which _you_ must settle. others may suggest and advise, but you must decide it, yourself. i would not continue study without a fixed purpose. a poor purpose is better than none. shall i tell you of some of the ambitions which students have, and say a word about them? perhaps you will get a useful idea from that. the best use of lessons in music is that you may know music and how to use it for pleasure wherever you may be placed. this means that the study should be for education itself and not for the financial return which the study may bring. study for the culture of a beautiful art--for the improvement of the mind, for the refinement which comes with associating with that which is pure. when one tells a teacher that this is his ambition, he will in many cases find that the teacher wishes him to work for something besides. a church choir is something of that sort. there is no reason why one should not have other ambitions, but the highest ambition which one can have is to make himself a musician of the highest and best kind. the whole journey toward becoming such is pleasant. whoever goes but one mile along the road has his reward, and each additional mile brings its additional reward. anyone can have this ambition in his study, and he who is most faithful and has the most intelligence will make the most progress and do the best in a given time. people who have little or none of that which is called musical genius can so develop that talent which they possess that they will be accounted musical. those who have more can do almost anything. the class of persons who study with this ambition is larger, proportionately, in small cities than it is in the large ones. it is a fact that people are, in many small cities, better educated in music in which they can participate individually, than are the people of large cities. the students enter for long periods of study and follow those studies which do them the most good. with them the ambition to be musical and to have a good musical education is upper-most in mind. it is the best ambition to have. even if no other use is made of the study, that education well repays one for all the time and money devoted to it. the choicest moments of life are while directly participating in music, or while engaged in that of which music is the accompaniment. our association with friends in their homes and in our own is sweetened by music; our tired brains are rested at the concert, the opera, and the theatre; our seasons of deepest devotion and greatest spiritual delight, when we are at the house of worship are made more holy because the sacred words are beautified by music. every act which can be looked back upon even to the child days, when the little songs of the school children were ours, has its embellishment of music. whatever we do to increase our appreciation of music, to make us better able to make music, and to add to the charm of life of our own circle, is profitable. the good of it comes to us every day, and in addition it prepares us the better for that higher life to which we are all hastening, because it makes more beautiful the soul. the ambition to study for music itself is, then, the best ambition to have. the majority of those who present themselves to the city teacher wish to sing in church choirs. the reason is plain. there is some chance for financial return. there is also on the part of many a certain sense of duty to the church which they wish to fulfil by participating in its services. there are many things to be said on this whole subject and when such things are spoken it should be with no uncertain tone. the ambition to become a church singer should be held within certain bounds. the path to become such and the gratification which comes from the work accomplished are not such as most persons think they are. of course the study to become able to sing in a church choir is altogether delightful. to prepare the voice so that it can be used as a means of interpreting the best church music is the best part of voice culture. tones of good power, pure quality, evenness, and fair range, are absolutely necessary. no greater pleasure comes into voice culture than the training to be able to do just such work. then the music of the church is satisfying. there is more to it than the light music of the parlor or light opera, more that appeals to deep feeling, more with which we can arouse our hearers. with regard to the wish to serve the church by our vocal powers, it may be said that while that is laudable, it is one that disappears very soon after one has the chance to put it into practical use. the wish is a bit of sentiment, and there is nothing like the practical to dispel sentiment. this brings us to a consideration of the choir and whether the ambition to become a choir singer is worth anything or not. in small places the choir singer is at once a person of some note. that note which the position gives has a value. the country choir becomes a sociable club (although composed of only four persons) and the friendship which each has for the other is a thing to be prized. country choirs generally practise enough to have the voices blend and to have the singing good. there is some pleasure in singing in such a choir. but does it pay, financially? in some places it does, and he who is in a paying position in a country choir has the best place of any one in choir work. how many, though, of those who go to the teacher with the ambition to study for the choir would feel contented to take such a place as that? no, they want a place in the city choir, and at large salary. have they ability enough to fill such position, and could they hold the position if they obtained it? the competition for choir positions in a city like new york is very great indeed. let it be known that a vacancy is to occur in any church choir and hundreds if not thousands of applications are made. only one person can have the place. the work of selecting one person out of the many applicants begins. it is at this point that the student feels the sentiment regarding singing in church begin to disappear. she feels that she is not being given a fair chance. she supposes that that which would give her the position is good voice, good singing and a good character. as sad as it may seem, she is decidedly wrong. that which is wanted in most city churches is "style" in body and dress, a comely face and vivacious manner. if the applicant lacks these she may as well not try, no matter what her musical acquirements may be. in fact, there are many singers in church choirs of new york and brooklyn who haven't the least claim to be singers at all. then regarding pay for choir singers in these cities. there is very little money in it. salaries have been reduced and there are always those content to take the places at the lower figure. the majority of singers in these cities get less than $300 a year. deduct from that the cost of car-fares, extra clothing, and the little incidentals which count up, and not one half of that amount remains as income. that does not pay to work for. the time and labor used in earning it could be better used in something else. a better money return could be had from that time in a dozen different things by any person who has ability enough to become a singer in a city church on salary. nor is the possibility of obtaining a greater salary in later years to be taken into account. if an increased salary does come increased expenses come with it. even if, after years of waiting, the student makes herself a fine singer and is competent to take a high place, she finds herself set one side for a fresh face and a new voice. that is a picture which is not pleasant; but which is true to life. one may ask if there is no work in choir or church for which one can prepare himself and which will be pleasant and desirable. yes, in two directions;--first, when one is so trained that she is very desirable as a solo singer--one who can sing sacred songs well--she can find a position in which she has this and no other work to do. she then avoids competition, because her fame attracts the church to her. she has no long and trying rehearsals and she can be an artist as well as a church singer. but how many years of study this takes! is your ambition equal to it? the second line of pleasureable work is, that of the choir-leader. unhappily for singers, in most of the city churches the organist is made choir-leader; even in the vested choirs of the episcopal church. this is not well for the choir or the church, but we must take things as we find them. when one is competent to superintend the music of the church and can find a choir to take charge of he is a happy singer. these two positions--of professional choir soloist and of choir-director--are the only satisfactory ones in the large cities. in connection with this it may be said that if one wishes to take a prominent position as concert singer it is almost necessary that he should hold a church choir position. at least he needs that until his fame as a concert singer is great. managers of concerts in various sections of the country ask the very first thing, "where does he sing?" if he is connected with a city choir he is placed. the choir gives him position. concert singing is the field most widely opened and most easily filled of any to which a singer can aspire. every year the concert field broadens. the so-called "grand" concerts of the last generation have disappeared, and that is better for the singer. concert singing is more thoroughly a business and it is one worthy the ambition of any vocal student. not that it is always pleasant business--what is, for that matter?--but it is something which can be entered upon on business lines, and one can make a place for himself in it. his first work is, of course, vocal and musical preparation. he should begin as soon as he can sing well enough to appear before an audience at all, to sing whenever and wherever he can get the chance. this is for practice and not for pay. no one ought to expect pay before he has sung at fifty or sixty entertainments without pay. he must have that amount of practice on his audiences. if he has improved his opportunities his name will be known by the time that period of experience is over and he can then begin to demand a small fee. the smaller the better for him. he can then begin to send his name abroad as an applicant for more remuneration. step by step he can improve in ability and increase his income. it is a work to which all can be directed. it takes years to make any goodly success at it. three years are needed to make a good beginning, but when one looks back over a life, three years of preparation do not seem long. with regard to singing in opera and theatre a word can be given at another time. an outline of what might be said is this:--grand opera is very limited, and only few can become opera singers in grand opera; light opera presents a good field for the gratification of ambition, under certain conditions; the theatre presents a good field for vocalists to those who feel inclined to enter theatrical life. chapter viii. music and longevity. "_were it not for music, we might, in these days, say the beautiful is dead._" =d'israeli.= "_i verily think, and i am not ashamed to say that, next to divinity, no art is comparable to music._" =luther.= viii. music and longevity. perhaps no one chooses to question the statement that length of human life is greater in our generation than it was in the last, and much greater than it was one or two centuries ago, in the face of statistics which the medical profession puts forth. question of such statement implies a hidden motive in the medical profession. possibly that profession might have a motive in leading people to believe that life lasts longer. if there is such motive it is for the good of men. it also recognises the influence of mind over matter as a preserving force. doctors are anxious more than can be imagined to do all they can for the benefit of mankind. no class of men (or of women, since we have women in the profession) strives harder to do good. their very code of ethics is based on self-sacrifice. the inventions, the discoveries, the devices which that profession now uses are such as bewilder and astonish one who only now and then has a chance to see their work. but a generation ago, and the sick man was loaded with charge after charge of drugs. it was only the generation before, that the sick man was bled in great quantities for every ailment. that was a change from generation to generation. but a little while ago a new school of medicine sprung up in which drugs were almost wholly discarded. attenuation to the thousandth or even the five-thousandth part, was used, and when drugs are so attenuated, there is not much left to them. such success has attended the homeopathist that he must be recognised. who shall say but that another step may be taken or has been taken, in dropping the use of drugs and medicines entirely? all these schools and schemes have borne their part in prolonging human life, or more properly speaking, prolonging life in the human body. it is but recently that the influence of music in the cure of disease has been given professional thought. its influence has been known for a long time but has not been properly placed and appreciated. this discussion may be the one thing to bring it before the world. metaphysics--that is a word which we hear from mouth to mouth, nowadays. what does it mean? briefly "the scientific knowledge of mental phenomena." we have almost come to think that it is something mythical, or even relating to the supernatural. but it is "_scientific knowledge_." even our magazines which talk upon "psychical research" drift off into spiritualism and hallucinations. the writers do not keep to the text. metaphysics is a science--and that science which deals with the most real and tangible. it deals with phenomena. it deals with mind itself. now, mind is tangible and real. it is that part of us which came from the creator--was from the beginning--has no end--and is in these bodies of ours for a time only. which from this definition, is more tangible? mind or body? there is no longevity to mind. from eternity it came--to eternity it goes. no measure can be applied to it. body, that which we see and handle and in which we believe mind to reside, is quite another thing. it begins--it lasts for a time, ever struggling against forces which tend to destroy it--and drops at last into mother earth or the elements. that which we try to prolong is the existence in living condition, of the body. the keeper of that body is the mind, and whatever is done successfully to that body is done through the mind. medical treatment is well enough in its place, and i am not to quarrel with the man who wants to use that, but mental treatment, (and i do not choose to be classed with the various isms now before the public which have grasped one corner of the subject and are tugging away at that) is the one thing by which and through which the body is to be affected. by that is human life to be prolonged. music affects the mind. if it affects the body it does it through the mind. we say, when the dance begins that we can't keep still. what is the "we?" our bodies. not at all. our mental perception is alert, and it recognises the vivacity of the dance and responds to it. in a moment the body answers the mind and whirls out over the floor in rhythm and in sympathy with the musical action. again music seeks the minor thought and we are subdued into seriousness, or maybe, worship of the beautiful, the good, and god. was it the body, fighting against disease and death which thus responded? not at all. the mind, in which there ever rests the appreciation of all that there is in god, (and that includes beauty, bounty and truth) felt itself influenced by the music. that influence was extended to the body. you cannot enter good without getting good, mental and physical. there is nothing which has the tendency to reduce the average of human life as much as debauchery. that causes early decay. that wears out the body. that nourishes the seeds of disease. but, say you, if mind is the controlling force over the body, metaphysics over physics, why cannot one engage in any wildness which he chooses to fancy, and enjoy life. a gay life and a merry one. are we to come down into soberness and somberness to preserve these bodies of ours? can't we look back into the days of a jolly good dinner with a draught, deep from the pewter pot, of nut-brown ale, can't we joke with every pretty face we see, whether under a bonnet or not, can't we even become falstaffs, if we feel like it, and yet keep ourselves alive to the full of days, if mind can control body? yes, yes! but can mind stand such things--can mind keep itself in touch with the source of what is good, in such conditions? if it can, enjoy all debauchery. if not, for the preservation of self, keep out of it. now there are various kinds of debauchery, and not the least of these is music itself, wrongly used. and herein lies the point which i would make. herein lies the point of the practical, or you may say if you choose, the didactical, side of the question; the point where our music touches our longevity. music of the intellectual kind is the only music which can have ennobling influence upon the human mind and keep it in equipoise. the dance, the sentimental, the pleasing, has its place i admit. but to the musician that which lacks the scientific, lacks everything. how many of us care to attend a concert, an opera of the light vein, or that of a brass band, as perhaps we once did? that pretty, catchy song, let it be sung ever so well, has lost an awakening influence upon us. even a patti is gone by to us. we call a pianist old-fashioned. is he really so? are not we becoming new-fashioned? are not we becoming so keenly alive to the intellectual that, unless we watch phrases and periods, theses and antitheses, sequences and cadences, melody against melody, we have no satisfaction in music. then we run from music to music trying to hear some new thing, until we become almost unbalanced in mind. we become hyper-critical, sensitive to faults, irritable over remissnesses, until those conditions become a part of our disposition, and the musician becomes the crank. that is musical debauchery and i contend that that will shorten the life of any man. which leads me to ask the question, can there not be such a thing as an overdose of music, just as there is an overdose of drug? and does it not behoove us, now that we have started a medico-musical-mental treatment of this poor body of ours, to beware lest we shorten its existence rather than prolong it. but _art_--that which calls for the highest in man--must surely be a benefit to man. mrs. rogers says "those who approach art because art first reached out its arms to them, and who approach it on their knees, with faith, with hope, with love, with religion, thinking not of self, nor of aught that shall result to them from their devotion to it, but that only through art, they may utter truth, and so fulfill art's real purpose, and with it the highest purpose of their own life--those shall indeed know the blessedness of power, of growth, of inspiration, of love." such art as that carries the mind down to the centre of all things from which all good springs. that centre is life. that life has for its great attribute the re-cuperation--the re-creation of all which it touches. the dwelling of that life--the body--is, by art such as that which that noble writer just quoted describes, made young every day and its days are prolonged on the face of the earth. this may be ideal to-day, but so many times has it been true, that "the ideal of to-day is the real of to-morrow," that even this may be the tangible medicine of the next generation. chapter ix. activity. "_life is a series of surprises. we do not guess to-day the work, the pleasure, the power of to-morrow, when we are building up our being._" =emerson.= "_chase back the shadows, grey and old,_ _of the dead ages, from his way,_ _and let his hopeful eyes behold_ _the dawn of thy millenial day._ " =whittier= ix. activity. fortunately, no two persons are exactly alike. if they were, the result would be the same and the everyday acts leading to a result would be the same. nature, acquiescing in the divine plan, has a different line of action and result for every individual which she creates. we find unlimited variety in man. the seat of activity is the mind and the first portion of the body to be acted upon by the mind is the brain. one man possesses more convolutions of brain than does another, and the fibre which extends from the gray matter to manipulate the many organs of the body which we constantly use is finer in one organism than in another. we recognize differences in classes of people and call one class nervous, and another, phlegmatic. so strongly are we influenced by public opinion that we honestly believe that a "slow" man cannot reach so great result in a lifetime as can a "quick" man. general opinion is usually wrong and it most certainly is in this case. nature has a work for each kind and each individual to do, the summing up of which, is the result of that life, and if the gifts of each individual have been properly used the result is success in life. it may be believed that the usefulness of each individual, if the life of each is perfectly carried out, will be equal to that of all others. the _apparent_ success may not be _real_ success. the active brain directs a responsive body. the more active the brain, the more active can the body be made. to make the body useful at all, the motion of its members must be well understood and perfectly commanded. herein lies the secret of success or failure. all want--not wish--success. (a wish may be a whim.) the saying "one thing at a time, etc.," has become obnoxious to us years ago, but in the idea contained in that lies the path to greatest activity. the active mind spreads itself. it schemes. all the plans which it suggests seem possible. why not carry them all out? merely because life is not long enough, nor mental and physical endurance strong enough, to do even the preliminary work of one tenth of the schemes which can come to an active mind in one day. cut them all off. it might be well to say "first come, first served," and take the first which comes and carry that to success, concentrating all thought and force upon its accomplishment. it may be a higher power which put the thought of that plan _first_ into mind. yet more narrowly would we draw the line which surrounds our activity. one must make the most of his force and strength. in the case of every man, woman and child living there is enormous waste of power. much more is wasted than is used. we have in years past stood beside niagara and thought if that power, apparently going to waste, could be used for moving machinery it could run the mills of the world, forgetting, or not knowing, that, in getting to the falls, we wasted enough mental and physical force to run our human machinery for a week. the thought flew, changing probably twice a second, to how many different things in the hour before. computation is easy. in the sixteen working hours of a day, perhaps, we think of 2000 things. isn't that wasteful? before the true plan of nature is carried out some (if not three-quarters) of this waste must be prevented. what has the body done in the hour before reaching niagara? the hands have wandered aimlessly, the feet have tapped the floor, the watch has been looked at a dozen times, the hat taken off and put on again, the card-case opened, half-looked at, and shut, and each act, with twenty more, has been repeated again and again. it was waste activity. it must be overcome. nature never intended you and me to be wasteful. these actions of mind, brain and body, are useful in their places, but we misuse them, using up strength and power. night comes and we are tired out, or think we are, which amounts to the same thing. who said "one thing at a time" was obnoxious to him? to gain our greatest power we must bring ourselves down to "one thing at a time." put your mind on that one thing. are you sharpening a pencil just now? don't read a book at the same time. are you placing your hat on your head? don't brush dust off the coat. are these things trivial? nothing is trivial in nature's plan. do not, in impatience, without trial, cast aside these suggestions. even give one hour each day for one week as a trial to doing what you do, perfectly, and think of it as a trial. the increased result in mental and physical activity will demonstrate the wisdom of the advice. strength is essential to successful labor. wildly beating the air in undirected effort is the element of greatest weakness. we smile at the antics of two chickens in their fight in the farmyard. in a few minutes they wear themselves out and go off to rest. are not we much like them? do we not use up our strength in useless effort? then, how often we rush off to the gymnasium or to the drug-store in the vain hope of regaining our strength. new strength is not to be found in either place. it is within ourselves all the time. stop the expenditure and permit re-cuperation through concentration. don't go lie down. don't take a nap. stop right where you are and bring the thought down to one thing, _strength_. for the moment allow the body to remain still. think strength, desire strength, command strength! it is yours. it belongs to you. it is all around you. it will take possession of you if you permit it. what say you? that it will not come at your bidding? are you sure? have you cleared the mind of the cobwebs--the two different things per second which can come into it? have you? until you have, don't give up the test. concentrate the thought upon strength, if that is what you want, and it will come. impatience is waste. you cannot afford it. it is too expensive. we are all children. we see a toy and we must have it instantly, even if it is, as it often is, a sharp tool, which cuts our hands. if that which we wish belongs to us, or is to be given to us, it will come in its time. we wish to do something _now_. we haven't the means, or we don't see our way clearly to do it. we bemoan our hard luck, and can't see why we can't have it. just so does the child about the toy. wait patiently, and if, in nature's plan, the thing is to come to us, it will come, and we can't prevent it. it will seem as if it came itself. impatience merely wears us out and uses up strength which nature wishes us to use in some other way. obey nature and carry out her purposes. activity which is useful, comes through directed effort. there may be _seeming_ activity which is worse than sluggishness, and which is certainly not desirable. directed effort comes best through calm mind and responsive body. silence and quietness, self-imposed, prepare the way to directed effort. cease everything, even thinking, so far as it can be stopped, and remain passive thirty seconds. then another thirty seconds. who cannot take one minute out of each hour in the day for preparing the mind and body for greater strength and activity? when night has come and we lay the body down to rest there are a few minutes when it can have the best preparation for the activity of the next day. the few minutes before sleep carries us into unconsciousness are dear and sweet minutes, if rightly used. then can the thought, which has been sent to thousands of things during the day, be brought back to its proper place. it should be centred upon one thing. the estimate is that the mind cannot be kept on one thing more than six seconds; but it can be returned to that one thing for several periods of six seconds each. we do not have the chance to return it many times, for sleep seizes us. let the thought selected be a pleasant one; of some happy spot or view; a sunset or refreshing shower. it is better to select something from nature rather than man, for such thought is likely to be unalloyed. the last thing at night, if pleasant, tends to give us the calmest rest and best prepares us for the next day. the well and strong body can be active and the temperament of the individual makes comparatively little difference. in this we may all take courage. every thoughtful person has had an occasional sad thought over his apparent impotence. no one need use less than his normal strength and activity. * * * * * corrections made by the etext transcriber: there has, however, ways of procedure been planned which must shorten the trip.=>there have been planned, however, ways of procedure which must shorten the trip. fortunately, no two persons are exactly alike. if there were=>fortunately, no two persons are exactly alike. if they were resonance in singing and speaking by thomas fillebrown, m.d., d.m.d. twenty-one years professor of operative dentistry and oral surgery in harvard university; member of the american medical association, the academy of dental science, the new england otological and laryngological association, etc.; lecturer on voice development. third edition [illustration: the music students library] boston oliver ditson company new york chas. h. ditson & co. chicago lyon & healy _copyright, mcmxi_ by oliver ditson company international copyright secured [transcriber's note: text in bold is surrounded by =. text in italics is surrounded by _.] to the memory of william haskell stockbridge pupil of vannuccini and my first instructor in voice culture, this volume is affectionately dedicated preface efforts to develop my own voice, and the voices of my patients after operations for cleft palate, aided by anatomical study, resulted in a plan for the focusing and development of the human voice quite different from any other yet published, or, so far as i know, yet proposed. this plan has proved so successful in my later life that i feel emboldened to offer it for the consideration of speakers and singers. while twenty-five years ago few of the principles here described were acknowledged or even recognized, within the last decade almost all have been advocated separately by different teachers or writers. at the present time, therefore, originality consists only in the classification of the principles into a systematic, progressive whole, and in arranging a simpler and more practical method of applying them, thus making the desired results much more quickly attainable. it is attempted in this volume only to describe the value of each element in the production of the perfect tone and to demonstrate the principles which, if properly and faithfully applied, will develop the best that is possible in each individual voice and prepare the pupil to enter upon the more advanced arts of speaking and singing. in 1903 i prepared a series of papers on _the art of vocalism_, which were published in _the étude_ in may, june, and july of that year. these articles are incorporated in this work. in connection with different organs and conditions, important principles are stated and restated. this repetition is thought desirable in order that the fundamentals may be kept prominently before the mind and impressed upon the attention. i believe that a careful study of this volume will prove of essential service to teachers and advanced pupils of singing and oratory, especially to young teachers just entering upon their duties. its method will be found adapted to the instruction of pupils of all grades, from the kindergarten to the conservatory of music and the school of oratory. i shall be gratified if this outcome of years of experience, constant study, and tested methods shall prove helpful to those who seek mastery of the art of beautiful speaking and singing. [illustration: [signature] thomas fillebrown] contents preface vii introduction 1 i. the vocal instrument 6 ii. the speaking voice and pronunciation 16 iii. breath control 23 iv. breathing exercises 33 v. registers 38 vi. resonance in general 43 vii. head and nasal resonance 51 viii. placing the voice 56 ix. throat stiffness 74 x. some general considerations 77 xi. the psychology of vocal culture 82 books consulted 86 index 89 resonance in singing and speaking introduction when a youth it was my lot to be surrounded by examples of faulty vocalism, such as prevailed in a country town, and to be subjected to the errors then in vogue, having at the same time small opportunity for training in the application of principles, even as then imperfectly taught. at middle life i had given up all attempt at singing and had difficulty in speaking so as to be heard at any considerable distance or for any considerable length of time. professional obligations to my patients, however, compelled me later to take up the subject of vocal physiology. this i did, guided by the ideas current on the subject. about 1880 i became satisfied that many of the current ideas were incorrect, and determined to start anew, and to note in detail the action of each organ used in vocalization and articulation. to this end i sought vocal instruction and advice, which, modified by my own observations, have produced the most gratifying results. up to that time it had been held that the nasal cavities must be cut off from the mouth by the closing of the soft palate against the back of the throat; that the passage of ever so little of the sound above the palate would give a nasal twang, and that the sound was reinforced and developed only in the cavities of the throat and mouth. my practice in oral surgery, coupled with my own vocal studies exposed this fallacy and revealed to me the true value of nasal resonance. the late mme. rudersdorff had begun to recognize the effect of nasal resonance, but she left no published record of her conclusions. it does not appear that she or her contemporaries realized the true value of the nasal and head cavities as reinforcing agents in the production of tone, or appreciated their influence upon its quality and power. there are perhaps few subjects on which a greater variety of opinion exists than on that of voice culture, and few upon which so many volumes have been written. few points are uncontested, and exactly opposite statements are made in regard to each. formerly great stress was laid upon the distinction between "head tones" and "chest tones," "closed tones" and "open tones." the whole musical world was in bondage to "registers of the voice," and the one great task confronting the singer and vocal teacher was to "blend the registers," a feat still baffling the efforts of many instructors. many teachers and singers have now reached what they consider a demonstrated conclusion that registers are not a natural feature of the voice; yet a large contingent still adhere to the doctrine of "register," depending for their justification upon the unreliable evidence furnished by the laryngoscope, not realizing that there will be found in the little lens as many different conditions as the observers have eyes to see. garcia himself, the inventor of the laryngoscope, soon modified his first claims as to its value in vocal culture. on this point we have the testimony of his biographer, m.s. mckinley: "as far as garcia was concerned, the laryngoscope ceased to be of any special use as soon as his first investigations were concluded. by his examination of the glottis he had the satisfaction of proving that all his theories with regard to the emission of the voice were absolutely correct. beyond that he did not see that anything further was to be gained except to satisfy the curiosity of those who might be interested in seeing for themselves the forms and changes which the inside of the larynx assumed during singing and speaking." of similar purport is the word of the eminent baritone, sir charles santley, who, in his _art of singing_, says: "manuel garcia is held up as the pioneer of scientific teaching of singing. he was--but he taught singing, not surgery! i was a pupil of his in 1858 and a friend of his while he lived;[1] and in all the conversations i had with him i never heard him say a word about larynx or pharynx, glottis or any other organ used in the production and emission of the voice. he was perfectly acquainted with their functions, but he used his knowledge for his own direction, not to parade it before his pupils." [footnote 1: garcia died july 1, 1906, at the age of 101.] the eminent london surgeon and voice specialist, dr. morell mackenzie, says of the laryngoscope, "it can scarcely be said to have thrown any new light on the mechanism of the voice"; and dr. lennox browne confesses that, "valuable as has been the laryngoscope in a physiological, as undoubtedly it is in a medical sense, it has been the means of making all theories of voice production too dependent on the vocal cords, and thus the importance of the other parts of the vocal apparatus has been overlooked." not only in regard to "registers" but in regard to resonance, focus, articulation, and the offices and uses of the various vocal organs, similar antagonistic opinions exist. out of this chaos must some time come a demonstrable system. a generation ago the art of breathing was beginning to be more an object of study, but the true value of correct lateral abdominal breathing was by no means generally admitted or appreciated. it was still taught that the larynx (voice-box) should bob up and down like a jack-in-a-box with each change of pitch, and that "female breathing" must be performed with a pumping action of the chest and the elevation and depression of the collar bone. fortunately, teachers and singers recognized a good tone when they heard it, and many taught much better than they knew, so that the public did not have to wait for the development of accurate knowledge of the subject before hearing excellent singing and speaking. yet many singers had their voices ruined in the training, and their success as vocalists made impossible; while others, a little less unfortunate, were still handicapped through life by the injury done by mistaken methods in early years. jenny lind's perfect vocal organs were quite disabled at twelve years of age by wrong methods, and they recovered only after a protracted season of rest. as a consequence her beautiful voice began to fail long before her splendid physique, and long before her years demanded. singers taught in nature's way should be able to sing so long as strength lasts, and, like adelaide phillips, carl formes, and sims reeves, sing their sweetest songs in the declining years of life. martel, at seventy years of age, had a full, rich voice. he focused all his tones alike, and employed deep abdominal breathing. the whole matter of voice training has been clouded by controversy. the strident advocates of various systems, each of them "the only true method," have in their disputes overcast the subject with much that is irrelevant, thus obscuring its essential simplicity. the "scientific" teachers, at one extreme, have paid too exclusive attention to the mechanics of the voice. the "empiricists" have gone to the other extreme in leaving out of account fundamental facts in acoustics, physiology, and psychology. the truth is that no purely human function, especially one so subtle as singing, can be developed mechanically; nor, on the other hand, can the mere _ipse dixit_ of any teacher satisfy the demands of the modern spirit. principles advocated the positions here advocated, because they seem both rational and simple, are: =1. that the singing and speaking tones are identical, produced by the same organs in the same way, and developed by the same training.= =2. that breathing is, for the singer, only an amplification of the correct daily habit.= =3. that "registers" are a myth.= =4. that "head tones, chest tones, closed tones, open tones," etc., as confined to special parts of the range of the voice, are distracting distinctions arising from false education.= =5. that resonance determines the quality and carrying power of every tone, and is therefore the most important element in the study and training of the voice.= =6. that the obstacles to good speaking and singing are psychologic rather than physiologic.= =7. that, in the nature of things, the right way is always an easy way.= chapter i the vocal instrument since the vocal organism first became an object of systematic study, discussion has been constant as to whether the human vocal instrument is a stringed instrument, a reed instrument, or a whistle. discussion of the question seems futile, for practically it is all of these and more. the human vocal organs form an instrument, _sui generis_, which cannot be compared with any other one thing. not only is it far more complex than any other instrument, being capable, as it is, of imitating nearly every instrument in the catalogue and almost every sound in nature, but it is incomparably more beautiful, an instrument so universally superior to any made by man that comparisons and definitions fail. elements the human vocal instrument has the three elements common to all musical instruments,--a motor, a vibrator, and a resonator; to which is added--what all other instruments lack--an articulator. 1. the respiratory muscles and lungs for a =motor=. 2. the vocal cords for a =vibrator=. 3. the throat, mouth, and the nasal and head cavities for a =resonator=. 4. the tongue, lips, teeth, and palate for an =articulator=. these elements appear in as great a variety of size and proportion as do the variations of individual humanity, and each element is, moreover, variable according to the will or feeling of the individual. this susceptibility to change constitutes a modifying power which gives a variety in tone quality possible to no other instrument and makes it our wonder and admiration. the modification and interaction of these various parts produced by the emotions of the singer or speaker give qualities of tone expressive of the feelings, as of pain or pleasure, grief or joy, courage or fear. [illustration: figure 1.--section of the head and throat locating the organs of speech and song, including the upper resonators. the important maxillary sinus cannot well be shown. it is found within the maxillary bone (cheek bone). the inner end of the line marked _nasal cavity_ locates it.] timbre the minute differences in these physical conditions, coupled with the subtler differences in the psychical elements of the personality, account for that distinctive physiognomy of the voice called =timbre=, which is only another name for individuality as exhibited in each person. the same general elements enter into the composition of all voices, from the basso profundo to the high soprano. that the reader may better understand the proportion and relations of the different parts of the vocal apparatus, a sectional drawing of the head is here produced, showing the natural position of the vocal organs at rest. as the drawing represents but a vertical section of the head the reader should note that the sinuses, like the eyes and nostrils, lie in pairs to the right and left of the centre of the face. the location of the maxillary sinuses within the maxillary or cheek bones cannot be shown in this drawing. the dark shading represents the cavities of the throat, nose, and head. the relations of the parts are shown more accurately than is possible in any diagram. it will be noticed that the vibrations from the larynx would pass directly behind the soft palate into the nasal chamber, and very directly into the mouth. the nasal roof is formed by two bones situated between the eyes; the sphenoid or wedge-bone, which is connected with all other bones of the head, and the ethmoid or sieve-like bone. the structure of these two bones, especially of the ethmoid, consists of very thin plates or laminæ, forming a mass of air cavities which communicate by small openings with the nasal cavity below. thus, the vibrations in the nose are transmitted to the air spaces above, and the effective qualities of the head vibrations are added to the tone. the larynx the larynx or voice-box contains the vocal cords. just above the vocal cords on each side is a large, deep cavity, called the ventricle. these cavities reinforce the primary vibrations set up by the cords and serve to increase their intensity as they are projected from the larynx. the larynx is the vibrating organ of the voice. it is situated at the base of the tongue and is so closely connected with it by attachment to the hyoid bone, to which the tongue is also attached, that it is capable of only slight movement independent of that organ; consequently it must move with the tongue in articulation. the interior muscles of the larynx vary the position of its walls, thus regulating the proximity and tension of the vocal cords. the male larynx is the larger and shows the adam's apple. in both sexes the larynx of the low voice, alto or bass, is larger than that of the high voice, soprano or tenor. the larynx and tongue should not rise with the pitch of the voice, but drop naturally with the lower jaw as the mouth opens in ascending the scale. the proper position of the tongue will insure a proper position for the larynx. the less attention the larynx receives the better. the vocal cords the vocal cords are neither cords nor bands, but instead are thick portions of membrane extending across the inner surface of the larynx. on account of familiarity the name _vocal cords_ will still be used. they are fairly well represented by the lips of the cornet player when placed on the mouthpiece of the instrument. the pitch of the tone is fixed by the tension of the vocal cords and the width and length of the opening between them. their tension and proximity are self-adjusted to produce the proper pitch without any conscious volition of the singer. they can have no special training, needing only to be left alone. the work of the vocal cords, though essentially important, is, when naturally performed, light and consequently not exhausting. if the larynx and all of its supporting muscles are relaxed as they are in free and easy breathing, then when the air passes out through the larynx, the vocal cords will automatically assume a tension sufficient to vocalize the breath and give the note the proper pitch. the normal action of the cords will never cause hoarseness or discomfort. the sound should seem to be formed, not in the throat,--thus involving the vocal cords,--but in the resonance chambers. the epiglottis the epiglottis is the valve which closes over the upper opening of the larynx. it not only closes the mouth of the larynx when food is swallowed, but aids materially in converting into tone the vibrations set up by the vocal cords. the pharynx the pharynx extends from the larynx to the nasal cavity. the size of the opening into the nasal chamber is controlled by the soft palate and is frequently entirely closed. the size of the pharynx is varied by the contraction and relaxation of the circular muscles in its tissue; when swallowing its walls are in contact. the pharynx acts as does the expanding tube of brass instruments. it increases the force and depth of the tone waves. the wider the pharynx is opened, without constraint, the fuller the resonance and the better the tone. the under jaw the under jaw furnishes attachment for the muscles of the tongue and hyoid or tongue bone. it also controls, owing to the connections of the larynx with the hyoid bone, the muscles that fix the position of the larynx. the pterygoid muscles, which move the under jaw forward and backward, do not connect with the larynx, so their action does not compress that organ or in any way impede the action of the vocal apparatus. a relaxed under jaw allows freer action of the vocal cords and ampler resonance. the under jaw should drop little by little as the voice ascends the scale, thus opening the mouth slightly wider with each rise in the pitch of the tone. in ascending the scale it is well to open the throat a little wider as you ascend. the delivery will be much easier, and the tone produced will be much better. at the highest pitch of the voice the mouth should open to its full width. at the same time care must be taken _not_ to draw the corners of the mouth back, as in smiling, because this lessens the resonance of the tone and gives it a flat sound. the under jaw must have considerable latitude of motion in pronunciation, but by all means avoid chewing of the words and cutting off words by closing the jaw instead of finishing them by the use of the proper articulating organs, which are the tongue and lips. the soft palate writers on the voice have almost universally claimed that the principal office of the soft palate is to shut off the nasal and head cavities from the throat, and to force the column of vibrations out through the mouth, thus allowing none, or at most a very small part, to pass into the nasal passages. this contention implies that the vibrations are imparted to the upper cavities, if at all, through the walls of the palate itself, and not through an opening behind the palate. this is entirely at variance with the facts as verified by my own experience and observation and the observation of others who are expert specialists. the true office of the soft palate is to modify the opening into the nose and thus attune the resonant cavities to the pitch and timbre of the note given by the vocal cords and pharynx. to develop the vowel sounds, the soft palate should be drawn forward, allowing a free passage into the nose; it should be closed only to form the consonants which require a forcible expulsion of breath from the mouth. the uvula, the pendulous tip of the soft palate, serves as a valve to more accurately adjust the opening behind the soft palate to the pitch of the voice. in producing a low tone the soft palate is relaxed and hangs low down and far forward. as the voice ascends the scale the tension of the soft palate is increased and it is elevated and the uvula shortened, thus decreasing the opening behind the palate, but never closing it. in fact the larger the opening that can be maintained, the broader and better the tone. the author was himself unable fully to appreciate this until he had become able to sense the position of the soft palate during vocalization. the hard palate and teeth the hard palate and upper teeth form in part the walls of the mouth. as they are solid fixtures, nothing can be done in the way of training. they furnish a point of impingement in articulation, and play their part in sympathetic resonance. the bones which form the roof of the mouth serve also for the floor of the nasal cavity. the under teeth also serve as walls of resistance to support the tongue during the performance of its functions. the nasal and head cavities the nasal and head cavities are resonating chambers incapable of special training, but their form, size, and the use made of them have a wonderful effect upon the resonance of the voice. if the vibrations are strong here, all other parts will vibrate in harmonious action. when responding to the perfectly focused tone the thin walls of the cavities and the contained air vibrate with surprising force, often for the moment blinding the singer when sounding a note intensely. having in my surgical work demonstrated the existence of a hitherto unrecognized connecting passage or canal between the air cavities of the face and those of the forehead,[2] the play of resonance in the cavities above the nostrils is more easily understood. the function of the cavities known as the _frontal sinuses_ (see fig. 1) has long been a mystery, but now that their direct connection with the lower cavities is proven, and the great significance of resonance is also beginning to be recognized, the mystery disappears. the same may be said of the other sinuses--_ethmoidal_, _sphenoidal_, and _maxillary_, and their interconnection. [footnote 2: dr. fillebrown's paper, _a study of the relation of the frontal sinus to the antrum_, was read before the american dental association, at saratoga, august 5, 1895. his investigation showed that the funnel-shaped passage known as the _infundibulum_ extends from the _frontal sinus_ directly into the antrum or _maxillary sinus_. this was afterwards confirmed by dr. w.h. cryer and others.] influence of the resonance cavities on the pitch of the tone in instruments changes in the length and form of the resonance chambers affect the pitch as well as the quality of the tone. this is demonstrated in the trombone, french horn, and other wind instruments. the lengthening of the tube of the trombone lowers the pitch of the tone, and the projection of the hand of the performer into the bell of the french horn has the effect of raising the pitch of the sound. if the variation in length or form is only slight, the result is sharp or flat, and the instrument is out of tune. in the human instrument all the organs act together as a unit; so the fact that the cavities alone may affect the pitch is practically of no great significance. the tongue the tongue and the lips are the articulating organs, and the former has an important part to play in altering through its movements the shape of the mouth cavity. the tip of the tongue should habitually rest against the under front teeth. the tip of the tongue, however, must frequently touch the roof of the mouth near the upper front teeth, as when pronouncing the consonants _c_, _d_, _g_ or _j_, _l_, _n_, _s_, and _t_. the back part of the tongue must rise a little to close against the soft palate when pronouncing _g_ hard, and _k_, and hard _c_, _q_, and _x_. the soft palate comes down so far to meet the tongue that the elevation of the latter need be but very slight. when speaking, the demand is not so imperative, but when singing, the body of the tongue should lie as flat as possible, so as to enlarge the mouth, especially when giving the vowel sounds. if the tongue is sometimes disposed to be unruly, it is the result of rigidity or misplaced effort in the surrounding parts. this tendency will only be aggravated by artificial restraint of any kind. the true way is to dismiss tongue consciousness, _let go_, and a normal flexibility will easily manifest itself. the lips the lips, equally with the tongue, are organs of articulation. the upper lip is the principal factor of the two; the under lip seems to follow the lead of the upper. the lips need much training, and it can readily be given them. while practising to educate the lips, both lips should be projected forward and upward, at the same time pronouncing the word "too." bring the edge of the upper lip as high toward the nose as possible in practice. this will bring the corners of the mouth forward and lift the lips clear and free from the teeth, and thus add one more resonance cavity. this position of the lips also gives freedom for pronunciation. "the upper lip plays the most active part in the shaping of the vowels. it should never be drawn against the teeth when producing vowel tones; indeed, there should be often a little space between the upper lip and the teeth, so that the vibrations of the sound-waves can have free play." the nostrils the nostrils should be dilated as much as possible, as a free, wide, open nose gives a free, well-rounded tone, while a contracted nostril induces the nasal tone so much dreaded. a proper training of the facial muscles makes this dilation possible. lifting the upper lip and projecting it forward aids the action to a great degree. there is a strong tendency to unity of action between the nostrils and the lips and the soft palate. the soft palate moves downward and forward when the upper lip protrudes and the nostrils dilate, and moves backward and upward when the nostrils are contracted and the upper lip allowed to rest upon the teeth. as a rule the best singers have full, round, wide, open nostrils, either given by nature or acquired by practice. the face not only must the lips and nose be trained, but the muscles of the face also. these muscles are capable, if educated, of doing important service. the artist on the operatic stage or the speaker on the platform, without facial expression begotten of muscular activity, may lessen by half his power over an audience. to train the facial muscles is a complicated task. to do this, stand before a mirror and make all the faces ever thought of by a schoolboy to amuse his schoolmates. raise each corner of the lip, wrinkle the nose, quilt the forehead, grin, laugh. the grimaces will not enter into a performance, but their effect upon it will be markedly beneficial. chapter ii the speaking voice and pronunciation a generation ago the speaking voice was even less understood than the singing voice. that the two were intimately connected was but half surmised. only an occasional person recognized what is now generally conceded, that a good way to improve the speaking voice is to cultivate the singing voice. in 1887 i published a paper in the _independent practitioner_ defining the singing voice and the speaking voice as identical, and contending that the training for each should be the same so far as tone formation is involved, a conclusion at which i had arrived several years before. subsequent experience has only served to confirm this opinion. the past has produced many good speakers, among them henry clay, daniel webster, edwin booth, wm. charles macready, and edward everett. of the last oliver wendell holmes wrote: "it is with delight that one who remembers edward everett in his robes of rhetorical splendor, recalls his full blown, high colored, double flowered periods; the rich, resonant, grave, far-reaching music of his speech, with just enough of the nasal vibration to give the vocal sounding-board its proper value in the harmonies of utterance." these examples of correct vocalization, however, were exceptions to the general rule; they happened to speak well, but the physiologic action of the vocal organs which produced such results in those individual cases was not understood, and hence the pupil ambitious to imitate them and develop the best of which his voice was capable had no rule by which to proceed. few could speak with ease, still fewer could be heard by a large assembly, and sore throats seemed to be the rule. difference between singing and speaking in singing the flow of tone is unbroken between the words, but in speaking it is interrupted. in singing tone is sustained and changed from one pitch to another by definite intervals over a wide compass that includes notes not attempted in speech. in speaking tone is unsustained, not defined in pitch, is limited to a narrow compass, and the length of the tones is not governed by the measure of music. notwithstanding these differences, singing and speaking tones are produced by the vocal organs in the same way, are focused precisely alike, have the same resonance, and are delivered in the same manner. it has been said that speech differs from song as walking from dancing. speech may be called the prose, and song the poetry of vocalization. during the past decade the knowledge of the speaking voice has been greatly broadened, and the art of cultivating tone has made progress. the identity of the singing and speaking voice is becoming more fully recognized, and methods are being used to develop the latter similar to those in use for the training of the former. as dr. morell mackenzie says: "singing is a help to good speaking, as the greater includes the less." the recognition of this truth cannot fail to be a great aid to the progress of singing in the public schools, since every enlargement of exercises common to both speaking and singing helps to solidarity and _esprit de corps_ in teaching and in learning. an accurate sense of pitch, melody, harmony, and rhythm is necessary to the singer, but the orator may, by cultivation, develop a speaking voice of musical quality without being able to distinguish _old hundred_ from _the last rose of summer_. pronunciation it is a matter of common observation that american singers, although they may be painstaking in their french and german, are indifferent, even to carelessness, in the clear and finished enunciation of their native tongue. mr. w.j. henderson, in his recent work, _the art of the singer_, says: "the typical american singer cannot sing his own language so that an audience can understand him; nine-tenths of the songs we hear are songs without words." happily this condition is gradually yielding to a better one, stimulated in part by the examples of visiting singers and actors. in story-telling songs and in oratorio, slovenly delivery is reprehensible, but when the words of a song are the lyric flight of a true poet, a careless utterance becomes intolerable. beauty of tone is not everything; the singing of mere sounds, however lovely, is but a tickling of the ear. the shortcoming of the italian school of singing, as of composition, has been too exclusive devotion to sensuous beauty of tone as an end in itself. the singer must never forget that his mission is to =vitalize text with tone=. the songs of schubert, schumann, franz, brahms, grieg, strauss, and wolf, as well as the wagnerian drama, are significant in their inseparable union of text and music. the singer is therefore an interpreter, not of music alone, but of text made potent by music. pronunciation, moreover, concerns not only the listener, but the singer and speaker, for pure tone and pure pronunciation cannot be divorced, one cannot exist without the other. in his interesting work, _the singing of the future_, mr. ffrangcon-davies insists that, "the quickest way to fine tone is through fine pronunciation." we cannot think except in words, nor voice our thought without speech. vocal utterance is thought articulate. therefore, instead of prolonged attention to tone itself, training should be concentrated upon the uttered word. the student should aim "to sing a word rather than a tone." correct pronunciation and beautiful tone are so interdependent as to be inseparable. the singer and speaker require all sounds in their purity. to seek to develop the voice along the narrow limits of any single vowel or syllable, as for instance the syllable _ah_, is harmful. not only is this vowel sound, as lilli lehmann says, "the most difficult," but the proper pronunciation of all words within the whole range of the voice is thereby impeded. diction and tone work should therefore go hand in hand. "the way in which vowel melts into vowel and consonants float into their places largely determines the character of the tone itself." without finished pronunciation speech and song of emotional power are impossible. gounod, the composer, says, "pronunciation creates eloquence." mr. forbes-robertson, the english master of dramatic diction, speaking for his own profession says: "the trouble with contemporary stage elocution springs from the actor's very desire to act well. in his effort to be natural he mumbles his words as too many people do in everyday life. much of this can be corrected by constantly bearing in mind the true value of vowels, the percussive value of consonants, and the importance of keeping up the voice until the last word is spoken. there must be, so to speak, plenty of wind in the bellows. the great thing is to have the sound come from the front of the mouth.... the actor must learn to breathe deeply from the diaphragm and to take his breath at the proper time. too often the last word is not held up, and that is very often the important word.... schools for acting are valuable, ... but, after all, the actors, like other folk, must be taught how to speak as children in the home, at school, and in society." in pronunciation the words should seem to be formed by the upper lip and to come out through it. by this method it will be found easy to pronounce distinctly. the words will thus be formed outside the mouth and be readily heard, as is a person talking in front of, instead of behind, a screen. a single, intelligent trial will be sufficient to show the correctness of the statement. thinking of the upper lip as the fashioner of the words makes speaking easy and singing a delight. to smile while talking gives to the words a flat, silly sound, hence the corners of the mouth should be kept well forward. the singer's scale of vowel sounds [illustration: 1 n_ee_ 2 n_i_t 3 n_e_t 4 n_a_y 5 n_ai_r 6 n_a_t 7 n_i_gh 8 n_a_h 7' n_o_t 6' n_a_w 5' n_e_r 4' n_u_t 3' n_o_ 2' n_oo_k 1' n_oo_.] it may fasten this in mind to remember that at one end of the vowel scale is--_me_, at the other--_you_. the teeth and lips are most closed at the extremes of this scale, and gradually open toward _ah_, with which vowel they are widest apart. in the series 1-8 the tongue is highest in the centre for _ee_ and gradually descends until it lies flat in the mouth for _ah_. the _upper_ pharynx is most closed in 1, most open in 8, and closes more and more in the descending series 7'-1'. the _lower_ pharynx gradually opens in the descending series 7'-1'. the researches of helmholtz, koenig, willis, wheatstone, appunn, bell, and others have shown that each vowel sound has its own characteristic pitch. the scale of vowel sounds given above corresponds closely to the order of resonance pitch from the highest _ee_ to the lowest _oo_. in the natural resonance of the vowels _ee_ is highest in the head, _ah_ is midway in the scale, and _oo_ is lowest in resonance. lip position figure 2 shows the best position of the lips to give the sound of _ee_. hold the under jaw without stiffness and as far from the upper teeth as is consistent with delivery of the pure sound of this vowel. figure 3 shows the best position of the lips to produce the vowel _oo_. figure 4 shows the position of the lips for the vowel sound of long _o_. the opening of the lips should be made as round as is the letter _o_. when preparing the lips to give the sound of _o_, the inclination is strong to drop the lower jaw; in practice, to develop action of the lips, the under jaw would better be held quite immovable. it will be found possible to produce all of the vowel sounds without any change except in the form of the opening of the lips. the vowel sound of _i_ is an exception; for as a compound of _ah_ and _ee_, the extremes of the vowel scale, it requires two distinct positions for its utterance with a movement of transition between; it is not, therefore, a good vowel for initial practice. [illustration: figure 2.] [illustration: figure 3.] [illustration: figure 4.] [illustration: figure 5.] figure 5 shows that the sound _aw_ is produced from _o_ by raising the edge of the upper lip outward and upward, and flattening the raised portion laterally. figure 6 shows the position for producing _ah_. it differs from the position assumed for _aw_ in that the opening of the lips is larger, the upper lip is raised higher, the flat portion is wider, and the under lip is a little relaxed. the form of the opening to produce _aw_ is oval; the form for _ah_ is more nearly square. [illustration: figure 6.] [illustration: figure 7.] figure 7 shows the under jaw relaxed, as it should be in practice, to enlarge the throat and give roundness and largeness to the tone. the use of the word _hung_ will accomplish this end. the vowel sounds illustrated above are embodied in a series of vocal exercises to be found in chapter viii on _placing the voice_. chapter iii breath control it has been said that "breathing is singing." this statement is equally applicable to speaking. while the aphorism is not literally true, it is true that without properly controlled breathing the best singing or speaking tone cannot be produced, for tone is but vocalized breath; hence in the cultivation of the voice, breathing is the first function to receive attention. for singer or speaker, the correct use of the breathing apparatus determines the question of success or failure; for without mastery of the motive power all else is unavailing. for a voice user, therefore, the first requisite is a well-developed chest, the second, complete control of it. it must not be supposed that a singer's breathing is something strange or complex, for it is nothing more than _an amplification of normal, healthy breathing_. in contrast, however, to the undisciplined casual breathing of the general public, the singer is a professional breather. the muscles of respiration there are two sets of respiratory muscles, one for inspiration and another for expiration,--twenty-two or more in all. the principal muscles of inspiration are the diaphragm and the intercostal muscles that elevate the ribs. the chief muscles of expiration are the four sets of abdominal muscles and the intercostal muscles that depress the ribs. the diaphragm is _not_ a muscle of _expiration_. the diaphragm the diaphragm is in form like an inverted bowl (fig. 8). it forms the floor of the thorax (chest) and the roof of the abdomen. it is attached by a strong tendon to the spinal column behind, and to the walls of the thorax at its lowest part, which is below the ribs. in front its attachment is to the cartilage at the pit of the stomach. it also connects with the transverse abdominal muscle. the diaphragm being convex, in inspiration the contraction of its fibres flattens it downward and presses down the organs in the abdomen, thus increasing the depth of the thorax. expiration depends wholly on other muscles. [illustration: figure 8.] the muscles so far mentioned are all that need "conscious education;" the others will act with them voluntarily, automatically. the abdominal muscles relax during inspiration and the diaphragm relaxes during expiration, thus rendering the forces nearly equal, though the strength is in favor of the expiratory muscles. this is what is needed, for the breath while speaking or singing must go out under much greater tension than is necessary for inhalation. inspiration should be as free as possible from obstruction when singing or speaking. expiration must be under _controlled_ pressure. the lungs the lungs are spongy bodies which have no activity of their own beyond a little elasticity. they are controlled by the muscles of respiration. figure 8 shows the organs of the body in their natural positions. the diaphragm is relaxed and curved upward, as in expiration. during inspiration the diaphragm is drawn down until it lies nearly flat. inspiration the intercostal muscles raise the ribs. the diaphragm is drawn down by contraction, thus adding to the enlargement of the chest by increasing its depth. the abdominal muscles relax and allow the stomach, liver, and other organs in the abdomen to move downward to make room for the depressed diaphragm. this causes a vacuum in the chest. the lungs expand to fill this vacuum and the air rushes in to fill the expanding lungs. expiration the intercostal, and a part of the abdominal, muscles depress the ribs and lessen the chest cavity anteriorly and laterally. the abdominal muscles compress the abdomen and force up the diaphragm which is now relaxed, thus lessening the depth of the thorax. this pressure forces the air from the lungs and prepares them for another inspiration. correct method that the lateral-abdominal--more accurately chest-abdominal--breathing is correct and natural for both male, and female, and that the shoulders should remain as fixed as were demosthenes' under the points of the swords hung over them, is now so generally admitted as to need no argument here. if any one has still a doubt on the subject let him observe a sleeping infant. it affords a perfect example of lateral-abdominal breathing, and no one can have a suspicion of sex from any difference in this function. among the lower animals sex shows no difference in breathing at any age. all the peculiarities of female breathing are the results of habits acquired in after life. chest and shoulder heaving are vicious and evidence impeded breathing. the singer who, forgetting the lower thorax, breathes with the upper only is sure to fail. therefore breathe from the _lower_ part of the trunk, using the whole muscular system coördinately--_from below_ upward. in other words breathe deeply, and _control deeply_, but with the whole body--from below, not with the upper chest only, or with lateral expansion only, or abdominal expansion only. every teacher and pupil should remember that "singing and speaking require wind and muscle," hence the breathing power must be fully developed. weak breathing and failure to properly focus the voice are the most frequent causes of singing off the key. they are much more common and mischievous than lack of "ear." dr. may tested the breathing of 85 persons, most of them indians, and found that 79 out of the 85 used abdominal breathing. the chest breathers were from classes "civilized" and more or less "cultured." nature has provided that for quiet breathing when at rest the air shall pass through the nose. but when a person is taking active exercise, and consequently demands more air, he naturally and of necessity opens the mouth so as to breathe more fully. while speaking or singing the air is necessarily taken in through the mouth. breath control firmness of tone depends upon steadiness of breath pressure. steadiness of tone depends upon a control of the breath which allows a minimum volume of air to pass out under sufficient tension to produce vocalization. the tension and flow of breath can be gradually lessened until the tone vanishes and not even a whisper remains. power and largeness of tone depend first upon the =right use of the resonant cavities=, and second upon the =volume of breath used under proper control=. in producing high tones the breath is delivered in less amount than for the low tones, but under greater tension. absolute control of the breath is necessary to produce the best results of which a voice is capable. full control of the breath insures success to a good voice; without it the best voice is doomed to failure. when muscular action is fully mastered, and the proper method of breathing understood and established, the muscles of inspiration and expiration will act one against the other, so that the act of breathing may be suspended at any moment, whether the lungs are full, or partly full, or empty. this is muscular control of the breath. correct breathing is health giving and strength giving; it promotes nutrition, lessens the amount of adipose tissue, and reinforces every physical requisite essential to speaking and singing. a cure for nervousness it cannot be too widely advertised that the surest remedy for that torture of singers and speakers, nervousness, is the great tranquillizer,--quiet, deep breathing, deeply controlled. the breath of nervousness is quick, irregular, and shallow, therefore, take a few, slow, deliberate, deep, and _rhythmic_ inhalations of pure air through the nostrils, and the panting gasp of agitation will vanish. as a help toward deepening the breath and overcoming the spasmodic, clavicular habit, inhale quietly and slowly through the nose, or slowly sip the air through the nearly closed lips as if you were sipping the inmost breath of life itself. necessity of breathing exercises to acquire control of breathing, proper exercises must be intelligently and persistently followed. in mankind, nature seems to have been diverted from her normal course so that we seldom find an individual who breathes correctly without education in the matter. what we have said on breathing is based on the premise that respiration involves coördinate action of the body from collar-bone to the base of the abdomen; that is, expanding and contracting the chest and abdomen simultaneously. this is called "lateral-abdominal" breathing; as the chest is the thoracic cavity, "abdomino-thoracic" has been suggested as brief and more strictly scientific. work on any other lines fails to develop the full power and quality of the voice. weak breathing is a prime cause of throaty tones. in such cases an effort is made to increase the tone by pinching the larynx. but this compresses the vocal cords, increases the resistance to the passage of the breath, and brings rigidities that prevent proper resonance. the true way is to increase the wind supply, as does the organist. correct breathing illustrated the following figures show the outline of correct breathing. the inner abdominal line shows the limit of expiration; the outer line shows the limit of full inspiration. figure 9 shows the limit of full expiration and inspiration of the male, side view. figure 10 shows the lateral expansion of the ribs in both expiration and inspiration, front view of the male. the expansion cannot be great at this part of the chest, as the side is so short a distance from the backbone to which the ribs are attached. the movement of the ribs in front is much greater, as fig. 9 shows. figure 11 shows the front expansion and contraction in the breathing of the female, side view. figure 12 shows the lateral expansion of the chest in the female, front view. these diagrams are made from photographs, and thus true to life. it will be noticed that there is no difference in the breathing outline between these subjects. the female subject, though a good singer, had had no training in breathing. she previously insisted that she used only the chest breathing, and did not use the abdominal muscles, but actual test revealed the condition to be that shown in figure 11 and convinced her that she was mistaken. [illustration: figure 9.] [illustration: figure 10.] [illustration: figure 11.] [illustration: figure 12.] it is not unlikely that many other singers who now think they are using only the high chest respiration would, if subjected to the same test, find themselves similarly mistaken. the contraction incident to forced expiration is much more tense than the enlargement of forced inspiration. when singing or speaking, forced inspiration is not used. experience shows that the change in size of the body during speaking or singing is usually small. occasionally, long passages in music demand that the expulsive power of the breathing apparatus be used to its limit. economy of breath the quantity of air taken in with a single inspiration is, in quiet breathing, according to prof. mills,[3] from twenty to thirty cubic inches, but this may be increased in the deepest inspiration to about one hundred cubic inches. in forcible expiration about one hundred cubic inches may be expelled, but even then the residual air that cannot be expelled is about one hundred cubic inches. [footnote 3: dr. wesley mills, _voice production_, 1906.] it is not, however, the quantity of breath inhaled that is significant, it is the amount _controlled_. get, therefore, all the breath necessary, and keep it, but without undue effort and _without rigidity_. to test the amount of breath used in prolonged vocalization, a person skilled in the art of breathing, after an ordinary inspiration, closed his lips, stopped his nostrils, and began to vocalize. he found that the mouth with distended cheeks held sufficient breath to continue a substantial tone for twenty-three seconds. while these experiments show that very little amount or force of breath is needed to produce effective tones, the impression must exist in the mind of the performer that there is a free flow of breath through the larynx; otherwise the tone will seem restricted and will be weak. the forced holding back of the breath begets a restraint that has a bad effect on the singer's delivery. while the breath must be controlled, there is such a thing as an exaggerated "breath control" that makes free delivery of the voice impossible. it is quite possible to _overcrowd_ the lungs with air. do not, therefore, make the mistake of always taking the largest possible breath. reserve this for the climaxes, and inhale according to the requirements of the phrase and its dynamics. the constant taking of too much breath is a common mistake, but trying to sing too long on one breath is another. the initial use of breath force the breath force when properly employed seems to be expended in starting the vibrations in the larynx; the vibrations are then transmitted to the air in the resonance cavities, and there the perfected tone sets the outer air in motion, through which the tone vibrations are conveyed to the ear of the listener. reserve breath power the correctly trained singer or speaker will never allow the breath power to be exhausted. some breath should be taken in at every convenient interval between the words, according to the punctuation, but never between syllables of a word; this is correct phrasing. in this way the lungs are kept nearly full, and breathing is at its best. the chief cause of breath exhaustion is _wasted_ breath. this waste comes from exhaling more breath (more motive power) than the tone requires, and _breath that does not become tone is wasted_. this fault is largely induced by lack of proper resonance adjustment. the singer should always feel able to sing another note or to speak another word. to sing or speak thirty or forty counts with one breath is useful practice but poor performance. occasionally, long runs in singing may compel an exception. half-empty lungs lower the pitch of the tone, lessen the resonance, and weaken the voice, rendering the last note of the song and the last word of the sentence inaudible. the breathing must not be forced, but enough air must be furnished to produce the proper full vibrations. breath mastery what then does perfect control of the breath mean? 1. ability to fill the lungs to their capacity either quickly or slowly. 2. ability to breathe out as quickly or slowly as the occasion demands. 3. ability to suspend inspiration, with the throat open, whether the lungs are full or not, and to resume the process at will without having lost any of the already inspired air. 4. ability to exhale under the same restrictions. the above four points are common to speaking and singing, but singing involves further: 5. ability to sing and sustain the voice on an _ordinary_ breath. 6. ability to _quietly_ breathe as often as text and phrase permit. 7. ability to breathe so that the fullest inspiration _brings no fatigue_. 8. ability to so economize the breath that the _reserve is never exhausted_. 9. the ability to breathe so naturally, so unobtrusively, that _neither breath nor lack of breath is ever suggested to the listener_--this is the very perfection of the art. chapter iv breathing exercises enough has been said in the preceding chapter to make clear the necessity of breath control, and to show what constitutes this control for the singer--the professional breather. if the singer's breathing is nothing but an amplification of normal, healthy breathing, why dwell upon it, why not let it develop of itself? unfortunately, many teachers have taken this attitude, overlooking the fact that, although life is dependent on normal, healthy breathing, such breathing is, in civilized communities, not the rule but the exception, simply because normal living is rare; the artificiality of modern life forbids it. the high pressure under which most people live induces mental tension together with the consequent nervous and muscular tension. we are, without being conscious of it, so habituated to unnatural tension that automatic breathing is shallow and irregular instead of being deep and rhythmic. the task, therefore, is to reclaim a neglected birthright--natural breathing--to make it habitual and amplify it. preliminary suggestions 1. breathing exercises to be invigorating and purifying demand plenty of fresh air. 2. at first do not practise longer than ten minutes at a time, three times a day. 3. gradually lengthen the time without overdoing. when tired stop. 4. the best time is before dressing in the morning, with the window open. the worst time is directly after a meal. 5. maintain throughout an easy, flexible poise. 6. breathe as _deeply_ as possible without abdominal distention. the greatest expansion should be felt at the lower end of the breast-bone. 7. breathe as _broadly_ as possible, expanding the sides without tension. 8. breathe as _high_ as possible without shoulder movement or stiffness. 9. use not the high breath alone, or the mid-breath, or the low breath, but use the _complete_ breath. 10. breathe _rhythmically_ by counting mentally. 11. breathe _thoughtfully_ rather than mechanically. 12. do not crowd the lungs or lay stress on the mere quantity of air you can inhale. the intake of breath is, for the singer, secondary to its control, economy, and application in song. increase of lung capacity will duly appear. 13. when not singing, speaking or practising an exercise that demands it, _keep your mouth shut_. attitude dress the neck and body loosely, so as to give the throat and trunk perfect freedom. place the hands on the hips, so as to free the chest from the weight of the arms. stand erect, evenly upon the balls of the feet; the body straight, but not strained. raise the back of the head slightly without bending the neck. this action will straighten the spine, place the chest forward, and bring the abdomen backward into its proper relation. the great majority of people are shallow breathers, chest breathers, who when told to take a "deep breath" do not know what is meant. it is therefore necessary for them first to learn what a deep breath is, and then how to take it. exercise i for those who do not know what a deep breath is before rising in the morning, remove your pillow and while flat on your back place one hand lightly on the abdomen, the other on the lower ribs. relax the whole body, giving up your whole weight to the bed. inhale through the nostrils slowly, evenly, and deeply, while mentally counting one, two, three, four, etc. as you inhale, notice (_a_) the gradual expansion of the abdomen, (_b_) the side expansion of the lower ribs, (_c_) the rise and inflation of the chest, without raising the shoulders. hold the breath while mentally counting four (four seconds), then suddenly let the breath go, and notice the collapse of the abdomen and lower chest. remember _the inspiration must be slow and deep, the expiration sudden and complete_. practise this preliminary exercise for not more than ten minutes each morning for a week. the second week hold the breath six seconds, instead of four, and gradually increase the time, without overdoing. while, for a novice, the exercises may be taken at first in bed, this is but a preliminary to their practise standing in easy poise as directed in the preceding section. exercise ii slow inhalation with sudden expulsion inhale as in i; hold the breath four counts (seconds) or more; then expel the air vigorously in one breath through the wide open mouth. the beginner is often helped in acquiring a deep breath by slowly sipping breath. therefore as a variant to exercise ii practise: exercise iii sipping the breath, with quick exhalation through the smallest possible opening of the lips, while mentally counting, inhale very slowly and steadily; hold two to four counts, then expel the air all at once through the wide open mouth. exercise iv for rib expansion to more completely arouse dormant muscles that should play an important part in breathing, place the hands against the sides, thumbs well back, take, through the nostrils or the slightly parted lips, six short catch-breaths, moving the ribs _out at the side_ with each catch-breath. hold the breath two counts, and exhale through the mouth with six short expiratory puffs, drawing the ribs _in at the side_ with each puff. exercise v slow inhalation with slow expiration inhale as in i, while mentally counting one, two, three, four, etc., until the inhalation seems complete. hold the breath four or more counts; then exhale through the nostrils slowly and evenly while mentally counting to the number reached in the inspiration. with practice the number of counts will gradually increase. do not, however, force the increase. the muscles that control inspiration are powerful; do not, therefore, make the mistake of seeking to control expiration by contraction of the glottis. practise these exercises with an open throat and depend on the breathing muscles for control of the outgoing air. remember that _singing is control of breath in exit_. exercise vi rapid inspiration with slow expiration inhale through the nostrils quickly, deeply, and forcefully (one count); hold two counts; exhale through the nostrils evenly, steadily, and as slowly as possible while mentally counting one, two, three, four, etc. with practice gradually increase the number of counts for the exhalation. exercise vii farinelli's great exercise the cavalier, don carlo broschi, better known as farinelli (1705-1782), the world's greatest singer in bravura and coloratura, was a pupil of porpora and bernacchi. there was no branch of the art which he did not carry to the highest perfection, and the successes of his youth did not prevent him from continuing his study, or, when his name was famous, from acquiring by much perseverance another style and a superior method. his breath control was considered so marvelous in that day of great singers, it is said, that the art of taking and keeping the breath so softly and easily that no one could perceive it began and died with him. he is said to have spent several hours daily in practising the following exercise: as in exercise iii, sip the breath slowly and steadily through the smallest possible opening of the lips; hold it a few counts, then exhale very slowly and steadily through the smallest possible opening of the lips. farinelli's exercise is not for beginners. exercise viii the cleansing breath for ventilating and sweeping the lungs, for quick refreshment after fatigue, and for use always at the close of your exercises, inhale through the nostrils slowly a complete breath; hold two to four counts, purse the lips tightly and expel through them a small puff of air, hold two counts, puff one, hold two counts, puff one, and so on until the exhalation is complete. a few trials should convince you that this simple exercise is of great value. half-breath in both singing and speaking, the sustained delivery of long phrases or sentences sometimes makes unusual demands on the breath supply. it is a law of good singing that every phrase should end with the breath unexhausted. when the flow of text and music forbid the taking of a full breath, half-breaths must be quietly taken at convenient points. instead of letting the whole reservoir of motive power exhaust itself and then completely refill it, we should, by taking these half-breaths, maintain a reserve. a notable advocate of the use of the half-breath in singing is that past mistress of sustained and smooth delivery, marcella sembrich. chapter v registers the subject of registers has always been the _bête noire_ of vocalists, a source of controversy and confusion. the term "register," as commonly used, means a series of tones of a characteristic clang or quality, produced by the same mechanism. the term "break" is generally used to indicate the point at which a new register with sudden change appears. the advocates of registers lay stress either on the changes in laryngeal action, or the changes in tone quality. before the days of the laryngoscope, registers were treated simply as different qualities of tone, characterizing a certain portion of the voice's compass. those who encourage the cultivation of register consciousness claim to do so for the sake of the differences in tone-color which they associate with the different "registers." the purpose of the following chapters is to show that the quality or color of a tone is altogether a matter of resonance, and _not_ a question of laryngeal action. moreover, the mechanism of the larynx is not voluntary in its action, but automatic, and even if a singer knew how the vocal cords should act it would not help him in the least to govern their action. the fact is that the results of laryngoscopic study of the vocal cords have been disappointing and contradictory and investigators have failed to define what correct laryngeal action is. there are those who even deny that the vocal cords govern the pitch of the voice. in her thoughtful _philosophy of singing_, clara kathleen rogers, while upholding "registers," says that considered physiologically "the different registers of the voice should be regarded by the singer as only so many _modifications in the quality of tone_, which modifications are inherent in the voice itself." she then adds significantly: "these modifications are not brought about by conscious adjustments of the parts employed, as any interference with the parts will produce that obstacle to quality we call a 'break.'" one of the greatest of modern singers, mme. lilli lehmann, in her interesting work, _how to sing_, says: "do registers exist by nature? no. it may be said that they are created through long years of speaking in the vocal range that is easiest to the person, or in one adopted by imitation." she speaks of three ranges of the voice, or, rather, three sections of the vocal range, as chest, middle, and head, saying, "all three form registers _when exaggerated_." after speaking of the hopeless confusion that results from clinging to the appellations of chest, middle, and head _register_, confounding voice with register, she concludes: "as long as the word 'register' is kept in use the registers will not disappear, and yet the register question must be swept away, to give place to another class of ideas, sounder views on the part of teachers, and a truer conception on the part of singers and pupils." the trend of recent thought on this subject is further shown in ffrangcon-davies' important work, _the singing of the future_, where, having in mind "the useless torture to which thousands of students have been subjected," he characterizes "breaks" and "registers" as "paraphernalia supplied by credulity to charlatanism"; and adds: "how many a poor pupil has become a practical monomaniac on the subject of _that break in my voice between d and d sharp_!" my own studies convince me that there is but one register, or, rather, no such thing as register, save as it applies to the compass of the voice; and that chest, middle, head, and all other registers are creations of false education. training based upon the theory of many registers results in an artificial and unnatural division of the voice. the voice and instruments compared the organ of the voice has long been considered the analogue of every other instrument except in regard to registers. investigation indicates that it is analogous in this respect also. compare the voice instrument with the pianoforte, violin, and organ and the similarity will plainly appear. the artificial instruments undergo no change when making a tone of higher or lower pitch other than the attuning of the vibrator to the pitch desired. all other parts remain the same. so when the voice is correctly focused and delivered, the only change incident to altered pitch is that made in the vibrator so as to give the proper number of vibrations for the pitch required. if the scale is sung down, using the same vowel sound for the whole scale, the comparison will be appreciated; the pupil will not be conscious of any change in the vocal organ or experience any difficulty in descending the scale. faithful advocates of the theory of many registers say: "whenever in doubt about the production of a tone, sing _down_ to it from some tone above it, never _upward_ from a tone below," for they find that singing down "blends the registers." this we believe is because in singing down muscular and nerve tension is gradually relaxed and consequently there is no "register" change in the voice. a study of the church organ will, i think, make this matter clear. the organ has many so-called registers, as the _vox humana_, _flute_, _oboe_, etc. these differ in the character of tone produced, because of the size and shape of the different sets of pipes and the material, wood or metal, of which they are made. but each similarly constructed set of pipes forms only one register, and the pitch of the set varies from low to high without any abrupt change in quality. all the tones are produced by the same methods and means, the bellows, the vibrator, and the pipe. in length and diameter, the pipe is proper to the tone produced: a short pipe of small diameter for the high tones, and a long, wide pipe for the bass tones. the short vibrations of the high tones are perceived by the ear as affecting the air only, while the tones of the lowest bass pipes shake the solid foundations as well as the superstructure. so with the human voice. the coarser tissues cannot answer to the short vibrations of the upper tones, because they cannot move so quickly, while they can, and do, respond to the vibrations of the low tones. this may cause some difference in degree, but not in kind. with all tones focused alike, the low tones of the human organ may be regarded as head tones plus the vibrations of the coarser tissues. it has been said of registers that they are "acoustic illusions which disappear in the perfectly trained voice." as soon as the singer has learned to use his voice normally all these defective changes disappear. two cases the following incident illustrates the fact that registers are an artificial creation: a young lady who had been a patient of the author since her childhood studied elocution in a metropolitan city, and to improve her voice took vocal music lessons of a teacher of more than local repute. he found no end of trouble in teaching her to "blend the registers," and she had utterly failed to acquire the art. one summer she came back for professional services and told her troubles. during the few weeks of her stay she followed the author's suggestions, and was fully convinced of their correctness and efficiency. upon returning to her lessons, she followed, without any explanations, the method that had been outlined for her. her success in "blending the registers" was a surprise to her teacher who heartily congratulated her upon what she had accomplished during the summer. another case is that of a young lady who was under the author's direction as to vocal culture from childhood. as early as four years of age she was taught by the use of a few exercises to focus the voice in the nose and head, and to recognize the head vibrations by a light touch of the finger. when about seven years old, she took ten lessons of a teacher on the same lines, and at fifteen years of age took another brief course. in the meantime she had only the practice obtained by singing with the pupils in the schools she attended. later, of her own volition, she sang more, and carefully applied the principles she had been taught, with the result that her voice compassed nearly two octaves, evenly and smoothly, with no break or change of focus or quality, or other intimation of "register," and she developed a speaking voice of more than ordinary quality and resonance. it has also been my lot to aid in the development of the voices of many patients after a surgical operation for cleft palate. success has proven the correctness and efficacy of the principles set forth in these pages. a majority of the more than fifty authors whose works i have examined have laid great stress on the distinction between head and chest tones, open and closed tones, pure and impure tones, have warned against the nasal tone, and have constantly advocated a natural tone. that there is no essential difference between a head tone and a chest tone has already been discussed and, it would seem, conclusively proven. any tone, closed or open, is pure and musical if properly focused and delivered, and the singer is at liberty to use either upon any note of the scale if it will serve better to express the sentiment he wishes to convey to the hearer. the cooing of the love song, the cry of alarm for help, and the shout of the military charge require very different qualities of voice to express the feelings, yet each may be musical and will be so if properly delivered. chapter vi resonance in general the intimate relationship existing between voice culture and the science of acoustics was formerly slightly perceived. the teaching of singing, as an art, then rested altogether on an empirical basis, and the acoustics of singing had not received the attention of scientists. with the publication in 1863 of helmholtz's great work[4] a new era began, although singer and scientist yet continue to look upon each other with suspicion. teachers of the voice, casting about for a scientific basis for their work, were greatly impressed with helmholtz's revelations in regard to vocal resonance--the fact that tones are modified in quality as well as increased in power by the resonance of the air in the cavities of pharynx and head. [footnote 4: _die lehre von den tonempfindungen als physiologische grundlage für die theorie der musik._ (the sensations of tone as a physiological basis for the theory of music.)] writing in 1886, edmund j. meyer speaks of the importance of a "study of the influence of the different resonance cavities as the voice is colored by one or the other, and the tuning each to each and each to all"; yet, he adds, "the subject is seldom heard of outside of books." the basic importance of resonance in the use of the voice is still too little recognized, though obvious enough in the construction of musical instruments. with the exception of a few instruments of percussion, all musical instruments possess three elements,--a _motor_, a _vibrator_, and a _resonator_. the violin has the moving bow for a motor, the strings for a vibrator, and the hollow body for a resonator. the french horn has the lungs of the performer for a motor, the lips for a vibrator, and the gradually enlarging tube, terminating in the flaring bell, for a resonator. in the pianoforte the hammer-stroke, the strings, and the sounding-board perform the corresponding offices. though improvements in other parts of the piano have done much to increase the volume of the tone, yet in the radical change of form, size, and other physical qualities of the sounding-board consists the evolution of the modern pianoforte from the primitive clavichord. in all these instruments the quality and power of the tone depend upon the presence of these three elements,--the perfection of their construction, their proper relation as to size and position, and the perfect adaptation of each part. a split sounding-board spoils the pianoforte, the indented bell destroys the sweet tone of the french horn, and a cracked fiddle is the synonym for pandemonium itself. the quality and power of resonance is well illustrated by a tuning-fork, which, if set in vibration, can, unaided, scarcely be heard by the person holding it. but if rested on a table, or a plate of glass, or, better still, on the bridge of a violin, its tones may be distinctly heard throughout a large hall. the vibrating violin string when detached from the body of this instrument, although attuned to pitch, gives absolutely no musical sound; the lips of the player placed on the mouthpiece detached from the tube and bell of the brass instrument produce only a splutter; and a pianoforte without a sounding-board is nil. the air column in the tube of the french horn, and the sounding-board of the pianoforte develop the vibrations caused by the lips and strings into musical tones pleasing to the ear. the tuning-fork alone can scarcely be heard, while the induced vibrations it sets up through properly adjusted resonance may be audible far away. the vocal cords alone cannot make music any more than can the lips of the cornet player apart from his instrument. _the tone produced by the vibrations alone of the two very small vocal bands must, in the nature of things, be very feeble._ ninety-and-nine persons if asked the question, what produces tone in the human-voice, would reply, "the vibrations of the vocal cords," and stop there, as if that were all; whereas the answer is very incomplete--not even half an answer. a great deal of the irrational and injurious "teaching" of singing that prevails everywhere, and of the controversy that befogs the subject, is due to the widely prevalent notion that the little vocal cords are the principal cause of tone, whereas they are in themselves insignificant as sound producers. =it is the vibrations of the air in the resonance chambers of the human instrument, together with the induced vibrations of the instrument itself, which give tone its sonority, its reach, its color, and emotional power.= that this is not an empirical statement but a scientific fact, a few simple experiments will demonstrate. tone, in the musical sense, is the result of rapid periodic vibration. the pitch of tone depends upon the _number_ of vibrations in a given period; the loudness of tone depends upon the _amplitude_ of the vibrations; the quality of tone depends upon the _form_ of the vibrations; and the form of the vibrations depends upon the _resonator_. the fact that pure white light is a compound of all the tints of the rainbow into which it may be resolved by the prism is well known, but the analogous fact that a pure musical tone is a compound of tones of different rates of vibration, tones of different pitch, is not so much a matter of common knowledge, and not so obvious. analysis shows that a musical tone consists of a fundamental note and a series of overtones.[5] the ear is quite capable of recognizing many of these overtones and may be trained to do so. the most obvious can be readily separated from a fundamental by a simple experiment. [footnote 5: for fuller exposition see tyndall on _sound_, or the section devoted to _acoustics_ in any text-book on physics.] the overtones arrange themselves in a definite order, as follows: (1) the fundamental or prime tone; (2) an overtone one octave above the fundamental; (3) an overtone a fifth above no. 2; (4) an overtone a fourth above no. 3 (two octaves above the fundamental); (5) an overtone a major third above no. 4; (6) an overtone a minor third above no. 5. there are others in still higher range but those indicated are easily demonstrated on the piano. for c they would be as follows: [music illustration] experiment i step to your piano, noiselessly press and hold down the key of no. 2, then strike the fundamental no. 1, with force and immediately release it. as a result no. 2 will sound clearly, and if your ears are keen you will at the same time hear no. 6. in succession hold down the keys of 3, 4, 5, and 6, while you strike and release the fundamental no. 1. if your piano is "in tune" you will probably hear no. 6 when holding the key of any other note of the series. in a musical tone of rich quality the overtones just indicated are present in their fulness, while tone that is weak and thin is made so by the absence or weakness of the overtones. i have stated that the quality of a tone depends on the _form_ of its vibrations, and that the form of its vibrations is determined by the character of the _resonator_. we can now amplify this by saying that while the relative presence or absence of overtones determines the clang or color of a tone, their presence or absence is determined by the _character of the resonance_. an english writer records that he was once in the garden at the back of a house while a gentleman was singing in the drawing-room. the tone-quality was good, and the pitch so unusually high he hastened to learn who sang tenor high c so beautifully. on entering the room, instead of the tenor he had supposed, he found the singer was a baritone, and the note sung was only middle c. the fundamental tone had not reached him in the garden but the first overtone, an octave above it, had. concrete illustrations will make the subject still clearer. experiment ii if an ordinary tuning-fork when vibrating is held in the hand its intrinsic tone is too weak to carry far. rest the handle of the vibrating fork on a bare table or the panel of the door, and the sound is greatly augmented. _the vibrations of the fork have by contact induced similar vibrations in the wooden table or panel which reinforce the primary tone._ experiment iii place the handle of the vibrating tuning-fork on a small upturned empty box, or, better still, in contact with the body of a violin, and the sound will be stronger than in the previous experiment, because to the vibrations of the wood are added the vibrations of the air enclosed in the box or the violin. _to the resonance of the wood has been added the sympathetic resonance of the confined air._ experiment iv hold the vibrating fork over the mouth of an empty fruit-jar and there will probably be little or no reinforcement; but gently pour in water, thereby shortening the air column within the jar, and the sound of the fork will be gradually intensified until at a certain point it becomes quite loud. if you pour in still more water the sound will gradually become feebler. this shows that _for every tone an air column of a certain size most powerfully reinforces that tone_. experiment v as a sequence to the last experiment, take two fruit-jars of the same size, and, having learned to what point to fill them for the greatest resonance, fill one jar (after warming it) to the required point with hot water, the other with cold water, and you will find that the resonance of the heated, therefore expanded, air is much less than the denser air of the cold jar. this shows that _the degree of density of the air affects its resonance_. experiment vi to demonstrate the resonance of the oral cavity, apart from the voice, hold a vibrating tuning-fork before the open mouth. vary the shape and size of the cavity until the sound of the fork suddenly increases in volume, showing that the right adjustment for resonance has been made. _this intensification of the sound is due to the vibration of the air in the mouth cavity, together with the sympathetic vibration of the surrounding walls._ experiment vii as an illustration of sympathetic resonance without contact, sing forcibly a tone that is within easy range, and at the same time silently hold down the corresponding key of the piano. on ceasing to sing you will hear the tone sounding in the piano. this may be further illustrated by playing on the open string of one violin while another, tuned to the same pitch, rests untouched near by. through _sympathetic resonance_ the corresponding string of the second violin will vibrate and sound its note. the louder the first violin is played the louder will be the sympathetic tone of the second. the deep pedal-tones of a church organ often induce sympathetic resonance that may be felt beneath the feet of the listener. one writer, a singer, speaks of living in the same house with two deaf-mutes. he lodged on the first floor, they on the third. one day, meeting at luncheon, one of the deaf-mutes told the singer that he had begun practice earlier that morning than usual. surprised, the writer asked how he knew. the deaf-mute replied that they always knew when he was singing because they felt the floor of their room vibrate. if tone vibrations can be transmitted so readily throughout a house, it is not difficult to understand how easily the vibrations of bone and tissue can be transmitted until the whole framework of the body responds in perceptible vibration. it is said that pascal at the age of twelve wrote a dissertation on acoustics suggested by his childish discovery that when a metal dish was struck by a knife the resulting sound could be stopped by touching the vibrating dish with a finger. with this in mind it is not difficult to understand how compression of the human instrument by the pressure of tight clothing without, or by false muscular tension within, must interfere with its free vibration and so rob the produced tone of just so much of perfection. from these experiments we can understand that, while the tones of the voice are initiated by or at the vocal cords, the volume and character of the tones are dependent upon _resonance_,--the vibration of the air in the various resonance chambers of the body, together with the sympathetic vibration of the walls of these chambers and the bony framework that supports them. in respect to resonance, as in other respects, the human voice is far superior to all other instruments, for their resonators are fixed and unchanging, while the human resonator is flexible,--in helmholtz's words "admits of much variety of form, so that many more qualities of tone can be thus produced than on any instrument of artificial construction." we are now prepared to realize the error of the common notion that loudness of tone is due entirely to increase of breath pressure on the vocal cords. simple experiments with the tuning-fork have shown that while the volume of sound it gives forth is due in part to the amplitude of its vibrations, its loudness is _chiefly_ due to the character of the _resonance_ provided for it. the larger the resonance chamber the greater is its reinforcing capacity. the largest air chamber in the body is the chest, which serves not only as a wind-chest, but as a resonance chamber. the necessity for chest expansion, therefore, is not, as generally supposed, merely for air, but to increase its size as a resonance chamber. in view of the laws of tone, how great is the common error of speaking of the larynx as if it alone were the vocal organ, when the principal vibrations are _above_ the vocal cords in the chambers of _resonance_! since the musical value, the beauty of tone, as well as its volume, comes only from right use of the resonator, our principal business must be the acquiring control of the vibratory air current _above the larynx_. the acquirement of this control involves the proper focusing or placing of the tone, with the free uncramped use of all the vocal organs; power will then take care of itself. chapter vii head and nasal resonance of the four component factors in the production of speech and song, the first, the _motor_, has been considered in chapter iii, and the second, the _vibrator_, in chapter i. in one respect there is marked contrast between these two factors. until right habits are so thoroughly formed that the singer's breathing is automatically controlled, conscious effort is necessary, while the action of the vibrator, the vocal cords, is involuntary, not subject to conscious control. the subtle adjustments of the delicate mechanism of the larynx belong to the realm of reflex action--to a spontaneous activity that, left unhindered, does its part in perfect nicety. the vocal cords must, in their action, be free from the disturbance of uncontrolled breath action below them, or the hindrance due to misdirected effort above them. to direct consciousness to the vocal cords is to cramp them and prevent that free vibration and that perfect relaxation of the throat without which pure tone and true pitch are impossible. as a surgeon i well know the value of thorough anatomical knowledge, but from the singer's standpoint i cannot too strongly emphasize the unwisdom of directing the attention of sensitively organized pupils to their vocal mechanism by means of the laryngoscope. this instrument belongs to the physician, not to the singer. the importance of the third factor, the _resonator_, has been considered in chapter v, on resonance, but the fourth element in voice production, _articulation_, is so coördinated to resonance that the significance and primacy of the latter are too often overlooked. placing or "focusing the voice" i have found to be chiefly a matter of control and use of the resonator, consisting of chest, pharynx, mouth, and the nasal and head cavities. a tone lacking in resonance is ineffective,--devoid of carrying power,--is diffuse and unfocused; while a resonant tone, no matter how soft dynamically, has carrying power and is focused in its vibration. now "voice placing" depends primarily on correct _vowel placing_, which in turn depends on proper adjustment of the resonators, which again depends chiefly on the positions and motions of the organs of articulation. the interdependence of tone quality and pronunciation is therefore obvious. constant emphasis must be laid upon the fact that focusing a tone is a matter of resonance, and that perhaps the most important element in this is _nasal_ resonance. in this country, particularly, teachers have, in their desire to overcome the too common nasal twang, mistakenly sought to shut out the nasal chamber from all participation in speech and song. there are those who, partly recognizing the importance of _head_ resonance, would secure it while ignoring _nasal_ resonance. it is impossible to secure head resonance in this fashion, for it is only through free nasal resonance that the coördinate resonance in the air sinuses above the nasal cavity and connected with it can be established. the fear of nasal twang and failure to distinguish between it and true nasal resonance has been the stumbling block. they are very different,--one is to be shunned, the other to be cultivated. the first is an obvious blemish, the second is an important essential of good singing. nasal tones are caused by a raised or stiffened tongue, a sagging soft palate, a stiffened jaw, or by other rigidities that prevent free tone emission and which at the same time--note this--prevent true nasal resonance. as tone, or vocalized breath, issues from the larynx, it is divided into two streams or currents by the pendent veil of the soft palate. one stream flows directly into the mouth, where it produces oral resonance; the other stream passes through the nasopharynx into the hollow chambers of the face and head, inducing nasal and head resonance. it is commonly supposed that tone passing in whole or in part through the nasal cavities must be nasal in quality; whereas a tone of objectionable nasal quality can be sung equally well with the nostrils either closed or open. browne and behnke state the matter thus: "however tight the closure of the soft palate may be, it is never sufficient to prevent the air in the nasal cavities being thrown into co-vibrations with that in the mouth. these co-vibrations are, in fact, necessary for a certain amount of the brilliancy of the voice, and if they are prevented by a stoppage of the posterior openings of the nasal passages, the voice will sound dull and muffled. this is of course due, to an _absence of nasal resonance_, and must on no account be described as nasal _twang_. it is, indeed, the very opposite of it." nasal tone quality and nasal resonance must not be confounded. a nasal tone is constricted, while a tone with nasal resonance is free. again, a tone may be unmarred by the nasal quality, yet if it lacks nasal resonance it lacks vibrancy, carrying power. nasal tones are produced, not because the vibrations pass through the nasal passage, but because they are obstructed in their passage through them. a nasal tone is always a cramped tone, due to impediment, tension, or muscular contraction, particularly in the nasopharynx. the congestion and consequent thickening of the mucous membrane lining the cavities of the nose and head, resulting from a cold, make the tone muffled and weak, owing to the inability of the parts to respond to the vibrations and add to the tone normal nasal resonance. the elder booth (junius brutus), about 1838, suffered from a broken nose which defaced his handsome visage and spoiled his splendid voice. his disability was so great that afterward he seldom played. that the cause of this impairment of booth's voice was due to the contraction and more or less complete obstruction of the nasal passages is too evident to call for comment. many singers have sweet but characterless voices that lack the fulness, power, and ring they might have because they fail to avail themselves of the augmenting power of the resonance cavities. the singer must learn to habitually use all of the resonance cavities and use them simultaneously. lilli lehmann, in _how to sing_, says that, "although the nasal sound can be exaggerated,--which rarely happens,--it can be much neglected,--something that very often happens." the context makes clear that what in the english translation of the great singer's book is called "nasal sound" is exactly what we term _nasal resonance_. after charging the monotonous quality or lack of color in the voice of a famous opera star to lack of nasal resonance, madame lehmann speaks of the consummate art of marcella sembrich who "in recent years appears to have devoted very special study to nasal resonance, whereby her voice, especially in the middle register, has gained greatly in warmth." she says further that nasal resonance "cannot be studied enough. it ought always to be employed." "how often," she says, "have i heard young singers say, 'i no longer have the power to respond to the demands made upon me,' whereas the trouble lies only in the insufficient use of the resonance of the head cavities." from the foregoing, the conclusion follows that the head vibrations are not only an essential element, but that nasal resonance is a most important element in imparting to tone its brilliance and carrying power. without thought of the mechanism of _how_ nasal resonance is produced, the singer has control over it by direct influence of the will. the tones, low as well as high, should seem to start in the nose and head, and the vibrations of the perfect tone can be plainly felt upon any part of the nose and head. without the head vibrations no tone can be perfect, for nothing else will compensate for the lack of these. vocal organs used as here described will suffer no fatigue from reasonable use; hoarseness will be to them a thing unknown, and "minister's sore throat" an unheard of complaint. not only is faulty voice production a source of great discomfort, but it is the cause of many diseases of the chest, throat, and head. the gentle practice in easy range of the exercises given in the chapter following, will do much to restore a normal condition. chapter viii placing the voice what is called "placing the voice" or "tone production" or "focusing the voice" is, as already stated in the previous chapter, chiefly a matter of resonance--of control of the resonator. now vocalization is largely vowelization, and vocal tones are a complex of sound and resonance. the character of a vowel is given it by the shape of the vowel chamber; and the shaping of the vowel chamber depends upon delicate adjustment of the movable parts,--jaw, lips, cheeks, tongue, veil of the palate, and pharynx. while this adjustment is made through more or less conscious muscular action, the parts must never be forced into position; local effort to this end will invariably defeat itself. the important consideration in all voice movements is a flexible, _natural_ action of all the parts, and all the voice movements are so closely allied, so sympathetically related, that if one movement is constrained the others cannot be free. it is a happy fact that _the right way is the easiest way_, and a fundamental truth that =right effort is the result of right thought=. from these axiomatic principles we deduce the very first rule for the singer and speaker,--=think the right tone, mentally picture it; then concentrate upon the picture, not upon the mechanism=. when is the vocal action correct? there are two sound criterions for judging the correctness of vocal action,--first, the _ease_ of the action, its naturalness, its flexibility. as mills concisely states it: "he sings or speaks best who attains the end with the least expenditure of energy." second, the _beauty_ of the result. harsh, unlovely tones are a sure indication of misplaced effort, of tension somewhere, of wrong action. on the other hand the nearer the tones approach to perfection the closer does the organism come to correct action. _beauty of tone_, then, is the truest indication of proper vocal action. judgment as to the relative beauty of a tone depends on the training of the ear. pupils should habitually listen to their own voices, for between the hearing and feeling of the voice a knowledge of progress can be obtained. the function of the ear in governing voice production is thus stated by prof. mills: "the nervous impulses that pass from the ear to the brain are the most important guides in determining the necessary movements." mr. ffrangcon-davies maintains that, "the training of the ear is one-half of the training of the voice." the student should improve every opportunity to hear the best singers and speakers, for both consciously and unconsciously we learn much by imitation. good examples are often our best teachers. keeping well in mind the principles stated above, we are now ready to begin their application in placing the voice--that is, in setting it free--not by learning some strange and difficult action, but by cultivating normal action. exercises for practice the following exercises are designed for the primary development of a correct tone and for the test of the perfection of every tone at every stage of development. they are based upon the assumption that all tones of the voice should be focused and delivered precisely alike. their use should constitute a part of the daily practice of the singer or speaker. i give but few exercises for each point to be gained. intelligent teachers and pupils will add an infinite variety to suit each case, but the exercises given appear to me to be the best for initial practice. it is important that each exercise in its order shall be thoroughly mastered before taking up the next. only in this way can rapid progress be made, for it is not the multiplicity of exercises, but the thoughtful application of principles in the few, that leads to results. the sound of _hng_ will always place the voice in proper focus by developing the resonance of the nose and head. the thin bones of the nose will first respond to the sound and after practice the vibrations can be felt on any part of the head and even more distinctly on the low than on the high tones. to attain this, repeat the sound _hung_ times without number, prolonging the _ng_ sound at least four counts. to insure the proper course of the vowel sounds through the nasal passages, follow _hung_ with the vowel _ee_, as this vowel is more easily focused than any other; then with _oo_, _oh_, _aw_ and _ah_. _ah_ is by far the most difficult sound to focus and should never be used for initial practice. much valuable time has been lost by the custom of using this sound at first. it should come last. the _h_ is chosen to introduce the vowel sound because in the preparation to produce the sound of the letter _h_ the epiglottis is wide open and the vocal cords entirely relaxed, and because less change of the tongue is required when the vowel sound follows. preliminary exercise _practise this softly on any pitch easy for the voice._ [music illustration: hung-ee. hung-oo. hung-oh. hung-aw. hung-ah. hung-ee _etc._] begin the tone quietly on an easy pitch and continue it softly to the end. later, after these exercises are mastered on one pitch, use every note within the easy compass of the voice. leave stridency of tone to the locust. it is no part of a perfect tone. it never appeared in the voices of the most famous singers. those who allowed themselves to use it passed off the stage early in life. much better results will be obtained by practising without any accompaniment. the sound of the piano or other instrument distracts the pupil, prevents both pupil and teacher from hearing the voice, and hinders progress. important directions the manner in which exercise i and those that follow is practised is of the utmost importance. therefore carefully note and apply the following: 1. fully pronounce the word _hung_ (_u_ as in _stung_) at once, and prolong the tone, not on the vowel sound but on the _ng_ sound. this establishes the proper head and nasal resonance at the very beginning of the exercise. 2. in passing from _ng_ to _ee_ be very careful not to change the initial focus or lose the sensation of nasal and head resonance. do not therefore move the lips or the chin. the only change at this point is the slight movement of the tongue required to pronounce _ee_, which must be a pure vowel without a trace of the preceding _g_. 3. in passing from _ee_ to _oo_, from _oo_ to _oh_, and so on, do so with the least possible movement of lips and chin. _the initial sensation of nasal and head resonance must not be lost._ 4. each vowel sound must be distinct in enunciation and pure in quality. avoid blurring one with the other. give each its true individuality. 5. as jewels of different hue hung on a string, so must this exercise be the stringing of vowels on a continuous stream of sound. exercise i to establish nasal and head resonance this is an exercise for focusing or placing the voice and developing the vibrations of the nasal and head cavities, the most essential parts of the resonant apparatus. if the nostrils are kept fully open, no nasal twang will be heard. the strength of the tone will correspond to the force of the vibrations of the nose and head, which can be plainly felt by resting the finger lightly upon the side of the nose. the vibrations may eventually be plainly felt on the top and back of the head. attack, that is, begin the tone, _softly_ and on no account force it in the least. pronounce the full word _at once_, prolong the _ng_ four counts as indicated, and sing the five vowel sounds on a continuous, unbroken tone. articulate entirely with the lips and without moving the under jaw. in this, as in the following exercises, keep the under jaw relaxed and open the mouth so as to separate the teeth as wide apart as is consistent with the action of the lips. see also the illustrations of proper lip position given at the close of chapter ii. _practice this exercise on any pitch easy for the voice._ [music illustration: hung-ee-oo-oh-aw-ah _etc._] repeat this many times until the nose and head vibrations are fully recognized and established. after mastery of this exercise is acquired, any words ending in _ng_ may be repeated. the word _noon_ sung quietly on each note of the voice with the final consonant prolonged will be found helpful. exercises for speakers when the placing of the voice is accomplished on the one tone (exercise i), the speaker can go on with practice in reading and reciting, allowing the voice to change its pitch at its will, only being careful that all the tones are alike in quality. a profitable exercise for speakers is to pronounce any word or syllable ending with _ng_, as _ming_, _bing_, _sing_, _ring_, _ting_, and follow it with some familiar lines in a monotone, being sure that the tone is the same and produces the same vibrations in the nose and head. in the case of a person already a public speaker, this new _régime_ may not immediately manifest itself in performance, but gradually the right principles will assume control, and speaking be done with ease and effectiveness. continual daily practice of exercises should be kept up. if a speaker has a musical ear and some musical knowledge, he will derive great benefit by following out the practice of the exercises for singers. in no way can the voice for speaking be improved so rapidly or decisively as by musical training. exercise ii to establish head and nasal resonance as in exercise i, sing softly, seeking purity of vowel sounds and quality of tone. fully pronounce _hung_ at once, prolonging the _ng_ four counts as indicated. pass from one vowel to the next with the least possible change in the position of the lips and chin. the stream of sound is to be unbroken, the tone focus unchanged, and the sensation of resonance in the upper chambers continuous. [music illustration: hung-ee-oo-oh-aw-ah _etc._] [music illustration: hung-ee-oo-oh-aw-ah _etc._] exercise iii upper resonance continued follow the directions for exercise i. sing quietly in a pitch that is easy for the voice, and modulate up or down by half steps. [music illustration: hung-ee-oo-oh-aw-ah _etc._] exercise iv upper resonance continued the last exercise carried the voice an interval of a third; this carries the voice an interval of a fifth. follow carefully the directions of exercise i. be sure to pronounce _hung_ at once, prolonging the tone not on the vowel but on the _ng_. _sing softly._ vary the pitch to suit the voice. [music illustration: hung-ee-oo-oh-aw-ah _etc._] exercise v upper resonance continued the last exercise carried the voice an interval of a fifth, this one has a range of a sixth, while exercise vi has a range of an octave. carefully follow the important directions on page 60. _sing softly_ in a pitch that is easy for the voice. [music illustration: hung-ee-oo-oh-aw-ah _etc._] [music illustration: hung-ee-oo-oh-aw-ah _etc._] exercise vi to enlarge the throat and thus magnify the tone pronounce the word _hung_ at once, opening the mouth well. prolonging the _ng_ sound as indicated will insure the proper focus. sing the five vowel sounds throughout the scale as indicated. at first practise only on scales that are in easy range. [music illustration: 1. hung-ee 2. hung-oo 3. hung-oh 4. hung-aw 5. hung-ah _etc._] via [music illustration: 1. hung-ee 2. hung-oo 3. hung-oh 4. hung-aw 5. hung-ah _etc._] exercise vii for production of the vowel sounds in proper focus produce the _hung_ at once, and add the vowel. _be sure that the vowel sound follows the same course as the "ng" sound which precedes it, and produces the same sensation in the nose._ the vowels are arranged in the order chosen because _ee_ is the most easily focused while _ah_ is by far the most difficult to focus, and hence the worst possible sound for initial practice. _think_ of the tone as being made in the nose and head. let there be no break or stopping of the tone when passing from the _ng_ sound to the vowel. simply change the tone into the vowel desired by the proper change in the articulating organs. sing the five vowel sounds connectedly, being sure that each vowel is correctly placed before passing to the next. the proper use of the lips will aid greatly in focusing the vowels. start with the scale that is in comfortable range. [music illustration: hung-ee-oo-oh-aw-ah _etc._] [music illustration: hung-ee-oo-oh-aw-ah _etc._] exercise viii to enlarge the throat and focus the vowels open the mouth well and be sure that the vowel sounds are delivered as in the previous exercises; this will insure largeness with proper resonance. when practising this exercise, be careful, as with the others, that each vowel sound in its order is correctly given before passing to the next. only in this way can rapid progress be made. the words _bing_, _sing_, _ting_, _fling_, _swing_ are excellent to use for further practice. [music illustration: 1. hung-ee 2. hung-oo 3. hung-oh 4. hung-aw 5. hung-ah _etc._] [music illustration: 1. hung-ee 2. hung-oo 3. hung-oh 4. hung-aw 5. hung-ah _etc._] exercise ix quick changing notes without changing resonance the important point in this flexible exercise is to _keep the vowel-color, the focus or resonance, unchanged throughout the phrase_. begin quietly, give the _ng_ freedom and the upper resonance will adjust itself. this phrase is longer than in previous exercises; be sure then that you still have breath at the end--breath enough to sing further. sing quietly. pitch the exercise to suit the voice. [music illustration: 1. hung-ee 2. hung-oo 3. hung-oh 4. hung-aw 5. hung-ah _etc._] exercise x for agility sing each vowel sound separately before passing to the next. be sure to start each vowel sound in purity and maintain it without change. pitch the exercise to suit the voice. [music illustration: 1. ee 2. oo 3. oh 4. aw 5. ah _etc._] for variants on the above use as initial consonants _b_, _p_, _m_, _f_, _v_, _d_, _k_, _n_, _t_, and _l_. exercise xi to develop the use of the lips and under jaw when practising this exercise protrude the lips and raise them toward the nose as far as possible; also make an effort to enlarge and widen the nostrils. this exercise may be practised more quickly than the preceding, but never at the expense of clearness of vowel distinction. carry the exercise higher or lower, and in different keys, to suit individual voices. with a slight initial accent sing each two-measure section smoothly as one phrase. avoid accenting each separate vowel sound. to do so would produce a series of jerks. [music illustration: ee-oo-oh-aw-ah _etc._] after practising the above as written modify it as follows: 1. bee-boo-boh-baw-bah. 2. pee-poo-poh-paw-pah. 3. mee-moo-moh-maw-mah. 4. fee-foo-foh-faw-fah. 5. vee-voo-voh-vaw-vah. 6. dee-doo-doh-daw-dah. 7. kee-koo-koh-kaw-kah. 8. nee-noo-noh-naw-nah. 9. tee-too-toh-taw-tah. 10. lee-loo-loh-law-lah. exercise xii for facility and quick vowel change be careful not to blur the vowel sounds; each must be distinct and pure, and the change from one to the next must be made with a minimum of effort and without disturbing the focus of the tone. [music illustration: ee-oo-oh-aw-ah _etc._] the divisions (_a_ and _b_) of each of the above four variants may be regarded as distinct exercises or not. for further practice use as initial consonants any or all of the following: _b_, _p_, _m_, _f_, _v_, _d_, _k_, _n_, _t_, and _l_. exercise xiii ascending and descending scale as in the previous exercises practise quietly with unvarying focus and aim to finish the phrase with breath unexhausted. pitch the exercise to suit the voice. [music illustration: hung-ee hung-oo hung-oh hung-aw hung-ah _etc._] exercise xiv the long scale sing this scale exercise in medium range, without blurring either the vowel sounds or the notes. [music illustration: 1. hung-ee 2. hung-oo 3. hung-oh 4. hung-aw 5. hung-ah _etc._] [music illustration: 1. hung-ee 2. hung-oo 3. hung-oh 4. hung-aw 5. hung-ah _etc._] the exercises thus far given have employed the five vowel sounds found most helpful in gaining a free resonance. these should now be supplemented by the use of _all_ the vowel sounds. it is obvious that unless the singer is at home with every vowel and on any pitch in his vocal range perfect pronunciation is impossible. in chapter ii a scale of vowel sounds is given. for convenience it is repeated here: [illustration: 1 n_ee_ 2 n_i_t 3 n_e_t 4 n_a_y 5 n_ai_r 6 n_a_t 7 n_i_gh 8 n_a_h 7' n_o_t 6' n_a_w 5' n_e_r 4' n_u_t 3' n_o_ 2' n_oo_k 1' n_oo_.] having so far mastered the previous exercises as to establish a free head and nasal resonance, take the scale of vowel sounds and apply it to the now familiar exercises. next, as suggested in exercise x, use as initial consonants in connection with the vowel scale the consonants _b_, _p_, _m_, _f_, _v_, _d_, _k_, _n_, _t_ and _l_. keep before you the formula that articulation should _seem_ to be done entirely with and through the upper lip; _i.e._, the _thought_ should be that the words are projected through the upper lip. when by practise of the exercises given the voice has been focused and resonance established without any instrument, scale exercises and simple vocalises may be taken up with or without the piano. in practising scales start each a semitone higher until the _easy limit_ of the voice is reached, and no farther. gain will be more rapid by working to deliver the tones within the voice's normal compass. then when occasional effort is made the organs will be found ready to deliver the highest pitch of which the voice is capable. when sufficient progress has been made in mastering the execution of scales and easy vocalises, the pupil will be ready to begin the study of songs. if one foregoes the singing of songs during the few weeks occupied with primary lessons, results are obtained much more quickly. while practising exercises or songs the less the pianoforte is used, except to compare the pitch, the better. such practice increases the confidence of the performer. the instrument prevents the singer's listening to the tone he is producing and judging of its effectiveness. pupils with high or very low voices may continue their practice higher or lower as the voice is soprano, or bass, or contralto, but much practice on the extremes of the voice is unadvisable. if pure tones are produced in the medium range of the voice the highest or lowest tones will be found ready when called for. therefore practise the extremes of the voice only enough to know the limits of the voice and to be assured the tones are there. when the singer can perform the preceding simple exercises and know that the tones are all focused, or placed and delivered, precisely alike, he is ready to practise any scale, down or up, and to execute any musical exercise or song for which he is intellectually fitted. chapter ix throat stiffness what is the most frequent obstacle to good singing, the difficulty with which pupil and teacher most contend? throat stiffness. what more than anything else mars the singing of those we hear in drawing-rooms, churches, and the concert room? throat stiffness. this is the vice that prevents true intonation, robs the voice of its expressiveness, limits its range, lessens its flexibility, diminishes its volume, and makes true resonance impossible. this great interferer not only lessens the beauty of any voice, but directly affects the organ itself. the muscles of the larynx are small and delicate, and the adjustments they make in singing are exceedingly fine. when, however, the voice user stiffens his throat, these delicate muscles in their spontaneous effort to make the proper adjustments are compelled to contract with more than their normal strength. every increase in throat stiffness demands a corresponding increase in muscle effort, an overexertion that persisted in must result in injury to the organ itself. such misuse of the voice is bound to show injurious results. every throat specialist knows this, and an untold multitude of those who, beginning with promise, have had to give up singing as a career, learn it too late. singers are so accustomed to the sound of their own voices as to be usually quite unconscious of their own throat stiffness, though they may recognize it in their neighbor. unfortunately throat stiffness by its very nature tends to aggravate itself, to constantly increase while the voice becomes less and less responsive to the singer's demands. there are a number of contributing causes to throat stiffness, but the principal cause is _throat consciousness_ and misplaced effort, due largely to current misconceptions regarding the voice. a common notion is that we sing with the throat, whereas we sing _through_ it. akin to this error is the notion, as common as it is fallacious, that force of tone, carrying power, originates in the larynx, whereas the initial tone due to the vibration of the vocal cords is in itself comparatively feeble. as shown at length in chapters vi and vii, volume of tone, its color and carrying power, is acoustically and vocally a matter of _resonance_. many there are who sing by dint of sheer force and ignorance, but their careers are necessarily short. the too common vulgar striving for power rather than for beauty or purity of tone induces unnatural effort and strain that both directly and sympathetically affect the throat with stiffness. unnatural effort in breathing, over-effort in breath control, as well as singing without adequate breath, all induce tension that is reflected at once in the sensitive throat. impatience of results, american hurry, beget unnatural effort and tension. "unclasp the fingers of a rigid civilization from off your throat." the student of the violin or the piano soon learns that only by a long and patient preparation can he fit himself to entertain even his admiring friends. the embryo singer, on the contrary, expects with far less expenditure of time and effort to appear in public. the human voice is a direct expression of the man himself; it registers spontaneously his mental and emotional states, even when he would wish them hidden. mental conditions tinged with impatience, with fear, or with anything that begets tension of any sort are reflected instantly in the voice, robbing it of its better qualities and inducing stiffness in the throat. reduced to its lowest terms voice culture to-day is a struggle with throat stiffness. the causes indicate the remedy. foremost, then, is dropping all throat consciousness, all thought of the throat, all drawing of attention to it. the larynx must be left uncramped, unhindered to do its work in free unconsciousness, which it will do if not disturbed by tension in its neighborhood, or by misdirected thought. the stream of consciousness must in singing be directed to the breathing which is below the throat, and to resonance and pronunciation which are above it. these functions are more or less consciously controlled until at last mastery makes their action automatic. i would once more emphasize the fact that the free use of all the resonance chambers, and the recognition of the great function of resonance, will do more than anything else to set the voice free and emancipate the singer from all interfering rigidity. chapter x some general considerations the natural voice pupils are constantly urged to sing and speak naturally, because the "natural" tone is correct. this is exceedingly indefinite. it is natural for a child to imitate the first sound it hears, whether it be correct or incorrect. in either case the child imitates it, and for that child it becomes the natural tone. the child reared in the wilderness, beyond the hearing of a human voice, will imitate the notes of the whip-poor-will, the chatter of the monkey, and the hoot of the owl, and for him they are natural tones. to be natural is the hardest lesson to learn and it is only the result of imitation or prolonged discipline. untrained naturalness is the perfection of awkwardness. the involuntary functions of organic life are the only ones naturally performed correctly. nature's method of breathing, circulation, and digestion can be depended upon until disarranged by subsequent conditions, but unless proper vocalization is established by imitation and discipline this function is sure to be corrupted by false examples. age to begin after the child begins to talk, the sooner his vocal education begins the better. even at that early age he can be made to understand the merits of head vibrations and by simple exercises produce them, and once taught will never forget them. vocalizing, like every other art, is most easily learned by imitation, and the advantage of the early years, when that faculty is most active, should not be lost. in olden times the importance of this was fully realized. more than three centuries ago, old roger ascham wrote: "all languages, both learned and mother tongues, are begotten and gotten solely by imitation. for as ye used to hear so ye learn to speak. if ye hear no other, ye speak not yourself; and of whom ye only hear, of them ye only learn." nineteen centuries ago quintillian wrote: "before all let the nurses speak properly. the boy will hear them first and will try to shape his words by imitating them." if the right way of using the voice is early taught it will be a guard against the contraction of bad habits which can only be corrected later with infinite trouble. it certainly would be unwise to put a young child under continued training; but even in the kindergarten the right method of voice production can and should be taught. teachers of kindergarten and primary schools should be familiar with the principles of voice training and be able to start the pupils at once on the right road. in public schools the sooner this branch of education is made a part of the curriculum of our common schools, the sooner shall we produce a race of good speakers and singers. if, during the pupil's school life, proper attention is paid to these primary principles and to _correct articulation_, a large majority of students will graduate from our common schools prepared to advance in the art of elocution or of singing without being obliged first to unlearn a vast amount of error and to correct a long list of bad habits. if each day in the public schools a few minutes only are devoted to the subject by a teacher who understands it and who will call the attention of the pupils to the proper applications of the principles in their daily recitations, it will be found amply sufficient to develop and establish a good speaking and singing voice. artistry if artistry is to be attained, every organ must be individually well trained. yet, during performance, no one part should be given undue prominence. the voice should be the product of all the organs equally well developed. continued practice will enable the performer to correlate the whole--blend the strength of all in one. it goes without saying that no one in singing or speaking should appear to be governed by a "method." during the early stages of education, pupils should be amenable to rules and methods, but they must not expect to be acceptable performers until able to forget their lessons and simply and unconsciously make use of all the advantages of their training. even when the education is finished, and the _prima donna_ has made her successful debut, continued daily repetition of primary exercises is necessary to maintain excellence and insure the progress that every performer desires. our best singers to-day are as diligent students of the technique of the voice as are the tyros struggling with the first elements. life's periods human life is divided into three periods: _first_, that of effort to get an education; _second_, of effort to maintain it; and _third_, of effort to resist the natural decline which comes with advancing years. the singer and speaker must drill to develop the voice, must drill to keep it in condition, and must drill to resist the encroachments of senility. eternal vigilance is the price of vocal success. application of essentials the application of the principles here discussed will show that a musical voice is not the product of mysterious systems, but a matter of scientific certainty. the essentials are good breathing, good focusing, good resonance, and good articulation. these four elements are so interdependent that one cannot be perfected without the other. with these attained, the intellect, the sentiment, and the emotion of the performer will culminate in artistic excellence. repose as a preparation for vocal exercise the nervousness or fear which manifests itself in constraint and rigidity of the muscles and sometimes in stage fright is a serious hindrance to progress. the effectual offset to this painful condition is repose. the art of inducing a condition of repose can be readily acquired by any one who will carefully and faithfully do as follows: place yourself in an easy lying or lounging position in a quiet place, with fresh air. physical repose prepares for and invites mental repose. now allow the mind to work care free at its own sweet will without any attempt to control it. close the eyes and _breathe slowly, gently, and deeply, with steady rhythm_. in two or three minutes a sensation of quiet restful repose will be experienced, which may be continued for several minutes or may even lead to a natural sound sleep. this result may not be attained at the first or the second trial, but a few repetitions of the exercise will insure success in almost every case. after the art is attained in this formal way, ability to induce the same repose when sitting upright, or while standing, will be quickly developed. this repose is the fitting preparation for a lesson or a performance and may be induced during the progress of either, to allay any trepidation incident to the situation. a mastery of this simple art will make progress in the work of voice development much more rapid, and make attainable a degree of discipline that is impossible without it. it will prove for the beginner a sure prevention of stage fright and a great relief to the most chronic sufferer from this malady. the vibrato the _vibrato_ is a rhythmic pulsation of the voice. it often appears in untrained voices; in others it appears during the process of cultivation. some have thought it the perfection of sympathetic quality; others esteem it a fault. the vibrato is caused by an undulating variation of pitch or power, often both. the voice does not hold steadily and strictly to the pitch, and according to the amount of the variation a corresponding vibrato, or tremolo, is produced. the action of stringed instruments illustrates this statement. the finger of the violinist vibrates on the string by rocking rapidly back and forth and the vibrato is the result. the same is true of the human instrument. by variation of the tension, the vocal apparatus sends forth several tones in alternation, of a slightly different pitch, which together produce the effect. three sources are ascribed for the vibrato; one is a rapid, spasmodic vibration of the diaphragm, causing variation of breath pressure; another is the alternate tension and relaxation of the larynx and vocal cords; a third is that commonest of faults--throat stiffness. either cause is possible, and variation in the pitch or intensity of the tone is the result. sufficient investigations have not been made to make the matter certain, but tremolo, trembling of the vocal organs, and muscular stiffness, or unnatural tension, seem to go together. it is quite possible in the early stages of culture so to train the voice as to use the vibrato or not at will, but if not early controlled this, like other bad habits, gains the mastery. excessive vibrato has spoiled many good voices. it is not a fundamental quality of the voice. a little vibrato may occasionally be desirable when properly and skilfully used; more than this is to be shunned as a dangerous vice. chapter xi the psychology of vocal culture mental conception precedes execution. the picture must exist in the artist's mind before it can be drawn on the canvas. the architect must mentally see the majestic cathedral in all its details before he can draw the plans from which it can be built. in the field of physical activity no movement is made until the mind has gone before and prepared the way. a person's ability to do is in a great degree measured by his determination to do, but sitting in a rocking-chair and thinking will never make an athlete. mental action is necessary, but only through trained muscular action can the mental action materialize in a finished performance. so too the mind must anticipate the action of the vocal organs, but the organs themselves must be led to interpret the mental concept until such action becomes spontaneous. action in turn quickens the mental process, and the mental picture becomes more vivid. note with emphasis that the mental concept _precedes_ the action and governs it. therefore, instead of producing tone by local effort, by conscious muscular action of any sort, correctly _think the tone_, correctly shape and color it _mentally_. =every vocal tone is a mental concept made audible.= the beginner and the confirmed bungler alike fail in this prime essential--they do not make this mental picture of tone before singing it. kindred to this is deficiency in hearing, in discriminating between good tone color and poor. the student must constantly compare his tone as it is sung with the picture in his mind. training the voice is therefore largely a training of mind and ear, a developing of nicety in discrimination. singing is mental rather than physical, psychologic rather than physiologic. think therefore of the effect desired rather than of the process. in considering the details of voice production analytically we are apt to forget that man, notwithstanding his complexity, is a _unit_ and acts as a unit. back of all and underlying man's varied activity is the psychical. in the advanced stages of the art of speech and song this psychical element is of pre-eminent importance. the speaker who essays to give expression to his own thoughts must have his ideas sharply defined and aflame in order to so utter them that they will arouse his hearers to enthusiasm. the speaker or singer who would successfully interpret the thoughts of others must first make those thoughts his very own. when this is attained, then the voice, action, and the whole spirit of the performer, responding to the theme, will beget a like responsiveness in his audience. the singer behind the voice books upon books have been written on voice training, and will continue to be written. the preceding pages have been devoted to the fundamental subject of tone production, but it is time to suggest that back of the voice and the song is the singer himself with his complex personality. back of the personality is the soul itself, forever seeking utterance through its mask of personality. all genuine impulse to sing is from the soul in its need for expression. through expression comes growth in soul consciousness and desire for greater and greater self-expression. singing is far more than "wind and muscle," for, as ffrangcon-davies puts it, "the whole spiritual system, spirit, mind, sense, _soul_, together with the whole muscular system from feet to head, will be in the wise man's singing, _and the whole man will be in the tone_." of all the expressions of the human spirit in art form, the sublimated speech we call song is the most direct. every other art requires some material medium for its transmission, and in music, subtlest of all the arts, instruments are needed, except in singing only. freedom in song the singer himself is the instrument of free and direct expression. freedom of expression, complete utterance, is prevented only by the singer himself. no one hinders him, no one stands in the way but himself. the business of the teacher is to _set free_ that which is latent. his high calling is by wise guidance to help the singer to get out of his own way, to cease standing in front of himself. technical training is not all in all. simple recognition of the existence of our powers is needed even more. freedom comes through the recognition and appropriation of inherent power; recognition comes first, the appropriation then follows simply. the novice does not know his natural power, his birthright, and must be helped to find it, chiefly, however, by helping himself, by cognizing and re-cognizing it. no student of the most human of all arts--singing--need give up if he has burning within him the _song impulse_, the _hunger to sing_. this inner impulse is by its strength an evidence of the power to sing; the very hunger is a promise and a prophecy. deterrents the deterrents to beautiful singing are physical in appearance, but these are outer signs of mental or emotional disturbance. normal poise, which is strength, smilingly expresses itself in curves, in tones of beauty. _mental discord_ results in angularity, rigidity, harshness. _impatience_ produces feverishness that makes vocal poise impossible; and impatience induces the modern vice of forcing the tone. growth is a factor for which hurried forcing methods make no allowance. _excess of emotion_ with its loss of balance affects the breathing and play of the voice. _exertion_, trying effort, instead of easy, happy activity induces hampering rigidities. _intensity_, over-concentration, or rather false concentration, emotional tension, involves strain, and strain is always wrong. _over-conscientiousness_, with its fussiness about petty detail, and insistence on non-essentials, is a deterrent from which the robust are free. _over-attention to the mechanics_ of voice production is a kindred deterrent. both deterrents prevent that prime characteristic of expression--spontaneity. _anxiety_ is a great contractor of muscle, a great stiffener. anxiety always forgets the _power_ within, and falsely says to the song-hunger, "you shall never be satisfied." _self-repression_ is a great deterrent that afflicts the more sensitive, particularly those of puritanic inheritance. it is a devitalizer and a direct negative to expression, which is vital, is _life_. all of these deterrents are negative and may be overcome by fuller recognition of the inner power that by its very nature must perpetually seek positive expression. conclusion in conclusion, the student can perpetually find encouragement in a number of happy facts. man is endowed by nature, except in rare instances, with a perfect vocal apparatus. when abnormal conditions are found they are usually in the adult voice, and are due solely to misuse. in other words defects are not inherent but acquired and _can be removed_. by nature the human voice is beautiful, for the tendency of nature is always in the direction of beauty. whatever is unlovely in singing, as in all else, is _un_natural. true method is therefore never artificial in its action, but simple, because the natural is always simple. finally, no, not finally, but firstly and secondly and thirdly and perpetually, every student of singing and every teacher of it must constantly bear in mind the happy law: =the right way is always an easy way= books consulted title author published an essay on the history and theory of music, and of the qualities and capacity of the human voice isaac nathan london, 1823. elements of vocal science richard mackenzie bacon london, 1824. orthophony; or the cultivation of the voice in elocution william russell boston, 1859. vocal physiology charles alex. guilmette new york, 1860. die lehre von den tonempfindungen als physiologische grundlage für die theorie der musik h.l.f. helmholtz brunswick, 1863. the sensations of tone as a physiological basis for the theory of music h.l.f. helmholtz (translation of above) (translated by a.j. ellis) london, 1875. sound john tyndall london, 1867. principles of elocution and voice culture benj. w. atwell providence, 1868. the voice, its artistic production, development and preservation george j. lee london, 1870. the cultivation of the speaking voice john pyke hullah oxford, 1870. voice building horace r. streeter boston, 1871. principles of elocution and voice culture benjamin atwell boston, 1872. hints for pronunciation in singing georgiana weldon london, 1872. the voice in singing emma seiler philadelphia, 1872 the voice as an instrument ange a. pattou new york, 1878. the vocal process john howard new york, 1878. speech in song alexander j. ellis london, 1878. voice and vocalization wm. p. robert london, 1879. the human voice and connected parts joseph montgomery farrar london, 1881. the mechanism of the human voice emil behnke london, 1882. gymnastics of the voice oskar guttmann albany, 1882. the art of voice production with special reference to the methods of correct breathing ange a. pattou new york, 1882. the old italian school of singing leo kofler albany, 1882. the secrets of the voice in singing emilio belari new york, 1883. deep breathing sophia a. ciccolina new york, 1883. artistic voice in speech and song charles lunn london, 1884. voice, song and speech lennox browne and emil behnke london, 1884. modern singing methods, their use and abuse john franklin botume boston, 1885. the diaphragm and its functions j.m.w. kitchen albany, 1885. the voice from a practical standpoint edmund j. meyer new york, 1886. the hygiene of the vocal organs morrell mackenzie, m.d. london, 1886. how to sing wm. henry daniell new york, 1887. the art of breathing as the basis for tone production leo kofler new york, 1887. the voice. how to train it edward barrett warman boston, 1890. scientific voice. artistic singing and effective singing thomas chater london, 1890. voice figures mrs. margaret watts hughes london, 1891. the human voice; its cultivation w.h. griffiths london, 1892. the philosophy of singing clara kathleen rogers new york, 1893. the what and how of vocal culture f. rowena medini new york, 1893. exercises in vocal technique john franklin botume boston, 1894. text-book on the natural use of the voice george e. thorp and william nicholl london, 1895. respiration for advanced singers john franklin botume boston, 1897. voice building and tone placing henry holbrook curtis, m.d. new york, 1896. twenty lessons on the development of the voice george e. thorp london, 1896. voxometric revelation (the problem surrounding the production of the human voice finally discovered) alfred augustus north london, 1896. the art of singing wm. shakespeare london and boston, 1898. the rightly-produced voice edward davidson palmer london, 1898. how to train children's voices t. maskell hardy london, 1899. how to sing (meine gesangskunst) lilli lehmann new york, 1902. scientific tone production mary ingles james boston, 1903. english diction for singers and speakers louis arthur russell boston, 1905. the training of boys' voices clarke ellsworth johnson boston, 1906. voice production in singing and speaking wesley mills, m.d. philadelphia, 1906. the art of the singer w.j. henderson new york, 1906. the commonplaces of vocal art louis arthur russell boston, 1907. the singing of the future david ffrangcon-davies london, 1908. the art of singing and vocal declamation sir charles santley london, 1908. index abdominal breathing, employed by martel, 4, 26; lateral, 3. (see also _chest-abdominal breathing_ and _lateral abdominal breathing_.) acoustics, 43; experiments in, 46-48; pascal on, 49. actor, enunciation of the, 19; importance of deep breathing for, 19. adam's apple, the male larynx, 9. age to begin study of voice, 77. ah-sound, narrow limits of, 18; how produced, 22; lilli lehmann on, 19; place of, in practice, 57. air cavities (see _sinuses_). anxiety, a deterrent to beautiful singing, 85. application of essentials, 79. appunn, on pitch of vowel sounds, 20. articulation, differing opinions concerning, 3; relation of, to resonance, 51; through upper lip, 72. (see also _pronunciation_.) articulator, 6. artistry, 79. ascham, roger, on voice culture through imitation, 77. aw-sound, lip position for, 22; in exercises, 59, etc. beauty of tone, a criterion of correct vocal action, 56. bell, on pitch of vowel sounds, 20. booth, edwin, as a good speaker, 16. booth, junius brutus, impairment of his voice, 53. breath control, 23-32; importance of, in both speaking and singing, 23; muscles of respiration in, 23; the diaphragm in, 23; muscles in, 24; the lungs in, 25; inspiration, 25; expiration, 25; correct method of, 25; a cure for nervousness, 27; necessity of exercises, 27; economy a factor in, 30; exaggerated, 30; initial use of, 31; exercises for, 33-37; of farinelli, 37. breath force, initial use of, 31; reserve, 31; wasted, 31. breath mastery, meaning of, 32. breathing, art of, 3; an amplification of the daily habit, 5; defined as singing, 23; correct, 25, 28; not differing in sex, 26; vicious habits of, 26; controlling deeply, 26; tests of, 26; nose versus mouth, 26; regularity of, 26; in obtaining power and largeness of tone, 27; for high tones, 27; relation of, to nervousness, 27; rhythmic, 27; necessity of exercises, 27; illustrations of, 28, 29; exercises in, 33-37; economy in, 30; tests in, by professor mills, 30; exaggerated control of, 30; exhaustion, 31; initial force in, 31; reserve power in, 31; mastery of, 32. (see also _abdominal breathing_.) broschi, don carlo, breath control of, 36. browne, dr. lennox, on the laryngoscope, 3. browne and behnke, on nasal resonance, 53. chest, expansion of and resonance, 49. chest-abdominal breathing, 25; illustrated in sleeping child, 25; tests in, 26; illustrated, 28, 29. chest tones, former emphasis given to, 2; wrongly termed, 5. clay, henry, as a good speaker, 16. closed tones, former emphasis given to, 2; wrongly termed, 5. cryer, dr. w.h., on the frontal sinus, 12. culture of the voice (see _voice culture_). deep breathing, importance of, for the actor, 19. (see also _breathing_.) deterrents to beautiful singing, 84, 85. diaphragm, in breathing, 19; not a muscle of expiration, 23; described, 23, 24; in inspiration, 24; in expiration, 24; illustrated, 24, 29. difference between singing and speaking, 17. ear, function of, in tone production, 57; training of, 57. ee-sound, lip position for, 20; in exercises, 57, 59, etc. effort, tense, a deterrent to beautiful singing, 84. emotion, effect on tone quality, 7; excess of, a deterrent to beautiful singing, 84. empiricists, where they have failed, 4. epiglottis, 10. essentials, application of, 79. ethmoid bone, 8. ethmoidal sinuses, illustrated, 7; function of, 12. everett, edward, as a good speaker, 16. exercises, breathing: necessity of, 27, 33; preliminary suggestions, 33, 34; attitude in taking, 34; i, to show what a deep breath is, 34; ii, slow inhalation with sudden expulsion, 35; iii, sipping the breath, with quick exhalation, 35; iv, for rib expansion, 35; v, slow inhalation with slow expiration, 36; vi, rapid inspiration with slow expiration, 36; vii, farinelli's great exercise, 36; viii, the cleansing breath, 37; half breath, 37. exercises, vocal: i, to establish nasal and head resonance, 58-61; for speakers, 60, 61; ii, to establish head and nasal resonance, 61; iii, iv, v, upper resonance, 62-64; vi, to enlarge the throat and thus magnify the tone, 64; vii, for production of the vowel sounds in proper focus, 65; viii, to enlarge the throat and focus the vowels, 66; ix, quick changing notes without changing resonance, 67; x, for agility, 67, 68; xi, to develop the use of the lips and under jaw, 68, 69; xii, for facility and quick vowel change, 69, 70; xiii, ascending and descending scale, 71; xiv, the long scale, 71; additional, 72, 73; repose as a preparation for, 80. expiration, muscles of, 23, 24; under controlled pressure, 24; described, 25; the lungs in, 25; illustrated, 28, 29. face, training muscles of, 15. farinelli, breath control of, 36. ffrangcon-davies, on pronunciation, 18; on registers, 39; on function of ear in voice training, 57; definition of singing of, 83. focusing the voice (see _voice placing_). forbes-robertson, on diction, 19. formes, carl, voice of, in declining years, 4. freedom in singing, 84. frontal sinuses, function of, 12; illustration of, 7. garcia, manuel, inventor of laryngoscope, 2; use of laryngoscope, 2; sir charles stanley on, 3. gounod, on pronunciation, 19. half-breath, sembrich and, 37. hard palate, function of, 12. harshness, an indication of tension, 56. head cavities, a resonator for the voice, 6; effect of, on resonance, 12. head tones, in previous years, 2; wrongly termed, 5. helmholtz, on pitch of vowel sounds, 20; on acoustics, 43, 49. henderson, w.j., on pronunciation, 18. high tones, breath control necessary for, 27. holmes, oliver wendell, on edward everett's voice, 16. hyoid bone, 8, 10. i-sound, described, 21. impatience, a deterrent to beautiful singing, 84. inspiration, muscles of, 23, 24; process of, described, 25; illustrated, 28, 29. (see also _breath control_ and _breathing_.) instrument, musical, elements of, 43, 44. intensity, involving strain, a deterrent to beautiful singing, 84. kindergarten teachers, instruction by, 78. koenig, on pitch of vowel sounds, 20. laryngoscope, and registers, 2; garcia the inventor of, 2; usefulness of, 2; limitations of, 3; disappointing results of, 38; not an instrument for the singer, 51. larynx, moving, 3; viewed through the laryngoscope, 3; illustrated, 7; description of, 8, 9; relation of size of, to pitch, 9; automatic action of, 38; not alone the vocal organ, 50; reflex action of, 51; force of tone does not originate in, 75; must be left uncramped, 75. lateral abdominal breathing, 3, 25, 28. lehmann, madame lilli, on use of ah, 19; on registers, 39; on nasal resonance, 54. life's periods, 79. lind, jenny, effects of wrong methods on, 4. lips, in articulation, 14; position of, 20-22; illustrated, 21, 22. lungs, a motor for the voice, 6; illustrated, 24; described, 25; overcrowding, 31. mackenzie, dr. morell, on the laryngoscope, 3; on singing and speaking, 17. macready, wm. charles, as a good speaker, 16. martel, voice of, at seventy, 4. maxillary sinuses, 7, 8, 12. may, dr., breathing tests made by, 26. mckinley, m.s., on garcia and the laryngoscope, 2. mental discord, a deterrent to beautiful singing, 84. meyer, edmund j., on resonance, 43. mills, dr. wesley, on breath measure, 30; on ease of vocal action, 56; on the function of the ear in tone production, 57. motor of the vocal instrument, 6. mouth, theory of its function, 1; a resonator for the voice, 6. muscles of respiration, 23. music teachers, scientific, 4; empirical, 4. nasal cavities, as reinforcing agents in tone production, 2; a resonator for the voice, 6; illustrated, 7; formation of, 8; vibrations in, 8; effect on resonance, 12; edward everett's use of, 16; as a resonator, 52, 53; obstruction of, in booth, 53. nasal resonance, erroneous theories concerning, 1, 2; madame rudersdorff recognized effect of, 2; involved in head resonance, 52; versus nasal tone quality, 53; lilli lehmann on, 54; sembrich's study of, 54; importance of, 54. natural voice, what is meant by, 77. nervousness, a cure for, 27, 80. nostrils, relation of, to tone quality, 14. o-sound, lip position for, 20; illustrated, 21; in exercises, 59, etc. oo-sound, lip position for, 20, 21; in exercises, 59, etc. open tones, 2, 5. oral surgery, 2. oratorio, faulty diction in, 18. over-conscientiousness, a deterrent to beautiful singing, 84. overtones, 45, 46. personality, effect on the voice, 83. pharynx, function of, 10. phillips, adelaide, voice of, in declining years, 4. pitch of tone, influence of resonance cavities on, 12, 13. placing the voice (see _tone production_). power of tone, dependent on resonant cavities and breath control, 27. principles advocated, 5. pronunciation, indifference of american singers to, 17; w.j. henderson on, 18; change of attitude toward, 18; importance of, to singer, 18; relation of, to tone, 18; ffrangcon-davies on, 18; sing words rather than tones, 18; lilli lehmann on, 19; emotional power impossible without, 19; gounod on, 19; forbes-robertson on, 19; upper lip in, 19; effect of smile on, 19. psychology of vocal culture, 82-85. pterygoid muscles, and the under jaw, 10. public schools, voice training in, 78. reeves, sims, voice of, 4. registers, 38-42; blending the, 2, 41; not a natural feature of the voice, 2; fallacy of theory of, 2; a myth, 5; the _bête noire_ of vocalists, 38; defined, 38; clara kathleen rogers on, 38; lilli lehmann on, 39; ffrangcon-davies on, 39; of the organ, 40; of voice and instruments compared, 40, 41; an artificial creation, 41, 42. repose, as a preparation for vocal exercises, 80; how to induce, 80. resonance, differing opinions concerning, 3; principle of, 5; nasal and head cavities in, 12; influence of resonance cavities on pitch, 12; pitch of vowels in, 20; and power, 27; and breath force, 31; in general, 43-50; development of science of, 43; quality and power of, 44; significance of, 45; experiments to demonstrate, 46-50; induced, 47; sympathetic, 47, 48; density of air and, 47; volume and character of tones dependent on, 49; head and nasal, 51-55; relation of articulation to, 51; focusing tone a matter of, 52; effect of its absence, 54; exercises to establish, 58-72. resonator of the voice, 6. respiration (see _breath control_ and _breathing_). respiratory muscles, a motor for the voice, 6; described, 23, 28; action of, 25; illustrated, 24, 29. rogers, clara kathleen, on registers, 38. rudersdorff, madame, and nasal resonance, 2. santley, sir charles, on garcia and the laryngoscope, 3. scale of vowel sounds, 20, 72. self-repression, a deterrent to beautiful singing, 84. sembrich, marcella, and the half-breath, 37; use of nasal resonance, 54. singing, subtlety of, 4; obstacles to, 5, 74, 84; versus speaking, 5, 17; mission of singer, 18; defined as breathing, 23; age to begin, 77; in public schools, 78; by method, 79; vibrato in, 80; psychology of, 82-85; sublimated speech, 83; defined by ffrangcon-davies, 83; freedom in, 84; deterrents to, 84. sinuses, illustrated, 7; pairs of, 8; function of, 12. smile, effect of, on pronunciation, 19. soft palate, office of, 11, 52. speaking, obstacles to, 5; tones of, identical with singing tones, 5; difference from singing, 17; expression in, 83. speaking voice, misunderstood, 16; connection with singing voice, 16; how cultivated, 16; identity with singing voice, 17; and pronunciation, 18, 19. sphenoid bone, 8. sphenoidal sinuses, illustrated, 7; pairs of, 8; function of, 12. stage elocution, criticism of forbes-robertson on, 19. teeth, function of, in use of voice, 12. throat, theory of sound in, 1; a resonator, 6; illustrated, 7; relation to voice, 8. (see _larynx_ and _pharynx_.) throat stiffness, most frequent obstacle to good singing, 74; effect on larynx, 74; difficulty in recognizing one's own, 74; throat consciousness a common cause of, 74; induced by lack of breath mastery, 75; american hurry begets, 75; voice culture a struggle with, 75; remedies for, 75, 76. timbre of voice, defined and explained, 7, 8. tone, defined, 45; analyzed 45; experiments to determine composition and resonance of, 46-50; focusing of, 52; vocal, a mental concept, 82; whole man in, 83. tone production, largely a matter of resonance, 56; effect of right thought on, 56; judged by naturalness and beauty of result, 56; function of the ear in governing, 57; cultivating normal, 57; exercises to aid in, 58-73; effect of throat stiffness on, 74; natural, 77; age to begin study of, 77. tone quality, variety in, 6; effect of emotion upon, 7, 75, 84; relation of pronunciation to, 18; how to secure purity of, 18, 19; experiments to determine, 46-50; and resonance, 5, 44, 45, 49, 50; cause of nasal, 52-54; beauty or harshness of, a criterion of judgment, 56, 57; effect of throat stiffness on, 74-76; dependent on mind and ear, 82; related to personality of singer, 83; natural and unnatural, 85. tongue, as an articulator, 6; illustrated, 7; connection with larynx, 9; position of, in speaking and singing, 13; tongue consciousness, 14. under jaw, 10; in ascending the scale, 10. upper lip, in pronunciation, 19; in practising, 68; in articulation, 72. uvula, office of, 11. ventricle in the larynx, 8. vibrato, 80, 81. vibrator, of the voice, 6; of instruments, 43. vitalizing text with tone, the singer's mission, 18. vocal cords, vibrator for the voice, 6; in the larynx, 8; described, 9; not the principal cause of tone, 44, 45, 49; necessity of free action of, 51. vocal instrument, discussion of, 6-15; beauty and complexity of, 6; three elements of, 6, 7; illustrated, 7; relation of parts of, 8; larynx, 8, 9; vocal cords, 9; epiglottis, 10; pharynx, 10; under jaw, 10; soft palate, 11; hard palate and teeth, 12; nasal and head cavities, 12; tongue, 13; lips, 14; nostrils, 14; face, 15; defects in, 85. vocal tone, an audible mental concept, 82. voice culture, opinions concerning, 2; wrong methods of a generation ago, 3, 4; cannot be developed mechanically, 4; principles advocated, 5; the right way the easy way, 5; resonance an important factor of, 5, 43, 45, 50, 52, 54; should begin in childhood, 77; learned by imitation, 77; roger ascham on, 77, 78; in public schools, 78; artistry in, 78, 79; three periods of, 79; application of essentials of, 79; repose as a preparation for, 80; the vibrato in, 80; psychology of, 82-85; personality in, 83; freedom in, 84; deterrents in, 84, 85. voice placing, 51, 52, 56-73. voice timbre, defined, 7, 8. vowel sounds, 11, 18, 19; singer's scale of, 20, 72; each has its own pitch, 20; lip position for, 20-22; placing of, 52; exercises for practice, 58-73. webster, daniel, as a good speaker, 16. wheatstone, on pitch of vowel sounds, 20. willis, on pitch of vowel sounds, 20. the music students library [illustration: the music students library] =a series of educational text-books suited to the requirements of the average student and covering every essential branch of musical instruction.= _note_:--unless otherwise specified, books are bound in cloth. piano =burrowes' piano primer.= frederic field bullard, editor. an enlarged edition with pronouncing dictionary. _paper_ 75 a =ears, brain and fingers.= howard wells. 1 25 a =half hour lessons in music.= mrs. hermann kotzschmar. class work for beginners. practical for teachers and mothers. illus. 1 25 a =interpretation of piano music.= mary venable. studies in the meaning of printed signs used in music, and their bearing on the interpretation of standard works. 2 00 a =natural laws in piano technic.= mary wood chase. presents the essential laws of a sound piano technic. 1 50 a =piano teaching: its principles and problems.= clarence g. hamilton, a.m. a practical book, written by a practical man to meet practical needs. 1 50 a organ =primer of organ registration.= gordon balch nevin. numerous illustrations and a dictionary of organ stops. 1 50 a violin =how to master the violin.= pavel l. bytovetzski. a practical guide for students and teachers. 1 25 a =how to study kreutzer.= benjamin cutter. what every violin teacher discusses and illustrates in the lesson room. 1 25 a voice =abc of music.= auguste mathieu panseron. (ed. by n.c. page.) a standard primer of vocalization. 1 50 a do. _paper_ 90 a =commonplaces of vocal art.= louis arthur russell. the plain truths of vocal art presented in simple untechnical language. 1 25 a =english diction for singers and speakers.= louis arthur russell. for all who pretend to refined or artistic use of the english language. 1 25 a =french diction for singers and speakers.= william harkness arnold. the elements of french pronunciation are reduced to a few fundamental principles, readily mastered. 1 25 a =head voice and other problems.= d.a. clippinger. 1 25 a practical talks on singing =resonance in singing and speaking.= thomas fillebrown, m.d. an exposition of fundamentals, with breathing and vocal exercises and illustrations. 1 50 a =training of boys' voices.= claude ellsworth johnson. a practical guide to the correct "placing" of boys' voices. 1 25 a =twelve lessons in the fundamentals of voice production.= arthur l. manchester. presents clearly the fundamentals illustrated by exercises. 1 25 a ear training, harmony and counterpoint =ear training for teacher and pupil.= c.a. alchin. designed to teach the pupil to think in tones, and so to sing, name, write, and play what he hears. 1 50 a =intervals, chords, and ear training.= jean parkman brown. exercises and examples in rudimentary harmony and ear training for use in conjunction with piano study. 1 25 a =harmony.= sir john stainer, mus. doc. new edition of a standard text-book which presents the principles of harmony with conciseness and lucidity. 1 50 a do. _paper_ 90 a =harmony simplified.= francis l. york. a practical text-book presenting in a concise manner the fundamental principles of harmony, with non-essentials omitted. 1 50 a =manual of harmony.= ernst friedrich richter. trans. by j.c.d. parker. a practical guide to the study of harmony. 2 00 a =harmonic analysis.= benjamin cutter. teaches one to analyze the harmonic structure of both classic and modern music. 1 50 a =counterpoint.= sir j. frederick bridge. this book has freshness and plainness combined with thoroughness, and must commend itself to young students and teachers. 1 25 a do. _paper_ 90 a =counterpoint simplified.= francis l. york. a concise text-book of formal counterpoint. (sequel to author's "harmony simplified"). 1 50 a =guide to musical composition.= h. wohlfahrt. tr. by j.s. dwight. on the invention of melodies, their transformation, development and suitable accompaniment. 1 25 a form, instrumentation and acoustics =instrumentation.= ebenezer prout, mus. doc. a valuable guide and assistant to students who wish to gain a knowledge of the proper blending of orchestral instruments, their compass, capabilities, etc. 1 50 a do. _paper_ 90 a =lessons in music form.= percy goetschius, mus. doc. a manual of analysis of all the structural factors and designs employed in musical composition. 1 50 a =musical forms.= ernest pauer. the students of musical form, and especially those who study composition, will find this a very valuable and thorough work. 1 75 a do. _paper_ 90 a =sound and its relation to music.= clarence g. hamilton, a.m. a handbook of acoustics as relating to music. based on the latest discoveries and experiments. 1 50 a conducting, history, music appreciation and definitions =essentials in conducting.= karl w. gehrkens, a.m. on personal requirements, technic of the baton, interpretation, rehearsing, program making, etc. 1 75 a =outlines of music history.= clarence g. hamilton, a.m. a compact, clearcut work for class use and the general reader. fully illustrated. 2 25 a =music appreciation.= clarence g. hamilton, a.m. based on methods of literary criticism, this unique text-book is for those who wish to listen to music with quickened hearing and real understanding. with 24 portraits, 28 diagrams and over 200 music cuts. 2 50 a =music club programs from all nations.= arthur elson. outlines the various schools from all nations with a rich series of programs and over one hundred portraits. 2 00 a =some essentials in musical definitions.= m.f. macconnell. covers the needed information on all points connected with musical theory, and therefore of special value to piano, singing, violin, and organ students. 1 25 a [illustration] the musicians library =this notable series has been planned to embrace all the masterpieces of song and piano literature; to gather into superbly made volumes of uniform size and binding the best work of the best composers, edited by men of authority. each volume is independent, complete in itself, and sold by itself.= paper, cloth back, per volume $2 50 a cloth, gilt, per volume. 3 50 a piano volumes =bach piano album= vol. i. shorter compositions. edited by dr. ebenezer prout. =bach piano album= vol. ii. larger compositions. edited by dr. ebenezer prout. =beethoven piano compositions= vols. i and ii. edited by eugen d'albert. =brahms, johannes= selected piano compositions. edited by rafael joseffy. =chopin, frederic= forty piano compositions. edited by james huneker. =chopin, frederic= the greater chopin. edited by james huneker. =grieg, edvard= larger piano compositions. edited by bertha feiring tapper. =grieg, edvard= piano lyrics and shorter compositions. edited by bertha feiring tapper. =haydn, franz josef= twenty piano compositions. edited by xaver scharwenka. =liszt, franz= twenty original piano compositions. edited by august spanuth. =liszt, franz= twenty piano transcriptions. edited by august spanuth. =liszt, franz= ten hungarian rhapsodies. edited by august spanuth and john orth. =mendelssohn, felix= thirty piano compositions. edited by percy goetschius, mus. doc. with a preface by daniel gregory mason. =mozart, wolfgang amadeus= twenty piano compositions. edited by carl reinecke. =schubert, franz= selected piano compositions. edited by a. spanuth. =schumann, robert= fifty piano compositions. edited by naver scharwenka. =wagner, richard= selections from the music dramas. edited by otto singer. * * * * * =anthology of french piano music= vol. i. early composers. vol. ii. modern composers. edited by isidor philipp. =anthology of german piano music= vol. i. early composers. vol. ii. modern composers. edited by moritz moszkowski. =early italian piano music= edited by m. esposito. =modern russian piano music= vols. i and ii. edited by constantin von sternberg. =twenty-four negro melodies.= transcribed for piano by s. coleridge-taylor. song volumes =brahms, johannes= forty songs. high voice. low voice. edited by james huneker. =franz, robert= fifty songs. high voice. low voice. edited by william foster apthorp. =grieg, edvard= fifty songs. high voice. low voice. edited by henry t. finck. =handel, george frideric= vol. i. songs and airs. high voice. vol. ii. songs and airs. low voice. edited by dr. ebenezer prout. =jensen, adolf= forty songs. high voice. low voice. edited by william foster apthorp. =liszt, franz= thirty songs. high voice. low voice. edited by carl armbruster. =schubert, franz= fifty songs. high voice. low voice. edited by henry t. finck. =schumann, robert= fifty songs. high voice. low voice. edited by w.j. henderson. =strauss, richard= forty songs. high voice. low voice. edited by james huneker. =tchaikovsky, p.i.= forty songs. high voice. low voice. edited by james huneker. =wagner, richard= lyrics for soprano. edited by carl armbruster. =wagner, richard= lyrics for tenor. edited by carl armbruster. =wagner, richard= lyrics for baritone and bass. edited by carl armbruster. =wolf, hugo= fifty songs. high voice. low voice. edited by ernest newman. =fifty mastersongs= high voice. low voice. edited by henry t. finck. =fifty shakspere songs= high voice. low voice. edited by charles vincent, mus. doc. =modern french songs= high voice. low voice. vol. i. bemberg to franck. vol. ii. georges to widor. edited by philip hale. =one hundred english folk-songs= medium voice. edited by cecil j. sharp. =one hundred folk-songs of all nations.= medium voice. edited by granville bantock. =one hundred songs by ten masters= high voice. low voice. edited by henry t. finck. vol. i. schubert, schumann, franz, rubinstein and jensen. vol. ii. brahms, tchaikovsky, grieg, wolf and strauss. =one hundred songs of england= high voice. low voice. edited by granville bantock. =seventy scottish songs= high voice. low voice. edited by helen hopekirk. =sixty folk-songs of france= medium voice. edited by julien tiersot. =sixty irish songs= high voice. low voice. edited by william arms fisher. =sixty patriotic songs of all nations= medium voice. edited by granville bantock. =songs by thirty americans= high voice. low voice. edited by rupert hughes. =songs from the operas for soprano= edited by h.e. krehbiel. =songs from the operas for mezzo soprano= edited by h.e. krehbiel. =songs from the operas for alto= edited by h.e. krehbiel. =songs from the operas for tenor= edited by h.e. krehbiel. =songs from the operas for baritone and bass= edited by h.e. krehbiel. other volumes are in preparation. booklets, giving full particulars, with portraits of editors, and contents of volumes published, free on request. the boy's voice. [illustration: _chorister boys_. _photographed by mr george hadley, lincoln_.] the boy's voice a book of practical information on the training of boys' voices for church choirs, &c. by j. spencer curwen _fellow of the royal academy of music; president of the tonic sol-fa college._ [illustration: decoration] london: j curwen & sons, 8 & 9 warwick lane, e.c. new york: charles scribner and sons. _price two shillings and sixpence._ =1891= london: j. curwen and sons, music-printers, plaistow, e. preface. the value of this little book, as the reader will soon discover, depends less upon my own work than upon the large number of choirmasters whose experience i have been fortunate enough, directly or indirectly, to lay under contribution. the conditions of the choir-trainer's work vary, in an endless way, according to his surroundings and opportunities. and it is just when work becomes difficult that contrivances and hints are most fruitfully evolved. hence i have given in great detail the experiences of many correspondents, and some of the most useful suggestions for ordinary church choir work will be found to proceed from writers holding no great appointment, but seeking quietly and unostentatiously to produce good results from poor material. in view of a second edition, i shall be pleased to receive letters from readers who have further experiences to offer. j. s. c. _june_, 1891. contents. chapter i. pages the healthfulness of singing 1-5 chapter ii. management of the breath 6-7 chapter iii. the art of managing choir boys 8-11 chapter iv. voice training 12-22 chapter v. information on voice-training, collected by the salisbury diocesan choral association 23-26 chapter vi. pronunciation in singing 27-28 chapter vii. singing by ear and by note 29-30 chapter viii. flattening, and singing out of tune 31-39 chapter ix. on the training of boys' voices 40-48 chapter x. the special difficulties of agricultural districts 49-58 chapter xi. notes on the practice of various choirmasters in cathedrals, &c. 59-68 chapter xii. notes on the practice of various choirmasters in parish churches 69-74 chapter xiii. alto boys 75-89 chapter xiv. schools for choristers 90-98 chapter xv. concert songs for boys 99-103 [illustration: the boy's voice.] chapter i. the healthfulness of singing. the boy's voice, though an immature organ of delicate structure, is capable of much work, providing only that its mechanism be rightly used and not forced. some people are unnecessarily nervous about boys; as a rule, under competent guidance, they will get nothing but good from vocal work. a cathedral organist wrote to me the other day:-"our best solo boy, who has a splendid voice and who sings beautifully, has been unwell, and the dean and chapter doctor (who has an idea that every choir-boy should be as robust as a plough-boy) has just stated that the boy is too feeble to remain in the choir. notwithstanding my remonstrances, the dean and chapter decided yesterday to uphold the doctor. i tried his voice last week, and he sang with full, rich tone up to the c above the stave, and that after he had been skating from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. i should have thought that a boy who could skate all day could not be in such a 'feeble' state as represented by the medical man. three months ago a boy with a beautiful voice was sent away for the same reason. so you see what uphill work it is for me." it is to be hoped that fastidiousness of this sort is not common. the _abuse_ of the voice may lead, of course, to serious results. in the _new york medical record_ of march 21, 1885, p. 317, there is a case recorded of the bursting of a blood vessel through too energetic singing, but this is altogether abnormal, and beyond the scope of our enquiry. the voice, properly used, will last as long as any other organ, and it benefits by exercise. mr. d. w. rootham of bristol, who now at middle age has a strong constitution and a fine baritone voice, tells me that as a boy at cambridge he sang for seven years at five services every sunday. the thing seems incredible, and it is an extreme case, though it shows what work the voice, properly managed, will do. singing, it should be remembered, promotes health. it does so indirectly by causing cheerfulness, a genial flow of spirits, and the soothing of the nerves. it does so directly by increasing the action of the lungs. so far as these organs are concerned, singing is a more energetic form of speech. as we sing we breathe deeply, bring more air into contact with the lungs, and thus vitalise and purify the blood, giving stimulus to the faculties of digestion and nutrition. a physiologist, in fact, can trace the effects of singing from the lungs into the blood, from the blood into the processes of nutrition, back again into the blood, into the nerves, and finally into the brain, which of all organs is most dependent upon healthful and well-oxygenated blood. dr. martin (organist of st. paul's cathedral) has had many years' experience in training choir-boys, and he tells me that he has never known a boy to injure his voice, or lose it through singing. it is a question of method; if the voice be used properly it will stand any amount of work. he has seen boys disposed to consumption improve in health after joining the choir. the medical man who declared that if there were more singing there would be less coughing, expressed in a graphic way the healthful influence of vocal practice. parents and guardians need never hesitate to allow their sons and charges to become choir-boys under proper choirmasters. they may be sure that nothing but good can come of the exercise. two cautions only are needed. the first is, not to sing during a cold. when a slight inflammation has attacked the larynx--that is, when a cold has been taken--the vocal cords are thickened, and the act of vocalisation causes them to rub together, which increases the inflammation. if the cold is a bad one--that is, if the inflammation is great--the singer will be compelled to rest, because the congestive swelling of the vocal cords will be so great that they will be unable to vibrate sufficiently to produce tone. but whether slight or great, the cold demands rest. otherwise permanent injury may be done to the voice. the second caution relates to the preservation, not of the boy's voice, but of the man's. there is no doubt that it is undesirable for a boy to continue to sing after his voice has shown signs of "breaking." what are the first signs of this change? choirmasters notice that the middle register becomes weak, without any diminution in the power and quality of the upper notes, but that at the same time the thick register grows stronger, and the boy can strike middle c with firmness. "the striking of middle c," says mr. g. bernard gilbert, "is usually sufficient to decide the point." the tradition of teachers is in favour of rest at this time, and a well-founded public impression counts for a good deal. the fact is that during the time of change not only do the vocal cords lengthen, but they are congested. an inflammatory action, like that which takes place during a cold, is set up. hence rest is desirable. nature herself also counsels rest because she reduces the musical value of the voice at this time to a low ebb. it becomes husky and of uncertain intonation. no doubt cases can be quoted of boys who have sung on uninterruptedly and developed into good tenors or basses, but there are cases equally strong in which the man's voice has completely failed after such a course. sir morell mackenzie is the only medical writer who has advocated singing during change of voice, but not even his authority can upset the weight of evidence on the other side. nevertheless, on the principle of "hear both sides" i quote the following from a letter by mr. e. h. saxton, choirmaster of st. james's church, at buxton:-"upon the question of resting completely from singing during the period of change of voice, i hold that one must be guided by the circumstances of each individual case. i carefully watch each boy when i am expecting the change to commence, and it usually shows itself by the upper thin register giving way. if i cannot immediately spare the boy from the treble part (and good leading boys are not plentiful), i caution him to leave high notes alone, never to force them, and as soon as possible i relegate him to the alto part, where he often remains useful to me for a year or eighteen months. all the time he is singing the alto part i keep watch over him, and forbid his singing as soon as there are indications that the effort is in the slightest degree painful. generally i find this prohibition to be only necessary for notes above [illustration: middle f] should a vacancy occur in the senior choir (if the boy shows signs of his voice developing to either tenor or bass) i get him passed from the junior to the senior choir, warning him, however, to be very careful of his high notes, and never to force them. my general experience leads me to the conclusion that it is a most arbitrary and unnecessary rule to lay down that every boy should rest at this time. in some cases it is necessary, no doubt, but my opinion is, after twenty years' practical experience, that in a large number of cases it is cruel, and about as much use with regard to the after-development of the voice as it would be to prohibit speaking. speaking practically--not scientifically--i hold that the vocal organ is beneficially exercised when singing is allowed in moderation, and within the restricted limits which every choirmaster ought to know how to apply. i have experienced boys who have never rested developing good voices, as well as those who have rested. but i have no experience of boys who have never rested developing bad voices, though i have of those who did rest. i have three boys in one family in my mind now, one of whom had a good alto, the other two good soprano voices. the alto and one soprano never rested, and developed respectively a good tenor and bass. the other rested (through removal to another town), and developed a very indifferent bass." in spite of this weighty and well-argued statement, my own opinion is that the preponderance of evidence is in favour of rest. it is certainly a new physiological doctrine for a short period of rest to injure or prevent the development of any organ. in short, i cannot see how there can be any disadvantage in a few months' rest, while from the other point of view there can be no musical advantage in the use of an unmusical instrument. as soon as the man's voice shows signs of settlement its practice should gently begin. [illustration: decoration] chapter ii. management of the breath. breathing in singing is a matter of the utmost importance. the breath is the motive power, the primary force, to which the larynx and the resonance chamber are but secondary. in speech we can manage with short breathing and half-filled lungs, but in sustaining the sounds of song, we need to breathe deeply, and to breathe in a right way. manifestly the act of breathing consists of two parts--(1) the drawing in, and (2) the letting out of the breath. when we speak of modes of breathing, however, we refer to the drawing in of the breath. there are three ways of doing this. first, by lowering the diaphragm, and thus compelling the lungs to enlarge and fill the vacant space created. second, by extending the ribs sideways, causing the lungs to expand laterally. third, by drawing up the collar-bone and shoulder blades, causing the upper part of the lungs to expand. the third method is bad; the ideal breathing is a combination of the first and second. upon this athletes as well as singers are agreed. this is the breathing which we practise unconsciously in sleep, or in taking a long sniff at a flower. the musical results of bad breathing are flattening and a hurrying of the time; hence the importance of the matter. practice may well begin with a few minutes devoted to breathing exercises. let the boys inhale a long breath through the nose; hold it for a time, and then slowly exhale. again let them slowly inhale, hold, and exhale quickly, allowing the sides of the chest to collapse. again, let them, while holding the breath, press it from the lower to the middle, and to the upper part of the chest, and _vice versa_. during this exercise the body should be in the position of "stand at ease." the spirometer, a useful but rather expensive little instrument, measures accurately lung capacity. these breathing exercises may be followed by practice in holding a single tone for a period just short of exhaustion. [illustration: decoration] chapter iii. the art of managing choir boys. to some choirmasters the management of their boys is a perfectly easy matter; to others it is a constant source of trouble. everything depends upon knack. max o'rell has some wise maxims on the subject which it may be well to quote. "face the boys," he says, "or you will be nowhere. always be lively. never show your temper: to let the boys see that they can ruffle you is to give them a victory. allow no chatting. never over-praise clever boys; never snub dull ones. never expect any thanks. if a boy laughs at a mistake made by another boy, ask him for the answer immediately, and he will be dumb. if you do not love boys, never become a choir [school] master." discipline is preserved by giving the boys seats in the same relative position at rehearsal and in church. there should be a double row of desks in the practice room, provided with a shelf for books, just as in the stalls. if the boys have to hold the books and music in their hands they stoop, and the singing suffers. each boy should have a copy of the music, and it should bear his number, so that he is personally responsible for its good keeping. punctuality at rehearsal is important. let the choirmaster call for order at the exact time, and let the roll be gone over at once. to be unpunctual, or not to register early attendance, is to encourage laxity. there is no doubt that the long services in many churches are trying to the choir boys. in some churches the morning service lasts two hours and a quarter. it is very hard even for an adult to keep his thoughts from wandering, and his eyes from glancing over the congregation during all this time. how much more hard is it, then, for a boy who is by nature a fidget, and if healthy, brimming over with activity? nevertheless boys can be trained, if not to control their thoughts, at least to an outward reverence and quietude in harmony with the service. reproof, if it is needed, is best administered in private. boys should be paid, if only a small sum; this gives the choirmaster a hold upon them, and enables him to impose fines, if necessary. payment can be increased for those who take tonic sol-fa or other sight-singing certificates, which of course increase their value as choristers. let it be noted that the voices will carry further if the boys hold up their heads. this caution is especially needed when they are singing in the kneeling posture. all that can be done to interest the boys in their work by encouraging the social feeling, will be to the advantage of the choir. their hearts are easily won. an excursion, an evening party once a year are great attractions. mr. h. b. roney, of chicago, advocates a choir guild, and in the choir-room he would have a library, games, puzzles, footballs, bats and balls, indian clubs, and dumb-bells. he would open and warm the choir-room an hour before each service and rehearsal. to some extent he would let the youngsters govern themselves, and says that the gravity with which they will appoint a judge, a jury, sheriff, prisoner, and witnesses to try a case of infraction of the choir rules, would bring a smile to the face of a graven image. prizes at christmas are part of his scheme; these should be awarded for such points as punctuality, progress in music, reverential demeanour, and general excellence. according to mr. sergison, organist of st. peter's, eaton square, london, the choirmaster will have power if he make himself beloved. he should enter into the boys' way of looking at things, and remember that they have deep feelings. the boys should be arranged in classes, each higher class having higher pay, with sundry little privileges. mr. sergison says that by putting the boys upon their honour, and treating them well, he has always maintained strict discipline, and has never yet had to resort to corporal punishment. the rev. e. husband, of folkestone, who is an enthusiastic choir-trainer, is strongly of opinion that for vocal purposes working-class boys are better than the sons of gentlemen. he finds that boys of a lower class have richer and fuller voices than those above them in the social scale. i was myself present, not long since, at a concert at eton college, and although i was greatly struck with the purity of the tone, its volume was thin and somewhat shallow. one reason why working-class boys excel, probably, is that plain food and outdoor life keep the body in the best condition, so that the children of the poor, so long as they are well-nourished, are healthier than the children of the rich. but the working-class boys have also this advantage, that they begin life at four years of age in an infant school, where they sing every day, and receive systematic tonic sol-fa teaching which is continued when they pass into the boys' department. boys who are trained under governesses and at private preparatory schools often learn no singing at all. it is to be hoped that the diffusion of musical knowledge will make these class-comparisons, from a musical point of view, unnecessary. the choir-boys of christ church, oxford, are all the sons of professional men, but then the choice is a wide one, as they come from all parts of the country. the precentor of a cathedral writes to me on an important branch of our subject. i sincerely hope that his picture is not one that is generally true:-"my own experience would suggest that in connection with the training of cathedral choristers the attention of cathedral organists might be very advantageously drawn to the very great importance of efficiency in the art of teaching--of imparting knowledge. the instruction given may be as good as could well be desired, but the manner of imparting it just as bad--such as would be condemned in any well-conducted public elementary school. uncontrolled temper, the cane, boxing of the ears, are matters which go far to prove a teacher very seriously incompetent as a teacher. a cathedral organist is specially exposed to the temptation to hastiness and harshness, owing to the power he possesses. a parent values the position of a chorister for his son, and the organist is tempted soon to take advantage of the parent's unwillingness to withdraw his son. in a parish choir, either voluntary or paid at a very low rate, the exhibition of bad temper or discourtesy in manner is quickly followed, in all probability, by the loss of the offended chorister. offensive manners on the part of the trainer quickly endanger the existence of the choir. not so in cathedrals, and the cathedral organist knows this. 'i cannot think why that boy does not sing in tune; i have boxed his ears;' said a cathedral organist once to me quite seriously. this proves, i think, how blind even a highly-trained musician may be to the need for any art in the mode of imparting instruction. i fear there is a vulgar notion (only half defined, most probably) that irascibility in the musical trainer is a mark of genius. i write from experience, having been upwards of a quarter of a century in cathedrals, and a considerable portion of that time precentor." in conclusion, the custom of throwing a halo of sentiment round choir-boys, and petting them, is much to be deprecated. it has become the custom to write tales and songs about them, in which they are made out to be little angels in disguise. all this is very foolish and harmful. choir-boys, as a rule, are no better and no worse than other boys. they respond well to wise treatment, but need to be governed by common sense, and to be taught their places. i am myself somewhat to blame for illustrating this book with two pictures of choir boys. it is really inconsistent. chapter iv. voice training. { c2 { b1 small { a1 { g1 {f1 upper thin. {e1 { {d1 {c1 lower thin. {b {a {g { {f upper thick. {e {d { c lower thick. { b_1 { a_1 { g_1 before commencing to train a voice the choirmaster must make sure that it is a voice worth training. he must take the boy alone, test his voice by singing scales, and try especially his notes in the treble compass, say, [illustration: musical notation] he must test his ear by playing phrases, and asking the boy to sing them. he must enquire into his theoretical knowledge, if any, and ask if he has had a tonic sol-fa or any other systematic training. the ear of the choirmaster must decide upon the voice. it is said by some that boys' voices partake of one or other of two qualities, the flute quality or the oboe quality. they differ, no doubt, in _timbre_, but these two divisions are not clearly marked. the diagram at the side gives the compass of the registers in boy trebles and altos. the names are those invented by the late john curwen, and have the advantage of describing the physiological action that goes on. thus in the thick register, the vocal cords vibrate in their whole thickness; in the thin register their thin edges alone vibrate; and in the small register a small aperture only is made, through which the sound comes. the registers are practically the same as those of women's voices. they may be shown on the staff, thus:-[illustration: lower thick. upper thick. lower thin. upper thin. small. chest. middle. falsetto.] i give below the staff another set of names which are sometimes used, but different voice-trainers attach to these different meanings. it is undesirable to tell the boys anything about the registers. the spirit of voice-training at the present time is too analytical. the theory of the registers is for the teacher, not for the pupil. some voice-trainers seem to think that it is their business to discover the registers, but as far as tone goes it is their business to conceal them. trainers work better through possessing physiological knowledge, but the end is a smooth and homogeneous voice, blended and well-built. roughly speaking, the boys to be rejected are those who through carelessness, excitement, or confirmed habit, force up the thick register while singing. and those to be accepted are the boys who have sufficient reserve and care to turn into the fluty tone at the proper place, whether the music be loud or soft, and whatever be the shape of the melodic passage. the right use of the voice is most likely to come from boys who, whatever their social status, are well brought up, and have been taught to avoid screaming, coarse laughing and bawling, and if possible to speak in a clear way. voice studies are of two kinds. first come those which promote the building and setting of the voice. these are generally sung slowly. when the voice is becoming settled exercises for agility may be introduced. of agility exercises most voice-training books contain plenty. there is a good selection in mr. sinclair dunn's "the solo singer's vade mecum" (j. curwen & sons, price 1s.) and sir john stainer has written a set, printed on a card, which is published by mowbray, oxford and london, price 6d. when the system of probationers is at work the voice-building exercises will not be much needed. the little boys will insensibly fall into right habits. they will learn to produce tone as they learnt to speak--by ear. but when a new choir has to be formed, the building exercises are necessary. and the first object of these is to make the boy feel the thin register and strengthen it by use. for this purpose such phrases as these, which leap into the thin register, and quit it by step are the best:-[illustration: key =e=[b]. d1 t l s d1 t l s m1 r1 d1 t d1] [illustration: key =g=. s f m r f m r d l s f s m] these exercises should be sung to several vowels, but especially to the sound "koo," which will at first immensely amuse the boys, but will afterwards be found to throw the tone forward towards the teeth in a way that no other sound does. pure vowel tone goes with pure and resonant voice. the broad and pure vowels of the yorkshire dialect have, more than anything else, produced the yorkshire voices. hence the choirmaster must make a determined effort to cure provincialisms in so far as they prevent the issue of pure vowel sounds from the mouth. the vowels should be sung in their vocal order as recommended by mr. behnke, oo (as in _you_), o (as in _owe_), ah (as in _shah_), a (as _pay_), and ee (as in _see_). these may be taken to slow scales, thus:-[illustration: oo-o-ah-a-ee oo-o-ah-a-ee, &c.] let the choirmaster watch carefully for impure sounds, and call upon each boy to sing two measures by himself from time to time. in singing the boy should stand upright and free. he must not lean or bend his body. the mouth must be fairly opened, but not too wide. as the voice ascends the mouth opens wider. the lips must lie lightly on the teeth, and the tongue should lie at rest, just touching the front teeth. if, for the sake of change during a long rehearsal, the boys sit, let it be remembered that there are many ways of sitting, and that the upright posture hinders the breath less than lolling and a crooked posture. rigidity is the enemy of all good singing. let the whole body and vocal apparatus be relaxed, and pure tone will result. "if i hear a boy forcing up his voice," said herr eglinger, of basel, to me, "i ask the rest of the class to point him out, and they do it at once." this at once cures the transgressor and sharpens the consciences of the other boys. as to the vowel on which singers should be trained, there are differences of opinion. maurice strakosch, the trainer of patti, nilsson, &c., used "ha," which causes a slight breath to precede the articulation. this, he said, gives the voice a natural start. it is something like the "koo" of mrs. seiler. learners he required to lower their heads while singing, and to show the upper teeth, so as to keep the lips out of the way of the tone. mr. barnicott, a successful choirmaster at taunton, uses "ka." but as in the actual singing of the english language all the vowels are encountered in turn, it would seem reasonable that they should all be included in the practice. mr. walter brooks, quoted elsewhere, lays stress upon long-sustained notes in the scale of e flat, and up to g. these expand the lower part of the lungs, and produce steady, firm tone. they should be sung both loud and soft, the boys one by one and together. an admirable plan is to keep boys on the alert listening for faults, asking those not singing, "whose fault is that?" jealousy and conceit, says mr. brooks, are avoided by giving a solo to three or four boys to sing in unison. three or four will blend better than two, and after proper rehearsal the tone is so like one voice that people say, "what a beautiful voice that boy has!" as to balance of parts, the following table is given by mr. h. b. roney of chicago:- sopranos 12 17 25 37 50 altos 4 5 7 11 14 tenors 4 5 8 11 14 basses 5 8 10 16 22 - - - - - 25 35 50 75 100 mr. stocks hammond says that during voice exercise the boys should stand perfectly erect, with mouth well open, the shoulders being thrown back. after exercise in slowly inhaling and exhaling the breath, comes the uniting of the registers. this is accomplished by singing up and down the scales of c, d, and e to the syllable "ah." each tone is taken with decision, and is followed by a slight pause. the same scales are afterwards sung to "oh" and "oo." this exercise should not last longer that ten or fifteen minutes. staccato scales to "ah!" "oh!" and chromatic passages are introduced later. mr. g. bernard gilbert, f.c.o., of west ham parish church, is an exceptionally skilled trainer of boys' voices. he meets his boys half-an-hour before each of the sunday services and "tunes them up," an admirable plan, which cannot be too widely imitated. the first thing he does in training boys is to teach them to attack and leave sounds with precision, neatness, and proper register or quality of voice. he gives chief attention to the sounds between [illustration: here the author expresses a range from the f above middle-c (or f4) to the c above middle-c (c5) by inserting a staff] and first practises them. if beauty of tone is to be obtained, it is of the utmost importance that these sounds should be given in the thin register. mr. gilbert has cultivated this register in his own voice, and is able to give the boys a pattern in the right octave, which he thinks of great use. the change from upper thick to lower thin takes place between e and f. the boys should intone in the thin register. flattening while intoning is almost entirely due to boys using the thick register. mr. gilbert uses the vowels as arranged by mr. behnke, oo-o-ah-ai-ee, practised first with a slight breath between each, afterwards all in one breath, _piano_ and _staccato_. consonants preceding these vowels are of little value, as they only disguise a wrong action of the glottis, without removing the fault. he uses also sustained sounds, and short major or minor arpeggi, and last of all scale passages. if due attention be given to the intonation of the arpeggio, the scale should not be, as it too often is, all out of tune. the arpeggio is its skeleton or framework. mr. gilbert alternates this work with the singing of intervals and the practice of time rhythms. he attaches great value to the vowel "e" in practising sustained notes, scales or arpeggi, though other vowels must receive due attention. "e" has the advantage of bringing the vocal cords very close to together, thereby effecting a greater economy of the breath than is possible with the other vowels. he has constantly succeeded in making boys produce a pure and beautiful tone to this vowel, especially in that part of the voice called the upper thin, when he could not do so with the others. of course "e" can be sung badly, and boys will sometimes make a nasal squeak of it, but the correct placing of the tone is quickly learnt if the teeth are kept nicely apart. mr. gilbert teaches the boys when very young the mechanism which governs their voices above [illustration: high f] this is the "small" register. he is careful also about pronunciation, recommends that boys should be paid, and that bad behaviour, laziness, or irregularity, if they occur, should be punished by fines. one of the most marked excellences of mr. gilbert's choir is its chanting, and the elocutional phrasing of the words of the hymns. the rigidity of the time is often broken with impressive effect in order, by an elocutional pause, to throw into relief a prominent word or idea. * * * * * mr. t. h. collinson, mus.b., organist of st. mary's cathedral, edinburgh, has given me some interesting particulars of the training which his excellent boys undergo. the process of selection is as follows:--(1) advertisement. (2) trial of voice, and entry of particulars of school, school standard, father's occupation, &c. (3) choice of most promising voices. (4) inspection of homes, as to overcrowding, &c. (5) appointment of probationers. (6) full appointment, with religious service of admission by the dean. the parents engage in writing to retain the child in the choir school until his voice changes, or to the average age of fourteen. the boys are taken at all ages from 9 to 12-1/2. "cultivation of tone, blending of registers, and accuracy of pitch are specially studied, the principal means being as follows:--(1) mouth-opening (silently). (2) breathing exercise. (3) sustained notes _piano_, each to full length of breath. (4) _piano_ scales. (5) simple flexibility exercises, _e.g._, sir j. stainer's card of exercises, published by mowbray. (6) _crescendo_ and _diminuendo_. (7) behnke's resonance vowels, oo-o-ah. (8) behnke's glottis-stroke exercises, oo-o-ah-ai-ee. (9) no accompaniment, except a single note on the pianoforte every three or four bars to test pitch. where badly flat, a scolding, and going back to try over again. (10) at early morning practice no _forte_ singing is allowed, as a rule. "by the above means, especially sustained notes and _piano_ scales, flatness is easily avoided, and the registers blend perfectly. a curious local peculiarity has to be specially treated in the junior boys. the scottish 'u' as in 'gude' (good), 'puir' (poor), 'nã¼' (new), is identical with the french 'u' in 'tu' or 'hugo,' and the little fellows sing an amusing exercise like the following:- you should do two, on every note of the scale, with special care to protrude the lips to a round whistling shape for the 'oo.' very oddly they sing a good 'oo' in the falsetto register, and a certain solo boy used to sing handel's 'how beautiful are the feet' in its first two phrases in alternate scotch and english, the vinegary 'ã¼' in the first (low) phrase, and a fine round 'oo' in the higher phrase, where 'beautiful' begins on e flat. "raw candidates and ill-taught children generally come minus any register at all above [illustration: high d] and grin with surprise on being taught to produce sweet upper notes by open-mouth _piano_ 'ah.' "colds and petty hoarseness, interfering with the upper notes, are terribly common in this climate in the class of boys obtained for the choir. a successful soloist at friday rehearsal may be found incompetent by sunday, so that all solo work is carefully understudied. a few minutes each day suffice for the purely technical voice exercises. the services are many in number; three on sunday, two on week-days, and occasional extra services at special seasons. the number of boys is kept up to say 30, and they are worked in divisions to minimise their duties. the boys are educated free, and seniors receive payment. 'i think that boys' voices are much like unto boys' legs--they need daily exercise if they are to be worth anything.'" * * * * * mr. r. h. saxton, of buxton, writes:--"my choir boys are almost exclusively drawn from the working class, and the majority of them use the thick register for the speaking voice. i take them at nine years of age, sometimes younger if they can read fairly well, and my first effort is to suppress the thick register altogether in singing. if they were encouraged to use it they would most certainly abuse it by carrying it far beyond its proper range. soft singing is the only effective plan i know of for removing the tendency to use the thick register. this i insist on in modulator voluntaries and time exercises. the time exercises are always laa'd on or above [illustration: middle a]. in modulator work i at first avoid beginning in the lower keys where the thick register would naturally be used. by thus constantly cultivating the thin register, never allowing faulty intonation to pass unnoticed, and always checking the natural tendency of boys to sing coarsely; together with a free use of ear exercises, in which they are taught to recognise tones by their mental effect, i succeed at last in getting fairly good tone. it is, however, a work of time and difficulty, on account of the daily surroundings of the boys, and the habitually coarse way in which they are allowed to sing in school. to avoid flattening, i believe the course i have indicated to be the best remedy, as eye, ear, and voice are cultivated simultaneously. "in training the thin register special care must be taken that the upper thin is brought out at [illustration: high d] and it is often better that the c also should be taken in the upper thin. a strained lower thin on c sharp or d will be sure to induce flattening, while if the upper thin is properly used there is no difficulty whatever in using the high d and e within reasonable limits as the reciting note in chanting. when the music moves about stepwise in close proximity above and below the breaks, we have another cause of flattening. as most of our country choirs consist at the best of but partly-trained voices, composers and choirmasters should bear this in mind. it must not be supposed that boys are the sole cause of flattening. far from it, they are too often the victims of an untuneful tenor or bass. "from the first moment a boy comes under my care he is encouraged to take the tonic sol-fa certificates, and few leave the choir without having passed the intermediate. i am of course now speaking of those boys who remain with us till they are no longer of use as boys." * * * * * i append an extract from a letter by mr. j. c. e. taylor, master of the boys' national school at penzance, and choirmaster of st. mary's church, which is interesting as showing the extent to which singing by ear can be carried:-"the children here, as in most cornish towns, are fond of music, and have a quick ear. i pick my boys from a school of nearly 400. i choose them by the way they _read_ in school. they are generally of standard v., and between ten and eleven years of age. if younger the psalms puzzle them. i try a new boy's voice at the choir practice. if he has a sweet tone, and can reach f sharp, however faintly, i accept him, and keep him on probation at the practices. about half-a-dozen are so kept, and the best lad fills any vacancy occurring in the choir. i have no trouble as regards discipline, as a fine, or the knowledge that their places can be instantly filled by the probationers, keeps the choristers well in their places. at the choir practices i begin with running up and down the scales with their voices together, beginning soft, and allowing the voices to increase as the scales ascend, and diminish on descending, but holding on to the top-most notes whilst i play a chord or two on it. then with a nod of my head they descend. at times one note is given them on which to _cres._ and _dim._, for breathing exercise. not one lad knows his notes except as to their rise and fall and values. they depend on their ear entirely, even in the most difficult fugues." at this church anthems and settings of the canticles are sung every sunday evening. the men are voluntary; the head boys get from 30s. to 40s. a year, the solo boys receiving 3d. or 6d. as an encouragement after rendering a solo or verse part. * * * * * in spite of all that can be written on the subject of voice-training, the art is one most difficult to communicate. some teachers succeed; others fail. a remarkable instance of this came under my notice lately. the headmaster of a school asked me to pay his boys a visit in order, if possible, to discover the reason of the great falling-off in their singing. his previous singing-teacher had brought the boys to a high pitch of excellence. when he left, the singing was placed under the charge of an undermaster, who had for a year or more heard all the singing lessons given by his predecessor, who used the same voice exercises with the same boys in the same room. surely, one would have thought the results must be the same. but the singing had deteriorated; flattening, and a lifeless manner had overcome the boys. the causes, so far as i could discover, were first that the new teacher wanted the magnetic, enthusiastic way of the old, and second, that he had not so quick an ear for change of register, and allowed the lower mechanism of the voice to be forced up higher than its proper limits. * * * * * this chapter focuses a large amount of valuable experience, but amid the many hints which are given, two ways of securing right tone stand out with marked prominence. they are, soft singing, and the downward practice of scales. [illustration: decoration] chapter v. information on voice-training, collected by the salisbury diocesan choral association. i am indebted to the rev. w. miles barnes, rector of monkton, dorchester, for the following information, recently obtained by him on the subject of voice-training. it appears that for the information of choir instructors (some 200 in number) in union with the salisbury diocesan choral association, the advice of precentors and organists of cathedrals was lately sought as to the best way of correcting a very common fault in the singing of country choirs. the following questions were proposed: "(i.) it is a common practice in country choirs for boys and tenors to force the lower register to sing notes which should be taken in the higher or head register. the notes thus forced are harsh and unmusical in tone, and generally flat in pitch. how would you correct this fault in boys?" "(ii.) what method is employed in ---cathedral for developing and strengthening the higher (head) register in boys' voices?" the following are extracts from the replies:- rev. f. j. helmore, precentor of canterbury. i should recommend the practice of the first five notes of the scales of a, b[b], b, and c, _piano_, taken rather slowly, and then of intervals from g to d, g to e[b], g to e, a to e, &c. &c. after that i would try them with the complete scales of e, f, f[#], and g, fast and _forte_, thus:-[illustration: musical notation] if no improvement is perceptible, begin again. practice is the main thing, after a boy has got to understand his faults. rev. w. mann, m.a., precentor of bristol. (1.) i think it almost impossible to remedy the evil you complain of after the boys have been accustomed to sing upper notes from the chest for some time--say one or two years. our practice here is to secure boys between the ages of 9 and 11, before they have been singing elsewhere, or certainly before they have acquired any faulty tricks of forcing the voice. (2.) in training boys' voices never allow them to shout. if they commence singing when young they may be taught by scale practice (always singing quietly) to bridge over the break which exists between the chest and head voice. this is an art, and requires experience. (3.) speaking generally, i should say that judicious scale practice is the remedy likely to be of most service in the case specified, teaching boys, by singing quietly, to glide the chest voice into the upper register. i recommend the syllable "la" as generally best for the purpose all through the scale. boys should keep their tongues down, open mouths well, sing not through teeth, &c. &c. i find that boys acquire the cathedral style of singing (with the well-known flute or bell-like tone) chiefly by example. in singing with boys who have already acquired it the younger ones catch the style, just as birds are taught to sing by trained songsters. the untrained rustic can never naturally produce this tone, but much may be done by (1) careful scale practice; (2) strict enforcement of a quiet easy style, and rigid prohibition of shouting, or forcing the voice; (3) the occasional example of trained singers. rev. c. hylton stewart, precentor of chester. the great thing is not to train boys _up_ through break in the voice, but _down_ through it, and so to coach them that the break becomes imperceptible. the top notes ought to be practised very softly until a good round note is procured. this, however, can seldom be done out of a cathedral, as it requires constant attention. rev. w. e. dickson, precentor of ely. in this cathedral, and i suppose in every other, the boys have at least one hour of daily practice under the most favourable circumstances of quiet music-room and good pianoforte, and an able teacher. the two orderly services follow with the regularity of a clock, and in these the voices of the boys are balanced and supported by those of adult singers--presumably, good vocalists. i think you will agree that no practical rules, available by instructors of village choirs, can be founded upon arrangements so far beyond their reach. to describe any "method" of developing voices under such circumstances would be quite delusive. a life-long experience in the training of parish choirs would lead me to say that the best approach to true voice production is made when a lady takes charge of the choir, and has the boys to practise at her own house. to say that all instructors should use unwearied diligence and unfailing patience and kindness in the attempt to get soft singing, is only to repeat a very trite remark. in schools, the mistake is often made of singing almost all the exercises in the key of c, and commencing all scales with the syllable "do." in trying candidates for admission to the choir, we constantly find that they have been accustomed to a scale of 13 notes only (one octave) up and down. the scales should begin on all or any of the notes--d[#], b[symbol: natural], g[b], &c., and the peculiarities of the intervals should be familiarly explained. a pamphlet might be written. but there is no "royal road." j. m. w. young, esq., organist of lincoln. the precentor has forwarded your note to me. in answer to your question asking how to prevent the trebles in country choirs from forcing the upper notes, i would suggest that when practising the choir, care should be taken that the trebles are never allowed to sing even the _middle_ notes _loud_, only _mf_, and they should be frequently practised to sing _piano_. if this be attended to, it will, in a great measure, prevent the forcing of the voice on the higher notes, which should never be practised otherwise than softly. country choirs nearly always sing twice as loud as they ought to do, consequently the tone becomes harsh and grating, and they invariably sing the upper notes out of tune. i never allow the cathedral choristers to practise in a loud tone of voice, yet their voices are rich and mellow, and there is never any want of power when it is required. any tendency to force the voice is checked at once. it will be found very useful to practise the trebles with the diatonic scale at a moderately quick pace, taking care to sing it _smoothly_ and _piano throughout_, first to "oo," next to "oh," and finally to "ah." [illustration: decoration] chapter vi. pronunciation in singing. it is impossible to emphasise too strongly the importance of clear pronunciation in singing. the english, as a rule, pronounce indistinctly. "we carry on our talk," says mr. h. deacon, "in mere _smudges_ of sound," a graphic and true way of putting things. the scotch, welsh, and americans pronounce better than we do. indistinctness and bad dialect arise, roughly speaking, from two sources--impure vowels and omitted consonants. the impure vowels are generally due to local habits of speech, such as the london dialect, which makes a colourless mixture of all the vowels. in some parts of scotland also the vowels are very impure. the voice-training exercises given elsewhere are several of them directed towards the production of good vowel tone, but the danger is lest the power gained in these should not be applied to the actual words encountered in psalm, canticle, anthem, or hymn. a sentence containing all the vowels may be chanted repeatedly on a monotone, but after all the best exercise consists in constant watchfulness against mispronunciation in the ordinary weekly practice. man, according to mr. r. g. white, may be defined as a consonant-using animal. he alone of all animals uses consonants. the cries of animals and of infants are inarticulate. so is the speech of a drunken man, who descends, vocally as well as in other ways, to the level of the beasts. this idea has been expressed in another way, by saying that vowels express the emotional side of speech, and consonants its intellectual side. all these distinctions point to the great importance of a clear enunciation of initial and final consonants, and a clear separation of words. a well-known bishop said to a candidate for ordination, "before uttering a second word be sure that you have yourself heard the first." it is of no use to give a list of common errors, because each part of the country has its own bad points of dialect. the choirmaster should take his standard of english from the best preacher and reader he has the chance to hear, and endeavour to conform his boys to it. but localisms are not the only faults. boys are very apt to clip their words in chanting, to omit the smaller parts of speech altogether, and to invent new and meaningless sounds of their own. the most familiar parts of the service need frequent and watchful rehearsal to prevent this tendency. chanting, as a rule, is much too fast, and the eagerness of the boys must be restrained in this direction. in those rare cases where pronunciation and elocutional phrasing reach a high pitch of excellence, the music of the service makes a double appeal to the heart. it bears not only the charm of sweet sounds, but the eloquence of noble words. [illustration: decoration] chapter vii. singing by ear and by note. many choirmasters maintain that, considering the short musical life of the choir-boy, it is not worth while to teach him to sing by note. the quickness of boys' ears for music, they say, is astonishing, while their memories are equally good. between the two faculties--ear and memory--we are told that all things necessary are supplied. the boys, it is said, don't like theory, and it saves time and patience not to have to teach it to them. i am altogether at issue with this view. i believe theory can be made interesting to boys, especially if the tonic sol-fa system is used, and that if they are taught sight-singing the choirmaster saves himself a vast amount of trouble. the after musical doings of the boys should also be considered, and whether they become tenors and basses, or take to an instrument, the power to read music will be a happiness through their whole lives. the leading anthems, services, and psalters are now published in the tonic sol-fa notation, so that boys who have learnt to sing from the letters at school may quickly be put to sing their parts in the church choir. the late alfred stone, of bristol, who used the tonic sol-fa notation for his choir boys, found it a great time-saver. so quickly was the service music got through at the weekly practice that there was nearly an hour to spare for singing glees and getting up cantatas. mr. stone arranged his boys in two grades. the upper grade all held a tonic sol-fa certificate, and they received higher pay than the lower grade. the result of this arrangement was that the lower boys got the upper ones to teach them tonic sol-fa in their playtime, and thus saved the choirmaster a great deal of trouble. a serious disadvantage of the ordinary way of learning to sing from the staff notation is that practice usually begins in, and is for several months confined to key c. for boys' voices this is the most trying of all the keys--the one most likely to lead to bad habits in the use of the registers. the keys for boys to begin in are g and f, where you can get a cadence upon the tonic in the thin register. a german choirmaster, whose choir is greatly celebrated, has sent me a little book of exercises which he uses, and i find that, as in most english publications of a similar kind, there are pages of exercises in key c, before any other key is attempted. in tonic sol-fa all keys are equally available from the first. i have had a wide experience of boys taught on all systems, both in this country and abroad. i have been present, by the courtesy of choirmasters, at rehearsals in all parts of the country. and i have noticed that boys taught by ear, or taught the staff notation by the fixed _do_, make mistakes which boys trained by tonic sol-fa and singing from it, or applying their knowledge of it to the staff notation, could not make. the class of mistake i refer to is that which confuses the place of the semitones in the scale. a sight-singing manual which i picked up the other day says that the whole matter of singing at sight lies in knowing where the semitones come. and from one point of view this is true, but to the tonic sol-faist the semitones always come in the same places, _i.e_., between _me_ and _fah_, and between _te_ and _doh_. he has only one scale to learn, and as to modulation, that is accomplished for him by his notation, while the time marks, separating and defining the beats or pulses of the music, make rhythm vividly clear. if choirmasters wish to save themselves trouble, and get confident attack and good intonation from their boys, they should teach them the tonic sol-fa notation, and let them sing from it always. the staff notation they can easily learn later on. chapter viii. flattening, and singing out of tune. the trainer of adult voices has constantly before him the problem of making his pupils sing in tune. with boys this matter is less of a trouble, for this reason. many adults have fine voices which, if their intonation can be improved, will do great things. others have incurably bad voices, but possessing the ambition and the means for studying singing, they come under the hands of the professor. in the case of boys, however, there is a preliminary process of selection by which the teacher rejects at the outset any defective ears and voices. the trainer of boys chooses his pupils; adult students of singing, as a rule, choose their teacher. even, however, when a good set of boys has been chosen and trained, every choirmaster is troubled from time to time by the evils which i have named at the head of this paper. what are their causes? probably no cause is so fruitful as a misuse of the registers of the voice, a straining upwards of the lower register beyond its proper limits. this may be placed in the front as a perpetual cause of bad intonation and loss of pitch. this straining is usually accompanied with loud singing, but boys who have formed this bad habit will not at once sustain the pitch if told to sing softly. their voices, under these circumstances, will at first prove weak and husky, and will flatten as much with soft singing as they did with loud. a slow process of voice training can alone set them right. but as boys' voices last so short a time this treatment is not worth the trouble. boys who have fallen into thoroughly bad habits should therefore be dismissed, and a fresh selection made. some choirmasters imagine that practice with the organ or the pianoforte will cure flattening and uncertainty. this, however, is not the case. probably the effort to keep up the pitch which singers make when unaccompanied keeps their minds and throats tense and active, while the consciousness that the instrument is supporting them makes them careless. an instrument reveals loss of pitch, but does not cure it. no good choirmaster rehearses with the organ. a pianoforte, lightly touched, is commonly used, but the teacher should frequently leave his seat, and accustom the choir to go on alone. it is a mistake to suppose that boys flatten because the music is too high. this is very rarely the case. they are more likely to flatten because it is too low. boys attack high notes with greater ease than women. nervousness will cause a singer who has sung in perfect tune at home to sing sharp or flat at a concert. but nervousness does not greatly trouble boys. carelessness will sometimes cause these troubles. the way to cure this is to increase the interest of the rehearsal, to make the boys feel bright, happy, and comfortable. to mark the breathing places is a good way of preventing flattening, which is often caused by exhausted lungs. singing is a mental as well as a physical act, and unless the boy has a clear conception in his mind of the sound of the note he wants, the intonation will be uncertain. here comes in the tonic sol-fa system with its "mental effects," which give a recognisable character to each note of the scale, and guide the voice and ear. bad voice production, throaty and rigid, must always go with flattening and wavering pitch. the act of singing should be without effort; the muscles of head, neck, and throat should be relaxed. a boy inclined to these faults should be told to smile while singing. the tone will then become natural. but in spite of all these hints, flattening occurs from time to time in the best trained choirs, and seems to defy the skill of the choirmaster. all agree that a half empty church, a cold church, an ill-ventilated church promotes flattening, and it may be added that certain chants and tunes so hover about the region of the break that they invite false intonation. mr. h. a. donald, headmaster of the upton cross board school, tells me that he has not much flattening, but that when it comes it seems to be beyond control. the discipline of his school is excellent, but on a given day there will come, as it were, a mood over the boys which makes it impossible for them, try as they will, to avoid sinking. sometimes, but not always, this will happen in warm weather. he has more than once abandoned the singing lesson, and taken up some other study because of it. one day recently the boys were most attentive, and their vexation and disappointment with the flattening was evident. another day it does not trouble them in the least. this is a school where voice-training is exceptionally well looked after. several correspondents have favoured me with experience on this point, and i now proceed to quote their letters. mr. w. w. pearson, of elmham, writes:-"ordinary flat singing is the result of want of practice and experience. chronic flat singing is incurable, as it is due to a defective ear. a new lot of choir boys will be liable to sing flat, and to lower their pitch at any time for the first year or so; but after they have been in training for a considerable time, i never find that there is any inclination to sing flat. the notes most liable to be sung flat are the third and sixth of the scale, or any high note that requires courage and increased effort. one of these, having been sung flat, is taken by the singers as a new departure, and being used as a standard, the pitch is lowered, and all succeeding notes are flat. "when i first formed my present choir i was very much plagued with flat singing, but i am seldom troubled in that way now, and i think the reason is that a large proportion of the members have been under training for a long time. "i used to find flattening prevail more in muggy, damp, or cold weather, and in heated rooms. i never allowed the choir to go on in this way, but stopped them at once, making them begin again after singing the scale of the key a few times. this, of course, refers to practice. in church i used to play the organ louder when i heard the pitch going down; or i would put on a powerful solo stop for the melody, and slightly prolong the final note of a cadence, in order that when the choir ceased singing they might hear the difference. when flattening occurred in the concert room i used to stop the accompaniment, which is, i think, about all that can be done under those circumstances. when the choir have been hopelessly bad in a hot practice room i have cured them by bringing them out into a cold room adjoining." mr. c. hibberd, of bemerton, salisbury, writes:-"to prevent flattening i give great attention to the posture, seeing that the boys do not stand carelessly. a careless posture, i think, betokens a careless mind. i am careful not to overtire the children. they sit immediately one piece is finished, and stand immediately i sound the first chord of the next piece. i always start the practice with a few simple voice exercises. when training the choir of a place far away in the country, i spent more time than usual in giving ear exercises (dictation), as well as voice-training exercises. i pay great attention to 'mental effect,' and endeavour to let each boy or girl have a tonic sol-fa copy of the music. the syllables recall the mental effect to the mind. there should be no uncertainty as to either time or tune, and both words and notes should be attacked or struck with confidence. i always practise scales downwards, and have as little to do with the harmonium as possible at practice. boy altos i rarely come across. i tried them once, but found they aided in flattening. we have two men altos here, who sing in a falsetto voice. the boys here have a name for singing well in tune, and they are very willing to do anything to keep up their character." mr. walter brooks, in a paper in the _monthly musical record_, expresses the opinion that the 3rd and 7th of the major scale are often sung flat. to cure this, each boy must tune up separately, then all should be tried together. minor passages are often sung flat. loss of pitch during service may, he says, be remedied, not by loud organ stops, but by playing the boys' part an octave higher. sharp singing, which often arises from naturally defective or badly-trained ears, is cured best by checking those who can only sing loudly, and by insisting on _piano_ singing. to put on more organ power makes the loud sharp singing worse. herr eglinger, of basel, whose qualifications i have referred to elsewhere, considers that flattening is generally due to fatigue. the membranes which produce the voice are not yet strong, and they relax, producing flattening. he works on the principle that children are quickly tired, and quickly rested, and gives the singing in small doses. unfortunately, in church work the length of the dose is not a matter of choice. he notices, what others have noticed, that when the voices are divided into three parts, it is the middle part that flattens most; this is because it plays about the break. to choirmasters whose boys flatten, herr eglinger says:-"give rest; require a proper use of the registers; get sharp and exact pronunciation, especially of the consonants; and keep up with a strong hand the attention and interest of the choir." i close this chapter by printing a short paper on the subject kindly written for me by mr. w. h. richardson, formerly trainer of the celebrated swanley orphans' choir, which gave concerts in all parts of the country. mr. richardson, while he was at swanley, obtained results of the most remarkable excellence. at swanley there was no selection of voices: all were made to sing, and all were individually trained, as well as collectively. "my conviction," says mr. richardson, "is that there are no more defective voices than there are eyes and ears." the rev. w. j. weekes, late precentor of rochester cathedral, said of the swanley boys:-"the smaller boys were first tested--some thirty or forty little fellows, some of them new arrivals. here the tone, though of course not strong, was pure and sweet, such as would have done credit to cathedral boys after a couple of years' training, and they 'jumped' their intervals most clearly, lighting as full and fairly on the correct note as a bird does on a bough. thence we moved into the larger schoolroom, where were assembled some hundred older boys, and such a body of sound, so full and pure, so free from throatiness, and so true in intonation as these hundred throats emitted, i certainly never heard from boys' voices before." in 1885 i took the late signor roberti, teacher of singing in the normal college at turin, and an italian composer of eminence, to hear the swanley boys, and he afterwards wrote to mr. richardson:-"i do not exaggerate in any way by saying that i found there a true perfection in tune and in rhythm, but above all, in what concerns the pure and correct emission of voices, the careful and judicious training of which confers much honour upon you, and i would be happy to see it even partly imitated by the teachers of the so-called land of song." these facts are enough to prove the weight that attaches to mr. richardson's utterances:-"my experience has been that flattening will give the teacher very little trouble after the pupils have been drilled with voice-training exercises, but until the voices are built and strengthened, he will have unpleasant surprises of all kinds. if he would have a reliable choir he must begin, continue, and end with regular voice training based on an undeniably good system. from the very outset the pupil should be taught to fear flat singing as a demon. with my boys i was for ever laying down the self-evident truth, 'people can endure your singing if it be tuneful, even though all other points of excellence are low, but no one can put up with your singing out of tune, except as martyrs.' the cause of flattening is always lack of culture. in the choirs i have trained it has ceased to trouble me after a few months. the habit of letting the pitch drop fosters itself in a remarkable manner, until at last the ear of the performer is perfectly satisfied with the production of a monstrosity. in proof of this i would mention a case which has come painfully under my own notice. a number of boys known to me have been in the daily habit of singing the tune:-[illustration: key e[b].:d | m:f:r | d:-:m | s:-:l | s:-:s | d1:-:t | l:-s | &c.] and as they have only had a 'go as you please system' to hold them in, they now commence flattening at once with a _crescendo_ which culminates in the second line, and creates the effect:-[illustration::d | m:f:r |d:-:m |s:-:l | s:-:s | 1d1:-:t |l:-:s|| &c.] the original quite gone, they quite satisfied! the cause of continued flat singing is allowing the _bad habit_. i am not, of course, dealing with exceptional cases of natural inaptitude. these are rare, and i say this after having had some years of experience in testing individual voices. i could now with very little difficulty name the few pupils i had at swanley who were naturally unable to sing tunefully, and i doubt not that nearly all my old scholars could do the same. they were in reality exceptions, numbering, during the whole of the time i was with them, not more than half-a-dozen. "there is one stage in the voice training where the teacher finds his pupils (boys i am speaking of, my experience with adults not having been so extensive) habitually _sharpen_. in my own neighbourhood a teacher who has commenced to properly train his boys to sing, in a conversation he had with me told me of this, to him, unexpected difficulty. to get good intonation in part-singing, i found the singing of chords a great help. the class should be divided rapidly, and one note of the chord assigned to each section. then it should be sung softly. this should be repeated with other chords, and followed by easy phrases. voices do not at once blend, and until they do the singing should be never loud. i look upon the earlier work as tentative--a feeling for the beauty of perfection of pitch, tunefulness, and intonation. a practice to be condemned is that of learning the parts of a tune separately, and then bringing them together. there are, of course, places where it is absolutely necessary to give special attention to exceptional passages, but it is a mistake to teach each part as though it were an independent tune--to give the direction, which i have often heard, 'now sing your part, and never mind what the others are doing,' or 'don't you listen to any other part.' this system is answerable for the most offending cases of want of tunefulness, in which one part will sing on with the greatest of satisfaction in a key a semitone from that in which the part above or below is moving. the ear should be prepared by a symphony, or by thinking of the key before a piece is commenced. my own practice has been to wait after giving the key-note for the pupils to do this. i have recently come across a method of allowing the pupils to find the tonic of a song about to be sung, which in nine cases out of ten will make the opening as 'restless' as the sea waves. the teacher strikes the c fork, and the tonic being f, all the pupils sing c', b, a, g, f--doh. the c', b, a, g, f is, i think, as likely to unsettle the ear as anything that could be imagined. the teacher should give the key-note. he may teach his pupils to use the fork if he will, but _not_ in a way so exquisitely calculated to unsettle the ear when it should be strongly decided. "with regard to registers, i do not know whether the nomenclature i employed with my swanley choir will be commended by you, but as it was successful i will describe it. the registers we called, perhaps inelegantly, 'top,' 'middle,' and 'bottom,' these terms being handier than upper thin, lower thin, and upper thick. the earliest exercises were in the top register--that is, the upper thin. boys untrained are, taken in bulk, unconscious of the thin register. having got them to sing, say c to koo, i have followed it by singing to the same syllable the tune:-[illustration: key a[b] | m:m |f:f |s:--|m:--|| &c.] ('now the day is over,'--_a. & m._), and the delight has been intense when the pupils have thus discovered how clearly and sweetly they could sing. when this is done great possibilities seem to open, and the pupil is on the road to perfection. b[b] and e[b] i found most convenient for change. the small register must have been used, as my lads sang up to c2 with the greatest ease and finish, though one of our foremost teachers, in a conference i had with him on the subject, said he would stake his reputation that the small register was not employed by them. it received no name in our practices after that authoritative statement, and ever afterwards i was in dread of being called over the coals for allowing the top register to get too high. "boy altos can be made to sing without flattening, though they invariably give more trouble than trebles on account of their willingness to let the lower register overlap the one above--to force upward. they should practise with the trebles such exercises as:-[illustration: key e[b] s f m r d] so as to strengthen this part of the voice, which may be termed their flattening field." chapter ix. on the training of boys' voices. by w. h. richardson, formerly conductor of the swanley orphanage choir.[a] [a] mr. richardson has responded to my request for hints with such fulness and weight that i devote a separate chapter to his essay. in writing, he has specially had in view the difficulties of choir trainers in rural districts. all that a writer on the training of voices can do is to lay down general lines, and give comprehensive suggestions. the teacher, to make any use of them must be indeed a _teacher_, not a mere mechanically automatic individual of only sufficient calibre to take the directions of a writer, and give them again. he should be both enthusiastic in his work, and willing to spend his strength in patience if he would have a choir of boys to sing _reliably_ well. it is of the greatest importance that work should be set out on right lines, and that a thoughtfully prepared scheme should be arranged before commencing. i would here give my experience of two choirs i had at different times in agricultural districts, and in one of them i was well satisfied with the progress we made, while in the other my work was completely thrown away. the reason for the failure in the second instance (which i foresaw from the outset) will be gathered from the following account of our plan of campaign. the choir was a village one which met for rehearsal once a week. the organist attended and presided at a harmonium, and, _nolens volens_, i had at the beginning of each practice to take the choir through the whole of the next sunday's services. the boys' voices were, at the beginning of my connection, uncivilised, and at the end of it--fortunately the question of ways and means not allowing the interval to extend beyond a few months--were as barbarous as at the commencement. there was absolutely no chance of making a name through these youngsters; and as to voice culture! how could it be possible to attempt it after labouring through such a programme as canticles, hymns, psalms, kyrie, and amens? i determined never to take office again unless i could have my own way in fixing the time-table of work. my success in the other case was owing greatly to the fact that i had one night a week entirely devoted to musical training and voice culture. this did not preclude us from relieving the drudgery of work by the singing of songs and hymns, _but_ it allowed me the use of an unfettered judgment in the _choice_ of what should be attempted. a teacher is heavily handicapped if after getting his boys for the first time to sing in the upper thin register, he is to follow his delicate work by singing half-a-dozen verses to a tune which will in the very first verse undo all that he has done, simply because its melodic progression encourages forcing. experienced teachers will appreciate what i say on this point. take such a tune as:-[illustration: &c. key e[b]. {|m:f |s:l |t:d1 |s:f || &c.] --a tune which inevitably causes a wrong use of the registers by inexperienced boys. the tunes selected should further the work of the exercises, not undo it, and with diligence the teacher can find suitable tunes and chants for this purpose. my advice to all teachers is that before commencing work they should insist upon conditions that do not preclude success, and that they should not spend their labour in wearying drudgery with the full consciousness that to attain it is impossible. one suggestion i would make is that the choirmaster, if he be not, as is often the case in villages, also schoolmaster, would do well to enlist the services of the school teachers in the village. it is not often practicable to have more than one--or two at the most--meetings of a choir during the week, and the length of the lesson must be, in consequence, at least an hour. for voice training in the earlier stages six lessons a week of fifteen minutes each are preferable to one of an hour and a half, and therefore i would urge the _necessity_ of getting hold of the sympathies of the school teacher, and putting him on right lines to work out the choirmaster's ideas, if the offices be not united. voice work should be begun in the infant school. at swanley it was my practice to give, i believe, daily lessons in the infant department, and the remarks made by visitors will bear out what i am about to say as to the possibility of getting young children to sing, and sing like little angels. i was always as pleased to exhibit my infants' vocal powers as to show those of my more advanced boys, and success was, comparatively speaking, more easily gained with them than with older boys, for inasmuch as the difficulty of registers and breaks does not exist as such with these tiny ones, and unless our plans be artificial or formed of caprice, this is what should be expected. in the infant school the teacher can take hold of the good that is innate, and mould it; in the higher school he has to spend hours and hours eradicating the bad habits which shouting and untamed license have allowed to grow. by all means begin with the infants, and let their songs and nursery rhymes be written so as to "give them a chance." but i am asked to say something that may be helpful to the choirmaster having to train the vocal organs of boys who are beyond infantile methods. i will therefore suppose myself for the first time before an ordinary country group of lads with all the vocal faults that now appear indigenous to the locality. i should first get them to find the upper thin register, and my plan is to confine the work to this region [illustration: musical notation] and get the boys to sing "koo" to d, e, or f, making my own "exercises," which are suggested by present circumstances:-[illustration: koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo key d[b]. d1 m1 m1 d1 m1 r1 d1 d1 r1 m1 koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo key d. d1 r1 d1 l t d1 d1 t r1 d1 koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo key e[b]. d1 r1 t d1 r1 d1 l s d1 koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo key b[b]. s f m r d s m s s s] as at this stage the boys know nothing of the diatonic scale, i let them imitate. the exercises _may_ be played on a pianoforte, if the teacher cannot sing them, though in the latter case it is preferable that he should adopt the plan of selecting his best pupils for the models. i once had to commence with some uncultured boys, and knowing the difficulty of getting them to make a start, took with me a few of my own trained lads, who sang the exercises first, after which i added one or two of the beginners to them, and sympathetically they soon sang in the proper register with the others. by continuing the process of addition gradually i soon got the whole class to sing as i wished. at this first lesson the proper production of "oo" (vowel) should be obtained. i deal with the vowels as they arise, never observing a lack of clearness and purity without endeavouring to correct it. the foregoing exercises can next be used for teaching the intervals of the diatonic scale, for instance:-[illustration: key f. {|d1:--| s:--|| s:--| d1:--||] calling the notes by their names, doh soh. here, again, the proper vowel production must be sought for, and obtained. the difficulties will be varied in this respect with the locality. often i have met with doh-_oo_. this, as well as ray-_ee_, and other faults that need not be specified, can be corrected at once. the beautiful intonation we had at swanley i attribute in a large measure to the care bestowed on the production of vowel sounds. there must be no division of opinion among the singers as to how any particular vowel sound should be emitted. if there be not unity in this respect the intonation suffers. the earlier exercises should be sung in unison, a correct division into 1st, 2nd, and 3rd trebles being impossible until the boys have acquired sufficient confidence to show _what_ they are naturally. i have for a long time used with advantage the single chant form for exercises, making them myself. [illustration: key f. {|d1:-|l:t |d1:-||d1:-|t:1 |s:t |d1:-||] in order to avoid waste of time in learning exercises they should be _short_, so that they can be caught up at once. to get boys to sing in the register below (the lower thin) is the next step, the exercises now being confined between [illustration: musical notation] and formed in the same way as those in the higher region. the difficulty is greater in getting rough boys to use this part of the vocal score correctly. the best way i have found to get them to discover it, is to sing [illustration: key f. s f m r d]--beginning at c1, to koo. the notes are at first weak, and there is a tendency to "squork," if i may so term it. these exercises must be sung softly at first, and at this stage the schoolmaster can render valuable help if he will get his boys to read from their lesson books in this register instead of in the one below it. i have to acknowledge a debt of gratitude to one of our best and most painstaking teachers for giving me this hint. the reading will at first be weak, and in a monotone, and there being no flexibility, the boys will have difficulty in forming the usual cadence at the end of sentences, but practice will soon strengthen the weakness, and make this register as strong as the one below it. between the one above and the one below, this "middle" one is apt to be overlooked altogether, and i have heard some fairly pleasing singing where it has not been recognised at all. the third register (upper thick) should now receive attention, and in order to find it the pupils should cultivate it upwards with such exercises as-[illustration: &c. key a[b]. d_1 r_1 d_1 d_1 r_1 m_1 &c. koo koo koo koo koo koo] within the limits of a short paper, it is impossible to give more fully all the needful directions for training the voices to cover up breaks, and to change from one register to another. suitable tunes should now be selected, so that the aim of the exercises may be extended. remember that it is easiest to _leap_ from one register to a higher, a stepwise ascent being an insidious snare. koo and afterwards laa such tunes as:-[illustration: key c. {| s:m |d1:s |m1:-.r1|d1:s |l:l |s:d1 |s:f |m:-|| key e[b]. {|m:r |f:m |r:-|m:-||l:s |t:d1 |s:-|f:-|| {|m:r |f:m |r:-|l:-||d1:s |m:r |d:-|-:-||] many ready-made exercises are to be found in any chant book, which can be used to strengthen the voice and build it. for voice exercise i like a high reciting note at the beginning, d1, c1, e[b]1, as by this we ensure getting the right register for the high notes, which will be a matter of doubt for some time if the question of suitability of melody be left out of calculation. i strongly recommend the use of the time names. for some years i was prejudiced against them, but after trying them, believe them to be of the greatest value. the teacher should give manual signs for his short exercises. time is wasted unnecessarily if the teacher has to turn and write on the board. the objection to working through a book, only using prescribed exercises, is chiefly this--no book writer can provide for all the permutations and combinations that may arise during the actual work of teaching; it is impossible for him to anticipate them. this does not in the least detract from the value of the book, which must be the best _general_ guide for by far the larger part of our teachers. i have referred to the teaching of vowel sounds, and would say a word about consonants. my practice has been to guard against giving undue prominence to any individual letter, and to encourage always a _simple unaffected utterance_ in singing. rolling "r's" is very well, but to precede the vowel with a sound not unlike the noise caused by springing a police rattle is neither artistic nor pleasing. my custom was to first let the pupils sing a vowel, say _aa_, and require it to be held on as long as my hand was still. a sharp movement of the hand directed when the consonant should appear, as _aa--t_, &c., the appearance and disappearance being as close together as possible. it is a difficulty with beginners to sing such words as "night," "bright," &c., holding on the middle part, or vowel. i demonstrated that the singer has nothing left to sing after having too soon disposed of the vowel. i also gave exercises in prefixing a consonant to a vowel. other points of detail will arise, such as in the word "sing." the habit here is to make the "ng" sound throughout the greater part of the durance of the singing of the word. by analysing, and showing by copying the bad model, the teacher will convince the pupil that "ng" held on is unpleasant. in singing laa, laa, laa, &c., at first pupils lower and raise the jaw. this should be at once stopped. but it is impossible to anticipate every difficulty that will arise under this head. i have said enough to indicate generally my method. i do not propose to enter into the question of breathing. one thing i would say--do not try pupils by requiring them to sing long notes at first, but do get them at the beginning to "phrase" to your pattern. this will from the first get the will to control the breath taking. by all means introduce certificates. by the examination of individuals, the teacher will get truer knowledge of his learners' powers, and will be enabled to give advice of greater value because of its assured need. let the examination be in public--before the other pupils--and so help to beget confidence in the pupil, without which success will be limited. the teacher should never do anything to destroy the confidence of his pupils, though i am bound to admit that i have not always been free from irritability and impatience in my dealings with pupils. the work is trying, the nerves of a teacher of singing are throughout highly strung, and very little cause is necessary to upset his equilibrium. he should therefore be ever on his guard to check any tendency to show impatience. never get a pupil to sing alone for the sake of showing his defects to others. no one can _sing_ who does not possess a sense of his power to do so. there should be encouraged an _abandon_ sort of manner. a gentleman once said to me, "i see how you make your boys sing; you tell them they can do it, and that makes them do it." the rigid watching of the beat of the conductor should not be too closely insisted on. no machine-like singing should satisfy, even though it be _correct_. the correctness of a great painter's production is not everything, and neither is it with the singer. there should an atmosphere of the liberty of freedom. at swanley my work was lessened by the interest that all my colleagues took in it. a moral force was constantly brought to bear on the boys, which made them work with a will and a determination to excel. their success was the same in other departments of work, though not so prominently placed. the music teacher who has in himself the power to draw out the latent feeling of his pupils is the one who will best succeed. i would draw my remarks to a close with this advice:--make your choir as large as possible. take all who will come into it, and do not go through the form of "trying" voices that have never tried themselves, and of which you can form no opinion. for adults this is a necessity, but for children it is better to get one or two per cent. of naturally defective learners, rather than to turn away all but those showing undoubtedly exceptional ability. chapter x. the special difficulties of agricultural districts. my object is to help those whose difficulties are greatest; who, so far from being able to pick out boys of musical talent and fine voice, are obliged to accept the material that offers, often of the poorest musical description. the country boy is a more healthy animal than his brother of the town, and there is no fault to be found with the natural volume of his voice provided he can be taught to place his registers rightly, to avoid straining the thick or chest register, to pronounce and phrase properly. this is, however, what the americans call "a large order." i have been fortunate in collecting information from several choirmasters in agricultural districts, who have conquered the difficulties of this task. first, i quote mr. w. critchley, choirmaster and schoolmaster at hurst, near reading:-"the rural choir-boy differs somewhat from his brethren of the town in the following particulars. as a rule, he is duller, and slower in his perception; he is attentive and docile, but sluggish; he retains what he is taught, and therefore, as far as mere knowledge and memory are concerned, it 'pays' to take him in hand. his voice is strong, but rough, and this undisciplined strength is the cause of most of the trouble he gives. moreover, he is exposed to the weather very largely, and this causes him to be more influenced by atmospheric changes than the town boy, and prevents, in a great measure, any great delicacy of finish from being obtained. so it will be seen that the country choir-boy requires special treatment in order to produce good results. sometimes, when a village lies compactly together, a large amount of work can be got through similar to that which we find in towns, but generally the rural district is wide and scattered, and only a limited number of practices can be secured. under these circumstances, i have found the best course to pursue to be somewhat as follows:--first and foremost, let the tonic sol-fa system be taught, it lightens the work of the choirmaster in a wonderful degree, and the boys bring an intelligence to their work which is unattainable by any other means. if the system has not been taught in the day school of the parish, it should be introduced at once; if that is not practicable, the choir-boys should be taught at a second practice-night. this second practice is required in any case, if anything better than mere 'scratch' singing be aimed at. _all_ practices should be begun by voice exercises. on the extra night a greater amount of time should be taken up with them, for to a country choir-boy, who perhaps in the day is shouting to scare birds, they are vital. the lower register of a country boy is, as a rule, coarse, so it is important to get him to use his higher register as soon as possible. show him first of all that he has, as it were, _two voices_, and point out that he is required, as mr. evans observes, to use that voice which is most like a girl's. he will be apt for some time to use this voice in the upper notes of the music only, and there will be a disagreeable transition to the lower register when the music comes down on g, or thereabouts. to conquer this, i use exercises which train the upper register _downwards_, such as:-[illustration: keys a to f. d m s m d r [(.d] [(.t]_1 [(.l]_1] the object being to strengthen the upper register, and, except where the music touches d or c, [illustration: musical notation] to practically 'shelve' the lower thick register in the case of treble voices. in training upwards i insist on easy singing, no straining. i don't mean apathetic singing, for this is especially to be fought against in the case of country boys, as there is naturally a want of 'go' about them. i mean soft singing, but energetic. i tell the boys to sing like birds, and they generally understand from this that they are to use the upper register. i do not find much difficulty with them in the way of flattening. except in the case of the younger boys, i often hear them a little sharp. the tonic sol-fa method trains their _ears_, and i get them to listen, and blend their voices; above all, to get rid of apathy. and if there should be a tendency with the younger boys to sing flat, i generally find that the application of the old rules as to position, loud singing, forcing the voice, faulty breathing, and inattention will remedy the fault. if it occurs in church, a judicious use of a four-foot stop on the organ often keeps up the pitch. i find, if the melody of a chant or tune has a great many of the 'thirds' of the chords in it (i mean as distinct from the fifth, root, &c.) it is often difficult, especially on a foggy morning, to keep it in tune, _e.g_.:-[illustration: key g. {| [(.m] |m:r |m:--|| [(.m] |r:d |r:r |m:--|| or, key g. {| [(.m] |f:m |re:--|| [(.m] |r:d |t_1:r |d:--|| or, key f. {| [(.m] |f:l |s:--|| [(.s] |d1:m |r:f |m:--||] this is the case in a marked degree when the reciting tone comes about the natural 'break' of the voice. the remedy for this i find to be transition into another key, one which i judge to be more congenial to the state of the boys' voices. here is where the usefulness of the tonic sol-fa system to an organist comes in. a lot of practice in mental effects has a surprising result in ear training. sometimes, however, we get a clergyman who intones badly, and then it is quite a struggle to keep in tune. "there are a number of other little points which tell against correct singing in a country choir; the generally thick enunciation, the provincialism, the difficulty in getting open mouths. i do a lot of reading by pattern, and pay attention to initial and final consonants. country boys neglect these more than town boys. i practise without organ as much as i can. if an instrument is used, the piano is decidedly the best. i find gregorian singing has a strong tendency to injure purity of tone and delicacy of expression. i do as little of it as possible. "on the second choir practice night i spoke of, it is certainly good to take up glee practice, or a simple cantata. it sustains the interest, and makes the choir a bond of union in a country village." * * * * * not long ago i found myself by chance worshipping in a remote village in east somerset, churchill by name. there was, in the parish church, a choir of six boys and four probationers, who sang so slowly and sweetly, not with the luscious fulness of some boys i have heard, but with such uncommonly good style for agricultural boys, that i was much interested. these small villages have, from the present point of view, one advantage. the day schools are "mixed" (containing boys and girls), and the teacher is a lady. both these influences tend to the softening of the boy's voice. miss demack, the school-and choir-mistress at churchill, has kindly written a few notes on the subject of her work, in which she says:-"i certainly think that the girls' voices soften the boys'. i admit probationers at the early age of six if i find they have any voice, as i think the earlier the better. when i took my boys in hand, i found scale exercises very useful. i did not teach them any tunes until i had somewhat altered their rough voices. another help was this: i had a girl with a particularly good voice, and made the boys imitate her as much as possible. this i found answered remarkably well. the boys seemed to adopt quite a different tone." miss demack teaches singing in the school and choir by ear only, and knows nothing of the tonic sol-fa system. * * * * * i next give a short paper kindly sent me by mr. george parbery, choirmaster of the parish church, and master of the national school at fordingbridge, hants:-"dear sir,--as choirmaster of the parish church here, and as one who takes great interest in the subject of singing in schools, i am happy to respond to your request, as we are essentially a rural district. "i have occupied my position now nearly ten years, and am just beginning to find the benefit of the tonic sol-fa movement amongst my adult members of the choir, having now nine adults who have passed through the school with a good practical knowledge of the sol-fa notation. "when i commenced work here (coming from north of england) i was struck with the very disagreeable tone of the boys' and girls' voices. to say they sang flat does not convey how flat they sang, nor does it convey any idea of the tone, but the same may be heard any night at the salvation army meetings here. the vicar of the parish told me also upon my arrival here, that at a church in bournemouth a former vicar used to import all his boy voices outside of hampshire. so that you will gather that i had not a light task before me to produce a tone satisfactory to myself or the inspector. but i may safely say i have for some years satisfied myself, and last year our assistant-inspector spoke of the very beautiful quality of the boys' voices. i can assure you that it is only rarely that i find occasion to complain of the tone. the moment i hear the objectionable tone produced, i immediately stop the singing, even if in the middle of prayers. mine is a boys' school, but i teach the girls singing with the boys. now as to how i produced the change:-"1. i introduced the tonic sol-fa notation. "2. i used to practise very frequently for a few minutes upon the modulator, making abundant use of the upper-[illustration: key c. d1 r1 m1 f1] "3. i prohibited all shouting on high notes. "4. particularly was i severe upon loud singing in lower notes, say, [illustration: key f. r d t_1 l_1 s_1] "5. i established a degree of sound, and have it still, what is known amongst my scholars as 'singing in a whisper'--_i.e._, to produce singing as softly as possible. this idea i picked up in cheshire from a good tonic sol-faist. "6. i have one or two favourite hymns, which i always pitch higher than written, and thus compel the boys to use the upper registers. the boys know i like these hymns, and i never fail to appreciate them to the boys at the end of singing. i also have a favourite marching tune--i don't know the name, but i believe it is often set to the hymn, 'when mothers of salem.' this tune is very lofty, and i believe the boys really enjoy its loftiness, _but there must be no shouting_. when the boys displease me, i tell them they drop their jaw too much, and they instantly know what i mean. "7. i have very little alto singing in school, for the reason that it has a tendency to encourage loudness. in my choir i arrange for three or four of the oldest boys to sing alto. "in conclusion, i may say i am thoroughly proud of my boys' singing from standard i. up to the top of the school, and i believe my success has been chiefly from abundant use of the modulator for scale practice, and never allowing loud singing. proud as i am of my boys, the girls certainly excel them, and ten years ago their tone was worse, if possible, than the boys. i have no instrument in school, but _occasionally_ use a violin." * * * * * a correspondent from another agricultural county--i will not give his name--favours me with some rules which he has used more or less for thirty years. in one school taught by the writer, the inspector said he could not distinguish the boys from the girls' voices--truly a high compliment. my correspondent names a new hindrance to church music in rural places, namely, the clergyman's daughter!-"practise the scales up and down to the words 'la' and 'ha,' the latter for the purpose of separating the teeth. commence at the key of c to c1, then from d to d1, and so on upwards as high as the voices of the boys can reach, never resting satisfied until they cover two octaves firmly. in teaching new music, and, generally speaking, in accompanying the boys, play the note they are singing and its octave above--on the stopped diapason and flute if an organ, or the corresponding stops on a harmonium. let there be no other accompaniment, and on every occasion the octave above the note sung. this is very particular. check one voice singing above another. have no leaders. stop or subdue all harsh voices, and make them listen to, and try to copy the pure notes of the flute; let the boys sing well within their strength. if you lack power, increase the number of choristers, and subdue the voices. i always choose smooth flowing chants, with the reciting note ranging from f to c. i do not care to go higher than g above the line in anthems or services, but have trained them to start on b[b], 'the sisters of the sea,' by jackson. "i never trouble about altos, they are too difficult to get, and indifferent and troublesome when obtained, but in verse parts of services or anthems, one of the best boys will supply the deficiency, and even take up the lead in a chorus. "choirs experience a difficulty which is not included in your list of points. i have received â£60 per annum as an organist, â£50 and a house. on another occasion i was offered the choir-mastership of a church choral society of 60 members. at this time i was trainer and conductor of a choral society of 100 voices with string and wind accompaniment, the subject being _the messiah_. yet i was not considered competent at the church at which i played to put a tune to a hymn, but had to submit to the parson's daughter, who was qualified through taking three months' lessons from a german. on one occasion this lady went ten times through a hymn to please her father in trying to fit a four-lined tune of the wrong metre to a six-lined hymn! i offered to go through an eleventh time, but he never interfered again. i could give you many instances where these ladies themselves are the great drawback of good church singing, but on the other hand, i could mention cases where they never come near a practice, or interfere from one year's end to the other." * * * * * knowing, as i do, the devoted way in which clergymen's daughters in many rural places train the choir, i hesitate to endorse this charge. the work needs to be done with tact and consideration. in the vast majority of cases these ladies are a great help. i do not approve the plan of playing the melody in octaves while it is being learnt, which my correspondent advocates. i give his letter as a record of earnest work. * * * * * mr. w. w. pearson, of elmham, dereham, norfolk, writes to me as follows:-"i have had, as you say, a great deal of experience in teaching singing, especially in rural districts; but the neighbourhood i have lived in for the last twenty years (norfolk), is a very barren field for musical culture--the worst in my experience. the voices of those who _do_ sing in this county are, on an average, a minor third lower than those of yorkshire, north wales, the west of england, and other places where i have had experience. they are also, for the most part, _flabby_, wanting in resonance and quality. tenors are very scarce, and even the few who can sing in the tenor register, have not got the true tenor quality. this may be the effect of the low elevation above the sea-level, and the damp humid atmosphere; or it may be partly due to _race_. "the plan i adopt for getting boys to use their upper registers is a very old-fashioned one; but it is very effective. it is to make them sing the major diatonic scale, ascending and descending; beginning at a low pitch, and gradually raising it by a semitone at a time." * * * * * mr. c. hibberd, of bemerton, near salisbury, whom i quote also in the chapter on "flattening," dwells on the difficulties of the rural choirmaster. he says:-"i have rarely come across the soft fluty tone in the country. i once met with a boy with it in the choir at parkstone, near bournemouth, and another here at bemerton, but in both cases the boys were above the average of country boys, and the village was close to a larger town. in both cases, also, the boys had good and careful practice over and above the ordinary choir practices. at places farther in the country it seems an impossibility to get the tone. with only a few boys to pick from, it is a difficulty to find boys enough to fill up ordinary vacancies. with a great deal of trouble and practice one can get a great part of the roughness toned down, and, as a rule, that is all." * * * * * several of my correspondents, it will be noticed, speak with great confidence of the use of the tonic sol-fa system in rural places. this system, useful everywhere, certainly attains its greatest usefulness in places where the task of the choirmaster reaches its highest degree of difficulty. to those whose only acquaintance with tonic sol-fa is a casual glance at a printed page of the new notation, it naturally seems strange that the use of a musical shorthand can affect the whole training of the boy. but behind the letters and punctuation marks, which go to make up the tonic sol-fa notation, there lies the tonic sol-fa method--a fixed and many-sided educational system, founded on the truest principles of education, carrying on simultaneously the training of the ear for tune and time, making progress sure because gradually developing the intelligence along with the voice. with tonic sol-fa, also, is associated a definite system of voice-training. tonic sol-fa teachers are all more or less of educationists, and have caught by observation or study the teacher's art. this is the cause of their success. [illustration: decoration] chapter xi. notes on the practice of various choirmasters in cathedrals, &c. i summarise here information obtained, chiefly by observation and conversation, from various trainers of boys' voices at cathedrals and collegiate churches. chapel royal, st. james's. some years ago i attended a practice of the boys, under the late rev. thomas helmore. it began with slow scales sung to a light pianoforte accompaniment. these were followed by rapid runs, the key gradually rising until the highest note touched was c above the treble staff. the vocable used was "ah." after this came time exercises, solfeggios, the pointing out of notes by the boys on and between the fingers of their left hands, which represented the staff. mr. helmore declared that new boys while singing nearly always (1) frown, or (2) hold their heads on one side. he was strict about avoiding these faults. in going over the psalms for the day, the boys sang mostly one by one, verse after verse. this was a searching test for the boy who sang, while all the others were actively criticising. the boys practised secular music by way of change. four of them were monitors, four fags, and two probationers. the tone was refined and pure, mr. helmore himself being a good singer. st. paul's cathedral. here, owing to the size of the building, a tremendous volume of shrill tone has to be cultivated, which in the practice room is sometimes overwhelming. the practice i heard began with slow scales sung to "ah" (pianoforte accompaniment) ranging over two octaves, c to c2; each key between c to c1 was taken, and the scale sung ascending and descending. this was loud singing, but not shouting. then came agility exercises in the form of chords, rapid scales, &c., sung still to "ah." this daily "tuning-up" lasted ten minutes. then (incidentally affording rest to the boys) came a short lesson on theory. boys were called up in turn to write notes, signs, &c., on the blackboard. practice now began. the boys sing a new piece to words at once, never sol-faing. they seldom try a piece more than three times before it is heard at the cathedral. they sit during rehearsal, standing at the gloria patri. the boys have a daily practice of an hour-and-a-half. westminster abbey. the refined style of the boys trained by dr. bridge is well known. the abbey is small enough to allow the graces of singing to be cultivated. in the music room there are two rows of desks facing the same way, so that dr. bridge, sitting at his cottage piano, can cast a side glance full upon the boys. two practices are held daily; one from nine till ten a.m. is spent in getting up the service music. the afternoon practice, at the close of evensong, is chiefly devoted to theory. a card hanging up on the wall shows exactly how the time of the afternoon practice is apportioned between the study of intervals, and scales, chanting, responses, manuscript exercises, the singing of concone's solfeggios, and the practice of secular music. the excellent phrasing and pure tone are partly due to the practice of secular music, which gives elasticity and gentleness to the boys' voices. no formal system of voice-training is in use. the boys enter at from 9 to 10-1/2, not older. a new boy is placed in the middle of the row of choristers, so as to excite his imitative faculty to the utmost. twenty boys is the full number, but only twelve of these are full choristers, the others being nominally on probation, a plan which serves to keep up the discipline. lincoln's inn chapel. there are twelve boys here. they come, with a fair knowledge of music, at about nine years of age, and receive from dr. steggall, or his assistants, three lessons of about two hours each every week. on sunday, at the close of the morning service, there is a rehearsal with the men of the music for the afternoon, and for the morning of the following sunday. the boys' practices are held in the choir-room, where dr. steggall, seated at a venerable broadwood grand, coaches his little men, with care and neatness. on saturdays, when half their lesson is done, the boys walk across to the chapel, and go through the sunday's music with the organ. a pupil mounts to the instrument, while dr. steggall, book in hand, paces the aisle, or retires towards the communion table, constantly interrupting the singing to correct faults, or improve delivery. meanwhile, the organ is played quite softly, that the voices may stand out clearly. constant care is taken to prevent clipping of words in the most familiar parts of the service. the temple church. dr. e. j. hopkins, himself an ex-choir-boy of the chapel royal, realises here his ideal of "quality, not quantity." he lays stress on the fact that he takes his boys at eight years of age. for a year or more, however, they are probationers. they do not wear surplices, although they sit close to the choir. they undergo daily drill in musical theory and voice-training, but in church they have no responsibility, and do little more than listen. when, however, the voice of one of the elder boys breaks, a probationer takes his place, and is much better for the training. the practices occupy an hour-and-a-half every afternoon. they are held in the little choir vestry, near the organ, where there is a cottage pianoforte, flanked by a couple of long music desks, at which the boys stand as they sing. they are taught in groups, according to the stage they have reached, and spend the lesson time in practising scales, voice exercises, pieces of music, and studying notation. the voices are practised up to a. on saturdays there is a rehearsal in the church, with the organ and the men of the choir. lincoln cathedral. the choir here, directed by the venerable organist, mr. j. w. m. young, is noted for its chanting, which all choirmasters ought to hear. mr. young has made a special study of the psalms, and changes speed and force frequently with the change of attitude in the psalmist. the recitation is delivered at the pace of ordinary speech, with elocutionary pauses as needed; it is sung neither faster nor slower than the cadence. hence the whole effect is reverent and impressive. mr. young's published psalter and chants (novello) should be studied, but the great excellence of his work can only be appreciated by a visit to lincoln. all compilers of psalters make rules, but mr. young carries them out. mr. young, who was a choir-boy at durham more than fifty years ago, under henshaw, tells me that it was no uncommon thing in his day for the boys to have three practices--8.30 to 10, 11 to 12, and 6 to 8. this in addition to the two daily services. the elder boys had to attend all; the younger were excused the evening practice. as far as i know, we have no such severe training now. mr. young likes to get his boys at eight; for two years, although they wear surplices, they do not sing. the sixteen boys receive free education, and board, pocket-money, and a present of â£10 when their voices break. the younger boys are called "choristers," and wear surplices. the four senior boys are called "burgersh-chanters," and wear black cassocks of a peculiar shape. in the town they are familiarly known as "black boys." the choristers attend a day-school with other boys who speak the lincolnshire dialect; in this they suffer, for, as mr. young says, purity of vowels and beauty of tone go together. one of his maxims is, "use the lips as little as possible in singing; do all you can with the tongue. if you use the lips, then use them rapidly." the boys practise an hour-and-a-half each day. mr. young puts a high finish on all his work. mozart's "ave verum" was sung on the day of my visit with infinite refinement. at one point the boys took a portamento--a grace which very few choirmasters would attempt with boys. [illustration: a "black boy" at lincoln cathedral. _photographed by mr. george hadley, lincoln._] christ church, oxford. the boys rehearse in a small but lofty room. there is a double row of desks and seats down each side, facing each other. dr. c. h. lloyd sits at a small pianoforte, placed across one end of the seats, thus commanding all the boys with his eye. the "tuning-up" exercises lasted ten minutes, and began with this exercise to "ah":-[illustration: key c. {|d1:t.l|s.f:m.r|d:r.m|f.s:l.t|d1:-|-:-||] this exercise, begun in c, was carried up gradually to b[b] above. it was sung first with a _dim._ going down, and a _cres._ going up, and then the opposite. then came an ascending, followed by a descending scale, similarly varied in key and expression. the next exercise was-[illustration: key c. {|d.m:r.m |d.m:r.m |d.m:r.m |d:--||] which was transposed gradually upwards, being sung to "ah." next a triplet exercise-[illustration: key f. d t_1 d r d r to d1 r1 d1 t d1 t] at the higher part the second trebles sang a third below. then followed the chromatic scale, up and down. dr. lloyd is not troubled much with flattening; when it occurs the men are more likely to cause it than the boys. they habitually sing the litany, which lasts fifteen minutes, unaccompanied, and if they flatten at all, it is not more than a semitone. there is an unaccompanied service once a week. i noticed that breathing-places were marked in the anthems, and notes likely to give trouble were marked with a circle. dr. lloyd was by no means tied to the pianoforte during rehearsal, and frequently left his seat, and paced up and down, beating time while the singing went on. theoretical questions on the pieces in hand were addressed to individual boys. these boys are the sons of professional men, and come from all parts of the country. there are now three undergraduates at christ church, who have been choir-boys. in the choir, on the day of my visit, was a boy of seventeen, who had sung for nine years; his voice had not yet begun to go. the curious custom is observed here of dividing the psalms (between decani and cantoris) at the colon, instead of at the verse. it requires great readiness, and for those psalms which are written in parallelisms, it is most effective. canterbury cathedral. the boys here are divided into ten choristers and fourteen probationers. the choristers are on the foundation, and receive a stipend; the probationers get their schooling only. the choristers wear trencher caps and gowns; the probationers flannel caps, bearing the arms of the cathedral. the boys are nearly all from the city; there is no boarding-school. the lower floor of the choir-school is used for the ordinary instruction, which is conducted by mr. plant, an alto in the cathedral choir, and the upper floor is used as a music-room. here the boys receive four or five lessons a week from dr. longhurst, and the probationers have also a lesson by themselves. all the choristers learn the violin; this has been the practice for many years. when, at festivals, there is a band in the cathedral, the strings are made up largely from old choristers, most of whom go into business in the city. a system of rotation is adopted; thus, although there are twenty-four boys, not more than fourteen sing at any one service, the rest are at work at their ordinary lessons. a considerable drainage of boys takes place to the king's school, the leading grammar school in canterbury. the choristers often leave to enter this school when their voices are in their prime. dr. longhurst takes the boys very young; as soon after seven as possible. in choosing a boy, he requires both voice and ear to be good. sometimes a boy excels in the one direction and not in the other; he can sing sweetly, but cannot imitate notes struck at random on the pianoforte, or else he has a poor voice and a good ear. but both endowments are necessary for a chorister. dr. longhurst, who was himself a boy at canterbury, had a compass at that time of two-and-a-half octaves. as his voice changed he passed from first to second treble, then sang alto for seven years, and at last settled to tenor. he does not regard boy altos as desirable in cathedrals, but in parish churches, where no adult male altos are to be had, they are, no doubt, in place. dr. longhurst tells me that as a result of forty-eight years' experience, he can tell by the look of a boy whether he will make a chorister. there is something about the brows and eyes, and general contour of the face which guides him. he is never mistaken. some time since a clergyman with whom dr. longhurst happened to be staying, ridiculed the idea that the musical capability of boys can be judged by their looks. he took dr. longhurst into the village school, and invited him to pick out the boys of the choir as they sat among others at their lessons. this dr. longhurst did quite correctly. he has no knowledge of phrenology, and the faculty has come to him simply as the result of long experience. on the day of my visit i heard the boys practise in their lofty music-room. dr. longhurst sat at the grand pianoforte, and the boys were grouped in fours or fives round four music-stands, on which the large folio voice parts, in type or ms., were placed. these desks stood on either side of the piano, so that the boys looked towards dr. longhurst. not many voice exercises are used, nor is there any talk about the registers. pure tone is required, and the boys have not "to reason why." six or seven of the youngest boys took no part in the practice of the service music. when the elder boys had done, the younger came forward and sang some solfeggio exercises. as a help in keeping time the boys clapped their hands sometimes at the first of the bar, and beat the pulses of the music. in the single voice parts, with long rests, this is a help. the boys do not sing any secular music. at one time they did, but now, with the schooling, the ordinary practices, and the violin lessons, there is no time. flattening does not often occur. as a rule, when they intone on g, the g remains to the end. the practice of singing the service unaccompanied on fridays all the year round, and on wednesdays in addition during lent, must have a bracing effect on the choir. i was myself present on a wednesday in lent, and could detect no falling in pitch. the boys at canterbury do not appear to receive much formal voice-training, and i attribute the excellent quality of their singing to two facts. first, dr. longhurst has evidently a knack of discerning a promising voice; and second, having established a tradition of good singing, the boys, entering at an early age, insensibly fall into it. dr. buck's boys at norwich. i have gathered from mr. a. r. gaul, mus.b., of birmingham, some particulars of the work of dr. buck, organist of norwich cathedral, who was known forty or fifty years ago all over the country as a trainer of boys' voices. mr. gaul was a boy at norwich under dr. buck, and underwent the spartan training which produced such notable results. "no chest voice above f or g" was his rule, and the flute-like voice, which goes by so many names, and is yet so unmistakable when heard, was developed in all the choristers. dr. buck had an endless number of contrivances for teaching his boys right ways. each of them carried about him a pocket looking-glass, and at practice was taught to hold it in his hand, and watch his mouth as he sang. one finger on top of the other was the gauge for opening the mouth transversely, while nuts were held in the cheeks to secure its proper longitudinal opening. to look at the boys during this exercise, one might think they had the face-ache! however, no joking over these matters was allowed; there was a penny fine for forgetting the looking-glass once, and a twopenny fine for forgetting it a second time. to prevent the use of too much breath in singing, dr. buck would take a piece of tissue paper, the size of a postage stamp, hang it by a fine thread in front of the mouth, and make the boys sing to it without blowing it away. tongue-drill consisted in regular motions of the unruly member, until the boys were able to make it lie flat down at the bottom of the mouth, and raise it to the upper teeth as required. it was a daily plan to practise certain passages with the lips entirely closed, this was done to prevent the objectionable quality of voice resulting from any stoppage of the nasal organs. there was no sol-faing; various words were used at scale-practice, chosen to develop the vowels, while a code of troublesome words and endings of words was drawn up, and repeated daily by the boys in the speaking-voice, so as to secure clear enunciation. i have more than once seen and heard it stated that dr. buck used to make his boys sing through the nose, with closed mouth, in order to get the higher register, but mr. gaul does not remember this. dr. haydn keeton informs me that they had boy-altos at norwich in dr. buck's time, so that he must have had more boys than usual to train. salisbury. a conversation with mr. c. l. south, the organist and choirmaster, shows him to be a careful and able worker. the boys, who are boarded in the choir school, come from various parts. they are received at from 8 to 11 years; not over 11 unless the boy is very good and forward in music. the boys are chosen for their voices, but given two boys of equal voices, the one who knows most music would be selected. the music practice is an hour a day for five days of the week, under mr. south himself. "i recognise," he says, "two registers in boys' voices, chest and head, and with careful practice you can get the voices so even that you can hardly tell where one ends and the other begins. the great thing, i believe, is to make the boys sing softly, and to get their register even throughout." mr. south adds that the imitative power of boys is so strong that the younger ones fall into the habits of the elder ones, and thus make formal teaching about the registers less necessary. for vocal practice he uses stainer's and concone's exercises, also solos like "jesus, saviour, i am thine," and "let the saviour's outstretched arm" (both from bach's _passion_), as well as handel's "rejoice greatly," besides florid choruses from the _messiah_. these are more interesting than formal studies, and they bring out the same points of breathing, phrasing, pronunciation, and expression. he sometimes introduces a song of this kind into the service as an anthem. on one occasion, when thirteen boys had sung one of the bach songs in unison, a member of the congregation asked the name of the soloist. the voices were so perfectly blended that they sounded like one. the full number of boys is eighteen, of whom two at least sing solos. mr. south does not use nor like boy altos. the service music is selected on eclectic principles, and covers the ground from gibbons to villiers stanford. the boys sometimes give concerts, performing such cantatas as smart's _king rene's daughter_, and mendelssohn's "two-part songs." [illustration: decoration] chapter xii. notes on the practice of various choirmasters in parish churches. in the course of journeys and interviews extending over many years i have gathered much experience from choirmasters, and have watched and noted their plans. here follow some of the results of this work. the churches described are some of them small, and but little known. this fact, however, does not affect the value of the experience. the highest degree of credit is due to the choirmaster who obtains good results from poor materials, and this book is especially intended to help those who have to make the best of ordinary opportunities. leeds parish church. this church has long been noted for its music, which is sung in cathedral style. there are about thirty boys, whose voices, even up to a, are round and clear, and throughout are big, true, and rich. notable features of the style of the choir under dr. creser, are the long _dim_. cadences in responses, and the independence which enables the singers to go on without the organ, if the expression suggests it. at the rehearsal in the parochial room dr. creser sits at the grand piano with the boys in their cantoris and decani places on each side of him just as in church. the boys rehearse five days a week after evensong, and the juniors have an additional practice. after saturday evensong there is a full practice with the men. all the boys are trebles. yorkshire is about the only district in england which produces adult male altos. the boys are chiefly promoted from district churches. they live at their homes, and receive a free education--the seniors in the leeds middle-class school, and the juniors in the parish church school. there is also a small salary paid quarterly, and when a boy leaves he receives from â£15 to â£25 if an ordinary chorister, and â£50 if a good solo boy. fines are imposed by the precentor for misbehaviour or mischievous tricks in church or precincts, but not for mistakes in singing. dr. creser teaches sight-singing on the lines of curwen's "how to read music." the boys use the old notation, but have learnt it through tonic sol-fa, using the course entitled "crotchets and quavers." occasionally the whole rehearsal consists of sol-faing. in every difficulty as to key relationship the sol-fa makes matters clear. dr. creser was first led to use tonic sol-fa by noticing how easy it made the minor mode. the junior boys are always taught by dr. creser. until the voices settle he would on no account delegate them to an assistant. the two chief rules of voice-training are to forbid forcing the chest register above [illustration: a music staff with a treble clef and a whole note "e" on the first line.] and to begin scales at the top. flattening takes place occasionally, but it is nearly always the fault of the congregation, who drag the pitch down. the arrangement of the music-library here is a model of order. st. peter's, eaton square, london. here, under the direction of mr. de manby sergison, a very fine anglican service is maintained. there are twenty boys, and a few probationers. the boys have an hour's practice every day, and sing the psalms and a hymn at the daily choral service. formerly a choir boarding-school was kept up, but this was abolished, being found to be too expensive. now the boys are selected from schools in and near the parish, and mr. sergison finds the ordinary london boy equal to all the demands of the church. when the choir-school was given up he was able within a month to prepare an entirely new set of boys, so proficient that the congregation scarcely noticed a difference. the vocal practice of the boys includes "concone's exercises," and their phrasing in the service music is very good. the full choir sings on sundays and saints' days, and their rehearsal takes place once a week in the church, mr. sergison being at the organ. in the chapter on the management of choir-boys i have quoted some wise remarks by mr. sergison, which explain his success as a choirmaster. st. mark's college, chelsea. this is a training college for schoolmasters, which has long been noted for its musical services. mr. owen breden, the present organist and choirmaster, is the successor of dr. hullah, mr. may, and the rev. f. helmore. the choir-boys, who number 26, only sing on sundays. they are drawn from the practicing school, which contains 800 boys. they enter the choir at nine years of age, and there are always six or eight probationers, who attend the practices and are ready to fill vacancies. thus a good style of singing is maintained. people say to mr. breden, "there is no telling one voice from another, your boys are so much alike." at the bi-weekly practice with mr. breden the boys have voice-training. they sing to _la_ and sol-fa syllables scales gradually rising. they are not trained above g, but if a boy has a good g he can always go higher. the boys can all read from the sol-fa modulator, and mr. breden gives them ear-tests. the alto part is taken entirely by boys at st. mark's. the choir-boys, past and present, perform an operetta in costume every christmas. anthems like macfarren's "the lord is my shepherd," bennett's "god is a spirit," goss's "o saviour of the world," &c., are sung unaccompanied. in fact, whenever the organ part merely duplicates the voices, they take the opportunity at st. mark's to enjoy the pure chording of human voices. st. mary's church, berlin. my friend, herr th. krause, the organist and choirmaster of this church, allowed me to attend a rehearsal of the eighty boys and twenty men who form his fine choir. the large number of boys is explained by the fact that nearly half of them are altos. the motet of the lutheran church is invariably unaccompanied. it closely resembles in form our anthem, but the german protestants look upon the _a capella_ style, which continues the tradition of the sistine chapel at rome, as the purest and highest in church music. on no account would they use the organ to accompany a motet. this gives rise to elaborate compositions, often like mendelssohn's "judge me, o god," in eight parts. by treating the boys and men as separate choirs, each in four parts, and getting responses between them, a variety of tone colour, which is almost orchestral, is obtained; and when both choirs unite in solid eight-part harmony, the result is imposing. as the germans are usually not sight-singers, the labour involved in learning these motets is immense. the higher register of the boys is well trained. they sing up to b flat without effort, and with purest tone. the same may be said of the dom choir, for which mendelssohn wrote his motets. at my last visit to leipzig, i carried an introduction to dr. rust, trainer of the thomas church choir, but i was there just after whitsuntide, when the yearly shifting of classes had just taken place, and dr. rust, who wished me to hear his boys at their best, asked me not to come to a rehearsal. speaking generally, the voices of german boys are thinner than those of english boys, more like fifes than flutes. st. clement danes, strand. the choirmaster here, mr. f. j. knapp, is also master of the parish day school. here he insists on quiet singing, and stops coarseness directly. the boys are taught on the tonic sol-fa system, which, says mr. knapp, has alone enabled him to produce his results. some time ago at st. stephens, walworth, he was called upon to produce a choir in a week, and he did this, by nightly rehearsals, to the satisfaction of everyone. complete oratorios, with band, were frequently given by this choir of sol-faists. at st. clement danes he had to produce a choir in five days, and here again he succeeded by the use of tonic sol-fa. "our choir-boys," he says, "can now sing at sight almost anything i put before them. we never have more than two or three practices (one only, full) for the most difficult anthems we do. there is an anthem every sunday, a choral communion once a month, offertory sentences on alternate sundays, cantatas and oratorios at festivals." mr. knapp adopts the useful plan of "tuning-up" his boys before the morning service. flattening, when it occurs, is due, he considers, to damp weather, a cold church, &c. but he is rarely troubled with it. the boys' voice exercises are taken at the harmonium, first slow notes to "koo-ah," or to "oo-ay-ah-ee," or to a sentence containing consonants. this exercise is done both ascending and descending, but especially descending. he also uses the chromatic scale from b flat up to f:--[illustration: a music staff with a treble clef on the left. two quarter notes: b flat below the staff and f on the top line.] he tells the boys nothing about the registers, but watches constantly against shouting. salzungen choir. this (protestant) choir of men and boys is well-known in germany, and not only sings at salzungen, but occasionally makes tours, and gives concerts. herr mã¼hlfeld, the trainer, tells me that he takes the boys from 11 years of age upwards, and that before entering the choir they have a fair knowledge of notes, and can sing at sight. the voices are examined on entry, low ones being put to sing alto, and high ones being put to sing soprano. the boys have two lessons of an hour each per week, in which they practise exercises, _chorã¤le_, school songs, and church music. flattening, according to herr mã¼hlfeld, is due to (1) bad ear, (2) imperfect training, (3) fatigue of the voice. the boys are taught to listen to each note that they sing, and to make it blend with the instrument or the leading voice. in order to do this they must sing softly, and thus hear their neighbours' voices. the 3rd, 6th, 7th, and 8th tones of the scale are, says herr mã¼hlfeld, often sung flat, and exercises should be specially given to secure the intonation of these sounds. the boys must also learn the intervals, and whenever they appear to be tired a pause must be made. upton cross board school. this is not a church, but a boys' school, from which a good many choristers are drawn, and where excellent results have been obtained. the boys have often won prizes in choral competitions. mr. h. a. donald, the headmaster, tells me that he examines the voices of the boys one by one in his own room, once a year. those who can take g and a [illustration: musical notation] sweetly and easily are put down as first trebles. those who can go below c [illustration: musical notation] are altos. the rest are second trebles. he finds that after a year a boy's voice will often have changed--a treble become an alto, or vice versa. in modulator practice, and as far as possible in pieces of music, he keeps the trebles above [illustration: musical notation]. below this they get coarse. he never gives on the modulator an ascending passage which begins below this g. one may leap up, and come down by step, but not ascend by step. he uses mr. proudman's "voice-training exercises" (j. curwen & sons) for first trebles, and his contralto exercises for contraltos. coarseness he checks at once, and he silences boys whose voices are breaking. [illustration: decoration] chapter xiii. alto boys. how is the alto part, in a church choir consisting of males, to be sung? in our cathedrals this part has been given, ever since the restoration, to adult men, generally with bass voices singing in their "thin" register. for this voice our composers of the english cathedral school wrote, carrying the part much lower than they would have done if they had been writing for women or boy-singers. for this voice, also, handel wrote, and the listener at the handel festival cannot but feel the strength and resonance which the large number of men altos give to the harmony when the range of the part is low. the voice of the man alto, however, was never common, and is becoming less common than it was. it occupies a curious position, never having been recognised as a solo voice. i have heard of an exceptionally good man alto at birmingham who was accustomed to sing songs at concerts, but this is an isolated case. the voice seems to have been generally confined to choral music. this voice is entirely an english institution, unknown on the continent. historians say that after the restoration, when it was very difficult to obtain choir-boys, adult men learned to sing alto, and even low treble parts, in falsetto, in order to make harmony possible. let us concede at once that for music of the old cathedral school this voice is in place. the churches are, however, getting more and more eclectic, and are singing music from oratorios, cantatas, and masses that was composed for women altos, and is far too high in compass for men. we may admit that because the alto part lies so much upon the break into the thick or chest register of boys, it is very difficult to get them to sing it well. the dilemma is that in parish churches, especially in country places, the adult male alto is not to be had, and the choice is between boy altos, and no altos at all. there is no doubt, moreover, that the trouble of voice-management in boy altos can be conquered by watchfulness and care. at the present time there are, as the information i have collected shows, a number of very good cathedral and church choirs in which the alto part is being sustained by boys. * * * * * the following is from mr. james taylor, organist and choirmaster of new college, oxford:-"new college, oxford, _dec._ 13, 1890. "dear sir,--in reply to your letter, i can confidently recommend boy altos in parish or other choirs, provided they are carefully trained. we have introduced them into this choir for more than two years, and the experiment has fully come up to my expectations. we still retain two men altos in our choir, which now consists of the following:--fourteen trebles, four boy altos, two men altos, four tenors, and four basses. i find boy altos very effective in _modern_ church music, such as mendelssohn's anthems, &c., where the alto part is written much higher than is the case in the old cathedral music. "yours very truly, "james taylor." dr. garrett, organist of st. john's college, cambridge, writes:-"5, park side, cambridge, _dec._ 12, 1890. "dear mr. curwen,--i have had boy altos only in my choir for some years. i introduced them of necessity in the first instance. the stipend of a lay clerk was too small to attract any other than a local candidate, and no suitable man was to be found. if i could have really first-class adult altos in my choir i should not think of using boys' voices. at the same time there are some advantages on the side of boys' voices. "i. unless the adult alto voice is really pure and good, and its possessor a skilled singer, it is too often unbearable. "ii. under the most favourable conditions it is very rare, according to my experience, to find an alto voice retaining its best qualities after middle age. "iii. the alto voice is undoubtedly becoming rare. "on the other side you have to consider:-"i. the limitation of choice in music, as there is a good deal of 'cathedral music' in which the alto part is beyond the range of any boy's voice. "ii. a certain lack of _brightness_ in the upper part of such trios as those in 'by the waters of babylon' (boyce) 'the wilderness' (goss), and many like movements. "as regards the break question, the advantage, in my experience, is wholly on the boys' side. a well-trained boy will sing such a solo as 'o thou that tellest,' or such a passage as the following without letting his break be felt at all: [illustration: for thou hast been my hope, hast been my hope.] this passage,[b] which is from the anthem, 'hear my crying,' by weldon, i have heard sung by an adult alto, who broke badly between e flat and f. the effect was funny beyond description. in fact, if a boys' break is about c or d (3rd space or 4th line), and he [illustration: musical notation] is never allowed to practise above that, there will be no question of break arising. my alto boys can get a good round g, and five out of the six can go up without break to c. [illustration: musical notation] the advantage of this in chanting the psalms is obvious. what can an adult alto be expected to do in a case where the reciting note is close to his break? these are considerations which may fairly be taken into account even when the decision is to be made between _possible_ courses; when there _is_ a choice. in many cases there is none. it must be (as you say) boy alto, or no alto. i am quite sure that careful training is all that is needed to make boy altos most efficient members of a choir. or rather, i ought to say that careful selection and training are both needed. to take a young boy as an alto because he happens to have three or four raucous notes from, say, b flat to e flat [illustration: musical notation] while he has a bad break between e flat [illustration: musical notation] and f is, of course, to court failure. i prefer taking a boy whose break lies higher, and training his voice downwards. if, as a probationer, he can get a fairly good round b natural [illustration: musical notation] or b flat; lower notes can certainly be produced as he grows older.] "yours very truly, "george garrett." [b] i have transposed the passage from the alto clef.--j. s. c. * * * * * a remark may be interposed here that from a physiological point of view we must expect voices of different pitch in boys, just as in girls, women, and men. boys differ in height, size, and in the pitch of the speaking voice, which is a sure guide to the pitch of the singing voice. there is thus no physiological ground for supposing all boys to be trebles. * * * * * the following letter is from the rev. w. e. dickson, precentor of ely:-"the college, ely, _october 30th_, 1890. "_dear sir_,--i have much pleasure in replying to your note. if i resolved to do so in a few words i should be obliged to say that seldom indeed do i hear boy altos sing with sweet voices and true intonation, either in my own country, or in those foreign countries in which i am in the habit of taking my holidays. "but i should like to be allowed to explain that, in my opinion, the coarseness (at any rate) of boy-altos in english choirs is due to mismanagement by the choirmaster. his usual plan is to turn over to the alto part boys who are losing their upper notes by the natural failure of their soprano voices. this saves trouble, for such boys probably read music well enough, and they are simply told to 'sing alto,' and are left to do so without further training, until they can croak out no more ugly noises. surely this is quite a mistake. am i not right in maintaining that a perfect choir should consist of first trebles tenors second trebles basses well balanced as to numbers, and all singing with pure natural quality? if i am, then it follows that the second trebles should be precisely equal to the firsts in number and strength, and should include boys of various ages, as carefully selected and as assiduously trained as the others. i cannot but think--and, indeed, i perfectly well know--that where this has been done by a skilful teacher, whose heart is in his work, boy altos have been made to sing with sweetness and accuracy. "you will probably agree with me--though this is quite by the way--that secular music should be largely used by such a teacher. the part-songs of mendelssohn, for instance, should be trolled out by the two sets of boys, who may even interchange their parts at practice with the best results. but of course this is said only in reference to choirs of a high class. "i do not deny that even the best teaching and the best management will not secure quite the same _timbre_ which you get in choirs with falsetti in the alto part. a certain silvery sweetness is obtained from these voices to which our english ears have become accustomed, and which we should miss if boys, however well-trained, took their places. in the preces, versicles, litany, &c., of the english choral service, we should be conscious of a loss. in cathedrals, too, the complete shelving of some or even many compositions, favourites by long association, if not by intrinsic merit, would be inevitable. but i am unable to doubt for a moment that when the change had been made, and time had been given for the new order of things, under a thoroughly competent musician, we should not regret it. "at ely we have ten men in daily attendance; fourteen on sundays. we keep twenty boys in training. if this vocal body were thus distributed:- 10 first trebles 5 tenors (6 on sunday) 10 second trebles 5 basses (8 on sunday) we should certainly be stronger and healthier in tone and quality than we are now, with a disproportionate number of trebles, thus:- 20 trebles 3 [4] tenors 3 [4] altos 4 [6] basses as to rustic choirs in village churches, i fear the case is hopeless, and i myself should be glad to see editions of well-known hymn-tunes and chants in three parts only--treble, tenor, and bass. handel wrote some truly grand choruses in three parts in his 'chandos anthems.' but his tenor part is not for every-day voices! "believe me, truly yours, "w. e. dickson." * * * * * the following, from dr. haydn keeton, organist of peterborough cathedral, is against boy altos:-"thorpe road, peterborough, _december 12th, 1890_. "dear sir,--i have had about eighteen years' experience with alto boys, and although i have had some exceedingly good ones, one or two as good as it is possible, i think, to have, yet i must say that, in my opinion, it is a bad system to substitute boys for men, especially in cathedral music. the reason why the change was made here was that about the year 1872 three of our men altos were failing, and i happened to have three boys with good low voices, who took alto well. in consenting to this change i had no idea of its being a permanent one, but owing to the agricultural depression our chapter have been quite prevented doing what they would like to do with the choir. the general effect of the change has been this--that i have been always weak in trebles. we are limited to peterborough for our choristers, and, as a rule, there is not one boy in a hundred who knows even his notes when he enters the choir. it takes from eighteen months to two years for a boy to learn his work, and it is not until a boy is at least twelve that one can turn him into an alto. the result is that four of my senior boys have to be turned into altos, and i am left with a preponderance of young, inexperienced boys as trebles. at the present time i have twelve trebles, eight of whom are quite young. "in addition, see what extra work is involved in teaching the boys to sing alto. some boys do not take to alto very easily, and the extra work given to the altos means that quantity taken from the trebles. i am unable, in consequence, to give the necessary time to the elementary work that one ought to give. we can only get one hour's practice in the day, owing to the boys going to school. "then, again, as to tone. the tone of a choir with men altos, if they are at all fairly good, is so much superior to one with boy altos. in cathedral music so many anthems and services have trios for a.t.b. there is not one boy in a thousand who can sing the trio in 'o where shall wisdom' (boyce) with a tenor and bass effectively. and how many there are similar to that! "i do not see how boys could work at all in ordinary parish choirs, for here there are not the opportunities of teaching boys to read well at sight. it is only by daily practice that one can make anything of boys. "yours faithfully, "h. keeton." dr. frank bates, organist of norwich cathedral, has favoured me with a copy of a paper on the boy's voice, in which he says:-"the compass of a boy's voice when properly developed is from [illustration: c to a b[b] or c] the chest or lower register extends from [illustration: c to c or d] the head or upper register extends from [illustration: c or d to b[b] or c] no fixed compass can possibly be given to the different registers, as the older a boy becomes the lower the change occurs; the head register often being used as low down as a." [illustration: musical notation] in a letter to me dr. bates says:-"i quite think that, for ordinary parish church services, the effect of boy altos, if properly taught, is all that one can desire." in reply to my remark that the break comes in so awkwardly for boy altos, dr. bates says:-"i fail to understand the reason you quote for the non-usage of boy altos. there is no change whatever in a boy's voice, _in its normal state_, until [illustration: musical notation] is reached. if the change is made lower down all the brilliancy is taken out of a boy's voice. as a boy gets older he uses the upper register much lower down. i have known boys at the age of eighteen with lovely top notes but very poor chest register. in such cases, when a boy's top register commences at [illustration: g] i can quite understand the difficulty." there is evidently some conflict of nomenclature here, as the limits of the registers as given by dr. bates differ considerably from those which are usual. i am glad to learn that dr. bates is writing a book on "the voices of boys," which will no doubt clear up the subject. in the paper before me he recommends practice of the scales to such syllables as la, fa, ta, pa, in order to bring the tone well to the front of the mouth, and reinforce it by means of the soft upper palate. he recommends the teacher to train the boys to use the upper register by making them sing over and over again, _very softly_, the following notes:-[illustration: chest head ah....] here again the transition seems to me to be taken much too high. mr. frank sharp, of dundee, trainer of the celebrated children's choir, which has sung the treble and alto parts, both solos and choruses, of _messiah, st. paul_, and many cantatas, writes to me:-"in part-singing where there are boy trebles, the adult male alto voice has its charms. the contrast in quality between the open tone of the boys' voices and the condensed, sometimes squeaky sweetness of the man alto does not affect the blending, and helps the distinctness of parts. considering the growing scarcity of this latter voice, why not use boy altos? they can be made as effective as ordinary women altos, but they are as short-lived and need more attention than the boy trebles. their chief drawback is a tendency to produce tone without the least attention to quality or effect save that of noise. nevertheless, there is nothing to hinder boy altos doing all that is necessary, or, indeed, all that can be done by the adult male alto. i have trained boys to sing alto in _messiah_, _st. paul_, and equally trying music, during the past twenty years, and anyone else who keeps the girl's alto voice before him as a model can do the same. the boy alto voice may be said to have a husk and a kernel: the one strident, harsh, and overpowering; the other sweet, and, with use, rich and round. the average healthy boy, with his exuberant love of noise, will naturally give the husk, but the skilful voice-trainer will only accept the kernel, evolved from right register, good _timbre_, and proper production. seeing and hearing a process in voice-training is, however, more satisfactory than much writing and the reading thereof." * * * * * mr. w. w. pearson, master of a village school in norfolk, who is well-known by his excellent part-songs, writes to me:-"i succeed very well in getting boys to sing alto because i always use a large number of exercises in two parts, making each division of the class in turn take the lower part. i do not choose boys for altos on account of age. that, in my opinion, has nothing to do with it. i choose them by quality of voice. there is no break in the voice of the natural alto between]--[illustration: g and c] i find altos out generally when they are novices, by hearing them trying to sing with the others, and dropping down an octave in high passages." * * * * * the following interesting notes are by mr. w. critchley, organist, choirmaster, and schoolmaster in the village of hurst, near reading:-"i do not choose the elder boys as altos, as i find that treble boys, as a rule, are at their very best just before the change of voice. and moreover, when that change begins, the voice is so uncertain in its intonation that if the boy were put to sing alto he would be certain to drag the others down. at present i have one or two boys with round, mellow voices, who are very effective. unfortunately, most of the alto parts in hymn-tunes and chants hover about the place where the break in the voice occurs, and it requires a lot of practice to conquer the difficulty. as a rule, i get the alto boys to sing in the lower register. it is very seldom they get a note which they cannot take in this register, so i train it up a little, thus-[illustration: keys b to f[#]. d_1 t_2 l_2 t_2 d_1 r_1 m_1] i do not see any other way of getting over the uncertainty in the boy alto voice. it is merely a matter of time and trouble." * * * * * mr. j. c. e. taylor, choirmaster of st. mary's, penzance, and head-master of the national school, says:-"i have had one or two pure alto voices, and these are the best, but very rare. good voices of trebles unable to take [illustration: musical notation] (d) have often become fair alto voices, and my present solo alto boy is one of these. the trios in the anthems are taken by boy alto, tenor, and bass. these alto boys are practised from lower g to c--[illustration: musical notation] up and down, minding their _p's_ and _f's_. my trebles, as a rule, last until fifteen years of age, and altos until sixteen, and even seventeen." * * * * * mr. a. isaac, choirmaster of a church in liverpool, says:-"for the last twenty years i have been continuously engaged with male voice choirs in connection with churches too poor to pay for adult help, and, as you may readily guess, i have never yet had the good fortune to secure, for any length, the services of gentlemen who could sing falsetto effectively. i have had, therefore, to rely solely upon my boys for the alto part. at the present time my choir, which is allowed to be up to the mark amongst local liverpool churches, is made up of 22 boys (18 treble and 4 alto) paid, and 14 adults (5 tenors and 9 basses) voluntary. there is, i find, no royal road to the alto part. my course is as follows. i obtain my boys as soon as they are eleven, by which age they have been made fairly familiar at my school with the old notation on the movable _do_ plan. theoretical instruction is continued side by side with special voice-training exercises. occasionally i meet with a boy who has a true mezzo-soprano voice, and he is a treasure, but in the main my selections are boys with treble voices. as soon as a treble shows signs of voice breaking, i let him down into the alto part. the transition is not very difficult, for by this time the boy has become a fairly good sol-faist and reader. i have but to adapt the voice-training exercises to him in company with his fellows, and i have no reason to regret the issue. i take my boys always together, with two-part exercises." mr. stocks hammond, organist and choirmaster of st. barnabas, bradford, in a published paper on "boys' voices," says:-"during many years of choir training, i have experienced very great difficulty in supplying the alto parts with _good_ men's falsetto voices (especially in voluntary choirs), and i have therefore been compelled to have that part sung by boys, and experience leads me to prefer the boys' voices to men's, unless, indeed, they are real alto voices, which are seldom to be met with. i have never yet had any great difficulty in finding boys' voices capable of sustaining that part, and can always fill up any gaps that occur by the following means. whenever i find a treble begins to experience a difficulty in singing the upper notes, and that in order to sing them he must strain his voice, immediately he is put to sing alto, which he is in most cases able to do for one or two years, and during that time he is thus retained as a useful member of the choir; for otherwise he would very soon have been lost to it entirely, for nothing hastens so much the breaking of the voice as the habit of unduly straining it." mr. t. h. collinson, mus.b., organist of st. mary's cathedral, edinburgh, writes to me:-"boy altos are a fraud and a deception, as a rule, though occasionally one meets with a natural contralto at an early age. even then he can generally be worked up to treble by gentle treatment, developing the middle and falsetto registers." * * * * * in order to get to the bottom of this subject, i invited correspondence in the _musical standard_ (until recently the organ of the college of organists), and several interesting letters were the result. mr. r. t. gibbons, f.c.o., organist of the grocers' company's schools, where excellent performances of operettas are given, wrote:-"as soon as a boy's voice reaches only e[b] he is drafted into the altos, and that preserves his voice much longer." to this statement mr. fred. cambridge, organist of croydon parish church, took exception. he said:-"i do not wish to appear to dogmatise, but i should say 'as soon as a boy's voice reaches only e[b],' it is quite time he left off singing altogether, _i.e._, if his voice has previously been a treble. i know it is the custom in some choirs to make a boy sing alto as soon as his voice begins to break. in my opinion, such a course is utterly wrong. it is not only injurious to the boy's voice, but very unpleasant for those who have to listen to it. "in a school of 500 boys, there ought to be no difficulty in finding sufficient natural altos, without having to rely on broken-voiced trebles. "in my own choir i frequently admit altos at 10 or 11 years of age, with the result that i get five or six years' work out of them, and the latter part of their time they are available for alto solos. "i think (and i speak from upwards of 30 years' experience) that if mr. gibbons will try this plan, he will find it much more satisfactory than drafting his trebles into the altos as soon as their voices begin to break. "i do not enter into the question of men _versus_ boy altos, because it is my experience that in a voluntary choir, especially in the country, a really _good_ adult alto is such a _rara avis_, that one is obliged to rely on boys, and if they are carefully chosen and trained, they are, i think, quite satisfactory. the only place when one misses the man alto voice is in anthems with a verse for a.t.b., such as 'rejoice in the lord' (purcell), 'the wilderness' (goss), &c." mr. c. e. juleff, organist of bodmin parish church, wrote:-"allow me to say that i have found men altos infinitely preferable to those of boys. in short, one good man alto i have experienced to be equal to half-a-dozen boy altos as regards tone; and in respect to phrasing and reading i have found men altos decidedly superior. the two gentlemen altos who were in my choir at ss. michael and all angels, exeter, were acknowledged by london organists to be 'second to none' in the provinces." * * * * * on the other hand, mr. thomas ely, f.c.o., of st. john's college, leatherhead, gave a warm testimony to boy altos:-"i may say that in my choir at this college i have four or five very good boy altos. one is exceptionally good, possessing a natural alto voice of remarkable richness and beauty. in our services and anthems he takes the solo alto parts, and in my opinion he is far superior to a man alto, except in such anthems as wesley's 'ascribe unto the lord' (expressly written for choirs possessing men altos), in which he cannot take some of the lower notes. the compass of his voice is from f to e[b]." * * * * * in these letters and experiences there are evidently two underlying ideas. first, that the boy alto has a naturally low voice; second, that the boy alto is a broken-down soprano. for both these notions there is some physical foundation, because there is no doubt that the lower notes of boys of 12 to 14 are rounder and fuller than those of boys of 9 to 12. herr eglinger, of basel, to whose mastery of the subject in theory and practice i can testify, from personal intercourse, distinctly recognises this. he says:-"it is only when boys and girls approach the period of change, say a year or two before the voice begins to break, that a clear chest-voice, corresponding to that of women, is perceptible. in boys at this stage, the head-voice rapidly declines in volume and height; and what there is of middle register is not much, nor of great service much longer. on the other hand, the chest-tones acquire a resonance, and in boys a certain gruffness, which, mixed with other voices, imparts a peculiar charm to the chorus." thus although here and there a boy may be found with a naturally low voice from the first, the majority of altos will be obtained from older boys, who are approaching the period of change. it is, however, of much importance to watch these boys, and stop their singing when their voice really gives way, because it then becomes uncertain in its intonation, and is apt to spoil the tuning of the choir. * * * * * the idea that boys must not use the thick or chest register is also a mistake. it is the straining of this register, which produces a hard, rattling sound, that is objectionable. boy altos have as much right to use the chest register, in its proper place and with proper reserve of power, as women altos. [illustration: decoration] chapter xiv. schools for choristers. music is now recognised as one of the professions, taking its place by the side of law, medicine, and divinity. parents who have boys to start in life look for avenues of entrance to these various occupations. and there can be no doubt that to be a chorister-boy is one of the very best ways of serving an apprenticeship to music. hear what the late sir george macfarren says on the subject:-"a cathedral choir is the best cradle for a musician our country affords. i say this from the conviction, many times confirmed, that, as an average, by very far the best practical musicians, those i mean whose musical readiness gives them the air of having music as an instinct or of second nature, those who are ever prompt with their talent to produce or to perform without preparation at the requirement of the moment; those whose ears are quick, whose wits are sharp, and whose utmost ability is ever at their fingers' ends--are they who have passed their art infancy in one of our ecclesiastical arenas for constant practice. the very early habit of hearing and performing music stimulates the musical sense, and gives musical tendency to all the youthfully supple faculties which bear upon the use of this sense. the habit in almost first childhood of associating sight with sound, written characters with uttered notes, the office of the eye with that of the ear or of the voice, which is the ear's agent, does more in favourable cases to develop some of the best essentials in an artist, than can be accomplished by the unremitting study of after life. i say this feelingly: i had not the advantage to which i refer, but i observe its influence upon the majority of others whose talent claims my best respect." these words put the case with emphasis and truth. a list of former choir boys in the musical profession, if it could be compiled, would afford further evidence in this matter. among composers the list would include arthur sullivan, alfred cellier, john stainer, and alfred gaul; among singers, edward lloyd and joseph maas, while the ranks of the teaching profession are largely recruited from this source. "literature," says mr. herkomer, "does not help art much. art is learnt by doing." you cannot become a musician by reading the matter up, or listening to lectures. musicianship is imparted more after the style of a moral than of an intellectual power--like good breeding rather than like arithmetic. a striking proof of the fact that the chorister boy gravitates easily into the musical profession, and makes his mark there, is afforded by the history of rochester cathedral boys. these include the late mr. joseph maas, the tenor singer, and the following organists of cathedrals, all of whom are living:--dr. armes (durham), dr. crow (ripon), dr. bridge (westminster), dr. j. c. bridge (chester), and mr. wood (exeter). these facts make parents anxious for information as to how to get their sons into church and cathedral choirs. enquiries of this kind are constantly reaching me. i have therefore thought it well to add to the completeness of this work by collecting information from all available sources, and i have to express my thanks to the rev. precentors who have so readily responded to my circular of appeal. the result is in some respects disappointing. choir _boarding_ schools are not numerous, and are not increasing in number. the agricultural depression has reduced the revenues of cathedrals and colleges, and they are likely in the future to seek out cheaper rather than more expensive modes of working. a few town churches which place music in the front, have started boarding schools, but, as a rule, the choristers live in their homes. i have no desire for these boarding schools in the abstract. i question if the boys get more musical education by living together than they do by coming for it day by day. but the boarding school affords the only opportunity for parents who do not live in a cathedral town to get their boys educated as choristers. the day schools suit the townspeople well enough, and here and there a boy from a distance may board with relatives or friends and get into the choir, but this is exceptional. i now give the results of my enquiries. choir boarding schools. worcester cathedral choir school.--a preparatory school for the sons of professional men. boys admitted as probationers nine to eleven, on passing examination. the ten choristers and eight probationers are lodged, boarded, and taught together at the choir school. charge â£26 per annum for probationers, and â£16 for choristers, plus 7s. 6d. a quarter for washing. pianoforte lessons 15s. per quarter. boys can compete, when their voices break, for a scholarship at the cathedral grammar school. several have done this with success. apply rev. h. h. woodward, m.a., mus.b. westminster abbey choir house.--candidates must produce certificate of baptism and be at least eight years of age. expected to possess good voice, moderate knowledge of rudiments, to be able to read and write fairly, and to pass medical examination. all boys taught vocal music, and facilities given for learning instruments. master of choir house responsible for their general education, which includes english subjects, french, german, and drawing. parents must supply clothing, and usual appointments, school books, pocket money, travelling expenses, and medical attendance. all other fees paid by the chapter. exeter cathedral choir school.--fourteen choristers are boarded and educated for â£10 a year, and provided with a suit of clothes each year. there are always two probationers in the school from eight to ten years of age paying â£35 exclusive of usual extras. vacancies in choristers usually filled by probationers, but no pledge given. possible grants to deserving choristers when they leave; school fees sometimes paid for six months or so after the voice has failed. head master and experienced matron. all saints, margaret street, london, w.--twelve choir boys and two accepted boys waiting for vacancies live in west wing of vicarage under care of one of the clergy, who gives them lessons each morning, a certificated master taking them in the evenings. afternoon, cricket and football in regent's park. whole holiday saturdays, and those who live near enough can go home. vacations--a week in january and at easter, and 34 days in august and september. each boy separate cubicle in dormitory. boys have meals in dining hall with clergy (but at separate table). each boy pays â£12 in first year, â£8 in second year, and nothing afterwards. gratuity of â£10 when voice breaks. probationers pay â£5 per quarter, and do everything except sing in church. no boy received unless parents wish him to be brought up in church of england. correct ear and brilliant voice count more at examination than knowledge of music. apply vicar. chapel royal, st. james's palace.--the ten choristers reside with master, who is a priest of the chapel royal. free board and education and greater part of clothing. grant of from â£30 to â£40 on leaving choir if conduct good. latin, french, mathematics, and usual english subjects. oxford, magdalene college school.--sixteen choristers, board and education free. admitted by open competition. the school is not confined to choristers; it contains at present 70 boys, many of whom pass on to the university. oxford, new college.--eight senior and eight junior choristers take part in the services. these all receive free education at the college school, but provide their own books. they are prepared for oxford local examinations, the college paying fees. twelve choristers are boarded in the school house with the master. these are arranged in two divisions according to musical ability. the first division boarded free, the second division pays about 6s. a week for the 40 weeks of the school year. some fees paid to senior boys and boys of special value as soloists. choristers whose parents reside in oxford receive from 10s. to â£5 a year according to merit and seniority. gratuity or apprentice fee not exceeding â£40 occasionally given. frome, somerset.--st. john baptist college. founded by late rev. w. j. e. bennett 36 years ago. number of boys usually 15; maintained, clothed, and educated on payment of 7s. a week under twelve, and 8s. above. no regular holidays. boys not allowed to leave till they have made their first communion. lincoln minster.--boys boarded and educated at northgate schools at expense of chapter. english subjects, french, latin, german, drawing, shorthand, chemistry. all school books found. parents pay travelling, clothing, and washing only. small allowance of pocket-money. four weeks' holiday in the year. eastbourne, st. saviour's church choir school.--established 1878. boys admitted as boarders or day pupils from eight years of age, choristers (boarders) pay 32 guineas a year, day choristers 14 guineas. instrumental music, german, and drawing are extras. other subjects as for cambridge local exams. ten weeks' holiday in the year. scholarships of from â£5 to â£15 a year are awarded to efficient choristers. ripon cathedral choir school.--day boys under 14, â£6 per annum; over 14, â£8. boarders under 12, â£40 per annum; over 12, â£45. laundress, â£2. usual subjects, including modern languages and science. instrumental music extra. four choral scholarships at â£30, eight at â£25, and six for probationers at â£20. pupils prepared for university local examinations, preliminary law, and medical, &c. playground, workshop, cricket field, library, school magazine. st. paul's cathedral choir school.--board and education free: parents provide clothes, travelling, and pocket money. good voices and musical talent necessary. easy preliminary examination in scripture, three r's, and latin. candidates must be between 8 and 10. two or three examinations are held each year according as there are vacancies. course of study as usual for public schools. piano and violin extra. holidays at christmas, easter, and summer. weekly half-holiday. private field in suburbs for games. rev. w. russell, succentor, is head master. salisbury cathedral.--boarding school for choristers in the close. eighteen boys. parents pay â£15 a year. school has also some pupils who are not choristers. usual subjects of secondary school. one ex-chorister is now a scholar of trinity college, cambridge. the master is a minor canon. boys admitted by competition; those from neighbourhood of salisbury preferred. endowment of nearly â£1,000 a year for the choir. all saints, clifton.--choir school for the choristers of all saints church, who can be prepared for public schools or commercial life. there are twenty choir scholarships, ranging in value from â£10 to â£25 a year. a boy holding a junior scholarship may at any time be elected to one of higher value. school fees for choristers 7 to 10 guineas a term. choristers may remain at the school after voice breaks at discretion of head-master. holidays at summer, christmas, and easter. the school is open to boys generally, whether choristers or not. the vicar's choir school, hull.--intended for the choristers of holy trinity church. school fee, â£10 10s. per annum. boarders â£40 per annum. ten scholarships of the value of â£10 10s., ten value â£8 8s., and twenty value â£5 5s. amount of scholarship deducted from boarding fee in case of those who are admitted into choir. thirteen weeks' holiday during the year. oxford, christ church cathedral school.--boys are all sons of clergymen or other professional men. eight choristers educated, boarded, and lodged free of expense. eight probationers, who, if approved, become choristers as vacancies occur. probationary period usually from 2 to 2-1/2 years. probationers pay â£25 a year. a few extras, and fee of â£3 3s. on election of probationer to choristership. every boy is, if possible, passed through the oxford local examinations. month's holiday in summer, and short leave of absence either at christmas or easter, if particularly desired. election by competition after trial of voice and ear. winchester cathedral.--sixteen choristers sing in the services. these receive education free, a clothing gratuity of â£5 a year, and a leaving gratuity of from â£5 to â£20, according to merit and length of service. there are four boarding scholarships, which leave the parents only â£5 a year to pay. six of the choristers are foundation boys. of these, the two seniors receive â£4 a year, and the two juniors â£2 a year, but boarding scholarships and foundation money are not given to the same boys. there are also four to eight probationers who supply vacancies, if on second trial their voices are approved. these receive free education. there are sixty boys in the school. tenbury, st. michael's college.--founded by the late rev. sir frederick gore-ouseley in 1856. there are eight choristers, boarded and educated free. also eight probationers, from whom the choristers are selected, who pay 40 guineas a year. commoners, _i.e._, boys who do not hold scholarships, and are not probationers, pay 60 guineas a year; two or more brothers 55 guineas a year. preference is given in all elections to the sons of clergymen. thirteen weeks' holiday in the year. sound classical and mathematical education, to fit for scholarships and the higher forms at public schools. healthy situation, in country. education only. bristol cathedral.--boys attend cathedral grammar school, where there are 100 boys. gloucester cathedral.--boys educated and paid up to â£10 per annum. st. asaph.--boys educated at grammar school. wells.--boys educated at cathedral grammar school. york.--boys sent to archbishop holgate's school. truro.--probationers, after serving at least three months, may be admitted choristers, and receive small quarterly payment. from these are elected the "choir scholars," of whom there are now ten. these receive free education and a quarterly gratuity. one boy, with remarkable contralto voice, comes from a distance, and is boarded and educated at expense of dean and chapter. enlarged number of boarders contemplated. st. peter's, eaton square, london, w.--special day school with master. boys have midday dinner, with tea on practice and late service nights. boarding school formerly existed, but is given up. durham cathedral.--no boarding school. ely cathedral.--no boarding school. bangor.--choristers brought up in national or grammar school. temple church, london.--boys attend stationers' school. peterborough cathedral.--boys educated at king's school. chichester cathedral.--boys taught at prebendal school. inverness cathedral.--no boarding school. armagh cathedral.--a day school for the choir boys. hampton court, chapel royal.--no boarding school. newcastle-on-tyne cathedral.--no boarding school. manchester cathedral.--a special day school for the choir boys, taught by a lay clerk. eighteen to twenty boys receive education free, and four foundation boys receive â£20 per annum. the precentor likes to have the boys at nine. lichfield cathedral.--day school taught by a deputy lay clerk, the succentor taking latin, english, and divinity. dublin, st. patrick's cathedral.--no boarding school. perth cathedral.--no school. lincoln's inn.--choristers educated, but not boarded. norwich cathedral.--no boarding school. carlisle cathedral.--no boarding school. rochester cathedral.--boys live at home, and attend cathedral school, which is not especially for choristers. liverpool cathedral.--no boarding school. southwell minster.--no boarding school. st. alban's cathedral.--no boarding school. from these particulars it will be gathered that the prevailing custom is for chorister boys to live at home and give their voices in return for free education. the various boarding schools described differ much in the terms they offer, and it may be said generally that only an exceptionally good voice and a personal introduction are likely to succeed in those cases where free board and education are given. the number of candidates is so large that selection is difficult. [illustration: decoration] chapter xv. concert songs for boys. in this list i have included songs with innocent, hopeful, joyous words such as boys may honestly sing. words dwelling with sadness on the past, or speaking of life as bitter, i have excluded. convivial and amatory sentiments have also been ruled out. as to the music, i have excluded songs with difficulties of vocalisation. the keys chosen are those best suited to treble boys, bringing the melody as nearly as possible between f and f{1}, with an occasional g{1}. the list is by no means exhaustive, and must be regarded merely as a dip in the ocean of ballads. i shall be much obliged to correspondents who will suggest suitable additions. composer. title and key. publisher. abt, franz ... o little thrush (c) ... r. cocks adams, stephen ... song of the sailor boy (e flat) r. cocks adams, stephen ... the cry of the little ones (e flat).... boosey addison, r. b. ... violets (f) ... stanley lucas allen, g. b. ... the little drummer (f) ... ashdown almond, e. ... buttercups and daisies (d) ... ashdown anderton, t. ... the bells of shandon (d) ... chappell andrã©, f. a. ... a british cheer for england's queen (f) ... chappell bailey, w. j. ... make-believes (e flat) ... ashdown barker, geo. ... a health to the outward-bound (b flat) ... chappell barnby, joseph ... an evening melody (f) ... morley barnby, joseph ... that haven fair (e flat) ... morley barnett, j. f. ... the minstrel (g) ... stanley lucas barri, odoardo ... in the cloisters (b flat) ... morley barri, odoardo ... the beauteous song (f) ... cramer barri, odoardo ... the child and the flowers (e flat) ... ashdown behrend, a. h. ... gentleman jack (c) ... patey & willis behrend, a. h. ... the angel's promise (f) ... boosey behrend, a. h. ... the gift (f) ... boosey behrend, a. h. ... two children (a) ... patey & willis bennett, sterndale ... dawn, gentle flower ... novello bevan, fred ... gladsome tidings (e flat) ... patey & willis bevan, fred ... i'll be a soldier, mother (a) ... patey & willis bevan, fred ... the admiral's broom (f minor) ... enoch bishop, r ... chime again, beautiful bells (b flat) ... r. cocks botterhill, jessie ... pack clouds away (c) ... stanley lucas botterhill, jessie ... the lark (f) ... stanley lucas buck, dudley ... when the heart is young ... boosey cherry, j. w. ... gentle spring (g) ... ashdown cherubini ... ave maria ... chesham, e. m. ... fire (g) ... cramer cobb, g. f. ... mary, queen of scots ... london music pub. co. cobb, g. f. ... versailles ... london music pub. co. cobb, g. f. ... kenilworth ... metzler costa, michael ... morning prayer [_eli_](alto) ... j. williams cowen, f. h. ... children's dreams (e minor) ... r. cocks cowen, f. h. ... the children's home (d) ... morley cowen, f. h. ... tears (alto) ... cowen, f. h. ... the watchman and the child (f) ... morley coward, j. m. ... the butterfly and the humble bee ... metzler & co. davis, miss ... what is that, mother? (a flat) ... ashdown dick, cotsford ... the angel's gift (f) ... morley diehl, louis ... dear england (c) ... r. cocks elmore, frank ... child and the sunbeams (c) ... stanley lucas farebrother, b. ... reine d'amour ... flood, edwin ... the gipsy's life (c) ... r. cocks foster, m. b. the mother's grave (e minor) [alto] stanley lucas frost, c. j. ... youthful songs ... novello gabriel, v. children's voices [alto] ... gatty, a. s. ... three little pigs (a flat) ... r. cocks gibsone, ignace ... the man-o'-war's man (d) ... patey & willis gilletto, paul ... lead, kindly light (a minor) ... phillips & page glover, stephen ... the flower gatherers (e) ... r. cocks gounod, c. ... for ever with the lord (d) ... phillips & page gounod, c. ... glory to thee, my god (d) ... phillips & page gounod, c. ... the king of love (e flat) [alto] ... phillips & page grazia, e. n. ... laugh while you may (d) ... ashdown greenhill, j. ... the canadian herd-boy (f) [alto] ... stanley lucas gyde, margaret ... the song of the robin (d) ... ashdown hatton, j. l. ... the cause of england's greatness (f) ... r. cocks hatton, j. l. ... song should breathe of scents and flowers ... ashdown hatton, j. l. ... blossoms ... ashdown hawthorne, alice ... hearth and home (g) ... r. cocks hecht, e. ... the innocent child (c) ... stanley lucas hobson, m. ... the peaceful sabbath bell (f) ... chappell horner, b. w. ... in the cloisters (e flat) ... stanley lucas jackson, j. ... cathedral memories (e flat) ... morley kjerulf, halfdan ... asleep (e) ... stanley lucas lemoine, e. ... the ship-boy's prayer (c min.) [alto] ... stanley lucas liebe, louis ... the stripling's armour (c minor) ... stanley lucas lã¶hr, f. n. ... suffer the little children (f) ... cramer maccabe, f. ... buttercups and daisies (d) ... chappell mackenzie, h. ... the lion flag of england (g) ... patey & willis marzials, theo ... the fairy jane (b flat) ... enoch mendelssohn ... the savoyard's return ... novello moffat, douglas ... the child's prayer (f) ... stanley lucas moir, f. l. ... children asleep (f) ... boosey moir, f. l. ... he will forgive (c) ... r. cocks molloy, j. l. ... home, dearie, home (f) ... boosey molloy, j. l. ... the little match girl (g minor) ... chappell molloy, j. l. ... the sailor's dance ... boosey molloy, j. l. ... dresden china ... boosey morgan, franz ... a fairer garden (c) ... cramer offenbach ... spring, spring _(babil and bijou)_ ... parker, henry ... jerusalem (g) ... cramer pattison, t. mee ... blossoms, fair blossoms ... curwen piccolomini, m. ... dolorosa ... orsborn piccolomini, m. ... eternal rest ... orsborn piccolomini, m. ... in manus tuas (f) ... morley piccolomini, m. ... ora pro nobis ... orsborn piccolomini, m. ... salva nos, domine ... orsborn piccolomini, m. ... sancta maria ... orsborn piccolomini, m. ... the soldier of the cross ... orsborn piccolomini, m. ... the two choirs ... orsborn pinsuti, ciro ... heaven's chorister (c) ... r. cocks pinsuti, ciro ... the old cathedral (d) ... morley pinsuti, ciro ... the touch of a vanished hand (g) ... cramer pinsuti, ciro ... welcome, pretty primrose ... ricordi randegger, a. ... save me, o god (b flat) ... stanley lucas randegger, a. ... joyous life ... rawlings, a. j. ... the distant city [alto] ... marshall robinson, j. ... a hush song (f) ... j. williams rodney, paul ... alone on the raft (g) ... enoch rodney, paul ... calvary (d) ... enoch rodney, paul ... the bells of st mary's (d) ... enoch rodney, paul ... via dolorosa (g) ... enoch rodwell, g. h. ... your boy in blue (f) ... r. cocks roeckel, j. l. ... captain dando (e flat) ... enoch roeckel, j. l. ... crowning the seasons (d) ... r. cocks roeckel, j. l. ... hark! the dogs do bark! (a) ... cramer richards, brinley ... let the hills resound (e flat) ... r. cocks richards, brinley ... mother, thou art far away (f) ... r. cocks smallwood, w. ... a song for the land i love (c) ... chappell smart, henry ... victoria (b flat) ... r. cocks smart, henry ... by the blue sea [alto] ... metzler smart, henry ... dropping down the troubled river ... novello smart, henry ... the birds were telling one another (f) ... ashdown somervell, arthur ... four songs of innocence ... stanley lucas songs for boys (20 songs, price 6d.) ... ... boosey songs for young girls (18 songs, 1s.) ... ... boosey stericker, a. c. ... the ivy green (b flat) [alto] ... stanley lucas street, a. ... the birdie's ball (d) ... r. cocks streleski, anton ... violets (g) ... r. cocks sullivan, a. s. ... the chorister (alto) ... metzler sullivan, a. s. ... what does little birdie say ... ashdown sullivan, a. s. ... the sailor's grave (e flat) ... ashdown tours, berthold ... jesu, lover of my soul (d) ... r. cocks tours, berthold ... the dog and the shadow (g) ... r. cocks tours, berthold ... the new kingdom (d) ... morley trotã©re, h. ... three men in a boat (c) ... r. cocks wallace, w. v. ... scenes that are brightest (f) ... hutchings walsh, marian ... the sailor boy (c) ... stanley lucas watson, m. ... an englishman's house is his castle (c) ... r. cocks watson, m. ... little birdie mine (d) ... ashdown watson, m. ... little lady bountiful (f) ... ashdown watson, m. ... loved and saved (b flat) ... enoch watson, m. ... our dear old home (d) ... patey & willis watson, m. ... the powder-monkey (g) ... patey & willis watson, m. ... there's a friend for little children (a) ... patey & willis watson, m. ... trafalgar (e flat) ... patey & willis watson, m. ... two bells (g) ... patey & willis west, j. e. ... the roseate hues (alto) ... ashdown west, w. ... i am a honey-bee (g) ... ashdown wrightson, w. t. ... be happy, and never despair (g) ... r. cocks wrightson, w. t. ... cottage and throne (e flat) ... r. cocks old song ... sir guy of warwick (f) ... chappell " ... the minstrel boy ... boosey " ... charlie is my darling ... boosey " ... love was once a little boy ... boosey .... ... the skipper and his boy (f) ... hutchings index. page abuse of the voice, 1 agricultural districts, 49 alto boys, 75 altos, adult male, 75 balance of parts, 16 barnes, rev. w. m., 23 barnicott, mr., 15 bates, dr. frank, 81 behnke, mr., 14, 17 berlin, st. mary's, 71 boarding schools, choir, 92 breaking of the boy's voice, 3 breath, management of the, 6, 67 breden, mr. owen, 71 bridge, dr., 60 brooks, mr. walter, 15, 34 cambridge, mr. f., 87 canterbury cathedral, 64 cathedral choirmasters, 59 change to man's voice, 3 chanting, 62 chapel royal, st. james's, 59 chest voice, 24 choir guild, 9 choosing boys, 21 choristers, schools for, 90 churchill, 52 clement danes, st., strand, 72 clergyman's daughter, the, 55 cold, singing during a, 2 collar-bone breathing, 6 collinson, mr. t. h., 17, 86 concert songs for boys, 99 consonants, 27 country boys, 49 creser, dr., 69 critchley, mr. w., 49, 84 curwen, john, register names, 12 day schools, choir, 96 deacon, mr. h., 27 demack, miss, 52 diaphragm breathing, 6 dickson, rev. w. e., 25, 78 discipline, preserving, 8 donald, mr. h. a., 33, 74 dunn, sinclair, voice exs., 13 edinburgh, st. mary's, 17, 86 eglinger, herr, 15, 35, 88 ely, mr. thomas, 88 ely, the choir at, 78 "e," the vowel, 17 evans, mr., 50 feeble voice, a, 1 fines, 17 flattening, 31, 32 garrett, dr., 76 gaul, mr. a. r., 66 gibbons, mr. r. t., 86 gilbert, mr. bernard, 3, 16 girls, imitating, 50, 53 hammond, mr. stocks, 16, 86 health and singing, 2 helmore, rev. f. j., 23 helmore, rev. thomas., 59 hibberd, mr. c., 34, 57 hopkins, dr. e. j., 61 husband, rev. e., 10 indistinctness, 27 infant school, the, 42 intoning, 17, 52 isaac, mr. a., 85 juleff, mr. c. e., 87 keeton, dr. haydn, 67, 80 knapp, mr. f. j., 72 lady teachers, 52 leeds parish church, 69 lincoln cathedral, 62 lincoln's inn chapel, 61 lloyd, dr. c. h., 63 longhurst, dr., 65 long services, 8 macfarren, sir george, 90 mackenzie, sir morell, 3 managing choir boys, 8 mann, rev. w., 24 mark's, st., chelsea, 71 martin, dr. g. c., 2 mental effects, 32, 34 mixed schools, 32 mã¼hlfeld, herr, 73 norfolk voices, 56 norwich, dr. buck at, 66 o'rell, max, 8 oxford, christ church, 63 parbery, mr. george, 53 parish church choirmasters, 69 paul's, st., cathedral, 59 pearson, mr. w. w., 33, 56, 84 peter's, st., eaton square, 9, 70 pianoforte for rehearsal, 32 prizes for choir boys, 9 pronunciation in singing, 27, 46 puberty, age of, 3 registers, the, 12 rib breathing, 6 richardson, mr. w. h., 35, 40 roberti, signor, 36 roney, mr. h. b., 9, 16 rural districts, 49 salisbury cathedral, 67 salisbury diocese, 23 salzungen choir, 73 saxton, mr. r. h., 3, 19 schools for choristers, 90 school teacher, the, 41 sentiment about choir boys, 11 sergison, mr. de manbey, 9, 70 sharpening, 35 sharp, mr. frank, 83 sight-singing, 30 singing by ear, 29 singing by note, 29 singing out of tune, 31 songs for boys, 99 south, mr. c. l., 67 stainer, sir john, 13 steggall, dr., 61 stewart, rev. c. h., 25 stone, alfred, 29 strakosch, m., 15 swanley boys, 35, 40 taylor, mr. james, 76 taylor, mr. j. c. e., 20, 85 temper, uncontrolled, 10 temple church, 61 thick register, 12, 89 thin register, 12 tonic sol-fa certificates, 9, 20, 29, 47 tonic sol-fa system, 30, 50, 51, 53, 57, 70, 73 training of boys' voices, 40 tuning boys up, 16, 73 upton cross school, 74 voice training, 12 weekes, rev. w. j., 35 westminster abbey, 60 working class boys, 10 yorkshire voices, 14 young, mr. j. w. m., 26, 62 the psychology of singing a rational method of voice culture based on a scientific analysis of all systems, ancient and modern by david c. taylor new york 1922 all rights reserved copyright, 1908, by the macmillan company. new york--boston--chicago--atlanta--san francisco macmillan & co., limited london--bombay--calcutta--melbourne the macmillan co. of canada, ltd. toronto set up and electrotyped. published november, 1908. norwood press: berwick & smith co., norwood, mass., u.s.a. to my mother whose devotion to truth and earnest labor has prompted all my efforts this work is affectionately dedicated preface a peculiar gap exists between the accepted theoretical basis of instruction in singing and the actual methods of vocal teachers. judging by the number of scientific treatises on the voice, the academic observer would be led to believe that a coherent science of voice culture has been evolved. modern methods of instruction in singing are presumed to embody a system of exact and infallible rules for the management of the voice. teachers of singing in all the musical centers of europe and america claim to follow a definite plan in the training of voices, based on established scientific principles. but a practical acquaintance with the modern art of voice culture reveals the fact that the laws of tone-production deduced from the scientific investigation of the voice do not furnish a satisfactory basis for a method of training voices. throughout the entire vocal profession, among singers, teachers, and students alike, there is a general feeling of the insufficiency of present knowledge of the voice. the problem of the correct management of the vocal organs has not been finally and definitely solved. voice culture has not been reduced to an exact science. vocal teachers are not in possession of an infallible method of training voices. students of singing find great difficulty in learning how to use their voices. voice culture is generally recognized as entitled to a position among the exact sciences; but something remains to be done before it can assume that position. there must be some definite reason for the failure of theoretical investigation to produce a satisfactory science of voice culture. this cannot be due to any present lack of understanding of the vocal mechanism on the part of scientific students of the subject. the anatomy and physiology of the vocal organs have been exhaustively studied by a vast number of highly trained experts. so far as the muscular operations of tone-production are concerned, and the laws of acoustics bearing on the vocal action, no new discovery can well be expected. but in this very fact, the exhaustive attention paid to the mechanical operations of the voice, is seen the incompleteness of vocal science. attention has been turned exclusively to the mechanical features of tone-production, and in consequence many important facts bearing on the voice have been overlooked. in spite of the general acceptance of the doctrines of vocal science, tone-production has not really been studied from the purely scientific standpoint. the use of the word "science" presupposes the careful observation and study of all facts and phenomena bearing in any way on the subject investigated. viewed in this light, the scientific study of the voice is at once seen to be incomplete. true, the use of the voice is a muscular operation, and a knowledge of the muscular structure of the vocal organs is necessary to an understanding of the voice. but this knowledge alone is not sufficient. like every other voluntary muscular operation, tone-production is subject to the psychological laws of control and guidance. psychology is therefore of equal importance with anatomy and acoustics as an element of vocal science. there is also another line along which all previous investigation of the voice is singularly incomplete. an immense fund of information about the vocal action is obtained by attentive listening to voices, and in no other way. yet this important element in vocal science is almost completely neglected. in order to arrive at an assured basis for the art of voice culture, it is necessary in the first place to apply the strictest rules of scientific investigation to the study of the voice. a definite plan must be adopted, to include every available source information. first, the insight into the operations of the voice, obtained by listening to voices, must be reviewed and analyzed. second, the sciences of anatomy, mechanics, acoustics, and psychology must each contribute its share to the general fund of information. third, from all the facts thus brought together the general laws of vocal control and management must be deduced. before undertaking this exhaustive analysis of the vocal action it is advisable to review in detail every method of instruction in singing now in vogue. this may seem a very difficult task. to the casual observer conditions in the vocal world appear truly chaotic. almost every prominent teacher believes himself to possess a method peculiarly his own; it would not be easy to find two masters who agree on every point, practical as well as theoretical. but this confusion of methods is only on the surface. all teachers draw the materials of their methods from the same sources. an outline of the history of voice culture, including the rise of the old italian school and the development of vocal science, will render the present situation in the vocal profession sufficiently clear. part i of this work contains a review of modern methods. in part ii a critical analysis is offered of certain theories of the vocal action which receive much attention in practical instruction. several of the accepted doctrines of vocal science, notably those of breath-control, chest and nasal resonance, and forward placing of the tone, are found on examination to contain serious fallacies. more important even than the specific errors involved in these doctrines, the basic principle of modern voice culture is also found to be false. all methods are based on the theory that the voice requires to be directly and consciously managed in the performance of its muscular operations. when tested by the psychological laws of muscular guidance, this theory of mechanical tone-production is found to be a complete error. part iii contains a summary of all present knowledge of the voice. first, the insight into the singer's vocal operations is considered, which the hearer obtains by attentive listening to the tones produced. this empirical knowledge, as it is generally called, indicates a state of unnecessary throat tension as the cause, or at any rate the accompaniment, of every faulty tone. further, an outline is given of all scientific knowledge of the voice. the anatomy of the vocal organs, and the acoustic and mechanical principles of the vocal action, are briefly described. finally, the psychological laws of tone-production are considered. it is seen that under normal conditions the voice instinctively obeys the commands of the ear. in part iv the information about the vocal action obtained from the two sources is combined,--the scientific knowledge of mechanical processes, and the empirical knowledge derived from attentive listening to voices. throat stiffness is then seen to be the one influence which can interfere with the instinctively correct action of the voice. the most important cause of throat stiffness is found in the attempt consciously to manage the mechanical operations of the voice. in place of the erroneous principles of mechanical instruction, imitation is seen to be the rational foundation of a method of voice culture. the mystery surrounding the old italian method is dispelled so soon as the possibility is recognized of teaching singing by imitation. practical rules are outlined for imparting and acquiring the correct use of the voice, through the guidance of the sense of hearing. the singer's education is considered in its broadest sense, and training in tone-production is assigned to its proper place in the complex scheme of voice culture. during the past twenty years the author has found opportunity to hear most of the famous singers who have visited america, as well as a host of artists of somewhat lesser fame. in his early student days the conviction grew that the voice cannot reach its fullest development when mechanically used. siegfried does not forge his sword, and at the same time think of his diaphragm or soft palate. lucia cannot attend to the movements of her arytenoid cartilages while pouring out the trills and runs of her mad scene. a study of the theoretical works on vocal science, dealing always with mechanical action and never with tone, served only to strengthen this conviction. finally the laws of physiological psychology were found to confirm this early belief. every obtainable work on voice culture has been included in the author's reading. no desire must be understood to make a display of the results of this study. one citation from a recognized authority, or in some cases two or three, is held sufficient to verify each statement regarding the accepted doctrines of vocal science. as for the practical features of modern methods, the facts alleged cannot in every case be substantiated by references to published works. it is, however, believed that the reader's acquaintance with the subject will bear out the author's statements. this work is of necessity academic in conception and in substance. its only purpose is to demonstrate the falsity of the idea of mechanical vocal management, and to prove the scientific soundness of instruction by imitation. there is no possibility of a practical manual of instruction in singing being accepted, based on the training of the ear and the musical education of the singer, until the vocal world has been convinced of the error of the mechanical idea. when that has been accomplished this work will have served its purpose. all of the controversial materials, together with much of the theoretical subject matter, will then be superfluous. a concise practical treatise can then be offered, containing all that the vocal teacher and the student of singing need to know about the training and management of the voice. it is in great measure due to the coöperation of my dear friend, charles leonard-stuart, that my theory of voice production is brought into literary form, and presented in this book. to his thorough musicianship, his skill and experience as a writer of english, and especially to his mastery of the bookman's art, i am deeply indebted. true as i know leonard-stuart's love to be for the art of pure singing, i yet prefer to ascribe his unselfish interest in this work to his friendship for the author. contents part i modern methods of instruction in singing chapter i tone-production and voice culture chapter ii breathing and breath-control chapter iii registers and laryngeal action chapter iv resonance chapter v empirical materials of modern methods chapter vi a general view of modern voice culture part ii a critical analysis of modern methods chapter i mechanical vocal management as the basis of voice culture chapter ii the fallacy of the doctrine of breath-control chapter iii the fallacies of forward emission, chest resonance, and nasal resonance chapter iv the futility of the materials of modern methods chapter v the error of the theory of mechanical vocal management part iii the basis of a real science of voice chapter i the means of empirical observation of the voice chapter ii sympathetic sensations of vocal tone chapter iii empirical knowledge of the voice chapter iv the empirical precepts of the old italian school chapter v empirical knowledge in modern voice culture chapter vi scientific knowledge of the voice part iv vocal science and practical voice culture chapter i the correct vocal action chapter ii the causes of throat stiffness and of incorrect vocal action chapter iii throat stiffness and incorrect singing chapter iv the true meaning of vocal training chapter v imitation the rational basis of voice culture chapter vi the old italian method chapter vii the disappearance of the old italian method and the development of mechanical instruction chapter viii the materials of rational instruction in singing chapter ix outlines of a practical method of voice culture bibliography chapter i tone-production and voice culture in no other form of expression do art and nature seem so closely identified as in the art of singing. a perfect voice speaks so directly to the soul of the hearer that all appearance of artfully prepared effect is absent. every tone sung by a consummate vocal artist seems to be poured forth freely and spontaneously. there is no evidence of calculation, of carefully directed effort, of attention to the workings of the voice, in the tones of a perfect singer. yet if the accepted idea of voice culture is correct, this semblance of spontaneity in the use of the voice can result only from careful and incessant attention to mechanical rules. that the voice must be managed or handled in some way neither spontaneous nor instinctive, is the settled conviction of almost every authority on the subject. all authorities believe also that this manner of handling the voice must be acquired by every student of singing, in the course of carefully directed study. this training in the use of the voice is the most important feature of education in singing. voice culture embraces a peculiar and distinct problem, that of the correct management of the vocal organs. vocal training has indeed come to be considered synonymous with training in the correct use of the voice. every method of instruction in singing must contain as its most important element some means for dealing with the problem of tone-production. no complete and satisfactory solution of this problem has ever been found. of this fact every one acquainted with the practical side of voice culture must be well aware. as the present work is designed solely to suggest a new manner of dealing with this question, it is advisable to define precisely what is meant by the problem of tone-production. in theory the question may be stated very simply. it is generally believed throughout the vocal profession that the voice has one correct mode of action, different from a wide variety of incorrect actions of which it is capable;--that this mode of action, though ordained by nature, is not in the usual sense natural or instinctive;--that the correct vocal action must be acquired, through a definite understanding and conscious management of the muscular movements involved. the theoretical problem therefore is: what is the correct vocal action, and how can it be acquired? on the practical side, the nature of the problem is by no means so simple. in actual instruction in singing, the subject of vocal management cannot readily be dissociated from the wide range of other topics comprised in the singer's education. in much that pertains to the art of music, the singer's training must include the same subjects that form the training of every musician. in addition to this general musical training, about the same for all students of music, each student must acquire technical command of the chosen instrument. this is necessarily acquired by practice on the instrument, whether it be piano, violin, oboe, or whatever else. in the same way, vocal technique is acquired by practice in actual singing. practice makes perfect, with the voice as with everything else. but the voice is not invariably subject to the law that practice makes perfect. in this important respect the singer's education presents a problem not encountered by the student of any instrument. given the necessary talents, industry, and opportunities for study, the student of the violin may count with certainty on acquiring the mastery of this instrument. but for the vocal student this is not necessarily true. there are many cases in which practice in singing does not bring about technical perfection. the mere singing of technical exercises is not enough; it is of vital importance that the exercises be sung in some particular manner. there is one certain way in which the voice must be handled during the practice of singing. if the vocal organs are exercised in this particular manner, the voice will improve steadily as the result of practice. this progress will continue until perfect technical command of the voice is acquired. but if the vocal student fails to hit upon this particular way of handling the voice in practice the voice will improve little, or not at all. in such a case perfect vocal technique will never be acquired, no matter how many years the practice may continue. what is this peculiar way in which the voice must be handled during the practice of singing? this is the practical problem of tone-production, as it confronts the student of singing. it is important that the exact bearing of the problem be clearly understood. it is purely a feature of education in singing, and concerns only teachers and students of the art. properly speaking, the finished singer should leave the teacher and start on the artistic career, equipped with a voice under perfect control. there should be no problem of tone-production for the trained singer, no thought or worry about the vocal action. true, many authorities on the voice maintain that the artist must, in all singing, consciously and intelligently guide the operations of the vocal organs. but even if this be the case the fact remains that this ability to manage the voice must be acquired during student days. in seeking a solution of the problem, that period in the prospective singer's training must be considered during which the proper use of the voice is learned. it may be taken for granted that teachers of singing have always been aware of the existence of the problem of tone-production, and have always instructed their pupils in the correct management of the voice. yet it is only within the past hundred and fifty years that vocal management has been the subject of special study. a brief review of the history of voice culture will serve to bring this fact out clearly. to begin with, the present art of singing is of comparatively recent origin. it is indeed probable that man had been using the voice in something akin to song for thousands of years before the dawn of history. song of some kind has always played an important part in human life, savage as well as civilized. to express our emotions and feelings by means of the voice is one of our most deep-seated instincts. for this use of the voice to take on the character of melody, as distinguished from ordinary speech, is also purely instinctive. singing was one of the most zealously cultivated arts in early egypt, in ancient israel, and in classic greece and rome. throughout all the centuries of european history singing has always had its recognized place, both in the services of the various churches and in the daily life of the people. but solo singing, as we know it to-day, is a comparatively modern art. not until the closing decades of the sixteenth century did the art of solo singing receive much attention, and it is to that period we must look for the beginnings of voice culture. it is true that the voice was cultivated, both for speech and song, among the greeks and romans. gordon holmes, in his _treatise on vocal physiology and hygiene_ (london, 1879), gives an interesting account of these ancient systems of voice culture. but practically nothing has come down to us about the means then used for training the voice. even if any defined methods were developed, it is absolutely certain that these had no influence on the modern art of voice culture. with the birth of italian opera, in 1600, a new art of singing also came into existence. the two arts, opera and singing, developed side by side, each dependent on the other. and most important to the present inquiry, the art or science of training voices also came into being. in _le revoluzioni del teatro musicale italiano_ (venice, 1785), arteaga says of the development of opera: "but nothing contributed so much to clarify italian music at that time as the excellence and the abundance of the singers." a race of singing masters seems almost to have sprung up in italy. these illustrious masters taught the singers to produce effects with their voices such as had never been heard of before. from 1600 to 1750 the progress of the art of singing was uninterrupted. each great teacher carried the art a little further, discovering new beauties and powers in the voice, and finding means to impart his new knowledge to his pupils. this race of teachers is known to-day as the old italian school, and their system of instruction is called the old italian method. just what this method consisted of is a much-discussed question. whatever its system of instruction, the old italian school seems to have suffered a gradual decline. in 1800 it was distinctly on the wane; it was entirely superseded, during the years from 1840 to 1865, by the modern scientific methods. considered as a practical system of voice culture, the old italian method is a highly mysterious subject. little is now known about the means used for training students of singing in the correct use of the voice. this much is fairly certain: the old masters paid little or no attention to what are now considered scientific principles. they taught in what modern vocal theorists consider a rather haphazard fashion. the term "empirical" is often applied to their method, and to the knowledge of the voice on which it was based.[1] but as to what the old masters actually knew about the voice, and just how they taught their pupils to sing, on these points the modern world is in almost complete ignorance. many attempts have been made in recent years to reconstruct the old italian method in the light of modern scientific knowledge of the voice. but no such analysis of the empirical system has ever been convincing. [note 1: "the old italian method of instruction, to which vocal music owed its high condition, was purely empirical." (emma seiler, _the voice in singing_. phila., 1886.)] how the practical method of the old masters came to be forgotten is perhaps the most mysterious feature of this puzzling system. there has been a lineal succession of teachers of singing, from the earlier decades of the eighteenth century down to the present. even to-day it is almost unheard of that any one should presume to call himself a teacher of singing without having studied with at least one recognized master. each master of the old school imparted his knowledge and his practical method to his pupils. those of his pupils who in their turn became teachers passed the method on to their students, and so on, in many unbroken successions. yet, for some mysterious reason, the substance of the old method was lost in transmission. what little is now known about the old method is derived from two sources, the written record and tradition. to write books in explanation of their system of instruction does not seem to have occurred to the earliest exponents of the art of voice culture. the first published work on the subject was that of pietro francesco tosi, _osservazione sopra il canto figurato_, brought out in bologna in 1723. this was translated into english by m. galliard, and published in london in 1742; a german translation by j. f. agricola was issued in 1757. the present work will call for several citations from tosi, all taken from the english edition. only one other prominent teacher of the old school, g. b. mancini, has left an apparently complete record of his method. his _riflessioni pratiche sul canto figurato_ was published in milan in 1776. mancini's book has never been translated into english. reference will therefore be made to the third italian edition, brought out in milan, 1777. tosi and mancini undoubtedly intended to give complete accounts of the methods of instruction in singing in vogue in their day. but modern vocal theorists generally believe that the most important materials of instruction were for some reason not mentioned. three registers are mentioned by tosi, while mancini speaks of only two. both touch on the necessity of equalizing the registers, but give no specific directions for this purpose. about all these early writers have left us, in the opinion of most modern students of their works, is the outline of an elaborate system of vocal ornaments and embellishments. on the side of tradition a slightly more coherent set of rules has come down to us from the old masters. these are generally known as the "traditional precepts." just when the precepts were first formulated it is impossible to say. tosi and mancini do not mention them. perhaps they were held by the old masters as a sort of esoteric mystery; this idea is occasionally put forward. at any rate, by the time the traditional precepts were given to the world in published works on the voice, their valuable meaning had been completely lost. gathered from all available sources, the traditional precepts are as follows: "sing on the breath." "open the throat." "sing the tone forward," or "at the lips." "support the tone." to the layman these precepts are so vague as to be almost unintelligible. but modern vocal teachers are convinced that the precepts sum up the most important means used by the old masters for imparting the correct vocal action. an interpretation of the precepts in terms intelligible to the modern student would therefore be extremely valuable. many scientific investigators of the voice have sought earnestly to discover the sense in which the precepts were applied by the old masters. these explanations of the traditional precepts occupy a very important position in most modern methods of instruction. there can be no question that the old masters were highly successful teachers of singing. even leaving out of consideration the vocal achievements of the castrati, the singers of tosi's day must have been able to perform music of the florid style in a masterly fashion. this is plainly seen from a study of the scores of the operas popular at that time. empirical methods of instruction seem to have sufficed for the earlier masters. not until the old method had been in existence for nearly one hundred and fifty years does an attempt seem to have been made to study the voice scientifically. in 1741 a famous french physician, ferrein, published a treatise on the vocal organs. this was the first scientific work to influence the practices of vocal teachers. for many years after the publication of ferrein's treatise, the scientific study of the voice attracted very little attention from the singing masters. fully sixty years elapsed before any serious attempt was made to base a method of instruction on scientific principles. even then the idea of scientific instruction in singing gained ground very slowly. practical teachers at first paid but little attention to the subject. interest in the mechanics of voice production was confined almost entirely to the scientists. in the early decades of the nineteenth century the mechanical features of voice production seem to have appealed to a constantly wider circle of scientists. lickovius (1814), malgaine (1831), bennati (1830), bell (1832), savart (1825), brought out works on the subject. it remained, however, for a vocal teacher, garcia, to conceive the idea of basing practical instruction on scientific knowledge. manuel garcia (1805-1906) may justly be regarded as the founder of vocal science. his father, manuel del popolo viscenti, was famous as singer, impresario, and teacher. from him garcia inherited the old method, it is safe to assume, in its entirety. but for garcia's remarkable mind the empirical methods of the old school were unsatisfactory. he desired definite knowledge of the voice. a clear idea seems to have been in his mind that, with full understanding of the vocal mechanism and of its correct mode of action, voices would be more readily and surely trained. how strongly this idea had possession of garcia is shown by the fact that he began the study of the vocal action in 1832, and that he invented the laryngoscope only in 1855. it must not be understood that garcia was the first teacher to attempt to formulate a systematic scheme of instruction in singing. in the works of mannstein (1834) and of marx (1823) an ambitious forward movement on the part of many prominent teachers is strongly indicated. but garcia was the first teacher to apply scientific principles in dealing with the specific problem of tone-production. he conceived the idea that a scientific knowledge of the workings of the vocal organs might be made the basis of a practical system or method of instruction in singing. this idea of garcia has been the basic principle of all practical methods, ever since the publication of the results of his first laryngoscopic investigations in 1855. before attempting to suggest a new means of dealing with the problem of vocal management, it is well to ascertain how this problem is treated in modern methods of instruction. it would not be easy to overstate the importance assigned to the matter of tone-production in all modern systems of voice culture. the scientific study of the voice has dealt exclusively with this subject. a new science has resulted, commonly called "vocal science." this science is generally accepted as the foundation of all instruction in singing. all modern methods are to some extent based on vocal science. to arrive at an understanding of modern methods, the two directions in which vocal theorists have approached the scientific study of the voice must be borne in mind: first, by an investigation of the anatomy of the vocal organs, and of the laws of acoustics and mechanics in accordance with which they operate. second, by an analysis of the traditional precepts of the old italian school in the light of this scientific knowledge. as the present work demands a review of modern methods from the practical side only, it is not necessary to include a description of the vocal organs. it will be sufficient to describe briefly the manner in which scientific investigators of the voice treat the subject of the vocal organs. the vocal mechanism consists of three portions,--the breathing apparatus, the larynx with its appendages, and the resonance cavities. vocal scientists apply their efforts to finding out the correct mode of action of each portion of the mechanism, and to formulating rules and exercises by which these correct actions can be acquired and combined for the production of perfect tones. the analysis of the traditional precepts also conforms to this general plan; each precept is referred to that portion of the vocal apparatus to which it seems best to apply. the outline of the principles of modern methods contained in the following chapters follows this general scheme. it must be understood at the start that on most of the doctrines included in vocal science there is no unanimity of opinion among either theorists or teachers. far from this being the case, practically all the principles of vocal science are the subjects of controversy. chapter ii breathing and breath-control it is generally considered that, as the breath is the foundation of singing, the manner of breathing is of vital importance to the singer. this subject has therefore received a vast amount of attention from vocal scientists, and the muscular actions of breathing have been exhaustively studied. several sets of rules for inspiration and expiration are put forth by different authorities. but there is no occasion for going into a detailed discussion of the different modes of breathing advocated by the various schools, or of the theoretical arguments which each advances. it is sufficient to say that the modes of breathing most in vogue are five in number,--deep abdominal, lateral or costal, fixed high chest, clavicular, and diaphragmatic-abdominal. however, on experimenting with these five systems of breathing, it is found that the number may be reduced to two; of these the others are but slight modifications. in one system of inspiration the abdomen is protruded, while the upper chest is held firm, the greatest expansion being at the base of the lungs. in the other mode of taking breath the abdomen is slightly drawn in, while the chest is expanded in every direction, upward, laterally, forward, and backward. in this system the upper chest is held in a fixed and high position. necessarily the manner of filling the lungs involves the manner in which they are emptied. opinions are practically unanimous as to the proper position of the singer before taking breath, that is, at the end of an expiration. the singer must stand erect, the weight of the body evenly supported on the balls of both feet, with the whole body in a condition of lithe suppleness. in both systems of breathing the manner of expiration is simply a return to this position. a wide variety of breathing exercises are in use, but these do not require detailed description. any one of the prescribed systems of breathing can easily be adopted, and the student of singing seldom encounters any difficulty on this point. still most teachers attach great importance to the acquirement of the correct manner of breathing. toneless mechanical exercises are generally given, by which the student is expected to master the muscular movements before applying in singing the system advocated by the teacher. these exercises are usually combined with those for breath-control, and they are described under that head. _breath-control_ very early in the development of vocal science the management of the breath began to receive attention. mannstein,[2] writing in 1834, says: "the air in expiration must stream from the chest slowly and without shock. the air must flow from the chest with the tone." in a footnote he adds: "in order to acquire this economy of the breath, students were required to practise daily, without singing, to take and to hold back the breath as long as possible." mannstein does not mention the muscular action involved in this exercise. [note 2: _die grosse italienische gesangschule._ dresden, 1834.] this subject is also touched upon by garcia. in the first edition of his _école de garcia_, 1847, chap. iv, p. 14, he says: "the mechanism of expiration consists of a gentle pressure on the lungs charged with air, operated by the thorax and the diaphragm. the shock of the chest, the sudden falling of the ribs, and the quick relaxing of the diaphragm cause the air to escape instantly.... if, while the lungs are filled with air, the ribs are allowed to fall, and the diaphragm to rise, the lungs instantly give up the inspired air, like a pressed sponge. it is necessary therefore to allow the ribs to fall and the diaphragm to relax only so much as is required to sustain the tones." it may be questioned whether garcia had in mind the doctrine of breath-control as this is understood to-day. very little attention was paid, at any rate, in the vocal instruction of that day, to the mechanical actions of breath-control; the great majority of teachers probably had never heard of this principle. as a definite principle of vocal science, breath-control was first formulated by dr. mandl, in his _die gesundheitslehre der stimme_, brunswick, 1876. from that time on, this doctrine has been very generally recognized as the fundamental principle of correct singing. practically every scientific writer on the voice since then states breath-control as one of the basic principles of vocal science. the most influential published work in popularizing the doctrine of breath-control was probably the book written jointly by lennox browne and emil behnke, _voice, song, and speech_, london, 1883. this doctrine is of so much importance in vocal science and in modern methods of instruction as to require a detailed explanation. the theory of breath-control may be stated as follows:[3] "in ordinary breathing the air is expelled from the lungs quietly, but rapidly; at no point of the breathing apparatus does the expired breath meet with resistance. in singing, on the contrary, the expiratory pressure is much more powerful, yet the expiration must be much slower. furthermore, all the expired breath must be converted into tone, and the singer must have perfect control over the strength and the speed of the expiration. this requires that the air be held back at some point. the action of holding back the breath must not be performed by the muscles which close the glottis, for all the muscles of the larynx are very small and weak in comparison with the powerful muscles of expiration. the glottis-closing muscles are too weak to oppose their action to the force of a powerful expiration. if the vocal cords are called upon to withstand a strong breath pressure, they are seriously strained, and their proper action is rendered impossible. in the same way, if the throat be narrowed at any point above the larynx, so as to present a passage small enough to hold back a powerful expiration, the entire vocal mechanism is strained and forced out of its proper adjustment. the singer must have perfect control of the breath, and at the same time relieve the larynx and throat of all pressure and strain. to obtain this control the singer must govern the expiration by means of the muscles of inspiration. when the lungs are filled the inspiratory muscles are not to be relaxed as in ordinary breathing, but are to be held on tension throughout the action of expiration. whatever pressure is exerted by the expiratory muscles must be almost counterbalanced by the opposed action of the muscles of inspiration. the more powerful the blast, the greater must be the exertion by which it is controlled. in this way the singer may have perfect control both of the speed and of the strength of the expiration." [note 3: this statement of the doctrine of breath-control must not be construed as an endorsement of the theory of the vocal action embodied in this doctrine. on the contrary, both the theory of "opposed action" breath-control and the "breath-band" theory are held to be utterly erroneous. for a further discussion of this subject see chapter ii of part ii.] the exercises for acquiring command of this "opposed action breath-control" are easily understood; indeed, they will readily suggest themselves to one who has grasped their purpose. most important of these exercises is a quick inspiration, followed by a slow and controlled expiration. exercises for breathing and breath-control are usually combined; the student is instructed to take breath in the manner advocated by the teacher, and then to control the expiration. teachers usually require their pupils to obtain command of this action as a toneless exercise before permitting them to apply it to the production of tone. methods vary greatly as to the length of time devoted to toneless drills in breathing and breath-control. many teachers demand that students practise these exercises daily throughout the entire course of study, and even recommend that this practice be continued throughout the singer's active life. simple as these exercises are in theory, they demand very arduous practice. control of the breath by "opposed action" is hard and tiring muscular work, as the reader may easily convince himself by practising the above described exercise for a few minutes. no special rules are needed for applying this mode of breathing to the production of tone. theoretical writers generally do not claim that the control of the breath brings about the correct laryngeal action, but merely that it permits this action by noninterference. several authorities however, notably shakespeare, maintain that in effect this system of breath-control embodies the old precept, "sing on the breath." (wm. shakespeare, _the art of singing_, london, 1898, p. 24.) other theorists hold that the empirical precept, "support the tone," refers to this manner of controlled expiration. (g. b. lamperti, _the technics of bel canto_, trans. by dr. th. baker, n. y., 1905, p. 9.) _the "breath-band" system_ while most authorities on the voice advocate the system of breath-control by "opposed muscular action," there are a number of masters who teach an entirely different system. this is usually known as the "breath-band," or "ventricular" breath-control. charles lunn, in _the philosophy of the voice_, 1878, was the first to propound the theory that the breath may be controlled by the false vocal cords. there is reason to believe that this idea was also worked out independently by orlando steed ("on beauty of touch and tone," _proceedings of the musical assn._, 1879-80, p. 47). as a number of prominent teachers base their entire methods on this theory, it is worthy of careful attention. the "breath-band" theory may be stated as follows: "when the lungs are filled by a deep inspiration and the breath is held, the glottis is of necessity closed so tightly that no air can escape. in this condition the expiratory muscles may be very violently contracted, and still no air will escape; indeed, the greater the strength exerted the tighter is the closure of the glottis. obviously, this closure of the glottis cannot be effected by the contraction of the glottis-closing muscles, strictly speaking, for these muscles are too small and weak to withstand the powerful air pressure exerted against the vocal cords.[4] the point of resistance is located just above the vocal cords. the sudden air pressure exerted on the interior walls of the larynx by the expiratory contraction causes the ventricles of the larynx to expand by inflation. this inflation of the ventricles brings their upper margins, formed by the false vocal cords, into contact. thus the opening from the larynx into the pharynx is closed. this closure is not effected by any muscular contraction, therefore it is not dependent on the strength of the muscular fibers of the false vocal cords. it is an automatic valvular action, directly under voluntary control so far as the contraction of the expiratory muscles is concerned, but independent of volition as regards the action of the false vocal cords. on account of their important function in this operation the false vocal cords are called the 'breath-bands.' closure of the glottis by the inflation of the ventricles imposes no strain on the vocal cords. [note 4: one of the strongest arguments of the "breath-band" advocates is based on this action,--the resistance of the closed glottis to a powerful expiratory pressure. the theory of breath-control by "opposed muscular action" takes no cognizance of this operation. it will however be shown in chapter ii of part ii that the "breath-band" theorists are mistaken in asserting that the action of holding the breath is not performed by the glottis-closing muscles.] "control of the breath in singing is effected by this automatic valvular action. to produce a tone according to this system, the lungs must be filled and the breath held in the manner just described, while the vocal cords are brought to the proper degree of tension; then the tone is started by allowing the 'breath-bands' to separate very slightly, so that a thin stream of air is forced through the opening between their margins. the tone is ushered in by a slight explosive sound, which is nothing but the well-known stroke of the glottis. so long as the expiratory pressure is steadily maintained, this tone may be held, and yet no strain is imposed on the vocal cords. perfect control of the breath is thus attained. for a powerful tone, the breath blast is greater, therefore the ventricles are more widely inflated, and the opening between the 'breath-bands' becomes narrower. the action is always automatic; once the tone is correctly started, the singer need pay no further attention to the operation of the 'breath-bands.' all that is necessary is to maintain a steady breath pressure." in the methods of all the "breath-band" advocates, the first and most important step toward perfect tone-production is held to be the acquirement of this automatic breath-control. as in the "opposed muscular" system, the initial exercises are toneless drills in breathing. the basic exercise, of which all the others are variations, is as follows: "fill the lungs, then hold the breath an instant, and forcibly contract all the chest muscles. then force the air out slowly and powerfully through the glottis." practice of this exercise is always accompanied by a hissing sound, caused by the escape of the air through the narrow slit between (presumably) the "breath-bands." tone-production by the same muscular action is very simple, and requires no further explanation. in its practical aspect this system of breath-control is the direct opposite of the "opposed muscular" system. in one the breath is expelled powerfully, the object being to bring a strong expiratory pressure to bear on the larynx. in the other system, the air is held back, in order that the larynx be exposed to as slight a pressure as possible. the "breath-band" advocates hold that the glottic stroke is the key to correct laryngeal action. as a rule they instruct their pupils to attack every tone, throughout all their practising, with the stroke of the glottis. in the course of time the automatic valvular action is supposed to become so well established that the singer can dispense with the glottic stroke in public performance. needless to say, these teachers usually recognize that this explosive sound is very harsh and unmusical, and utterly out of place in artistic singing. an important claim of the "breath-band" teachers is that their doctrine contains the explanation of the traditional precept, "support the tone." their idea is that the throat, being "firmly set," furnishes a secure base for the tone to rest on. this explanation is of course utterly unscientific, and it cannot be said to throw any light on the meaning of the precept. "singing on the breath" is also referred to this system of breath-control, but with no more coherence than the "support of the tone." no necessary connection obtains between systems of breath-control and those of breathing strictly speaking, that is, of inspiration. as has been said, the great majority of vocal theorists adhere to the "opposed muscular action" breath-control. in this number are included advocates of every known system of breathing. bitter controversies have been carried on between champions of different modes of breathing, who yet agree that the breath must be controlled by "opposed action." this is also true, although not to the same extent, among the "breath-band" teachers. and to render the confusion on the subject of breathing and breath-control complete, instances might be cited of controversies between teachers who agree as to the correct mode of inspiration, and yet disagree on the manner of controlling the expiration. both systems of breath-control cannot be right; if one is correct, the other must necessarily be absolutely wrong. instead of attempting to decide between them, it will be seen that both are false, and that the theory on which they rest is erroneous. this discussion is reserved for a later chapter. chapter iii registers and laryngeal action probably no other topic of vocal science has been studied so earnestly as the registers of the voice. yet on no other topic is there such wide diversity of opinion among theorists and investigators. very little is definitely known regarding the manner in which the subject of registers was treated by the old italian masters. suffice it to say here that the old masters did not refer the registers to changes in the laryngeal action. they were treated simply as different qualities of tone, each quality best adapted to be sung only in a portion of the voice's compass. in the early decades of the nineteenth century the registers of the voice received much attention from vocal theorists, especially in paris. garcia's first published work, _mémoire sur la voix humaine_, was presented to the academy of sciences in 1840. this mémoire gives the results of observations which garcia made on his own pupils; it deals mainly with the position of the larynx during the singing of tones in the various registers. garcia describes how the larynx is raised and lowered in the throat, according to the register in which the tones are produced. he also notes the position of the tongue and the soft palate. widespread interest was awakened by the account of garcia's laryngoscopic investigations of the registers, published in 1855. the attention of the great majority of vocalists was at once drawn to the subject, and the actions of the vocal cords in the different registers were studied by many prominent physicians and voice specialists. exhaustive treatises on the registers have since been published by mme. seiler, behnke, curwen, mills, battaille, curtis, holmes, and by a large number of other investigators. all the results of the laryngoscopic investigation of the vocal action have been disappointing in the extreme. in the first place, no two observers have obtained exactly the same results. writing in 1886, sir morell mackenzie says: "direct observation with the laryngoscope is, of course, the best method at our disposal, but that even its testimony is far from unexceptionable is obvious from the marvelous differences as to matters of _fact_ that exist among observers. it is hardly too much to say that no two of them quite agree as to what is seen." (_the hygiene of the vocal organs_, london, 1886.) wesley mills, in his latest work, endeavors to show a substantial agreement among the best equipped observers of the registers, but his attempt can hardly be called convincing. (_voice production in singing and speaking_, philadelphia, 1906.) opinions on the subject of registers, held by the leading voice specialists to-day, are fully as divergent as in 1886. widely different statements are made by prominent authorities as to the number of registers, the vocal cord action by which each register is produced, and the number of notes which each one should properly include. another deficiency of the doctrine of registers is even more serious in its bearing on practical instruction. not only have all investigators failed to define exactly what the correct laryngeal action is. even if this were determined it would still be necessary to find means for imparting command of this correct action to the student of singing. knowing how the vocal cords should act does not help the singer in the least to govern their action. what the vocal student wishes to know is how to cause the vocal cords to assume the correct position for each register. on this, the most important topic of mechanical voice culture, vocal science has shed no light whatever. a student may hear descriptions of the laryngeal action, and study the highly interesting laryngoscopic photographs of the vocal cords, until thoroughly familiar with the theoretical side of the subject. even then, the student is no better able to control the vocal cord action than when profoundly ignorant of the whole matter. this deficiency of vocal science is frankly recognized by one of the latest authoritative writers on the subject, dr. wesley mills. on page 173 of his work just quoted, he advises students to _hear the great singers_, to note carefully the _quality of tone_ which characterizes each register, and to _imitate these qualities_ with their own voices. this advice may almost be described as revolutionary. vocal theorists have always assumed that the correct action cannot be acquired by imitation. in this advice to rely on the imitative faculty for acquiring control of the laryngeal action, dr. mills abandons the basic principle of modern methods. without exception, all instruction in singing is to-day based on the idea of mechanical tone-production. an entirely new theory of voice culture is involved in this advice of dr. mills. turning to practical methods of instruction, it is found that the subject of registers is very seldom treated in the manner suggested by the theoretical works on the voice. this would be, to make the "placing" of the voice in the different registers the exclusive subject of instruction for a certain number of lessons;--to train each register of the voice separately;--when the correct vocal cord action had been established in each register, to unite the different registers, and to correct any "breaks" which might have developed. comparatively few teachers attempt to follow this course. the great majority treat the registers in a much less systematic fashion. a single half-hour lesson usually includes explanations and exercises on several topics of mechanical tone-production, as well as hints on agility, style, execution, etc. as merely one of this variety of subjects, the registers usually receive rather desultory attention. some teachers profess to ignore the subject of registers entirely. they maintain that, when properly trained from the beginning, the compass of the voice is one homogeneous whole; "breaks" and changes of quality are in their opinion merely the results of bad instruction. but the general belief of vocal authorities is overwhelmingly against these teachers. the condition which they describe is without doubt the ideal of vocal management; but the vast majority of teachers believe that this condition cannot be attained without some attention being paid to the individual registers. most teachers recognize either two registers,--chest and head; or three,--chest, middle, and head. comparatively few extremists recognize more than three. several sets of names for the registers have been proposed by vocal theorists,--thick and thin, long reed and short reed, high and low, etc. but these names have not been adopted by teachers to any extent. one important phase of the registers has not received much attention from the laryngoscopic investigators. this is, that most of the notes of the voice's compass can be produced at will in more than one register. vocal teachers as a rule recognize this fact. julius stockhausen for instance, in his _gesangsmethode_ (leipzig, 1884), says: "the registers cross each other. the two principal registers of the voice have many tones in common. the perfect blending of the registers on a single tone leads to the _crescendo_, called in italian the _messa di voce_." teachers generally do not set hard and fast limits to the extent of each register; they direct that in singing up the scale the student pass gradually from chest to middle, middle to head voice, etc. in most practical methods the chest register occupies about the same position; this is also true of the head register. even those teachers who profess to ignore registers recognize these two distinct qualities of tone; they instruct their pupils to sing low notes in one quality, and high notes in the other. this is in fact the general practice. in this connection the topics of registers and resonance are often combined. the terms "head voice," "head register," and "nasal resonance," are used interchangeably by the great majority of teachers. this is also true of the expressions "chest voice," "chest resonance," and "chest register." in practical instruction, the extending of the compass of the voice is usually treated, rather loosely perhaps in most cases, as a feature of the registers. methods vary greatly in points of detail, but in most of them instruction on this topic is given along the same general lines. usually the three classes of voices receive different treatment, one form of instruction being used for sopranos and tenors, another for mezzo-sopranos and baritones, and a third for altos and bassos. in teaching students with high voices, teachers usually "place"[5] the medium notes first, roughly speaking, from g to d (for male voices one octave lower). then the lower notes are developed, mostly by descending scale passages, the lowest note practised being usually c. the high notes are sometimes "placed" by ascending scale passages and arpeggios, but more often by the octave jump and descending scale. there is room for considerable variation in this class of exercises, but they all conform to the same general principle. [note 5: the expression "placing the voice" is more fully treated in chap. vi. it is assumed, however, that the reader is familiar with the ordinary usage of this expression.] for mezzos and baritones about the same system is followed, the exercises being sung a major third or so lower. in the case of contraltos and bassos, the voice is usually trained from the middle in both directions. most teachers favor the "chest voice" for singers of these types throughout the entire compass. a discussion of the use of special vowels and consonants in this class of exercises is contained in chapter v. it must not be understood that this topic of instruction is assigned by many teachers to any particular period of the student's progress. moreover, practice in the registers seldom forms the exclusive material of lessons and home study for any definite time. the wide range of topics considered in the average singing lesson has already been mentioned. very little connection can be traced between the scientific doctrine of registers, and the treatment which this subject receives in modern methods. this is only to be expected, in view of the fact that laryngoscopic investigation has not resulted in practical rules for managing the vocal cords. the registers of the voice are handled by modern teachers in a purely empirical fashion. _movements of the larynx, tongue, and soft palate_ it was remarked, in speaking of the registers, that no mechanical means has ever been found for directly controlling the operations of the vocal cords. to this statement one apparent exception is seen in the method originated by john howard. this earnest student of the voice sought to carry out, to its logical conclusion, the accepted idea of mechanical vocal control. in this respect he stands practically alone. his is the only method which even pretends to reduce the entire operation of correct tone-production to a set of defined muscular contractions. howard's theories, with the details of a practical method based thereon, are fully described in his most important published work, _the physiology of artistic singing_, new york, 1886. a complete exposition of howard's theories is not called for here. for the present purpose the following short summary will suffice: "the difference between correct tone-production and any incorrect vocal action is solely a matter of laryngeal adjustment and vocal cord action. whether the tone produced be right or wrong, the influence of the resonance cavities is about the same. it is therefore idle to pay any attention to the subject of air resonance. only one form of resonance is of any value in tone-production (considered as distinct from vowel formation). this is the sounding-board resonance of the bones of the head and chest. to secure this, the most important reinforcement of the tone, the larynx must be firmly held in a fixed position against the backbone, at the fifth cervical vertebra. all theories as to the registers of the voice, derived from laryngoscopic observation, are completely erroneous. "in the production of tone, the muscular tissue of the vocal cords is thrown into vibration by the air blast, and not merely the membranous covering of the inner edges of the cords. for a soft tone, only a portion of the fleshy mass of the vocal cords vibrates; if this tone is gradually swelled to _fortissimo_, a constantly increasing portion of the muscular tissue is called into play. for the loudest tone, the entire mass of the vocal cords is bought into vibration. thus the increased volume of the tone results not alone from the increase in the power of the breath blast. each addition to the power of the expiration demands also a change in the adjustment of the vocal cords. "the contractions of the muscles inside the larynx, including the vocal cords, cannot be brought under direct voluntary control. but these contractions can be regulated by the actions of other sets of muscles, viz., those by which the larynx is connected with the skeletal framework of the head, neck, and chest. these latter muscles can all be controlled by direct volition. each of these sets of muscles has its function in tone-production. one set pulls the larynx backward, into the position already described, against the backbone. two other opposed sets hold the larynx firmly in this position, one set pulling upward, the other downward. finally, and most important in their influence on the actions of the vocal cords, a fourth set of muscles comes into play. these tilt the thyroid cartilage forward or backward, and thus bring about a greater or less tension of the vocal cords, independent of the contractions of the muscles of the vocal cords themselves. in this way is regulated the amount of the fleshy mass of the vocal cords exposed to the expiratory blast. correct tone-production results when exactly the necessary degree of strength is exerted by each one of these four sets of muscles." for each of these groups of muscles howard devised a system of exercises and drills by which the singer is supposed to bring all the movements involved under direct voluntary control. the parts thus exercised are the tongue, the soft palate, the jaw, the fauces, and also the muscles by which the larynx is raised and lowered in the throat, and those by which the chest is raised. in teaching a pupil howard took up each part in turn. a sufficient number of lessons was devoted to each set of muscles for the pupil (presumably) to acquire the necessary control of each group. howard also paid much attention to the breath; he worked out the system of high-chest breathing in a really masterly fashion. but his manner of dealing with this subject did not differ from that of a great number of other teachers. howard retired from active teaching about 1895. his theories of the vocal action have never been generally accepted by vocal theorists, and the number of teachers who now profess to follow his method is very small. there are, however, many other masters whose methods, in their main features, are patterned after howard's. these latter teachers may therefore be justly said to follow the howard system, even though they give him no credit for their doctrines of vocal control. howard usually insisted that his pupils should understand the theoretical basis of his method, and the exact purpose of each exercise and muscular contraction. but as a rule his successors do not make this demand on their pupils. they are content to have the students practise the prescribed exercises; this the students do, with very little thought about the theory lying behind the method. for the pupil this system, as at present generally taught, consists solely of a series of muscular drills for the tongue, larynx, palate, etc. in this review of modern methods, the howard system is important, mainly because it represents the consistent application of the idea of mechanical tone-production. as was observed, howard's theories had very little influence on the general trend of vocal science. the external features of the howard system are indeed shared to some extent by the methods of many other teachers. muscular drills of about the same type are very widely used. some teachers go so far in this respect that their methods might almost be confounded with the howard system. but the resemblance is purely external. even in 1880, at the time when howard had fairly perfected his method, there was nothing novel about exercises of this type. the first attempts at a practical study of vocal mechanics consisted of observations of those parts of the vocal organs whose movements can be readily seen and felt. these are the lips, tongue, palate, and larynx. garcia's _mémoire_, already cited, is mainly a record of observations of this kind. nearly every vocal theorist since that time has also paid some attention to this phase of the vocal action. in practical methods of instruction, elaborate systems of rules have long been in use for governing the positions of the tongue, lips, palate, etc. unlike the howard theory, no definite scientific basis is usually given for specific directions of this kind. each investigator has simply noted how certain great singers held their tongues or soft palates, whether the larynx was held high or low in the throat, etc., and considered that these must be the correct positions. it would be hard to find a greater diversity of opinion on any topic connected with the voice than is encountered here. to enumerate all the rules which are given for governing the actions of each part would be useless. a few of the contradictory opinions regarding the correct position of the larynx will suffice to show how great is the confusion on this topic: "the larynx should be held low in the throat for all tones." "it should be held in a fixed position high in the throat." "it should be high for low tones, and should descend as the pitch rises." "it should be in a low position for the lowest note of each register, and should rise as the pitch rises; when the highest note of the register is reached, it should at once descend for the lowest note of the next register." prominent teachers and writers could be cited as authority for each of these rules, and indeed for several others. a similar diversity of opinion is found regarding the rules given for the position of the tongue and the soft palate. practices vary greatly as to the amount of time and attention devoted to muscular drills of the parts under consideration, and also as to the importance attached to the positions of these parts. some teachers make this a prominent feature of their methods. the majority, however, treat the subject much more lightly. they now and then devote a part of the lesson time to the muscular drills and exercises; for the rest, an occasional hint or correction regarding the positions of the parts is deemed sufficient. all the movements of the tongue, lips, and jaw are directly under voluntary control. exercises for these parts are therefore given only for acquiring suppleness and agility. the muscular movements of the larynx and soft palate are readily brought under control. each can simply be raised and lowered. a few minutes' daily practice, extended over three or four weeks, is generally sufficient for the student to acquire satisfactory command of these actions. but to hold the tongue, palate, and larynx in any prescribed position, while singing a tone, is an extremely troublesome matter. those teachers who adhere to precise systems for the positions of these parts, frequently impose much arduous practice on their pupils. as to the merits of any special system of the kind, this question is reserved for future discussion. _attack_ it would be hard to determine when the term "attack" was first used to describe the starting of a vocal tone. nor is it easy to define the precise position assigned to the subject of attack by vocal theorists. no satisfactory statement of the theory of attack can be cited from any published treatise on vocal science. it is commonly asserted, rather loosely indeed, that the tone must be "started right." as clara kathleen rogers expresses it, "attack the tone badly, and nothing can improve it afterwards." (_the philosophy of singing_, new york, 1893.) this statement is in the practical sense utterly unfounded. a tone may be "attacked" with a nasal or throaty quality, and then be improved, by simply eliminating the objectionable quality. of this fact the reader may readily convince himself. in short, all the accepted theories of attack rest on an unscientific basis. vocal theorists generally treat the subject of attack as connected in some way with registers and laryngeal action. but as no rule has ever been formulated for the mechanical management of the laryngeal action, it necessarily follows that no intelligible directions are ever given to the student for preparing to start the laryngeal action correctly. three possible ways of attacking a tone are generally recognized. these are described by albert b. bach, in _the principles of singing_, second edition, london, 1897. they are, first, the stroke of the glottis. (this is advocated by garcia in most of his published works, although the testimony of many of his pupils, notably mme. marchesi, is that garcia used the glottic stroke very little in actual instruction.) second, the aspirate (_h_ as in _have_), which is generally condemned. third, the approximation of the vocal cords at the precise instant the breath blast strikes them. this latter mode of attack is advocated by browne and behnke, who call it the "slide of the glottis." it must be observed that neither the stroke nor the slide of the glottis can be shown to have any influence in causing the laryngeal muscles to adopt any particular mode of adjustment. turning to practical methods of instruction, little connection can be traced between the theories of attack and the occasional directions usually given for starting the tone. the subject of attack is seldom assigned to any particular period in the course of study. many teachers ignore the matter altogether. others devote a few minutes now and then to drilling a pupil in the stroke of the glottis, without attaching much importance to the subject. (the position assigned to this mode of attack by the "breath-band" theorists has already been mentioned.) on the whole, the matter of attack is usually treated rather loosely. the pupil is occasionally interrupted in singing a phrase, and told to "attack the tone better." needless to say, this form of instruction is in no sense scientific. chapter iv resonance in order to understand fully the position in vocal science assigned to the doctrine of resonance, it is necessary to trace the origin and the development of this doctrine. the old italian masters naturally knew nothing whatever of resonance, nor of any other topic of acoustics. yet the accepted theories of resonance in its relation to the voice are directly based on a set of empirical observations made by the old masters. the facts which they noted are now a matter of common knowledge. in singing low notes a sensation of trembling or vibration is felt in the upper chest; high notes are accompanied by a similar sensation in the head. how these sensations of vibration came to be made the basis of the theories of vocal resonance, and of registers as well, is an interesting bit of vocal history. although almost entirely ignorant of vocal mechanics in the scientific sense, the old masters were eager students of the voice. they carefully noted the characteristic sound of each tone of the voice, and worked out what they believed to be a comprehensive theory of tone-production. one of their observations was that in every voice the low notes have a somewhat different quality from the high notes. to distinguish these two qualities of tone the old masters adopted the word used for a similar purpose by the organ builders,--_register_. further, they noted the sensation of vibration in the chest caused by singing low notes, and concluded that these notes are actually produced in the chest. to the lower notes of the voice they therefore gave the name "chest register." as tosi explains it, "_voce di petto_ is a full voice, which comes from the breast by strength." for a precisely similar reason, viz., the sensation of vibration in the head felt in singing the higher notes, this portion of the voice was called by the old masters the "head register." when the study of vocal mechanics along scientific lines was undertaken, in the early decades of the nineteenth century, attention was at first paid almost exclusively to the subject of registers. the questions then most discussed were the number of registers, the number of notes which each should include, and the precise point of production of each register in the chest, throat, and head. garcia's _mémoire_, dealing with the registers, was noticed in the preceding chapter. he showed that different adjustments of the tongue, palate, and larynx are concerned in the production of the various registers. this _mémoire_ opened up a new line of observation, in which garcia continued to take the lead. but the extending of the scope of inquiry concerning the registers did not result in any unanimity of opinion on the part of the vocal investigators of that time. for a few years following the invention of the laryngoscope (1855), vocal theorists ceased their disputes about the registers, and awaited the definite results of this new mode of observation. when this potent little instrument was put within the reach of every investigator, it was believed that the mystery surrounding the registers was about to be dispelled. one important consequence of the invention of the laryngoscope was the turning of attention away from the sensations of vibration in the chest and head. each register was ascribed to a distinct mode of operation of the vocal cords, and for several years the terms "chest voice" and "head voice" were held to be scientifically unsound. but with the publication of helmholtz's _die lehre von den tonempfindungen_ in 1863, the sensations of vibration again received attention. these sensations were then made the basis of a theory of vocal resonance, which has since been adopted by the great majority of vocal scientists. until the publication of helmholtz's work vocal theorists had known practically nothing of acoustics. the fact that the tones produced by the vocal cords are increased in power and modified in quality by the resonance of the air in the mouth-pharynx cavity came as a distinct revelation to the theoretical students of the voice. helmholtz confined his experiments and demonstrations to the mouth-pharynx cavity, and investigated in particular the influence of this cavity in producing the various vowel and consonant sounds. but vocal theorists at once extended the idea of air resonance, and connected it with the well-known sensations of vibration in the chest and head. it was assumed that these sensations are caused by vibrations of the air in the chest and nasal cavities. this assumption has been accepted without question by the great majority of vocal scientists. both the chest voice and the head voice are now believed to owe their distinctive qualities to the reinforcing vibrations of the air in the chest and nasal cavities respectively. the mere fact that these vibrations can be felt is held sufficient proof of the statement. "in every true chest tone the resonance can be distinctly felt as a vibration (fremitus pectoralis) by the hand laid flat on the chest." (_die kunst der idealen tonbildung_, dr. w. reinecke, leipzig, 1906.) it must be observed that this is by no means a satisfactory scientific proof of the doctrine of chest resonance. this feature of the subject is reserved for discussion later. the doctrine of resonance is now generally accepted as one of the basic principles of vocal science. it is stated, in substance, by almost every authority on the voice that "the tone produced by the vibration of the vocal cords, even when the laryngeal action is correct in every way, is weak, of poor quality, and without character. this tone must be strengthened and made of musical quality by utilizing the influence of resonance." the subject of resonance is always treated in theoretical works on the voice under the three heads of chest, mouth-pharynx, and nasal resonance. to these a fourth is sometimes added,--the sounding-board resonance of the bones of the chest and head. _mouth-pharynx resonance_ considered strictly in its bearing on tone-production, the resonance of the mouth-pharynx cavity does not receive much attention from theoretical observers of the voice. the form assumed by this cavity is of necessity determined by the vowel to be sung. aside from its function in the pronunciation of words, the influence of mouth-pharynx resonance on the tones of the voice is seldom discussed by vocal scientists. as a rule, vocal teachers pay little attention to this form of resonance. the subject of enunciation is generally treated as distinct from tone-production strictly speaking. while the correct emission of the tone, in its passage from the vocal cords to the lips, is considered a very important topic, this feature of tone-production has no reference to resonance. one exception must be made to the statement that no attention is paid to mouth-pharynx resonance. this is found in an interpretation of the empirical precept, "sing with open throat." several vocal theorists take this precept literally, and hold that it describes a function of mouth-pharynx resonance. according to their idea the cavity must be expanded to the largest size possible, on the theory that a large resonance cavity secures a proportionately greater reinforcement of the tone. "the greater the size of the pharynx, whether through practice or natural gifts, the stronger in proportion is the tone." (_die kunst der idealen tonbildung_, dr. w. reinecke, leipzig, 1906.) this theory is of course rather loose and unscientific. still this idea,--a literal interpretation of the "open throat" precept,--receives much attention in practical instruction. only one muscular action has ever been defined by which the throat might be "opened." that is, the lowering of the larynx and the raising of the soft palate. many teachers therefore direct that the throat be "opened" gradually in this way for the swelling of the tone. it is assumed that the power of the voice is developed by singing with the larynx low in the throat. this manner of instruction is, however, very loosely given. the supposedly scientific interpretation of the "open throat" precept shades off into a purely empirical application. _chest resonance_ in no other topic of vocal science is the gap between theory and practice more striking than in the doctrine of chest resonance. vocal teachers are in fair accord in believing the resonance of the air in the chest to be the most important influence in imparting power and "color" to the voice, and particularly to the lower notes of its compass. students of singing are in almost all cases urged to acquire a proper command of chest resonance. but when it comes to telling the student how to learn to govern the chest resonance, the teacher has practically nothing to offer. no direct means has ever been found for causing the air in the thorax to vibrate; this cannot be effected, so far as has yet been determined, by any voluntary muscular action on the part of the singer. this being the case, intelligible instruction in the use and management of chest resonance is hardly to be expected. teachers of singing are obliged to fall back on purely empirical instruction on this topic. this usually takes the form of a description of the sensations experienced by the singer when producing tones in the chest voice. how this description of the singer's sensations is applied, is discussed in the following chapter. _nasal resonance_ the lack of connection between the theories of vocal scientists and the practical methods of singing teachers is well illustrated in the subject of nasal resonance. a striking feature of all the discussions concerning the use or avoidance of nasal resonance is the fact that vocal theorists base their opinions entirely on empirical observations. the use of nasal resonance is condemned by almost every prominent authority on vocal science. yet the only reason ever advanced for condemning nasal resonance is the fact that a tone of objectionable nasal quality seems to "come through the nose." this fact cannot, of course, be questioned. it is mentioned by tosi, who speaks of the "defect of singing through the nose," and is observed by everybody possessed of an ear keen enough to detect the nasal quality of sound. it is generally stated by vocal theorists that the nasal quality is imparted to the tone by the influence of the resonance of the air in the nasal cavities. in order to prove this assertion browne and behnke offer the following experiment, (quoted in substance): "hold a hand-mirror flat, face up, just below the nostrils. then sing a nasal tone; you will note that the mirror is clouded, showing that part of the breath has passed through the nasal cavities. now sing another tone, free from the fault of nasal quality; this time the mirror is not clouded, which proves that no air has passed through the cavities in question." (_voice, song and speech._) this experiment is simplified by other authorities, who direct that the nostrils be pinched by the fingers, and then allowed to open by the removal of the pressure of the fingers. a steady tone is meanwhile to be sung. it will be noted, according to these theorists, that with the nostrils open the tone is nasal, and with the nostrils closed the tone is not nasal. this proves to their satisfaction that a tone passing in whole or in part through the nasal cavities must be nasal in quality. it must be noted here that these experiments are not in any sense convincing. a tone of objectionable nasal quality can be sung equally well with the nostrils either closed or open, and so can a tone free from the nasal quality. in theory, the mechanical prevention of nasal resonance is very simple. it is necessary only to raise the soft palate in singing, and thus to cut off the expired breath from passing into the nasal cavities. most vocal scientists advise that the singer hold the soft palate raised for every tone. practical teachers of singing pay little attention to the theoretical discussions concerning nasal resonance. the overwhelming majority of teachers are firm believers in nasal resonance, and make it an important feature of their methods. they believe that this resonance is the most important factor in giving to the tone its "point," brilliance, and carrying power. so far as instruction in the use of nasal resonance is concerned, teachers owe but little to the mechanical doctrines of vocal science. no voluntary muscular operation has ever been found, by which the air in the nasal cavities can be directly thrown into vibration, and so made to reinforce the tones of the voice. instruction in the management of nasal resonance is therefore similar to that in chest resonance. the teacher describes the sensations experienced by a singer who produces the exact quality of tone desired. use is also made of special vowels and consonants, for (supposedly) acquiring command of nasal resonance. a description of this form of instruction is given in the following chapter. _sounding-board resonance_ the acoustic principle of sounding-board resonance, in its application to the voice, is discussed by several vocal scientists. it is usually treated under two heads: first, the entire body is looked upon as a sounding board, capable of reinforcing the tones of the voice under certain conditions. second, the bones of the chest and of the head are thought to be thrown into vibration, in sympathy with the vibrations of the air in the chest and nasal cavities respectively. the importance attached by howard to the sounding-board resonance of the entire body has already been noticed. aside from the teachers of the howard system, very few masters pay any attention to this feature of vocal reinforcement. those who do so have no difficulty in dealing with the subject. when the singer stands in the position generally considered correct for singing, the body is said to be in the position most favorable for securing the benefits of this form of resonance. for this no special rules or exercises are needed. very little attention is paid, in practical instruction, to the vibrations of the bones of the resonance cavities. each cavity is treated as a whole; the fact is only occasionally mentioned that the bones inclosing the cavities may vibrate, as well as the inclosed air. chapter v empirical materials of modern methods a series of topics included in modern methods is now to be considered, different in scope from the strictly mechanical features of tone-production so far described. it must be apparent to the reader that the present understanding of the muscular processes of singing is not sufficient to furnish a complete method of instruction. this fact is thoroughly appreciated by the teachers of singing. almost without exception they seek to supplement the mechanical doctrines by instruction of an entirely different character. the subjects included in this form of instruction are of several classes. they comprise the manner of emission of the tone, the traditional precepts of the old italian school, the singer's sensations, and the use of certain vowels and consonants for special purposes. _emission and forward placing_ of all the traditional precepts, the one most frequently cited in theoretical treatises on the voice is, "place the tone forward." for this precept it is generally believed that a satisfactory explanation has been found in the accepted doctrine of tone emission. the characteristic effect of perfect singing known as the "forward tone" is thoroughly well known to every lover of singing. in some peculiar way the tone, when perfectly produced, seems to issue directly from the singer's mouth. when we listen to a poorly trained and faulty singer the tones seem to be caught somewhere in the singer's throat. we feel instinctively that if the singer could only lift the voice off the throat, and bring it forward in the mouth, the tones would be greatly improved in character. it is commonly believed that the old masters knew some way in which this can be done. just what means they used for this purpose is not known. but the accepted scientific interpretation of the "forward tone" precept is held by vocal theorists to render the subject perfectly clear. sir morell mackenzie states the correct emission of the tone as one of the three cardinal principles of the vocal action. "the regulation of the force of the blast which strikes against the vocal cords, the placing of these in the most favourable position for the effect which it is desired to produce, and the direction of the vibrating column of air which issues from the larynx are the three elements of artistic production." (_the hygiene of the vocal organs_, london, 1886.) his analysis of the mechanical and acoustic processes involved in emission may be cited as typical of the views of the great majority of vocal scientists. "it (the column of sound) must be projected against the roof of the cavity behind the upper front teeth, from which it rebounds sharply and clearly to the outside." mme. seiler expresses the idea somewhat differently, but the meaning is about the same. "a correct disposition of the tones of the voice consists in causing the air, brought into vibration by the vocal ligaments, to rebound from immediately above the front teeth, where it must be concentrated as much as possible, rebounding thence to form in the mouth continuous vibrations." (_the voice in singing_, phila., 1886.) to the vocal theorists this is no doubt thoroughly convincing and satisfactory. but as a topic of practical instruction in singing this theory of tone emission is utterly valueless. how can the "column of vocalized breath" be voluntarily directed in its passage through the pharynx and mouth? no muscular process has ever been located, by which the singer can influence the course of the expired breath, and direct it to any specific point in the mouth. even if the expired breath does, in perfect singing, take the course described, knowledge of this fact cannot enable the singer to bring this about. the accepted doctrine of tone emission is of no benefit whatever to the teacher of singing. he knows what the "forward tone" is, that is, what it sounds like, just as well no doubt as did the old italian master. but if the latter knew how to enable his pupils to obtain the "forward" character of tone, the modern teacher is to that extent not so well off. in view of the prevailing ignorance of any means for securing the (supposedly) correct emission of tone, intelligible instruction on this topic is hardly to be expected. but the great majority of teachers lay great stress on the need of acquiring the correct emission. the best they can do is to explain the scientific doctrine to their pupils; the students are generally left to find for themselves some way of applying the explanation. in many cases the master tries to assist the student by describing the singer's sensations, experienced when producing a "forward" tone. certain vowels and consonants are usually held to be especially favored by a "forward position," and exercises on these are very widely used for securing a "forward" tone. these exercises are described in a later paragraph. it will be noticed however that this use of vowels is not an application of the theory of "forward emission." the vowel sounds are believed to owe their "forward position" to resonance, while "emission" is purely a matter of direction or focusing of the breath-blast. the whole subject of emission and forward placing is in a very unsatisfactory condition. _the traditional precepts in modern instruction_ so much importance is attached by modern teachers to the traditional precepts of the old school that this subject calls for somewhat lengthy treatment. before discussing the manner in which the precepts are applied in practical instruction, it will be well to review first the interpretations of the precepts offered by different vocal scientists. it must be remarked, in the first place, that no single one of the precepts has ever been satisfactorily explained; that is, no direct means of performing the actions indicated by the precepts has ever been found. if ever the precepts had a definite meaning, considered as specific directions for performing certain actions in a special way, that meaning has been lost. mechanical analysis has not reduced the precepts to a form in which they are of direct value to the modern teacher. that the "forward tone" is interpreted as a reference to the emission of the voice was noted earlier in this chapter. the explanation of the "open throat" precept as a function of mouth-pharynx resonance has also been mentioned. "singing on the breath" is a very perplexing subject for vocal theorists. many authorities assert that this precept describes an effect obtained by the "opposed muscular action" breath-control. (see citation from shakespeare in chapter ii.) but this explanation is hardly satisfactory; if the precept had meant no more than breath-control, it would have been forgotten long ago. the "support of the tone" is mentioned by a large number of theoretical writers on the voice. these writers generally state, in substance, that "the tone must be supported by the breathing muscles of the chest, and not by the throat muscles." (see _the technics of bel canto_, by g. b. lamperti, new york, 1905.) but this explanation is hardly to be considered as a scientific doctrine. every one knows that a tone has no weight, so in the physical sense it can need no support. in short, scientific analysis has thrown no more light on this than any other of the old precepts. notwithstanding the modern teacher's complete ignorance of the mechanical operations which they seem to indicate, the old precepts form a very important feature of instruction in singing. the great majority of teachers cite these precepts constantly, and frequently direct their pupils to "open the throat," to "bring the tone forward," etc. is it to be believed that an intelligent master would use these directions in any occult or cabalistic sense? such a statement is occasionally made by a consistent upholder of the mechanical system of voice culture. paulo guetta, for example, in a recent exhaustive work on the subject, ridicules the use of the old precepts. says this ardent advocate of mechanical instruction in singing: "nowadays alchemy and necromancy awaken nothing but curiosity. how then can one who thinks and reasons admit that an art can be cultivated and sustained by theories extravagant, fantastic, enigmatic, explained and condensed in abstruse phrases and sentences, which not only have no meaning whatever, but even lead one to doubt whether the teacher himself knows what result it is desired to obtain? do you wish a little example? behold! "'press the whole voice against the mask.' 'place the voice in the head.' 'the voice is directed to the nasal cavities.' 'place the voice forward.' "others, with the most austere gravity, will tell you that your voice is too far back, or that you send the voice to the lower teeth, and promise in a few days to place the voice forward, at the upper teeth, or wherever else it should be." (_il canto nel suo mecanismo_, milan, 1902.) this statement is by no means justified. the precepts have a real and definite meaning for the vocal teacher. any one familiar with the highest type of artistic singing must have observed that the singer's "throat seems to be open"; the tones impress the hearer as being in some way "forward in the singer's mouth," and not at the vocal cords; the voice "seems to be supported" somewhere; the tones float out freely on the breath. a harsh and badly produced voice seems to be held in the singer's throat by main force. the critical hearer feels instinctively that such a singer's voice would be greatly improved if the tones could only be supported in a forward position in the mouth, and kept from slipping back into the throat. it seems that this would relieve the throat of the strain of holding the tone; the throat would then be open, and the voice would float out freely on the breath. in short, the traditional precepts describe accurately the most striking points of difference between perfect singing and bad singing, so far as the effect on the listener is concerned. modern teachers are thoroughly familiar with the highest standards of the vocal art; they fully appreciate how well the precepts describe the perfection of singing. through long continued listening to voices, the precepts come to have a very real meaning. it is inevitable therefore that the teacher should try to impart to the pupil this intimate feeling for the voice. true, this acquaintance with the voice is purely empirical; as has just been remarked, no mechanical analysis of this empirical knowledge has ever been successfully made. the modern teacher's apprehension of the meaning of the precepts is only very vaguely connected with a supposed insight into the mechanical processes of tone-production. yet there is nothing vague about the impression made on the teacher in listening to his pupils. on the contrary, every faulty tone impresses the teacher very keenly and definitely as being too far back, or as caught in the throat, or as falling back for lack of support, etc. how could it be expected then, that the teacher should refrain from telling the pupil to correct the faulty production, in the manner so clearly and directly indicated by the tones? but this direct application of the precepts is of absolutely no value in instruction, because of the teacher's ignorance of the mechanical processes supposedly involved. there is after all some justification for guetta's criticism of empirical instruction. it is all very well for the teacher to feel that the pupil's voice is gripped in the throat, and to bid him "open your throat." the pupil may strive ever so earnestly to open his throat, but he does not know how, and the teacher is utterly unable to tell him. all instruction based on the empirical precepts is thus seen to be extremely unsatisfactory. while the precepts convey a very valuable meaning to the teacher, no way has ever been found for translating this meaning into rules for the mechanical management of the vocal organs. recourse is had, to some extent, to a description of the singer's sensations; exercises on special vowels and consonants are also much used, for imparting the ideas embodied in the precepts. both of these topics are now to be considered. _the singer's sensations_ the correct use of the voice awakens in the singer a variety of sensations generally held to be different from those accompanying any incorrect vocal action. one important fact must first be noted regarding the manner in which the singer's sensations are described by various authorities. the use of the voice awakens a wide variety of local sensations, which bear no necessary relation to each other. a singer may, at will, pay entire attention to any one, or to any particular set, of these sensations, and for the time being completely ignore all the others. physiologically considered, the singer's sensations are of two classes,--first, muscular sensations strictly speaking; and second, a sense of tingling or vibration, definitely located usually about the breast bone, and in the front and upper part of the head. _muscular sensations of singing_ it is very difficult to analyze and describe exactly the muscular sensations which accompany any complex action. swimming, diving, dancing, skating,--each awakens a set of extremely vivid muscular feelings; yet to describe these sensations so graphically that they could be felt in imagination by one who had never experienced them actually,--that would be almost impossible. this peculiar aspect of muscular sensations is particularly true as regards the action of singing. while every vocal teacher knows exactly how it feels to sing properly, all descriptions of the singer's muscular sensations are extremely vague. but the vividness of these sensations keeps them constantly before the teacher's mind, and some application of them, in the present state of voice culture, is almost inevitable. the basic sensation of correct singing, as generally described, is a feeling of perfect poise and harmony of the whole body; this is accompanied by a sense of freedom about the throat and jaw, and firm grasp and control of the expiratory muscles. attempts are frequently made to amplify this description, but the results are always very vague. a feeling of "absence of local effort" at the throat is much spoken of, or "perfect relaxation of the vocal muscles." a few specially localized muscular sensations are also much discussed. descriptions of this class however are often so loosely given as to render a definite statement almost impossible. most frequently mentioned are the feeling of "backward pressure in the throat," and of "drinking in the tone," instead of sending it out. then again, the "tone must be felt at the upper front teeth." a feeling as of an "expanded and flexible vocal tube, extending from the base of the lungs to the lips," is also much talked of. "feel that you grow bigger as the tone swells" is about as intelligible as the feeling of "floating jaw." on the whole, the subject of the singer's muscular sensations is usually rather mystifying to the student. _sensations of tingling or vibration_ descriptions of sensations of this class are much more coherent than those just considered. a definite location is given to the feelings, in the chest and in the head. a feeling of trembling in the upper chest is usually held to indicate that the chest cavity is working properly as a resonator. this sensation is therefore the chief reliance of most teachers in "placing" the lower tones, especially for low voices. sensations in the nasal cavities and head are utilized for acquiring control of nasal resonance, for placing the upper notes of the voice, and for "bringing the voice forward." exercises for control of both cavities, on special vowels and consonants, combine the two topics, "vowel position" and sensation. _singing in the mask_ in recent years a method of instruction has been developed in france, which is commonly called by its advocates "singing in the mask." the basic idea of this method is that the singer must imagine his face to be covered by a mask, and must "sing into this mask." this idea may seem rather vague at first; but a few trials will show how easy it is for the singer to persuade himself that he projects his voice into his face. this method goes to the extreme in utilizing the sensations of vibration in the nose and forehead. these sensations are analyzed, localized, and described, down to the most minute detail. while other topics of instruction are included,--breathing, registers, position of tongue, larynx, palate, etc., everything else is subordinated to nasal resonance. "singing in the mask" is of course a purely empirical method, and little has been attempted in the way of justifying it on scientific principles. * * * all instruction based on the singer's sensations is purely empirical, in the meaning ordinarily attached to this word in treatises on vocal science. theoretical works on the voice seldom touch on the subject of sensations, nor do the vocal teachers generally make this subject prominent when speaking of their methods.[6] [note 6: an exception to this statement is seen in the recently published book of mme. lilli lehmann, _meine gesangskunst_, berlin, 1902. this famous artist and teacher devotes by far the greater part of her book to a minute analysis and description of the singer's sensations.] sensations occupy a rather peculiar position in modern methods. they are a distinctly subsidiary element of instruction and are seldom raised to the dignity accorded to the mechanical doctrines of vocal management. the use of the singer's sensations, as applied in practical instruction, is almost exclusively interpretive. in the mechanical sense the traditional precepts have no meaning whatever; this is also true of several of the accepted doctrines of vocal science. for example, the precept "support the tone," is absolutely meaningless as a principle of mechanical vocal action. but, when interpreted as referring to a set of sensations experienced by the singer, this precept takes on a very definite meaning. nobody knows what the support of the tone is, but every vocal teacher knows how it feels. in the same way, no means is known for directly throwing the air in the nasal cavities into vibration. but the sensation in the front of the head, which indicates, presumably, the proper action of nasal resonance, is familiar to all teachers. most of the positive materials of modern methods are thus interpreted in terms of sensations. true, the accepted theory of vocal science does not directly countenance this interpretation. the basic principle of modern voice culture is the idea of mechanical vocal management. all instruction is supposed to aim at direct, conscious, and voluntary control of the muscular operations of singing. teachers always impart to their pupils this idea of the mechanical control of the voice. the vocal action is always considered from the mechanical side. even those expressions whose mechanical meaning is vague or unscientific are yet used as referring definitely to muscular actions. the conscious thought of the teacher is always turned to the mechanical idea supposedly conveyed by scientific doctrine and empirical precept. the translation of this idea into a description of sensations is almost always the result of a sub-conscious mental process. it therefore follows that in practical instruction the appeal to sensations is more often indirect than direct. for example, when a student's tones are caught in the throat, the master says explicitly,--"free the tone by opening your throat." the master explains the (supposed) wrong vocal action, and describes how the tone should be produced. incidentally, the master may also tell how and where the tone should be felt. there is also a great deal of instruction based frankly and directly on the singer's sensations. instruction of this type usually takes the form of special exercises on certain vowels and consonants, which are believed to be peculiarly suited for imparting command of particular features of the correct vocal action. the topics generally covered are chest resonance, nasal resonance, open throat, and forward placing of the tone. this form of instruction is held to be referable in some way to scientific principles. the laws of vowel and consonant formation formulated by helmholtz are often cited in proof of the efficacy of exercises of this type. there is also much discussion of the "location" of the tone. but there is little justification for the statement that instruction based on the singer's sensations is scientific in character. a misconception of acoustic principles is evidenced by most of the statements made concerning the use of special vowels and consonants in securing the correct vocal action. the exercises which aim to utilize the singer's sensations in producing particular vowels and consonants are now to be described. _exercises on special vowels and consonants_ of the rules concerning the use of special vowels, probably the most important is that _a_ (as in _far_) is the most favorable vowel for the general purposes of voice training. teachers generally have their pupils sing most of their exercises on this vowel. much attention is paid to the exact pronunciation of the vowel, and fine distinctions are drawn between its various sounds in italian, french, german, and english. the preference for the italian pronunciation is very general. it is claimed for this sound that it helps materially in acquiring command of the "open throat." indeed, a peculiar virtue in this regard is ascribed to the italian vowels generally. no convincing reason has ever been given for this belief. but the usual custom is to "place the voice" on the italian _a_, and then to take up, one at a time, the other italian vowels. the labial consonants, _p_, _b_, _t_, _d_, are believed to have a peculiar influence in securing the "forward position" of the tone. much the same influence is also ascribed to the vowel _oo_, although many authorities consider _i_ (italian) the "most forward" vowel. exercises combining these consonants and vowels are very widely used, on single tones, and on groups of three, four, or five notes. the syllables _boo_, _poo_, _too_, _doo_ are practised, or if the teacher hold to the other "forward" vowel, _bee_, _pee_, _tee_, _dee_; the student is instructed to hold the vowel in the "forward position" secured by the initial consonant. later on, the "forward" vowel is gradually widened into the other vowels; exercises are sung on _boo-ah_, _doo-ah_, etc. this form of instruction is capable of great elaboration. many teachers use a wide variety of combinations of these vowels and consonants; but as the basic idea is always the same, this class of exercises calls for no further description. the singer's sensations, notably those of "open throat," "expanded vocal tube," "forward tone," and vibration in the chest, are generally brought to the pupil's attention in this form of exercise. another set of sounds are held to be specially adapted for securing the use of nasal resonance. these are the letters _m_, _n_, and _ng_, when used for starting a tone, and also the vowel _i_ (italian). the exercises used are similar in character to those just described. in singing these exercises, the student is supposed to "start the tone high up in the head on the initial _m_ or _n_, and to hold it there, while gradually and smoothly opening the mouth for the vowel," etc. the sensations specially noticed in this type of exercise are the feelings of vibration in the nose and forehead. the "forward tone," as well as the nasal resonance, is supposed to be favored by the practice of these exercises. _enunciation_ vocal teachers always recognize the importance of a clear delivery of the text in singing. correct enunciation is therefore considered in all methods. a few teachers believe that a clear pronunciation helps greatly to establish the correct vocal action. some even go so far as to say that a clear delivery of the words will of itself insure a correct tone-production. but this theory calls for only passing comment. one has but to turn to the vaudeville stage to see its falsity. for singers of that class, the words are of the utmost importance, while the tone-production is usually of the very worst. a few teachers base their methods on the theory that correct tone-production results necessarily from the singing of "pure vowels." this is no doubt interesting, but still far from convincing. the problem of tone-production is not solved quite so simply. as a rule, vocal teachers consider the subject of pronunciation as quite distinct from tone-production. methods differ with regard to the use of exercises in articulation, and to the stage of progress at which these exercises are taken up. some teachers insist on their pupils practising singing for months on the vowels, before permitting them to sing even the simplest songs with words. others have the pupils sing words from the beginning of instruction. as a rule, teachers begin to give songs, and vocalises with words, very early in the course. _throat stiffness and relaxing exercises_ teachers of singing generally recognize that any stiffening of the throat interferes with the correct action of the voice. yet for some strange reason vocal students are very much inclined to form habits of throat stiffness. this constantly happens, in spite of the fact that teachers continually warn their pupils against the tendency to stiffen. on this account, exercises for relaxing the throat are an important feature of modern instruction in singing. naturally, relaxing exercises are not thought to have any direct bearing in bringing about the correct vocal action. they are purely preparatory; their purpose is only to bring the vocal organs into the right condition for constructive training. for this reason, the means used for relaxing the throat are seldom mentioned among the materials of instruction. but almost every vocal teacher is obliged to make frequent use of throat relaxing exercises. indeed, throat stiffness is one of the most serious difficulties of modern voice culture. a student frequently seems to be making good progress, and then without much warning falls into a condition of throat stiffness so serious as to undo for a time the good work of several months' study. in such a case there is nothing for the teacher to do but to drop the progressive work, and devote a few lessons to relaxing exercises. little difficulty is usually found in relaxing the throat, when once the necessity becomes strikingly apparent. that is, provided progressive study is dropped for a time, and attention paid solely to relaxing exercises. but such cases are comparatively rare. a much more constant source of trouble is found in the prevailing tendency of vocal students to stiffen their throats, just enough to interfere with the (supposed) application of the teacher's method. the exercises used for relaxing the throat are fairly simple, both in character and scope. they consist mainly of toneless yawning, of single tones "yawned out" on a free exhalation, and of descending scale passages of the same type. although seldom recognized as a coördinate topic of instruction, exercises of this character are usually interspersed among the other materials of vocal methods. chapter vi a general view of modern voice culture all the materials of modern methods have now been described. the subject next to be considered is the manner in which these materials are utilized in practical instruction. in other words, what is a method of voice culture? in the present state of vocal science, the subject of tone-production overshadows everything else in difficulty. when once the correct vocal action has been acquired, the student's progress is assured. every other feature of the singer's education is simply a matter of time and application. but, under present conditions, the acquirement of the correct vocal action is extremely uncertain. on account of its fundamental importance, and more especially of its difficulty, the subject of tone-production is the most prominent topic of instruction in singing. the term "method" is therefore applied solely to the means used for imparting the correct vocal action. this use of the word is in accordance with the accepted theory of voice culture. the general belief is that tone-production is entirely distinct from vocal technique. technical studies cannot profitably be undertaken, according to the prevailing idea, until the correct management of the vocal organs has been established. this idea is supposed to be followed out in modern instruction. it is generally assumed that the voice is brought under control through a definite series of exercises; these exercises are supposed to follow, one after the other, according to a well-defined system. the term "method" implies this systematic arrangement of exercises. it indicates that vocal training is a matter of precise knowledge and orderly progression. this represents the accepted ideal of voice culture, rather than the actual condition. the idea that the vocal management should be imparted specially, as something preliminary to the technical training of the voice, is not carried out in practice. teachers generally are striving to bring their systems into conformity with this ideal standard. they use the expression, "placing the voice," to describe the preliminary training in tone-production. but no successful system of this type has ever been evolved. the correct management of the voice never is imparted in the manner indicated by this ideal of instruction. tone-production continues, throughout the entire course of study, to be the most important topic of instruction. in order to understand the nature of a method of voice culture, it is necessary first to consider the relation which exists, in modern instruction, between training in tone-production, and the development of vocal technique. according to the accepted theory, the voice must be "placed" before the real study of singing is undertaken. after the voice has been properly "placed," it is supposed to be in condition to be developed by practice in singing technical exercises. but in actual practice this distinction between "voice-placing" exercises and technical studies is seldom drawn. the voice is trained, almost from the beginning of the course of study, by practice in actual singing. the earliest exercises used for "placing the voice" are in every respect technical studies,--single tones and syllables, scale passages, arpeggios, etc. it is impossible to produce even a single tone without embodying some feature of technique. practice therefore serves a double purpose; it brings the voice gradually to the condition of perfect action, and at the same time it develops the technique. the student advances gradually toward the correct manner of tone-production, and this progress is evidenced solely by the improved technical use of the voice. considerable technical facility is attained before the tone-production becomes absolutely perfect. a vocal student's practice in singing is not confined to technical exercises, strictly speaking. vocalises, songs, and arias are taken up, usually very early in the course of study. moreover, attention is nearly always paid to musical expression and to artistic rendition, as well as to the vocal action and the technical use of the voice. this is true, whether the student sings an exercise, a vocalise, a song, or an aria. for daily home practice, the student sings, usually, first some exercises, then a few vocalises, and finally several songs and arias. every teacher has at command a wide range of compositions of all these kinds, carefully graded as to technical and musical difficulty. as the pupil advances, more and more difficult works are undertaken. for each stage of advancement the teacher chooses the compositions best adapted to carry the student's progress still further. there is no point in this development at which instruction in tone-production ceases, and the technical training of the voice is begun. on the contrary, the means used for imparting the correct vocal action are interspersed with the other materials of instruction, both technical and artistic, throughout the entire course of study. moreover, the training in tone-production is carried on during the singing of the compositions just described, as well as by practice on "voice-placing" exercises strictly speaking. a method of instruction in singing therefore consists primarily of a set of mechanical rules and directions for managing the voice, and secondarily of a series of exercises, both toneless and vocal, so designed that the student may directly apply in practising them the rules and directions for vocal management. it must not be understood however that the mechanical rules are applied only to the exercises specially designed for this purpose. these rules and directions are also intended to be applied to everything the student sings,--exercises, technical studies, and musical compositions. it will be recalled that the review of the topics of modern vocal instruction covered three distinct types of materials. first, the purely mechanical doctrines, commonly regarded as the only strictly scientific principles of voice culture. these are, the rules for the management of the breath, of the registers, of laryngeal action, and of the resonance cavities, and also the directions for attacking the tone, and for forward emission. the second class of materials is held by strict adherents of the scientific idea to be purely empirical; this class includes the traditional precepts of the old italian school, and also all the topics of instruction based on the singer's sensations. a third class of materials is found in the attempts to interpret the empirical doctrines in the light of the scientific analysis of the vocal action. to enumerate and classify all the methods of instruction in vogue would be almost an impossibility. absolutely no uniformity can be found on any topic. even among the accepted doctrines of vocal science there are many controverted points. five distinct schools of breathing are represented, two of breath-control. of well worked-out systems of registers, at least twenty could be enumerated. fully this number of theories are offered regarding the correct positions of the larynx, soft palate, and tongue. two opposed theories are held as to nasal resonance. further, the empirical doctrines are always stated so loosely that no real unanimity of view can be found on any one of them. every vocal teacher selects the materials of instruction from these controverted doctrines, but neither rule nor reason determines what materials shall be embodied in any one method. there is no coherence whatever in the matter. further, there is no agreement as to which topics of instruction are most important. one teacher may emphasize breath-control and support of tone as the foundations of the correct vocal action, another may give this position to nasal resonance and forward placing. yet both these teachers may include in their methods about the same topics. the methods seem entirely different, only because each makes some one or two doctrines the most important. in short, it might almost be said that there are as many methods as teachers. three fairly distinct types of method may be defined, depending on the class of materials adopted. at one extreme are found those teachers who attempt to follow strictly the scientific principles. these teachers generally profess to employ only the purely mechanical doctrines of vocal science, and to ignore all empirical interpretations of these doctrines. they generally devote a portion of every lesson to toneless muscular drills, and insist that their pupils practise every exercise in singing, with special attention to the throat action. these teachers attempt to follow a definite plan and order in the giving of exercises and rules. this systematic arrangement of instruction is, however, seldom followed out consistently with any one student. an important reason for this is considered in chapter i of part ii. a very different type of method is taught by many teachers who pay special attention to the empirical topics of instruction. of course no teacher professes to teach empirically; on the contrary, every method is called scientific, no matter what materials it embodies. indeed, a very little attention paid to breathing, attack, registers, and nasal resonance, is enough to relieve any teacher of the reproach of empiricism. the teachers now being considered touch to some extent on these topics; but most of their instruction is based on the traditional precepts, the singer's sensations, and the special vowel and consonant drills. in the first few lessons of the course they usually give some special breathing exercises, but almost always ignore breath-control. not much is done for vocal control in the strictly muscular sense. special "voice-placing" exercises are not used to any such extent as in the strictly scientific methods just described, the voice-placing work being usually done on vocalises, songs, and arias. no system whatever is followed, or even attempted, in the sequence of topics touched upon. the directions, "breathe deeper on that phrase," "bring that tone more forward," "open your throat for that _ah_," "feel that tone higher up in the head," may follow one after the other within five minutes of instruction. teachers of this type are frequently charged, by the strict advocates of mechanical instruction, with a practice commonly known as "wearing the voice into place." this expression is used to indicate the total abandonment of system in imparting the correct vocal action. it means that the teacher simply has the pupil sing at random, trusting to chance, or to some vague intuitive process, to bring about the correct use of the voice. to the vocal scientist, "wearing the voice into place" represents the depth of empiricism. the great majority of teachers occupy a middle ground between the two types just described. teachers of this class touch, more or less, on every topic of instruction, mechanical, empirical, and interpretive. their application of most of the topics of instruction is not quite so mechanical as in the first type of method considered. the student's attention is always directed to the vocal organs, but the idea of direct muscular control is not so consistently put forward. as a rule, the attempt is made in the first stages of instruction to follow a systematic plan. breathing, and perhaps breath-control, are first taught as muscular drills, and then applied on single tones. attack is generally taken up next, then simple exercises in the medium register. following this, the chest and head registers are placed, and the attention is turned to emission and resonance. but in most cases, when the pupil has covered three or four terms of twenty lessons each, all system is abandoned. the method from that time on is about of the type described as empirical. it must be remembered that this classification of methods is at best very crude. it would not be easy to pick out any one teacher who adheres consistently to any of the three forms of instruction described. all that can be said is that a teacher usually tends somewhat more to one type than to another. further, the degree of prominence given to the idea of direct mechanical control of the voice does not classify a method quite satisfactorily. without exception every teacher adheres to the prevailing idea, that the voice must be controlled and guided in some direct way,--that the singer "must do something" to cause the vocal organs to operate properly. all the materials of instruction, mechanical and empirical, are utilized for the sole purpose of enabling the student to learn how to "do this something." several names are used by teachers to describe their methods. one professes to teach a "natural method," another the "pure italian school of bel canto," a third the "old italian method as illustrated by vocal science," a fourth the "strict scientific system of voice culture." no attention need be paid to these expressions, as they are seldom accurate descriptions. vocal lessons are usually of thirty minutes' duration. each student generally takes two such lessons every week, although in some cases three, four, or even more are taken. a description of a few typical lessons will show how the materials of instruction are practically utilized. example 1: the student takes a few preliminary toneless breaths. then follow, in the order given, a few short tones for practice on attack, some sustained tones on the vowel _ah_, exercises on three, four, and five notes, ascending and descending, a single tone followed by the octave jump up and descending scale, this last rising by semitones through several keys. in these exercises the student's attention is directed at random to the correct use of the registers, to nasal resonance, forward emission, etc. this consumes ten or twelve minutes of the lesson time. more elaborate exercises on scale passages are then sung, lasting another five minutes. these are followed by a vocalise or two, and a couple of songs or arias, which fill out the thirty minutes. example 2: a few breathing exercises are practised, followed by single tones and short scale passages, the whole lasting about five minutes. then the student is drilled for some ten minutes on "placing the head tones," in the manner described in the section on special vowel and consonant drills. these exercises are varied by swelling the high tone, by changing the vowels, and by elaborating the descending scale passages. the remaining fifteen minutes are devoted to vocalises and songs. example 3: this is an advanced pupil, whose voice is supposed to be fairly well "placed." technical exercises of some difficulty are sung, covering a range of an octave and a half, or a little more. the teacher interrupts occasionally to say "sing those lower notes more in the chest voice," "place the upper notes higher in the head," "don't let your vocal cords open on that ah," "sing that again and make the tones cleaner," etc. one or two arias are then sung, interspersed with instructions of the same sort, and also with suggestions regarding style, delivery, and expression. for daily practice between lessons, the student sings usually the same exercises and studies included in the previous lesson, and also commits to memory compositions assigned for future study. examples of this kind might be multiplied indefinitely, but the main points have been fairly well brought out. most important to be noticed is the fact that the voice is trained by practice in actual singing. in the whole scheme of modern voice culture, toneless muscular drills consume only an insignificant proportion of the time devoted to lessons. further, the number of exercises and musical compositions embraced in a single half-hour lesson is very small. on the other hand, no limit can be set to the number of topics of vocal control touched on in any one lesson. these latter are used, throughout the whole range of instruction, without any systematic sequence. whatever fault of production the pupil's tones indicate, the teacher calls attention to the fault, and gives the supposedly appropriate rule for its correction. part ii a critical analysis of modern methods chapter i mechanical vocal management as the basis of voice culture notwithstanding the wide diversity of opinion on most topics connected with vocal training, there is one point on which all authorities agree. this is, that the voice must be consciously controlled. in all the conflict of methods, this basic mechanical idea has never been attacked. on the contrary, it is everywhere accepted without question as the foundation of all instruction in singing. the idea of mechanical vocal control is also the starting-point of all analysis of the vocal action. every investigator of the voice approaches the subject in the belief that an exact determination of the muscular operations of correct singing would lead to an absolutely infallible method of training voices. the problem of tone-production is identical, in the common belief, with the problem of the vocal action. three sciences, anatomy, mechanics, and acoustics, are believed to hold somewhere among them the secret of the voice. all investigation has therefore been carried on along the lines of these three sciences. it is on this account that modern methods are called scientific, and not because they are in conformity with general scientific principles. before taking up the question whether the idea of mechanical vocal control is well grounded in fact and reason, let us consider further the influence of this idea on modern methods of instruction. all instruction in singing is intended to teach the student to "do something," in order that the vocal organs may be directly caused to act properly. no matter how vague and indefinite the directions given, their aim is always to inform the student what to do, how to guide the vocal action. even when used in a purely empirical way the directions for open throat, etc., are always given in this spirit. that these directions are utterly meaningless in the mechanical sense does not alter the fact; nobody has ever found any other connection in which they would take on a definite meaning. in this regard the empirical directions are no more unsatisfactory than the mechanical doctrines of the accepted vocal science. it was pointed out that no means has ever been discovered for applying several of these doctrines in practical instruction. the rules contained in the theoretical works on voice culture for managing the registers and vocal-cord action, for forward emission of tone, and for control of the resonance cavities, are of no value whatever to the student of singing. it will be asked, how does the conscientious teacher get over this difficulty? how are the deficiencies of the scientific doctrines supplied in instruction? in many cases the deficiency is absolutely ignored. the student is simply told to "make the vocal cords act properly," to "direct the tone against the roof of the mouth," to "bring in the nasal resonance," etc., and no further help is given. that this works severe hardship on the earnest student need hardly be mentioned. other teachers, as has been explained, rely on a description of the singer's sensations, and on the use of several vowel and consonant combinations, for imparting control of resonance and forward emission. these means are purely empirical makeshifts, and as a rule they are not sanctioned by the consistent advocates of scientific instruction. but for acquiring control of the correct vocal-cord action, absolutely no means has ever been found, scientific or empirical. on this, the surpassingly important feature of the vocal action, vocal science has thrown no light whatever. it was also remarked that the strictly scientific idea of voice culture is very seldom carried out, to its logical conclusion, in actual instruction. one important reason for this is that a student seldom remains long enough with a teacher to cover the entire ground of mechanical instruction. students move about from teacher to teacher. in the class of any one master the proportion of pupils who have never had any previous instruction does not average one in ten. to carry the idea of averages further, the length of time a student takes lessons of one instructor may be set down as seldom more than two years. how long it would take to apply the complete system of mechanical vocal training has never been precisely stated. cases are on record of pupils being kept on mechanical drills and elementary exercises for four years, without being allowed to attempt a simple song. but these instances are extremely rare. it seldom happens that a teacher can hold a pupil long enough to carry out the complete course of mechanical study. there are however many teachers who try conscientiously to have their pupils pay attention to all the mechanical features of the vocal action. what it would mean to sing in this way can only be imagined. before starting a tone, the singer would prepare by taking a breath in some prescribed way, and retaining this breath an instant by holding the chest walls out. meanwhile the lips, tongue, soft palate, and larynx would each be placed in the correct position. the jaw would be held relaxed, and the throat loose and open. the expected tone would be felt, in imagination, high up in the head, to assure the proper influence of nasal resonance. the vocal cords would be held in readiness to respond instantly to the mental command, so as to assure the exact state of tension necessary. preparation would be made to direct the "column of vocalized breath," through the pharynx and mouth, to the proper point on the hard palate. then, at the same precise instant, the breath would be started, and the vocal cords would be brought together, but without touching. so the tone would be begun. and all this would have to be done, with due attention to each operation, in the fraction of a second preceding the starting of the tone! the downright absurdity of this idea of singing must be apparent to any one who has ever listened to a great singer. under the influence of the idea of mechanical vocal management there is little room for choice between voice culture along empirical lines, and the accepted type of scientific instruction. modern empirical voice training has little practical value. describing to the student the sensations which ought to be felt, does not help in the least. even if the sensations felt by the singer, in producing tone correctly, are entirely different from those accompanying any incorrect use of the voice, nothing can be learned thereby. the sensations of correct singing cannot be felt until the voice is correctly used. an effect cannot produce its cause. correct tone-production must be there to cause the sensations, or the sensations are not awakened at all. nothing else can bring about the sensations of correct singing, but correct singing itself. further, these sensations cannot be known until they are actually experienced. no description is adequate to enable the student to feel them in imagination. and, finally, even if the sensations could be described with all vividness, imagining them would not influence the vocal organs in any way. this is true, whether the description is given empirically, or whether it is cited to explain a mechanical feature of the vocal action. instruction based on the singer's sensations is absolutely valueless. it would seem that modern methods contain very little of real worth. the investigation of the mechanical operations of the voice can hardly be said to have brought forth anything of definite value to the vocal teacher. but this is not the worst that can be said about the mechanical doctrines of tone-production. when critically examined, and submitted to a rigid scientific analysis, several of these doctrines are found to be erroneous in conception. these are the theories of breath-control, chest resonance, nasal resonance, and emission of tone. it will be observed that these doctrines comprise more than half of the materials of the accepted vocal science. yet notwithstanding the fact that they are accepted without question by the great majority of vocal theorists as important elements of instruction in singing, each of these doctrines involves a distinct misconception of scientific principles. an examination of these doctrines is therefore the next subject to be undertaken. chapter ii the fallacy of the doctrine of breath-control when dr. mandl advanced the statement that the laryngeal muscles are too weak to withstand the pressure of a powerful expiratory blast, the theory of the vocal action therein embodied met with immediate acceptance. this idea is so plausible that it appeals to the thoughtful investigator as self-evident, and seems to call for no proof. the doctrine of breath-control was at once adopted, by the most influential vocal scientists, as the basic principle of tone-production. curiously, neither dr. mandl, nor any other advocate of breath-control, seems to have read an article by sir charles bell dealing with this same action, the closing of the glottis against a powerful exhalation. this paper, "on the organs of the human voice," was read before a meeting of the london philosophical society on february 2, 1832. dr. bell dispels all the mystery concerning the closure of the glottis, and the holding of the breath against a powerful contraction of the expiratory muscles. he points out that this action occurs in accordance with the law of the distribution of pressure in a fluid body, commonly known as pascal's law of fluid pressures. pascal's law is stated as follows:--"pressure exerted anywhere upon a mass of fluid is transmitted undiminished in all directions, and acts with equal force on all equal surfaces, and in a direction at right angles to those surfaces." (atkinson's _ganot's physics_, 4th ed., new york, 1869.) the hydraulic press furnishes the familiar illustration of this law. two vertical cylinders, one many times larger than the other, are connected by a pipe. the cylinders are fitted with pistons. both the cylinders, and the pipe connecting them, are filled with water, oil, air, or any other fluid; the fluid can pass freely from one cylinder to the other, through the connecting pipe. suppose a horizontal section of the smaller cylinder to measure one square inch, that of the larger to be one hundred square inches. a weight of one pound on the smaller piston will balance a weight of one hundred pounds on the larger. if a downward pressure of one pound be exerted on the smaller piston, the larger piston will exert an upward pressure of one hundred pounds. conversely, a downward pressure of one hundred pounds, exerted on the larger piston, will effect an upward pressure of only one pound on the smaller piston. a type of the hydraulic press is presented by the chest cavity and the larynx, considered as one apparatus. this fact is illustrated in the following quotation: "if a bladder full of water be connected with a narrow upright glass tube, heavy weights placed on the bladder will be able to uphold only a very small quantity of liquid in the tube, this arrangement being in fact a hydraulic press worked backwards. if the tube be shortened down so as to form simply the neck of the bladder, the total expulsive pressure exerted by the bladder upon the contents of the neck may seem to be very small when compared with the total pressure exerted over the walls of the bladder upon the whole contents." (_a text book of the principles of physics_, alfred daniell, london, 1884.) that the glottis-closing muscles are too weak to withstand a powerful expiratory pressure is therefore an entirely erroneous statement. owing to the small area of the under surfaces of the vocal cords, the air pressure against them is very small, in comparison with the total pressure exerted on the contents of the thorax by the expiratory contraction. the glottis-closing muscles are fully capable of withstanding this comparatively slight pressure. the doctrine of breath-control is therefore scientifically untenable. this doctrine has no place in vocal science. as the basic doctrine of breath-control is unsound, the singer does not need any direct means for controlling the breath. the attempt to check the flow of the breath in any mechanical way is entirely uncalled for. this being the case, it is hardly to be expected that the systems devised to meet this fancied need would stand the test of scientific examination. each of these systems of breath-control, opposed muscular action and ventricular, is in fact found on analysis to embody a misconception of scientific principles. _opposed-action breath-control_ a curious misapprehension of mechanical processes is contained in the doctrine of breath-control by opposed muscular action. this can best be pointed out by a consideration of the forces brought to bear on a single rib in the acts of inspiration and expiration. one set of muscles contract to raise this rib in inspiration, an opposed set, by their contraction, lower the rib for the act of expiration. in the opposed-action system of breath-control, the action of the rib-raising muscles is continued throughout the expiration, as a check upon the pull in the opposite direction of the rib-lowering muscles. theoretically, the downward pull is "controlled" by the upward pull. to express this idea in figures, let the expiratory or downward pull on the rib be said to involve the expenditure of five units of strength. according to the theory of opposed-action breath-control, this downward pull would have to be opposed by a slightly less upward pull, say four units of strength. thus graphically presented, the fallacy of the "opposed-muscular" theory is clearly exposed. the rib is lowered with a degree of strength equal to the excess of the downward over the upward pull. if the downward pull equals five units of strength, and the upward pull four units, the rib is lowered with a pull equivalent to one unit of strength. exactly the same effect would be obtained if the downward and upward pulls were equal respectively to twenty and nineteen units, or to two and one units. further, the result would be the same if the downward pull involved the exertion of one unit of strength, and there was no upward pull whatever. in every case, the actual result is equivalent to the excess of the downward over the upward pull. in the case of the expiratory pressure of five units of strength being "controlled" by an inspiratory contraction of four units, nine units of strength are exerted, and the same result could be obtained by the exertion of one unit. there is a clear waste of eight units of strength. the power of the expiratory blast is just what it would be if one unit of strength were exerted in an "uncontrolled" expiration. the singer exerts just nine times as much strength as is necessary to effect the same result. this is why the practice of breath-control exercises is so extremely fatiguing. so far as the effect of the expiratory blast on the vocal cords is concerned, "controlling" the breath has no influence whatever. the vocal cords respond to the effective air pressure; they are not affected in any way by the opposed contractions of the breath muscles. "opposed-muscular" breath-control is a sheer waste of time and effort. probably no particular harm has ever resulted to any singer's throat from the practice of breath-control exercises. but the attempt to hold back the breath has a very bad effect on the singer's delivery. the "breath-control" type of singer is never found in the ranks of the great artists. there is something utterly unnatural about this holding back of the breath, repugnant to every singer endowed with the right idea of forceful and dramatic delivery. the vast majority of the successful pupils of "breath-control" teachers abandon, very early in their careers, the tiresome attempt to hold back the breath. these singers yield, probably unconsciously, to the instinctive impulse to sing freely and without constraint. but in the ranks of the minor concert and church singers are many who try conscientiously to obey the instructions of the "breath-control" teachers. singers of this type can always be recognized by a curious impression of hesitancy, or even timidity, conveyed by their tones. they seem afraid to deliver their phrases with vigor and energy; they do not "let their voices out." frequently their voices are of excellent quality, and their singing is polished and refined. but these singers never give to the listener that sense of satisfaction which is felt on hearing a fine voice freely and generously delivered. as for the particular fallacy contained in the theory of ventricular breath-control, that must be reserved for a later chapter. suffice it to say here that this theory disregards the two basic mechanical principles of tone-production,--pascal's law, and the law of the conservation of energy. the application of this latter physical law to the operations of the vocal organs is considered in chapter vi of part iii. chapter iii the fallacies of forward emission, chest resonance, and nasal resonance sir morell mackenzie's analysis of the acoustic principle supposedly involved in "forward emission" has already been quoted. that this analysis involves a complete misunderstanding of the laws of acoustics need hardly be said. when stated in precise terms, the fallacy of the "forward emission" theory is evident: "on issuing from the vocal cords the tone is directed in a curved path, around the back of the tongue. there the tone is straightened out, and made to impinge on the roof of the mouth at a precisely defined point. from this point the tone is reflected, not directly back, as it should be, since the angles of incidence and reflection must be equal. instead of this, the tone is reflected forward, out of the mouth, necessarily again taking a curved path, to avoid striking the front teeth." naturally, no muscular action has ever been defined for causing the tone to perform this remarkable feat. the "forward emission" theory assumes the existence of a current of air, issuing from the vocal cords as a tone. in other words, the tone is supposed to consist of a stream of air, which can be voluntarily directed in the mouth, and aimed at some precise point on the roof of the mouth. this is an utter mistake. there is no "column of vibrating air," or "stream of vocalized breath," in the mouth during tone-production. in the acoustic sense, the air in the mouth-pharynx is still air, not air in a current. the only motion which takes place in the air in this cavity is the oscillatory swing of the air particles. to imagine the directing of air vibrations in the mouth, as we direct a stream of water out of a hose, is absurd. what then is the "forward tone"? there must be some reason for this well-known effect of a perfectly produced voice,--the impression made on the hearer that the tones are formed in the front of the mouth. there ought also to be some way for the singer to learn to produce tones of this character. a consideration of this feature of the vocal action is reserved for chapter iv of part iii. _chest resonance_ who was originally responsible for the doctrine of chest resonance, it would be impossible now to determine. were it not for the fact of this doctrine having received the support of eminent scientists (holmes, mackenzie, curtis, and many others), it might be looked upon as a mere figure of speech. that the tones of the voice are reinforced by the resonance of the air in the chest cavity, is an utter absurdity. in the acoustic sense, the thorax is not a cavity at all. the thorax is filled with the spongy tissue of the lungs, not to mention the heart. it is no better adapted for air resonance than an ordinary spherical resonator would be, if filled with wet sponges. _nasal resonance_ enough was said of the theories of nasal resonance in chapter iv of part i to show the unscientific character of all these theories. it remains only to point out the misconception of acoustic principles, contained in all the discussions of the subject. this is very much the same as in the theory of "forward emission," viz., that the tones of the voice consist physically of a "stream of vocalized breath." the mistaken idea is, that nasal resonance results from part or all of the expired breath passing through the nose. what is nasal resonance? how is it caused? what is its effect on the tones of the voice? these questions have never been answered. it can however be proved that a satisfactory science of voice culture is not in any way dependent on obtaining an answer to these questions. this much is definitely known: 1. if the resonance of the air in the nasal cavities exerts any influence on the tones of the voice, this influence cannot be increased, diminished, or prevented by any direct action on the part of the singer. shutting off the entrance of the breath, by raising the soft palate, is possible as a muscular exercise. but it is impossible to perform this action, and to sing artistically, at the same time. to produce any kind of tone, while holding the soft palate raised, is extremely difficult. in a later chapter it will be seen that this action has no place whatever in the correct use of the voice. 2. as the nasal cavities are fixed in size and shape, the singer cannot control or vary any influence which they may exert as a resonator. 3. independent of any thought or knowledge of how the nasal quality of tone is caused, the singer has perfect voluntary control over this quality by the simple, direct influence of the will. a singer may produce nasal tones, or tones free from this faulty sound, at will, with no thought of the mechanical processes involved. all that is required is that the singer have an ear keen enough to recognize the nasal quality in his own voice, as well as in the voice of any other singer. chapter iv the futility of the materials of modern methods of the strictly scientific or mechanical materials of modern methods, four have been seen to be utterly erroneous. the remaining topics of instruction, mechanical and empirical, may with equal justice be submitted to a similar examination. several of these topics have already been critically examined. the rules for registers and laryngeal management were seen to be of no value to the student of singing. so also was it observed that all instruction which attempts to utilize the singer's sensations is futile. all that is left of the materials of modern methods, in which any valuable idea might be contained, are the rules for breathing. without undertaking to decide whether one system of breathing can be right, to the exclusion of all other systems, one general remark can be applied to the whole subject. it has never been scientifically proved that the correct use of the voice depends in any way on the mastery of an acquired system of breathing. true, this is the basic assumption of all the discussions of the singer's breathing. as frangçon-davies justly remarks,--"all combatants are agreed on one point, viz., that the singer's breath is an acquired one of some kind." (_the singing of the future_, david frangçon-davies, m.a., london, 1906.) this is purely an assumption on the part of the vocal theorists. no one has ever so much as attempted to offer scientific proof of the statement. further, it is frequently stated that the old italian masters paid much attention to the subject of breathing; the assumption is also made that these masters approached the subject in the modern spirit. neither this statement, nor the assumption based on it, is susceptible of proof. tosi and mancini do not even mention the subject of breathing. breathing has been made the subject of exhaustive mechanical and muscular analysis, for one reason, and for only one reason. this is, because the action of breathing is the only mechanical feature of singing which can be exhaustively studied. the laryngeal action is hidden; the influence of the resonance cavities cannot well be determined. but the whole muscular operation of breathing can be readily seen and studied; any investigator can personally experiment with every conceivable system. furthermore, the adoption of any system of breathing has no influence whatever on the operations of the voice. a student of singing may learn to take breath in any way favored by the instructor; the manner of tone-production is not in the least affected. even if the correct use of the voice has to be acquired, the mode of breathing does not contribute in any way to this result. all that need be said in criticism of the various doctrines of breathing is, that the importance of this subject has been greatly overestimated. breath and life are practically synonymous. nothing but the prevalence of the mechanical idea has caused so much attention to be paid to the singer's breathing. a tuba player will march for several hours in a street parade, carrying his heavy instrument, and playing it fully half the time; yet the vocal theorist does not consider him an object of sympathy. no doubt the acquirement of healthy habits of breathing is of great benefit to the general health. but this does not prove that correct singing demands some kind of breathing inherently different from ordinary life. to inspire quickly and exhale the breath slowly is not an acquired ability; it is the action of ordinary speech. singing demands that the lungs be filled more quickly than in ordinary speech, and perhaps a fuller inspiration is also required. this is readily mastered with very little practice. it does not call for the acquirement of any new muscular movements, nor the formation of any new habits. what is left of all the materials of modern vocal instruction? to sum them up in the order in which they were considered in part i: breathing does not need to be mastered in any such way as is stated in the theoretical works on the voice. breath-control is a complete fallacy. the doctrines of registers and laryngeal action are utterly valueless. chest resonance, nasal resonance, and forward emission, are scientifically erroneous. the traditional precepts are of no value, because nobody knows how to follow or apply them. empirical teaching based on the singer's sensations is of no avail. in other words, modern methods contain not one single topic of any value whatever in the training of the voice. it will be objected that this statement is utterly absurd, because many of the world's greatest singers have been trained according to these methods. no doubt this is in one sense true; modern methods can point to many brilliant successes. but this does not prove anything in favor of the materials of modern methods. singers are trained to-day exactly as they were trained two hundred years ago, through a reliance on the imitative faculty. the only difference is this: in the old days, the student was directly and expressly told to listen and to imitate, while to-day the reliance on the imitative faculty is purely instinctive. a fuller consideration of the important function of imitation as an unrecognized element of modern voice culture is contained in chapter v of part iv. chapter v the error of the theory of mechanical vocal management a fundamental difference was pointed out, at the close of the preceding chapter, between the old italian method and modern systems of vocal instruction. this is worthy of repetition. the old italian method was founded on the faculty of imitation. modern methods have as their basis the idea of conscious, direct, mechanical control of the vocal organs. all the materials of instruction based on this idea of mechanical control were seen to be absolutely valueless. it is now in order to examine still further the structure of modern voice culture, and to test this basic idea of mechanical control. as a muscular operation, the actions of singing must be subject to the same physiological and psychological laws which govern all other voluntary muscular actions. what are these laws? how do we guide and control our muscular movements? at first sight, this seems a simple question. we know what we want to do, and we do it. but the important point is, how are we able to do the things we want to do? you wish to raise your hand, for example, therefore you raise it. how does your hand know that you wish to raise it? does the hand raise itself? not at all; it is raised by the contraction of certain muscles in the arm, shoulder, and back. that is, when you wish to raise your hand, certain muscles contract themselves. but these muscles are not part of the hand. what leads these muscles in the shoulder and back to contract, when you will to raise your hand? normally you are not even aware of their contraction. yet in some way these muscles know that they are called on to contract, in response to the wish to raise the hand. this takes place, even though you know nothing whatever of the muscles in question. the process is by no means so simple, when looked at in this light. a complicated psychological process is involved in the simplest voluntary movements. this is seen in the following analysis: "to move any part of the body voluntarily requires the following particulars: (1) the possession of an educated reflex-motor mechanism, under the control of the higher cerebral centers which are most immediately connected with the phenomena of consciousness; (2) certain _motifs_ in the form of conscious feelings that have a tone of pleasure or pain, and so impel the mind to secure such bodily conditions as will continue or increase the one, and discontinue or diminish the other; (3) ideas of motions and positions of the bodily members, which previous experience has taught us answer more or less perfectly to the _motifs_ of conscious feeling; (4) a conscious fiat of will, settling the question, as it were, which of these ideas shall be realized in the motions achieved and positions attained by these members; (5) a central nervous mechanism, which serves as the organ of relation between this act of will and the discharge of the requisite motor impulses along their nerve-tracts to the groups of muscles peripherally situated." (_elements of physiological psychology_, geo. t. ladd, new york, 1889.) let us again consider the action of raising the hand, and see how the psychological analysis applies in this movement. we note in the first place that we are concerned only with the third, fourth, and fifth particulars of prof. ladd's analysis. these are: the idea of the movement. the fiat of will which directs that this movement be performed. the discharge of the requisite motor impulses, along the nerve-tracts, to the muscles whose contraction constitutes the movement. it will be simpler, and will answer the purpose equally well, to combine the third and fourth elements, and to consider as one element the idea of the movement and the fiat of will to execute the movement. _the idea of a movement_ the mental picture of a purposed movement is simple and direct. no reference is involved to the muscles concerned in the performance of the movement. when you will to raise your hand, the action is pictured to your mind as the raising of the hand, and nothing more. certain muscles are to be contracted. but the mental picture of the movement does not indicate what these muscles are, in what order they are to be brought into play, nor the relative degrees of strength to be exerted by each muscular fiber. you do not consciously direct the muscles in their contractions. _the discharge to the muscles of the nerve impulse_ how then are the muscles informed that their contraction is called for? they have no independent volition; each muscular fiber obeys the impulse transmitted to it by the nerve, from the nerve center governing its action. these nerve centers are in their turn controlled by the central nervous mechanism. and in complex voluntary movements the central nervous mechanism is under the control of the higher cerebral centers. the wish to raise the hand appears to the mind as an idea of the hand being raised. this idea is translated by the central nervous mechanism into a set of motor nerve impulses. does consciousness or volition come into play here? not at all. on this point prof. ladd remarks: "as to the definite nature of the physical basis which underlies the connection of ideas of motion and the starting outward of the right motor impulses, our ignorance is almost complete." is it necessary for the performance of a complex muscular action that the individual know what muscles are involved and how and when to contract them? no; this knowledge is not only unnecessary, it is even impossible. prof. ladd says of this: "it would be a great mistake to regard the mind as having before it the cerebral machinery, all nicely laid out, together with the acquired art of selecting and touching the right nervous elements in order to produce the desired motion, as a skilful player of the piano handles his keyboard." how then are the muscles informed of the service required of them? or more precisely, how does the central nervous mechanism know what distribution of nerve impulses to make among the different nerve centers governing the muscles? as prof. ladd says, our ignorance on this point is almost complete. there resides in the central nervous mechanism governing the muscles something which for lack of a better name may be called an instinct. when a purposeful movement of any part of the body is willed, the mental picture of the movement is translated by the central nervous mechanism into a succession of nerve impulses; these impulses are transmitted through the lower centers to the muscles. the instinct informing the central nervous mechanism how to apportion the discharges of nerve impulse among the various muscular centers is to a high degree mysterious. the present purpose will not be served by carrying the analysis of this instinct further.[7] [note 7: the evolutionary development of this instinct is not altogether mysterious. science can fairly well trace the successive steps in the development of the central nervous mechanism, from the amoeba to the highest type of vertebrate. "nerve channels" are worn by the repeated transmission of impulses over the same tracts. coördinations become in successive generations more complex and more perfect. as consciousness develops further, in each succeeding type, actions originally reflex tend to take on a more consciously purposeful character. but all we are concerned with now is the problem of tone-production. our purpose is best served by accepting the faculty of muscular adaptation as an instinct, pure and simple.] there is therefore no direct conscious guidance of the muscles, in any movement, simple or complex. so far as the command of voluntary muscular actions is concerned, the first simple statement of the process sums up all that for practical purposes need be determined;--we know what we want to do, and we do it. the mind forms the idea of an action and the muscles instinctively respond. but the fact remains that the muscles need to be guided in some way. we do not perform instinctively many complex actions,--writing, dancing, rowing, swimming, etc. all these actions, and indeed most of the activities of daily life, must be consciously learned by practice and repeated effort. how are these efforts guided? to arrive at an answer to this question let us consider how a schoolboy practises his writing lesson. the boy begins by having before him a copy of the letters he is to write. under the guidance of the eye the hand traces these letters. at each instant the eye points out to the hand the direction in which to move. as the hand occasionally wanders from the prescribed direction the eye immediately notes the deviation and bids the hand to correct it. the hand responds to the demands of the eye, immediately, without thought on the boy's part of nerve impulse or of muscular contraction. by repeated efforts the boy improves upon his first clumsy attempts; with each repetition he approaches nearer to the model. in the course of this progress the muscular sense gradually comes to the assistance of the eye as a sort of supplementary guidance. but at no time is the eye relieved of the responsibility of guiding the hand in writing. to sum this up, the movements of the hand in writing are guided, so far as the consciousness is aware, directly by the sense of sight. we have here the law of voluntary muscular guidance. in all voluntary movements the muscles are guided in their contractions, through some instinctive process, by the sense or senses which observe the movements themselves, and more especially, the results of the movements. in most actions the two senses concerned are sight and muscular sense. the more an action becomes habitual the more it tends to be performed under the guidance of muscular sense, and to be free from the necessity of the guidance of the eye. but muscular sense does not usually rise so high into consciousness as sight, in the guidance of muscular activities. many oft-repeated movements, especially those of walking, become thoroughly habitual and even automatic; that is, the muscular contractions are performed as purely reflex actions, without conscious guidance of any kind. but even in walking, the necessity may at any instant arise for conscious guidance. in such a case the sense of sight immediately comes into service; from reflex the movements become voluntary, and consciously guided. in the case of most complex actions the sense of sight furnishes the most important guidance. if the muscular operations of singing are subject to the general laws of psychological control, the guidance of the vocal organs must be furnished by the sense which observes the results of the movements involved. this is the sense of hearing. just as in writing the hand is guided by the eye, so in singing the voice is guided by the ear. there can be no other means of guiding the voice. muscular sense may under certain conditions supplement the sense of hearing, but under no circumstances can muscular sense assume full command. the net result of the application of psychological principles to the problem of tone-production is simply this, that the voice is guided directly by the ear. it is thus seen that the idea of mechanical vocal management is utterly erroneous. on pushing the analysis still further the fallacy of this idea is found to be even more glaring. is a knowledge of anatomy of any assistance in the acquirement of skill in performing complex muscular actions? not in the least. an understanding of muscular processes does not contribute in any way to skilful execution. the anatomist does not play billiards or row a boat one whit the better for all his knowledge of the muscular structure of the body. even if the precise workings of the vocal mechanism could be determined, the science of voice culture would not benefit thereby. knowing how the muscles should act does not help us to make them act properly. it is utterly idle to tell the vocal student that as the pitch of the voice rises the arytenoid cartilages rotate, bringing their forward surfaces together, and so shortening the effective length of the vocal cords. whatever the vocal cords are required to do is performed through an instinctive obedience to the demands of the mental ear. and finally, a precise analysis of muscular contractions is impossible, even in the case of comparatively simple actions. when, for example, the hand describes a circle in the air, a number of muscles are involved. true, it is known what these muscles are, and what effect the combined contractions of any group would have on the position of the hand. the direction of the hand's motion at any instant is determined by the resultant of all the forces exerted on this member. but as this direction constantly changes, so must the relative degrees of strength exerted by the muscles also constantly change. at no two successive instants are the muscular adjustments the same. this simple action, performed without thought or knowledge of the muscular processes, presents features too complex to be analyzed on the basis of mechanical law and anatomic structure. a complete analysis of the muscular operations of tone-production is absolutely impossible. the adjustments of the laryngeal muscles involve probably the most minute variations in degree of contraction performed in the whole voluntary muscular system. what we do know of the mechanical operations of the voice is exceedingly interesting, and a further knowledge of the subject is greatly to be desired. but we can never hope to clear up all the mystery of the vocal action. this statement must not be construed to mean that the study of the vocal mechanism has been devoid of valuable results. on the contrary, the present understanding of the mechanical operations of the voice will be found of very great value in erecting a true science of voice culture. the only weakness of the present results of vocal investigation is due to the fact that this investigation has always been carried on under the influence of the idea of mechanical vocal management. this influence has led all theoretical students of the subject to attempt to apply their knowledge in formulating rules for direct mechanical guidance of the voice. that these rules are valueless is due solely to the fundamental error involved in the mechanical idea. voice culture must be turned from the idea of mechanical vocal management. the old italian masters were right in that they relied, even though empirically, on the imitative faculty. modern teachers may do better, for in the light of present knowledge reliance on the faculty of vocal imitation can be shown to be in strict accord with sound scientific principles. part iii the basis of a real science of voice chapter i the means of empirical observation of the voice to all knowledge obtained through the observation of facts and phenomena, the term empirical is properly applied. empirical knowledge must be the basis of every science. to be available in forming a science, empirical knowledge of a subject must be so carefully gathered that all probability of error is eliminated; the observations must be so exhaustive as to embrace every possible source of information. from the knowledge thus obtained a set of verified general rules must be worked out with which all the observed facts and phenomena are shown to be in accord. then a science has been erected. there is no possibility of conflict between empirical and scientific knowledge. the discovery of a single fact, at variance with the supposed general laws bearing on any subject, is sufficient to overthrow the entire structure which had been accepted as a science. in the accepted vocal science the terms empirical and scientific are used in a sense entirely different from that which properly attaches to these words. present knowledge of the operations of the voice is called scientific, solely because it is derived from the sciences of anatomy, acoustics, and mechanics. the term "empirical knowledge of the voice" is used as a name for knowledge of the subject drawn from any source other than these sciences. yet so far as the modern vocal world seems to be aware, it possesses no knowledge of the voice other than that commonly called scientific. it is supposed that the old italian masters had some "empirical understanding of the voice." but, if this was the case, their empirical knowledge has apparently been utterly lost. thus far in the present work, the usage of the terms empirical and scientific, accepted by vocal theorists generally, has been adopted. a distinction has been drawn between knowledge of the voice obtained through the study of the vocal mechanism and that obtained through observation of any other kind. the purpose will best be served by continuing this same usage. it must be apparent to the reader, from the analysis of modern methods, that no real science of voice has thus far been erected. this is due to the fact that the general principles of scientific investigation have not been applied to the study of the voice. under the influence of the idea of mechanical vocal management the attention of all investigators has been turned exclusively to the mechanical features of tone-production. meanwhile the empirical knowledge of the old masters seems to have been forgotten. as a matter of fact, as will now be seen, this empirical knowledge has never been lost. every modern teacher of singing shares the empirical knowledge which formed the sole material of the old method. but this knowledge is not applied effectually in modern instruction for two reasons. first, modern teachers do not realize the importance of this knowledge; indeed, they are practically unaware of this valuable possession. although in fact the basis of nearly all modern instruction in singing, empirical knowledge is always unconsciously used. second, empirical knowledge is always applied in the prevailing mechanical spirit. the attempt is always made to translate the sub-conscious empirical understanding of the voice into rules for direct mechanical management. under the influence of the mechanical idea the modern teacher's most valuable possession, empirical knowledge of the voice, becomes utterly unserviceable. thus far, the whole result of this work has been destructive. the accepted vocal science has been shown to be erroneous in its conception and unsound in its conclusions. the work cannot halt here. vocal science must be reconstructed. this can be done only by following the general plan of all scientific investigation, beginning with the observation of all ascertainable facts bearing on the voice. how can any facts be observed about the voice other than by the study of the vocal mechanism? an answer to this question is at once suggested so soon as scientific principles are applied to the subject. strictly speaking, the voice is a set of sounds, produced by the action of the vocal organs. the scientific method of inquiry is therefore to begin by observing these sounds. sounds as such can be observed only by the sense of hearing. it follows then that the attentive listening to voices is the first step to be taken. can any empirical knowledge of the voice be obtained by the mere listening to voices? if so, we ought now to be in possession of any facts which might be thus observed. is it possible that information of this character is already a common possession of the vocal world, and yet that this information has never been applied in the investigation of the voice? this is exactly the case. many facts regarding the voice have been observed so continually that they are a matter of common knowledge, and yet these facts have never been recorded in a scientific manner. consider, for example, this remark about a famous singer, made by one of the foremost musical critics of the united states: "mme. t---'s lower medium notes were all sung with a pinched glottis." how did this critic know that the singer had pinched her glottis? he had no opportunity of examining her throat with the laryngoscope, nor of observing her throat action in any other way. in fact, the critic was seated probably seventy-five feet from the artist at the time the tones in question were sung. the critic had only one means of knowing anything about the singer's throat action, and that was contained in the sound of the tones. there must therefore have been something in the sound of the tones which conveyed this information to the critical listener. for many years this gentleman had been in the habit of listening closely to singers, and he had found some way of estimating the singer's throat action by the character of the tones produced. this same means of judging the manner of production from the sound of the tones seems to have been utilized nearly two hundred years ago. speaking of the most frequent faults of tone-production, tosi remarks: "the voice of the scholar should always come forth neat and clear, without passing through the nose or being choked in the throat." mancini also speaks of the faults of nasal and throaty voice: "un cantare di gola e di naso." a throaty tone, therefore, impressed these writers as being in some way formed or caught in the singer's throat. it may be set down as certain that no pupil ever explained to either of these masters how the objectionable sounds were produced. how then did tosi and mancini know the manner in which a throaty tone is produced? we need not go back to the early writers to find out what is meant by a throaty tone. fully as many throaty singers are heard nowadays as the old masters ever listened to. what do we mean when we say that a singer's voice is throaty? the answer to this question seems at first sight simple enough: the tones impress us as being formed in the singer's throat. but what conveys this impression? something in the sound of the tone, of course. yet even that is not enough. how can a tone, merely a sound to which we listen, tell us anything about the condition of the singer's throat during the production of the tone? here again the answer seems simple: the listener knows that, in order to produce a tone of like character, he would have to contract his own throat in some way. here we have a highly significant fact about the voice. on hearing a throaty tone, the listener can tell how this tone is produced; he feels that he would have to contract his own throat in order to produce a similar tone. let us carry this discussion a little further. how does the listener know this? certainly not by actually singing a throaty tone. when seated in a concert hall, for example, and listening to a throaty singer, the hearer cannot rise from his seat, sing a few throaty tones himself, and then note how his throat feels. the critic just mentioned did not sing some notes with "pinched glottis" in order to learn how mme. t---sang her low tones. evidently it is not necessary actually to imitate the singer; the hearer gets the same result by imitating the sounds mentally. in other words, when we hear throaty tones we mentally imitate these tones; thus we know that we should have to contract our own throats in order to produce similar tones. but even here we cannot stop. to imitate the singer actually is one thing; mental imitation is something entirely different. in the first case, actual imitation, our muscular sense would inform us of the state of throat tightening. but in the case of mental imitation there is no actual tightening of the throat, nothing, at any rate, comparable to what takes place in actual imitation. there is then a dual function of the imagination; first, the mental imitation of the sound; second, the imaginary tightening of the throat. the analysis of the mental process must therefore be modified, and stated as follows: when we listen to a throaty tone we mentally imitate the tone; an imaginative function of the muscular sense informs us what condition the singer's throat assumes for the production of the tone. a similar operation takes place in listening to nasal voices. an impression is conveyed by a nasal tone, through which the hearer is informed of a condition of tightness or contraction somewhere in the singer's nose. the terms applied to the two most marked forms of faulty tone-production, nasal and throaty, are derived from impressions conveyed by the sounds of the tones. these names, nasal and throaty, refer to a feeling of tightness or contraction experienced in imagination by the hearer; in one case this feeling is located in the nose, in the other, in the throat. but the terms nasal and throaty are general descriptions of faulty tones. each one covers a wide range of tone qualities. there is an almost infinite variety of throaty tones, and of nasal sounds as well. the knowledge of the voice obtained by listening to vocal tones is of equally wide extent. every throaty tone, whatever its precise character, informs the hearer of the exact condition of the singer's throat in producing the tone. in short, every vocal tone is thus analyzed by the critical listener, and referred in imagination to his own throat. an insight into the singer's vocal action is imparted to the hearer through an imaginative process which always, of necessity, accompanies the attentive listening to vocal tones. every vocal tone awakens in the hearer a set of imagined muscular sensations. these sensations furnish the means for an exhaustive analysis of the operations of the voice. the production of tone therefore awakens two sets of muscular sensations, one actually felt by the singer, the other felt in imagination by the listener. the former are commonly known as the "singer's sensations"; but, as will be explained later, this expression is often very loosely applied. it is advisable on this account to give a new name to the singer's sensations, and also to give a name to the muscular sensations awakened in the hearer. let us therefore call the sensations experienced by the singer in the production of tone the "direct sensations of tone." to the imaginary sensations of the hearer let us give the name, the "sympathetic sensations of tone." these two terms will be used throughout the remainder of this work in the meanings here given to them. direct sensations of tone are the sensations actually felt by the singer as a result of the exercise of the vocal organs. sympathetic sensations of tone are the muscular sensations experienced in imagination by the hearer as a result of the listening to the tones of voices other than his own. chapter ii sympathetic sensations of vocal tone a peculiar relation of sympathy exists between the human voice and the human ear. so intimate is this relation that the two might almost be considered as forming one complete organ. one aspect of this relation has already been noted, the guidance of the vocal organs by the sense of hearing. there is now to be considered another feature of this relation between voice and ear,--the assistance rendered by the vocal organs to the sense of hearing. that a sub-conscious adjustment of the vocal organs may supplement the sense of hearing in the estimation of pitch is mentioned by prof. ladd. speaking of the ability, by no means uncommon, to tell the pitch of any musical note heard, prof. ladd says: "such judgment, however, may be, and ordinarily is, much assisted by auxiliary discriminations of other sensations which blend with those of the musical tone. among such secondary helps the most important are the muscular sensations which accompany the innervation of the larynx and other organs used in producing musical tones. for we ordinarily innervate these organs (at least in an inchoate and partial way)--that is, we sound the note to ourselves--when trying carefully to judge of its pitch." (_elements of physiological psychology._) much more important in the study of the problem of tone-production are the adjustments of the hearer's vocal organs which were named the sympathetic sensations of tone. this peculiar auxiliary to the sense of hearing calls for the closest attention. sympathetic sensations of tone are awakened in the hearer through the mere listening to the sounds of the human voice. vocal tones impress the listener's ear in a manner entirely different from any other sounds. not only are the tones of the voice heard, just as other sounds are heard; in addition to this, every vocal tone heard is mentally imitated, and this mental reproduction of the tone is referred in imagination to the hearer's own vocal organs. besides hearing the vocal tone as a sound pure and simple, the listener is also informed of the manner of throat action by which the tone is produced. this mental imitation and judgment of vocal tones is not a voluntary operation. on the contrary it cannot even be inhibited. it is impossible for us to listen to the voices of those about us, even in ordinary conversation, without being to some extent aware of the various modes of tone-production. this idea of the mental imitation of voices may impress us at first as highly mysterious. sympathetic sensations of tone have been felt and noted, probably ever since the human voice and the human ear were developed. yet the process is purely sub-conscious. it is performed involuntarily, without thought on the part of the hearer, even without any consciousness of the process. the hearer simply knows how the voices to which he listens are produced. a throaty voice simply sounds throaty; the hearer feels this, and pays no attention to the source of the information. we take it as a matter of course that a nasal voice seems to come through the speaker's nose. why a certain quality of sound gives this impression we never stop to inquire. the impressions of throat action conveyed by other people's voices seem so simple and direct that nobody appears to have thought to analyze the psychological process involved. this psychological process is found on analysis to be highly complex. in addition to the actual physical exercise of the sense of hearing, three distinct operations are performed in imagination. these are the mental imitation of the tone, the imagined adjustments of the vocal organs, and the imaginative exercise of the muscular sense. although simultaneously performed, each of these four operations may be considered separately. _hearing_ as the judgment of vocal tones by sympathetic sensations is purely a function of the sense of hearing, the keenness of these sensations varies in each individual in proportion to the keenness of the ear. it would be a great mistake to assert that we all feel these sympathetic sensations with equal vividness. on the contrary, many people are so inattentive to the qualities of sounds that they hardly know the meaning of the term "nasal tone." one trait in particular distinguishes the musician and the music lover; this is, the possession of a keen sense of hearing. the ear is trained by exercise in its own function,--hearing. the more attentively we listen to music the higher do we develop our ability to discriminate between musical sounds. moreover, natural endowments vary in different individuals, with regard to the ear, as with all other human faculties. to appreciate fully the wonderful insight into vocal operations conveyed by the sympathetic sensations of tone, a naturally keen musical ear is required; further, this natural gift of a good ear must be developed by attentive listening to music, vocal and instrumental, carried on through several years. _mental imitation of vocal tones_ that every sense has its counterpart in the imagination need hardly be said. we know what it means to feel warm or cold, hungry or thirsty; we know the taste of an apple, the scent of a rose. we can at will create pictures before the mind's eye. in the same way we can hear in imagination any sound we choose to produce mentally. an inseparable function of the sense of hearing is the impulse to imitate mentally the tones of speakers and singers. the imitation of sounds is an instinctive operation. "talking proper does not set in till the instinct to _imitate sounds_ ripens in the nervous system." (_the principles of psychology_, wm. james, n. y., 1890.) little can be said about the impulse to imitate voices mentally, further than that it is an exercise of this same instinct. _imagined adjustments of the vocal organs_ it has already been seen that the vocal organs have the ability to adjust themselves, through instinctive guidance, for the production of any tone demanded by the ear. this same ability is invoked in the mental imitation of tones. in one case the muscular contractions are actually performed; in the other the muscular adjustments are wholly or in part imaginary. it is highly probable that actual contractions of the laryngeal muscles take place, under certain conditions, as an accompaniment to the listening to voices. this is evident in the case of extremely aggravated throaty and forced voices. in listening to the harsh, raucous cries of many street vendors, when calling out their wares, the hearer frequently feels a sense of actual pain in his own throat. involuntary and unconscious contractions of the laryngeal muscles, somewhat similar to those under consideration, are well known to experimental psychologists. prof. ladd's statement that these contractions assist the ear in the judgment of absolute pitch has already been cited. another example of unconscious laryngeal movements has been investigated by hansen and lehmann ("ueber unwillkuerliches fluestern," _philos. studien_, 1895, vol. xi, p. 47), and by h. s. curtis ("automatic movements of the larynx," _amer. jour. psych._, 1900, vol. xi, p. 237). the laboratory experiments of these investigators show that when words, or ideas definitely expressed in words, are strongly thought but not uttered, the vocal organs unconsciously adjust themselves to the positions necessary for uttering the words. curtis says of these unconscious laryngeal contractions: "such movements are very common with normal people, and are comparatively easy of demonstration." the apparatus used by hansen and lehmann in their experiments consists of two large concave reflectors. these are placed at a convenient distance, one facing the other, so that two experimenters may be seated, the first having his mouth at the focal point of one reflector, the second with his ear at the focal point of the other. as the first experimenter repeats mentally any words or phrases, these are found to be unconsciously whispered. these sounds of whispering, inaudible under ordinary conditions, are so magnified by the two reflectors as to be distinctly heard by the second experimenter. curtis proved that actual movements of the larynx unconsciously accompany intense thought. his demonstrations were conducted along lines familiar to all students of experimental psychology. similar experiments would probably show that unconscious movements of the larynx also occur during the listening to vocal tones. a peculiarity of the laryngeal adjustments accompanying the listening to voices is seen in the fact that the possession of a fine or well-trained voice is not required in this process. it does not matter whether the physical organs are capable of producing fine musical tones. the nervous equipment alone is involved; this is frequently highly developed, even though the physical voice is very poor. a keen and highly-trained ear is the only requisite. players in the opera orchestras often develop this faculty to a high degree, even though they may never attempt to sing a note. _muscular sense_ an exhaustive analysis of the various classes of sensations, commonly grouped under the general heading of muscular sense, would involve a mass of technicalities not necessary to the present purpose. it is sufficient to bear in mind the limitations of this sense, and to notice what it tells us, and what it does not tell. through the exercise of the muscular sense we are informed of the movements, positions, and conditions of the different parts of the body. of specific muscular contractions very little information is conveyed. thus, when the arm is bent at the elbow the muscular sensations of the movement are clear and definite; but, under normal conditions, these sensations do not inform us that the movement results from the contraction of the biceps muscle. knowledge of the muscular structure of the body is not involved in muscular sense. the muscular sensations of bending the arm are felt in precisely the same way by the professor of anatomy and the ignorant child. further, no amount of attention paid to muscular sensations will inform us exactly what muscles are contracted in any complex action. a single stroke in the game of tennis, returning a swift service for example, may involve some contraction of every muscle of the entire body. a skilful player may observe with the utmost care the muscular sensations accompanying this stroke; he would never be able to learn from these sensations whether the number of muscles in his forearm is ten or one hundred. for the same reason the sympathetic sensations of tone tell us nothing whatever of the muscular structure of the vocal organs. when listening to a throaty voice, we feel that the singer's throat is tightened, stiffened, or contracted. but no matter how keen and vivid this sensation may be, it leaves us in complete ignorance of the names and locations of the muscles wrongly contracted. this is true, however thoroughly we may know the anatomy of the vocal organs. much of the prevailing confusion about the voice is due to a misunderstanding of this point. when, for example, the musical critic asserted that mme. t---sang certain tones with "pinched glottis," he fell into this error. his sympathetic sensations informed him of some unnecessary tightening of the singer's throat. from these sensations he seems to have inferred that the glottis-closing muscles were too strongly contracted. this assumption was not warranted by any information conveyed in the sympathetic sensations. it is not necessary now to determine to what extent the muscular sensations accompanying the listening to voices are purely imaginative, and to what extent they result from actual, though unconscious, contractions of the listener's throat muscles. the psychological process is the same in either case. sympathetic sensations of tone always accompany the listening to voices. while the psychological process is complex, this process is performed unconsciously and involuntarily. even though the attention may be definitely turned to the sympathetic sensations themselves, the mental imitation and the laryngeal adjustments seldom rise into consciousness. as a rule, the entire operation is purely sub-conscious. the listener simply knows how the voices to which he listens are produced. this knowledge has always been accepted as intuitive; but this is merely another way of saying that the process of its acquirement is sub-conscious. _direct sensations of tone_ in addition to the source of misunderstanding of the vocal action just mentioned,--the attempt to define the precise muscular contractions indicated in the sympathetic sensations, another common misinterpretation of these sensations must be noted. as a consequence of the sub-conscious character of the sympathetic sensations, the two classes of muscular sensation of vocal tone, direct and sympathetic, are frequently confounded and classed together as the "singer's sensations." a third source of confusion is seen in the attempt to apply the sympathetic sensations, by formulating rules for the guidance of the student, in performing specific actions for the management of the vocal organs. all three of these topics will be considered in a later chapter. before approaching this subject let us see just what information may be derived from the observation of the direct sensations of tone. the direct sensations of tone are never so vivid, so precise, nor so reliable as the sympathetic sensations. in other words, the hearer is better able to judge of the singer's throat action than the singer himself. this may seem a paradoxical statement, but a brief consideration will show it to be fully justified. in the case of teacher and pupil, it will hardly be questioned that the master hears the pupil's voice to better advantage than the pupil. this is also true when a trained singer's tones are observed by a competent hearer. the singer's direct sensations are highly complex. they include the muscular sensations accompanying the exertion of the breathing muscles, and these are usually so intense as to overshadow the sensations due to the laryngeal adjustments. on the other hand, the hearer is free to pay close attention to the sensations of throat action, and therefore feels these much more keenly than does the singer. on this account the direct sensations of tone are of vastly less value in the study of the vocal action than are the sympathetic sensations. chapter iii empirical knowledge of the voice through attention paid to the sympathetic sensations of tone, the listener may carry on mentally a running commentary on the throat actions of all those whose voices are heard. continuing to use the word empirical in the sense thus far adopted, it may be said that the summary of the impressions conveyed in the sympathetic sensations of tone constitutes empirical knowledge of the voice. in other words, empirical knowledge of the voice is an understanding of the operations of the vocal mechanism, obtained through the attentive listening to voices. let us consider first the running commentary on the throat action, mentally carried on by the listener. this mental commentary is an inseparable accompaniment of the listening to the voices of others, whether in speech or song. as we are concerned now only with the problem of tone-production in artistic singing, our consideration will be limited to the critical hearer's observation of the tones of singers. let us imagine two friends to be seated side by side in the concert hall, listening to the performance of a violin sonata by an artist of about mediocre ability. suppose one of the friends to be a highly trained musical critic, the other to be almost unacquainted with music of this class. let us now inquire how the tones of the violin will impress these two hearers; and further, let the inquiry be limited strictly to the matter of tone, leaving out of consideration all questions of composition and rendition. as a matter of course, the tones of the violin will impress these two listeners in widely different ways. the untrained observer will greatly enjoy the beautiful tones,--supposing of course that he be gifted with a natural fondness for music. but so far as musical value is concerned, all the tones will sound to him practically alike. for the trained hearer, on the other hand, every note drawn by the performer from his instrument will have a distinct value. some of the tones will be true in pitch and perfect in quality. some will vary slightly from the correct pitch; others will perhaps be in perfect tune, and yet be marred in quality by faults of scratching, thinness, roughness, etc. when the two come to compare notes at the end of the performance the trained critic will be utterly unable to convey to his friend his impressions of the player's technique. vividly clear as it is to the critic, his understanding of tonal values is lodged solely in his cultivated ear. this understanding cannot be imparted in words; it must be acquired by experience in actual listening to music. let us now imagine this same critic to be listening to a singer, not an artist of the first rank, but one whose voice is marred by some slight faults of production. in this case the critic will note exactly the same sort of differences in tonal value as in the case of the violinist. some of the singer's notes will be perfect musical tones, others will be marred by faults of intonation or of quality. but a great difference will be noted between faulty tones played on the violin, and faulty tones sung by the human voice. in addition to their blemishes as musical tones, the faulty notes of the voice also convey to the critical listener an idea of the state of the singer's throat in producing them. every blemish on the beauty of a vocal tone, every fine shade of quality which detracts from its perfection, indicates to the critical hearer some faulty action of the singer's vocal organs. the more faulty the musical character of the singer's tones the more pronounced is this impression of faulty production. on the other hand, just so nearly as the singer's tones approach perfection as musical sounds, so do they also impress the ear of the critical listener as indicating the approach to the perfect vocal action. the critic could not impart to his untrained friend the impressions made by the violinist's tones. somewhat the same is true of the impressions made by the tones of the voice on the critical ear. in voices of extremely nasal or throaty sound these blemishes can, of course, be detected by the ordinary hearer. but the fine shades of difference in vocal tone quality, heard by the trained critic, cannot be noted by the inexperienced listener. this fine ability to discriminate between musical sounds comes only through experience in listening to music, better still, when this has been combined with the actual study of music. but the ability to judge the vocal actions of singers, through the sympathetic sensations of tone, does not depend on any actual exercise of the listener's own voice. for the developing of this ability the exercise of the ear suffices. the mere exercise of the ear, in listening to singers, entails also the training of what may be called the "mental voice." attentive listening to voices, involving as a natural consequence the sub-conscious impressions of sympathetic sensations, results in the development of a faculty to which this name, the mental voice, very aptly applies. a music-lover whose experience of hearing singing and instrumental music has been wide enough to develop the mental voice in a fair degree, possesses in this faculty a valuable means for judging singers. the mental voice carries on a running commentary on the manner of production of all the voices to which this music-lover listens. at every instant he is informed of the exact condition of the singer's throat. for him there is an almost infinite variety of throaty tones, each one indicating some degree and form of throat tension or stiffening. a perfect vocal tone, on the other hand, is _felt_ to be perfectly produced, as well as _heard_ to be musically perfect. equipped with a highly trained sense of hearing, and the resulting faculty of mental voice, the lover of singing has an unfailing insight into the operations of the vocal mechanism. this understanding of the workings of the vocal organs is the empirical knowledge of the voice. this empirical knowledge of the voice can be possessed only by one who is equipped with a highly cultivated ear. the keener the ear the more precise and definite is this understanding of the voice. season after season, as the music-lover continues to attend concerts, operas, and recitals, his feeling for the voice becomes gradually more keen and discerning. further, empirical knowledge of the voice can be acquired in no other way than by actual experience in listening to voices. no matter how keen and definite are the impressions of throat action felt by the experienced hearer, these impressions cannot be described to the uninitiated. in fact, these impressions are to a great extent of a character not capable of being recorded in precise terms. the general nature of a throaty tone, for example, is thoroughly understood. but of the thousands of varieties of the throaty tone no adequate description can be given. each observer must learn for himself to hear these fine shades of difference in tone quality. every experienced music lover has his own mental standard of tonal perfection. the trained ear knows how a perfect musical tone should sound, independent of the precise quality of the tone. the tone quality is determined, of course, by the instrument on which it is sounded. but along with the individual characteristics of the sound, the tones drawn from every instrument, to be available in the artistic performance of music, must conform to the correct standard. knowing the general musical character of the tones of all instruments, the cultured hearer can at once detect any variation from this character. further, he knows how the tones of a badly-played instrument would sound if the instrument were correctly handled. an unskilled trumpeter in an orchestra, for example, may draw from his instrument tones that are too brassy, blatant, or harsh. an observant hearer knows exactly what these tones would be if the instrument were skilfully played. in just the same way the mental voice has its own standard of vocal perfection. every voice which falls below this standard is felt by the critical hearer to be imperfectly used. when listening to a nasal singer we know that the voice would be greatly improved in quality if the nasal sound of the tones were eliminated. we feel that the correction of the faults of production indicated by a throaty voice would add greatly to the beauty of the voice. more than this, we can also form some idea how an imperfectly produced voice would sound if all the faults of vocal action were to be corrected. a perfectly produced voice affects the ear in a peculiar and distinct way. not only is such a voice free from faults; it has also, on the positive side, a peculiar character which renders it entirely different from any wrongly used voice. the cultured hearer is impressed with a sense of incompleteness and insufficiency in listening to a voice which does not "come out" in a thoroughly satisfactory manner. this is true, even though the voice is not marred by any distinct fault. a voice absolutely perfect in its production awakens a peculiar set of sympathetic sensations. in addition to its musical beauty such a voice satisfies an instinctive demand for the perfect vocal action. an indescribable sensation of physical satisfaction is experienced in listening to a perfectly managed voice. on further consideration of this feeling of physical satisfaction awakened by a perfectly produced voice, it seems a mistake to call it indescribable. a beautiful description of this set of sympathetic sensations has been handed down to us by the masters of the old italian school. this description is embodied in two of the traditional precepts, those dealing with the open throat and the support of the tone. mention of the traditional precepts leads at once to the consideration of another aspect of the empirical knowledge of the voice. vocalists have been attentively listening to voices since the beginning of the modern art of singing. although many of the impressions made by the voice on the ear cannot be expressed in words, one set of impressions has been clearly recorded. a marked difference was evidently noticed by the old italian masters between the feelings awakened in the hearer by a voice properly managed and those awakened by an incorrectly produced voice. these impressions were embodied in a set of precepts for the guidance of the singer, which are none other than the much-discussed traditional precepts. in other words, the traditional precepts embody the results of the old masters' empirical study of the voice. considered in this light, the old precepts lose at once all air of mystery and become perfectly intelligible and coherent. to a consideration of this record of the empirical knowledge of the voice the following chapter is devoted. chapter iv the traditional precepts of the old italian school there should be nothing mysterious, nothing hard to understand, about the empirical precepts. it was pointed out in chapter v of part i that these precepts contain a perfect description of correctly produced vocal tone, so far as the impression on the listener is concerned. this means nothing else than that the old precepts summarize the results of empirical observation of correct singing. there is nothing new in this statement; considered as empirical knowledge, the modern vocal teacher understands the meaning of the old masters' precepts perfectly well. the misunderstanding of the subject begins with the attempt to apply the precepts as specific rules for the direct mechanical management of the voice. in this connection they were seen to be valueless. let us now see if the old precepts are found to contain any meaning of value to the vocal teacher when considered as purely empirical formulæ. each one of the precepts may be said to describe some special characteristic of the perfect vocal tone, considered solely as a sound. these characteristics may each be considered separately, that is, the hearer may voluntarily pay close attention to any special aspect of the vocal tone. the best plan for arriving at the exact meaning of the precepts is therefore to consider each one in turn. _the forward tone_ every lover of singing is familiar with this characteristic of the perfectly produced voice; the sound seems to come directly from the singer's mouth, and gives no indication of being formed at the back of the throat. this characteristic of the perfect tone is simply heard. it is not distinguished by any sympathetic sensations, but is purely a matter of sound. on the other hand, a wrongly produced voice seems to be formed or held in the back of the singer's throat. the tones of such a voice do not come out satisfactorily; they seem to be lodged in the throat instead of at the front of the mouth. in the badly used voice the impression of throat is conveyed by the sympathetic sensations awakened in the hearer. a striking difference between correct and incorrect singing is thus noted. a wrongly produced voice is felt by the hearer to be held in the singer's throat. when properly used the voice gives no impression of throat; it seems to have no relation to the throat, but to be formed in the front of the mouth. so much has been written about "forward emission" that the forward characteristic of vocal tones seems to be enshrouded in mystery. as a matter of fact, the forward tone is easily explained. the perfectly produced voice issues directly from the mouth for the same reason that the tones of the trombone issue from the bell of the instrument. it is all a matter of resonance. this is well illustrated by a simple experiment with a tuning fork and a spherical resonator reinforcing the tone of the fork. when the fork is struck, the ear hears the sound issuing from the resonator, not that coming direct from the fork. this is brought out distinctly by placing the fork at a little distance from the resonator. the listener can then definitely locate the source of the sound which impresses the ear. under these circumstances the sound coming from the resonator is found to be many times more powerful than that coming direct from the tuning fork. if left to its own judgment the ear takes the resonator to be the original source of the sound. in the voice the exciting cause of the air vibrations is located at the back of the resonator,--the mouth-pharynx cavity. the sound waves in this case can issue only from the front of the resonator,--the singer's mouth. no matter how the voice is produced, correctly or badly, this acoustic principle must apply. why then does not the incorrectly used voice impress the hearer as issuing directly from the mouth, the same as the correctly produced tone? this is purely a matter of sympathetic sensations of throat tightness, awakened by the faulty tone. every wrongly used voice arouses in the listener sympathetic sensations of throat contraction. this impression of throat, noted by the hearer, consists of muscular, not of strictly auditory sensations. as a statement of scientific fact, the forward-tone precept is erroneous. it does not describe scientifically the difference between correct and incorrect tone-production. correctly sung tones are not produced at the lips. every vocal tone, good or bad, is produced by the motion of the vocal cords and reinforced by the resonance of the mouth-pharynx cavity. only when considered as an empirical description is the forward-tone precept of value. in this sense the precept describes accurately the difference in the impressions made on the hearer by correct and incorrect singing. a badly produced tone seems to be caught in the singer's throat; the correctly used voice is free from this fault, and is therefore heard to issue directly from the singer's mouth. this marked difference between correct and incorrect tone throws a valuable light on the meaning of the correct vocal action. every badly used voice gives the impression of wrong or unnecessary tightness, stiffening, and contraction of the throat. when perfectly used, the voice does not convey any such impression of throat stiffness. _the open throat_ just as with the forward tone, the meaning of the open throat is best brought out by contrasting the impressions made on the hearer by a perfect and a badly used voice. a badly produced tone seems to be caught, or as tosi expressed it, "choaked in the throat." the singer's throat seems to be tightened and narrowed so that the sound has not sufficient passageway to come out properly. on the other hand, the perfectly used voice comes out freely, without interference or hindrance at any point in the singer's throat. there seems to be plenty of room for the tone to come forth; in other words, the singer's throat seems to be open. all these impressions are purely a matter of sympathetic sensations. in listening to a faulty singer the hearer feels a sensation of tightness and contraction of the throat. a well used voice awakens exactly the opposite sensation, that of looseness and freedom of the throat. here again is seen the difference between correct and incorrect singing, empirically considered. judging from the impressions made by rightly and wrongly used voices, any incorrect vocal action involves a condition of tightness and contraction of the throat. perfect singing gives the impression that the throat is loose and supple, and free from all unnecessary tension. _the support of the tone_ following the plan of contrasting correct and incorrect singing, the meaning of this precept is readily found. the perfect voice is felt by the hearer to be firmly and confidently held by the singer in a secure grasp of the throat muscles. such a voice awakens the sympathetic sensations of perfectly balanced muscular effect, similar to the muscular sensations of the hand and forearm when an object is firmly grasped in the hand. a badly used voice seems to be convulsively gripped in the singer's throat. the tones seem to fall back into the throat for want of some secure base on which to rest. this impression is conveyed by a peculiar set of sympathetic sensations of highly unpleasant muscular tension far back in the throat. this precept, "support the tone," points to the difference already noted between the right and the wrong vocal action. badly produced tones indicate a state of excessive tension of the throat muscles. correct singing gives the impression that the throat muscles exert exactly the requisite degree of strength, and no more. taken together, the open-throat and the forward-tone precepts embody an admirable description of the sympathetic sensations awakened by perfect singing. the singer's entire vocal mechanism is felt to be in a condition of lithe and supple freedom. there is no straining, no constraint, no forcing, no unnecessary tension. each muscle of the vocal mechanism, and indeed of the entire body, exerts just the necessary degree of strength. similar muscular sensations always accompany the expert performance of any action requiring a high degree of dexterity. whatever be the form of exertion, skilful physical activity awakens muscular sensations of perfectly balanced and harmonized contractions. this feeling of muscular poise and adjustment is pleasurable in a high degree. a keen enjoyment is experienced in the skilful performance of many complex muscular activities. much of the pleasure of skating, dancing, rowing, tennis, etc., is dependent on this feeling of muscular poise and harmonious contraction. healthy exercise is always normally enjoyable; but skilful performance greatly enhances the pleasure. a beginner learning to skate, for example, exerts himself fully as much as the accomplished skater. yet the beginner does not by any means derive the same degree of pleasure from his exertions. precisely this feeling of balanced and harmonious muscular exertion is experienced by the perfect singer. more than this, the hearer also, through sympathetic sensations, shares the same pleasurable feeling. this is the sensation described as the feeling of soaring, of poise, and of floating, in many descriptions of the "singer's sensations." _singing on the breath_ when the voice is perfectly used the tones seem to detach themselves from the singer, and to float off on the breath. nothing in the sound of the tones, nor in the sympathetic sensations awakened, gives any indication that the breath is checked or impeded in its flow. the current of tone seems to be poured out on the breath just as freely as a quiet expiration in ordinary breathing. this is a purely empirical description of perfect singing. as we know very well, the vocal action is quite different from this description. but the important point is that the phrase "singing on the breath" does very accurately describe the impression made on the hearer by perfect singing. singing on the breath represents the highest possible degree of purely vocal perfection. one may attend operas and concerts for a whole season and listen to a score of famous singers, and count oneself fortunate to have heard even one artist who attains this standard of tonal excellence. singing on the breath is an effect of wondrous tonal beauty; it is simply this, pure beauty, pristine and naïve. with the slightest degree of throat stiffness or muscular tension, singing on the breath is utterly impossible. so soon as the tones indicate the merest trace of throat contraction, the free outflow of the stream of sound is felt to be checked. coloratura singing, to be absolutely perfect, demands this degree of tonal excellence. singing on the breath and coloratura are indeed very closely allied. the modern school of musical criticism does not hold coloratura singing in very high esteem. we demand nowadays expression, passion, and emotion; we want vocal music to portray definite sentiments, to express concrete feelings. florid singing is not adapted to this form of expressiveness. it is only sensuously beautiful; it speaks to the ear, but does not appeal to the intellect. yet it may well be asked whether the highest type of coloratura singing, pure tonal beauty, does not appeal to a deeper, more elemental set of emotions than are reached by dramatically expressive singing. this question would call for a profound psychological discussion, hardly in place in a work devoted to the technical problem of tone-production. but this much is certain: coloratura singing still has a strong hold on the affections of the music loving public. even to-day audiences are moved by the vocal feats of some famous queen of song fully as profoundly as by the performance of a modern dramatic or realistic opera. to describe a sound is an extremely difficult task. the tone of the muted horn, for example, is perfectly familiar to the average musician. yet who would undertake to describe in words the tone of the muted horn? a description of the sounds produced by a perfectly managed voice is almost as difficult to frame in words. still the old italian masters succeeded in finding words to describe perfect singing. these few simple phrases--open the throat, support the tone, sing the tones forward, sing on the breath--embody a most beautiful and complete description of vocal perfection. the empirical study of the voice can hardly be expected to go further than this. from the old masters we have received a complete record of all that need be known empirically about the voice. chapter v empirical knowledge in modern voice culture it was pointed out in chapter i of part iii that there is no possibility of conflict between empirical and scientific knowledge. modern voice culture seems to present a direct contradiction of this statement. the vocal teacher's empirical understanding of the voice conflicts at every step with his supposedly scientific knowledge. no doubt the reader is already aware of the real meaning of this apparent contradiction. it only bears out the philosophic rule; an accepted science must be abandoned so soon as its deductions are found to be not in accord with observed facts. modern methods of instruction in singing can be understood only by following out this idea of conflict between known facts and accepted, though erroneous, scientific doctrines. as we have seen, the only universally accepted theory of supposedly scientific voice culture is the idea of direct mechanical guidance of the voice. every vocal teacher attempts to make his empirical knowledge conform to this mechanical idea. as the empirical knowledge is correct, and the mechanical idea a complete mistake, conflict between the two is inevitable. every modern teacher of singing possesses in full measure the empirical understanding of the voice. to this statement hardly an exception need be made. probably the most startling fact concerning the wide diffusion of this knowledge is that the nature of this knowledge is so thoroughly ignored. because the psychological process is purely sub-conscious, empirical knowledge is always indirectly and generally unconsciously applied. in the teacher's mind the most prominent idea is that of mechanical vocal guidance. his attention is always directly turned to this idea. empirical knowledge, consisting merely of a succession of auditory and muscular sensations, lurks in the background of consciousness. to the intelligent vocal teacher there is something peculiarly fascinating about the study of tone-production. in listening to any faulty singer we feel with the utmost precision what is wrong with the voice. each imperfect tone informs us clearly and definitely just where the wrong muscular contraction is located. it seems so easy to tell the singer what to do in order to bring the tone out perfectly. under the influence of the mechanical idea we try to express this feeling in the terms of muscular action. this attempt is never successful; the singer cannot be brought to understand our meaning. yet it is so clear in our own minds that our inability to express it is extremely tantalizing. we go on, constantly hoping to find a way to define the mechanical processes so clearly indicated to the ear. we always feel that we are just on the verge of the great discovery. the solution of the problem of tone-production is almost within our grasp, yet it always eludes us. it was stated in chapter v of part i that empirical knowledge of the voice, based on the singer's sensations, is used to supplement and interpret the doctrines of mechanical vocal guidance. this is in the main true, so far as the vocal teacher is aware. but here again the result of the sub-conscious character of empirical knowledge of the voice is seen. as a matter of fact the real situation is the direct reverse of that described in the chapter mentioned. the mechanical doctrines are used in the attempt to interpret the empirical knowledge. this fact is well brought out in the following passage from kofler: "the teacher must imitate the wrong muscle-action and tone of his pupil as an illustration of the negative side." (_the art of breathing_, n. y., 1889.) kofler does not touch on the question, how the teacher is able to locate the wrong muscle-action of the pupil. he takes this ability for granted; it is so purely an intuitive process that he does not stop to inquire into the source of this information of the pupil's vocal action. through his sense of hearing he sub-consciously locates the faults in the pupil's tone-production. his only conscious application of this knowledge is the attempt to explain to the pupil the wrong muscle-action. this he naturally tries to do in the terms of mechanical action and muscular operation. thus the mechanical doctrine is used in the attempt to explain the empirical knowledge. yet the teacher is conscious only of citing the mechanical rule, and believes this to cover the entire instruction. in the preceding chapter it was seen that the perfectly produced vocal tone may be considered in a variety of aspects. each one of these aspects is characterized by a fairly distinct set of sympathetic sensations. of faulty modes of throat action, as revealed by sympathetic sensations, there is an almost infinite variety. of this wide variety of forms of throat tension the most prominent are those indicated by sets of sympathetic sensations, the direct opposites of those characterizing the perfect vocal action. thus the open throat is indicated by one set of sympathetic sensations, the lack of this characteristic of tone by an opposite set, etc. whatever distinct fault of production the pupil's tone indicates, the master immediately notes the character of the faulty throat action. the master feels, simply and directly, what is wrong with the student's tone-production. whence this knowledge comes he does not stop to inquire. suppose the pupil to sing an exercise, and to produce tones which stick in the throat, instead of coming out freely. the master simply hears that the pupil's voice is caught in the throat; he does not observe that he is informed of this condition by muscular as well as auditory sensations. this ignoring of the psychological nature of the impressions of tone is not necessarily detrimental to successful instruction. on the contrary, the master's empirical insight into the vocal operations of the pupil would probably not be advanced by an understanding of the psychological process. it is sufficient for the teacher's purpose to hear that the pupil's voice is caught in the throat. what robs this hearing, or feeling, of all value is this: the master attempts to interpret the sensation as an indication of the need of some specific muscular action, to be directly performed by the pupil. to this end he cites the mechanical rule, assumed to be indicated by the pupil's faulty vocal action. this may be, for example, the opening of the throat to give room for the tone to expand. it seems so perfectly simple to the teacher;--the pupil narrows his throat, and so holds in the tone; let him expand his throat and the tone will come out freely. this conclusion seems so clearly indicated by the sound of the tones that the master almost inevitably gives the precise instruction: "open your throat and let your voice come out." this sums up, to the master's satisfaction, everything the pupil need do to correct this particular fault of tone-production. other sets of sympathetic sensations, awakened by badly produced tones, are interpreted in the same manner. a tone heard to be held in the back of the throat is believed to indicate the need of bringing the voice forward in the mouth. other forms of throaty production are taken to show a lack of support, a wrong management of the breath, a need of breath-control, a misuse of nasal resonance, or an improper action of the vocal cords. in all these attempts to interpret sympathetic sensations by means of mechanical doctrines the teacher naturally relies on those doctrines in which he believes most firmly. sympathetic sensations are indeed sometimes cited in proof of certain theories of breath-control, and also of nasal resonance. both these topics are worthy of separate attention. _sympathetic sensations and nasal resonance_ one of the most widely accepted theories of the vocal action is that the higher notes of the voice are influenced by reinforcing vibrations located in the nose and forehead. whether this idea was derived more from direct than from sympathetic sensations need not be determined now. it is at any rate certain that a perfectly sung tone gives to the hearer the impression of nasal influence of some kind. the exact nature of this influence has never been determined. it may be air resonance, or sounding-board resonance, or both combined. satisfactory proof on this point is lacking. in the belief of the practical teacher, however, this impression of nasal influence is the strongest argument in favor of nasal resonance. turning now to the question of nasal quality, strictly speaking, tones of this objectionable character always awaken the sympathetic sensations of contraction somewhere in the nose. why such a contraction should cause this unpleasant sound of the voice is a profound mystery. perhaps wrong tension of the soft palate exerts an influence on the actions of the vocal cords; or it may be that the form of the nasal cavities is altered by the muscular contraction. this aspect of the vocal action has never been scientifically investigated. the sympathetic sensation of nasal contraction or pinching is at any rate very pronounced. curiously, this sympathetic sensation is cited as an argument in favor of their respective theories, by both the advocates and the opponents of nasal resonance. _sympathetic sensations and breath-control_ certain forms of exaggerated throat stiffness are frequently held to indicate the need of breath-control. the faulty vocal action in question is analyzed by the breath-control advocates substantially as follows: "owing to the outflow of the breath not being checked at the proper point, the entire vocal mechanism is thrown out of adjustment. the singer exerts most of his efforts in the endeavor to prevent the escape of the breath; to this end he contracts his throat and stiffens his tongue and jaw. his tones are forced, harsh, and breathy; they lack musical quality. his voice runs away with him and he cannot control or manage it. in the attempt to obtain some hold on his voice he 'reaches' for his tones with his throat muscles. the more he tries to regain control of the runaway breath the worse does his state become." this extreme condition of throat stiffness is unfortunately by no means rare. so far as concerns the sympathetic sensations awakened by this kind of singing the condition is graphically described by the breath-control advocates. but the conclusion is entirely unjustified that this condition indicates the lack of breath-control. only the preconceived notion of breath-control leads to this inference. the sympathetic sensations indicate a state of extreme muscular tension of the throat; this is about the only possible analysis of the condition. * * * empirical impressions of vocal tones determine the character of most present-day instruction in singing. this means no more than to say that throughout all vocal training the teacher listens to the pupil's voice. the impressions of tone received by the teacher's ear cannot fail to inform the teacher of the condition of the pupil's throat in producing the voice. for the teacher to seek to apply this information in imparting the correct vocal action to the pupil is inevitable. almost every teacher begins a course of instruction by having the pupil run through the prescribed series of mechanical exercises and rules. breathing is always taken up first. breath-control, laryngeal action, registers, and resonance follow usually in this order. the time devoted to this course of training may vary from a few weeks to several months. this mechanical instruction is almost always interspersed with songs and arias. the usual procedure is to devote about half of each lesson to mechanical doctrines and the remainder to real singing. blind faith in the efficacy of this mechanical training is the teacher's only motive in giving it. very little attention is paid to the sound of the pupil's voice during the study of mechanical rules and doctrines. it is simply taken for granted that the voice must be put through this course. once the mechanical course has been covered, the pupil's voice is supposed, in a vague way, to be "placed." from that time on, whether it be at the end of two months of study or of two years, the instruction is based solely on empirical impressions of tone. little remains to be said of the nature of this empirical instruction. it always retains the mechanical aspect. whatever fault of production is noted, the teacher seeks to correct the fault by applying some mechanical rule. the futility of this form of instruction has already been pointed out. only two ways of applying empirical knowledge of the voice are known to the modern vocal teacher. these are, first, to tell the pupil to "open the throat," or to "support the tone," or to perform whatever other mechanical operation seems to be indicated as necessary by the sound of the tone; second, to bid the student to "feel that the tone is supported," to "feel that the throat is open," etc. under these circumstances the little advantage derived from empirical knowledge in modern voice culture is readily understood. chapter vi scientific knowledge of the voice so far as any definite record can be made, the knowledge of the voice obtained by attentive listening to voices has now been set down. the next step in the scientific study of tone-production is the consideration of all knowledge of the voice obtained from sources other than empirical. in other words, the knowledge of the voice usually classed as scientific is now to be examined. three sciences are generally held to contribute all that can possibly be known about the vocal action. these are anatomy, acoustics, and mechanics. of these anatomy has received by far the most attention from vocal scientists. the laws of acoustics, bearing on the voice, have also been carefully considered. beyond the theory of breath-control, little attempt has been made to apply the principles of mechanics in vocal science. psychology, the science most intimately concerned with the management of the voice, has received almost no attention in this connection. a complete record of the teachings of the established sciences with regard to the voice demands the separate consideration of the four sciences mentioned. each will therefore be treated in turn. in the case of each of these sciences it is seen that the most essential facts of the vocal action have been definitely established. many questions still remain to be satisfactorily answered which are of great interest to the theoretical student of the voice. yet in spite of the lack of exact knowledge on these points, enough is now known to furnish the basis for a practical science of voice culture. _the anatomy of the vocal mechanism_ this subject has been so exhaustively studied that nothing new can well be discovered regarding the muscular structure of the vocal organs. in all probability the reader is sufficiently acquainted with the anatomy of the larynx and its connections. only a very brief outline of the subject is therefore demanded. the muscles concerned with breathing call for no special notice in this connection. the special organ of voice is the larynx. this consists of four cartilages, with their connecting ligaments,--the thyroid, the cricoid, and the two arytenoids, and of nine so-called intrinsic muscles,--two crico-thyroid, right and left, two thyro-arytenoid, two posterior crico-arytenoid, two lateral crico-arytenoid, and one arytenoideus. the inner edges of the thyro-arytenoid muscles form the vocal cords. the hyoid bone, serving as a medium of attachment for the tongue, may also be considered a portion of the larynx. by means of the extrinsic muscles the larynx is connected with the bones of the chest, neck, and head. while the muscular structure of the vocal organs is thoroughly known, the actions of the laryngeal muscles in tone-production have never been absolutely determined. this much is definitely established: vocal tone is produced when the vocal cords are brought together and held on tension, and the air in the lungs is expired with sufficient force to set the vocal cords in motion. the tension of the vocal cords can be increased by the contraction of their muscular tissues, the two thyro-arytenoid muscles; further, increased tension of the cords can also result from the tilting of the thyroid cartilage on the cricoid, by the contraction of the crico-thyroid muscles. it is also definitely proved that the pitch of the vocal tone varies with the state of tension of the vocal cords; increasing the degree of tension raises the pitch, decreasing the tension lowers it. as to the relative importance of the different groups of muscles in varying the tension of the vocal cords, nothing has been definitely proved. in addition to the variations in pitch resulting from variations in the tension of the vocal cords, there is also much ground for believing that the pitch may be raised by shortening the effective length of the vocal cords. this is apparently accomplished by the rotation of the arytenoid cartilages; but the specific muscular contractions concerned in the rotation of the arytenoids have not been located. it is generally asserted by vocal theorists that the quality of the vocal tone, on any one note, is determined mainly by the influence of the resonance cavities. dr. mills says on this point: "when it is borne in mind that the vocal bands have little or nothing to do with the quality of the tone, the importance of those parts of the vocal apparatus which determine quality... becomes apparent." (_voice production in singing and speaking_, 1906.) this theory that the quality of the tone is determined solely by the resonance cavities is directly contradicted by prof. scripture. he proves that changes in tone quality result from changes in vocal cord adjustment. this subject is more fully treated in the following section. even before this matter had been definitely settled by prof. scripture, there was a strong presumption in favor of the vocal cord adjustment theory. howard advanced this idea in 1883. several empirical observations support this theory. most important of these is the fact that a single tone, swelled from _piano_ to _forte_, goes through a wide variety of changes in quality. stockhausen's mention of this fact has already been noted. this fact tends to cast some doubt on the value of laryngoscopic observation as a means of determining the laryngeal action. under the conditions necessary for examination with the laryngoscope it is impossible for the singer to produce any but soft tones in the head quality of voice. most of these tones, if swelled to _forte_, would change from the head to the chest quality. it is probable that this change in quality is effected by a corresponding change in the vocal cord adjustment, as the conditions of the resonance cavities remain the same. but this cannot be determined by laryngoscopic observation. so far as the actions of the laryngeal muscles are concerned, no difference can be defined between the correct vocal action and any improper mode of operation. sir morell mackenzie examined a large number of people with the aid of the laryngoscope; of these, some were trained singers, others, while possessed of good natural voices, had had no vocal training whatever. many variations were noted in the notes on which changes of register occurred. but it could not be determined by this mode of examination whether the subject was a trained singer or not. if there is one specifically correct mode of operation for the vocal cords, this correct action has never been determined from the anatomy of the organs. no doubt there is some difference between the muscular actions of correct tone-production and those of any incorrect operation of the voice. but the nature of this difference in muscular action has never been discovered by means of dissections of the larynx, nor by laryngoscopic observation. _the acoustic principles of tone-production_ an outline of the existing state of knowledge regarding the acoustic principles of tone-production must be drawn mainly from one source. this is the latest authoritative work on the subject, _the study of speech curves_, by e. w. scripture (washington, 1906). in this work prof. scripture overthrows several of the conclusions of helmholtz which had hitherto furnished the basis of all the accepted theories of vocal acoustics. considering the eminently scientific character of all prof. scripture's research work, his thorough acquaintance with every detail of the subject, and the exhaustive attention devoted to this series of experiments, we are fully justified in accepting his present statements as conclusively proved. a first impression received from a careful reading of _the study of speech curves_ is that the subject is vastly more intricate than had formerly been believed. helmholtz's theory of vocal acoustics was fairly simple: the vocal cords vibrate after the manner of membranous reeds; a tone thus produced consists of a fundamental and a series of overtones; vowel and tone quality are determined by the influence of the resonance cavities, which reinforce certain of the overtones with special prominence. this theory is discarded by prof. scripture. "the overtone theory of the vowels cannot be correct." in place of this simple theory, prof. scripture reaches conclusions too complicated to be given in detail here. a brief outline of the subject must suffice for the needs of the present work. prof. scripture found that the nature of the walls of a resonating cavity is of more importance than either its size, shape, or opening. a flesh-lined cavity is capable of reinforcing tones covering a range of several notes. further, the vowel sound, and presumably also the tone quality, are determined more by the action of the vocal cords than by the adjustment of the resonance cavities. "the glottal lips vibrate differently for the different vowels." this adjustment of the glottal lips "presumably occurs by nervously aroused contractions of the fibers of the muscles in the glottal lips." continuing, prof. scripture says: "physiologically stated, the action for a vowel is as follows: each glottal lip consists mainly of a mass of muscles supported at the ends and along the lateral side. it bears no resemblance to a membrane or a string. the two lips come together at their front ends, but diverge to the rear. the rear ends are attached to the arytenoid cartilages. when the ends are brought together by rotation of these arytenoid cartilages, the medial surfaces touch. at the same time they are stretched by the action of the crico-thyroid muscles, which pull apart the points of support at the ends. "in this way the two masses of muscle close the air passage. to produce a vowel such a relation of air pressure and glottal tension is arranged that the air from the trachea bursts the muscles apart for a moment, after which they close again; the release of the puff of air reduces the pressure in the trachea and they remain closed until the pressure is again sufficient to burst them apart. with appropriate adjustments of the laryngeal muscles and air pressure this is kept up indefinitely, and a series of puffs from the larynx is produced. the glottal lips open partly by yielding sidewise,--that is, they are compressed,--and partly by being shoved upward and outward. the form of the puff, sharp or smooth, is determined by the way in which the glottal lips yield; the mode of yielding depends on the way in which the separate fibers of the muscles are contracted. "these puffs act on the vocal cavity, that is, on a complicated system of cavities (trachea, larynx, pharynx, mouth, nose) with variable shapes, sizes, and openings. the effect of the puffs on each element of the vocal cavity is double: first, to arouse in it a vibration with a period depending on the cavity; second, to force on it a vibration of the same period as that of the set of puffs. the prevalence of one of the factors over the other depends on the form of the puff, the walls of the cavities, etc." prof. scripture does not undertake to point out a difference between the correct vocal action in tone-production, and any incorrect action. this difference in action does not seem capable of definition by any analysis of the acoustic principles involved. _mechanical principles of the vocal action_ in part ii, chapter ii, it was seen that the outflow of the breath in tone-production is checked by the vocal cords, in accordance with pascal's law of fluid pressures. another law of mechanics bearing on this operation is now to be considered, viz., the law of the transformation and conservation of energy. the application of the law of the transformation and conservation of energy to the operations of the voice is nicely illustrated by the well-known candle-flame test of (supposedly) breath-control. to perform this test the singer is instructed to practise the exercises for breath-control while holding a lighted candle with the flame an inch or two in front of the lips. according to the idea of the breath-control advocates, the expired breath should escape so slowly, and with so little force, that no current of air can be detected at the lips, the expiration therefore does not cause the candle flame to flicker. describing the toneless breathing exercises to be practised with the candle flame, browne and behnke say, "let it be observed that the above exercise is quite distinct from the well-known practice of _singing_ before a lighted candle, which is, comparatively speaking, an easy matter." (_voice, song, and speech_.) a very striking fact is stated correctly by browne and behnke,--there is no current of air created at the lips during tone-production. of the truth of this statement the reader may readily convince himself by trying this same experiment with a candle flame, or even with a lighted match. hold a lighted match just in front of the lips and sing a powerful tone. the quality of the tone is of no consequence so long as it be powerful. just sing, shout, yell, the louder the better. you will find that the flame is less affected under these circumstances than by the quiet expiration of ordinary breathing. considerable practice and close attention are required in order to hold back the breath in toneless breathing exercises. whereas in producing any kind of powerful tone the breath normally creates no current of air at the lips. there is no reason for considering this experiment a test of correct tone-production. it is impossible to produce a powerful tone of any kind, good, bad, or indifferent, and at the same time to create an appreciable current of air at the lips. needless to say, the breath-control theorists have entirely failed to grasp the significance of the candle-flame experiment. yet we have here a demonstration of the mechanical law of tone-production. considered as a mechanical process, tone-production occurs when the energy exerted by the expiratory muscles, in their contraction, is converted into energy of motion of the vocal cords.[8] in other words, tone-production is an example of the transformation of energy. the law of the transformation and conservation of energy must therefore apply to this operation. this law is stated as follows: "energy may be transformed from any of its forms to any other form. when energy is thus transformed the quantity of energy in the resulting form or forms is equal to the quantity of energy in the original form." [note 8: this exposition of the mechanical principle of tone-production is intended to be graphic, rather than strictly technical. for the sake of simplicity, that portion of the expiratory energy expended in friction against the throat walls, tongue, cheeks, etc., is disregarded, as well as that expended in propelling the air out of the mouth, in displacing the same quantity of external air, etc.] the mechanical operation of tone-production comprises the following transformations of energy: first, the energy exerted in the contraction of the expiratory muscles is converted into energy of condensation or elasticity of the air in the lungs and trachea. second, this energy of condensation of the air is converted into energy of motion of the vocal cords. in other words, the expiratory energy is transformed into energy of motion. one objection, at first sight very serious, may be offered against this statement: the amount of strength exerted in the contractions of the breath muscles seems many times greater than is accounted for in the motion of the vocal cords. the movements of the vocal cords are so slight as to be observable only with the aid of a specially devised apparatus, the stroboscope. can all the expiratory force expended in tone-production show such a small result? this apparent objection is found to be groundless in view of the application in this operation of pascal's law. as this topic was fully treated in chapter ii of part ii, no further explanation is required here. the erroneous idea of vocal mechanics involved in the doctrine of breath-control is now fully exposed. tone can be produced only when the expired air exerts a pressure on the vocal cords. there is no necessity for any conscious or voluntary check on the expiration. the energy of the expiration is expended in setting the vocal cords in motion. no energy of condensation is left in the expired air the instant it has passed the vocal cords. beyond that point there is no expiratory pressure. in one sense it is true that the expiration is "controlled" in tone-production. but this control is strictly an automatic action. the vocal cords are adjusted, by the appropriate muscular contractions, to move in response to the air pressure exerted against them. this action involves, as a necessary consequence, the holding back by the vocal cords of the out-rushing air. so long as the vocal cords remain in the position for producing tone, they also control the expiration. in this sense breath-control is an inseparable feature of tone-production. all that need be known of the mechanics of the voice is therefore perfectly plain. the vocal cords are set in motion by the pressure against them of the expired breath. this operation is in accordance with pascal's law and the law of the conservation of energy. but this analysis throws no light on the nature of the correct vocal action. it is impossible for the voice to produce a sound in any way other than that just described. in speaking or in singing, in laughing or in crying, in every sound produced by the action of the vocal cords, the mechanical principle is always the same. nor is the bearing of this law limited to the human voice. every singing bird, every animal whose vocal mechanism consists of lungs and larynx, illustrates the same mechanical principle of vocal action. only passing mention is required of the fallacy of the breath-band theory. the idea of any necessity of relieving the vocal cords of the expiratory pressure is purely fanciful. how any one with even a slight understanding of mechanics could imagine the checking of the breath by the inflation of the ventricles of morgagni, is hard to conceive. _the psychology of tone-production_ this subject was treated, in some detail, in chapter v of part ii. in that chapter however we were concerned more with a destructive criticism of the idea of mechanical tone-production than with the positive features of vocal psychology. at the risk of some repetition it is therefore advisable here to sum up the laws of psychology bearing on the vocal action. considered as a psychological process, tone-production in singing involves three distinct operations. first, the mental ear conceives a tone of definite pitch, quality, vowel sound, and power. second, the vocal organs prepare to adjust themselves, by the appropriate muscular contractions, for the production of the tone mentally conceived. third, the fiat of will is issued, causing the muscular contractions to be performed. these three operations are executed as one conscious, voluntary act. let us inquire to what extent consciousness is concerned with each operation. as conscious volitional impulses, the mental conception of the tone, and the fiat of will to produce the tone, are well enough understood. these two operations call for no extended consideration. we are at present concerned only with the psychological laws bearing on the muscular adjustments of the vocal organs. muscular contractions result from the transmission to the muscular fibers of motor nerve impulses. these nerve impulses originate in the motor nerve centers. they can never, under any circumstances, rise into consciousness. contractions of the voluntary muscles occur either as reflex or as voluntary actions. in both cases the motor nerve impulses originate in the same nerve centers. in the case of reflex actions these lower muscular centers alone are involved; in voluntary actions the originating of the motor impulses is "controlled" by consciousness. in deciding that an action shall be performed, and in what way it is to be performed, consciousness directs that each motor center involved shall send out the appropriate discharges of nerve impulse. complex muscular activities require the sending out of nerve impulses from various motor centers. such activities are usually not performed instantaneously, but require a longer or shorter time. thus we may consider it as one action for the writer to rise from his chair, to lower the window and adjust the shade, and then to return to his seat. in this case a large number of motor centers are successively involved; at the proper instant each center discharges its impulse. to this end the motor centers must be instructed when to come into activity. this distribution of nerve impulse is effected by the power of coördination. in voluntary actions coördination is accompanied by conscious control.[9] but coördination is not a function of the higher cerebral centers, that is, of consciousness. how the connection is made between the higher cerebral centers and the lower motor centers is a complete mystery. all that can be said is that the ideas of movements are transmitted to the motor centers, and that these send out the appropriate motor impulses. [note 9: in this connection it is advisable to point out a difference between the meanings attached to the word "control" in psychology and in vocal science. the psychologist classes habitual movements as either automatic or controlled. automatic movements are purely reflex; the individual does not consciously decide whether they shall be performed or not. psychologically considered, the _control_ of a movement is simply the conscious volitional decision whether the movement shall be performed. to adopt the language of psychology, we should speak of _voice management_, and of _breath regulation_, instead of vocal control, breath control, etc. in the following chapters the accepted psychological usage of the word "control" will so far as possible be adopted.] turning now to the muscular adjustments of the vocal organs, these adjustments are seen to be independent of conscious guidance. when a tone is mentally conceived the vocal organs adjust themselves, in response to some mysterious guidance, for the production of the tone. the vocal cords assume the appropriate degree of tension according to the pitch of the tone to be sung. both the quality of the tone and the vowel are determined by the combined adjustments of the laryngeal muscles and of the muscles which fix the shape and size of the resonance cavities. the power of the tone is regulated by the force of the breath blast; for each degree of power some special adjustment of the vocal cords is required. all these adjustments are executed as one concrete and individual act in response to the volitional impulse contained in the mental conception of the tone. the tone is conceived as a concrete whole. it is not normally broken up mentally into its four aspects of pitch, quality, vowel, and power. true, each one of these four characteristics of the tone may be separately considered by the singer. so also, to a certain extent, may the adjustments of the vocal organs be performed with special reference to one or the other characteristic of the tone. but in every case the muscular contractions are performed without direct conscious guidance. whatever be the character of the tone mentally demanded, the vocal organs instantly adjust themselves to produce the tone. what is meant by saying that the muscular contractions are performed without conscious guidance? does this mean that the singer is unconscious of the muscular contractions? not at all. muscular sense informs the singer, more or less distinctly, of the state of contraction or relaxation of the various muscles of the vocal organs. the singer always knows fairly well the condition of the various parts of the vocal mechanism. what is meant is this: the singer does not consciously direct the vocal organs to assume certain positions and conditions, and does not instruct the various muscles to contract in certain ways. the singer does not need to know, and in fact cannot know, what muscular contractions are required to produce any desired tone. some connection exists between the organs of hearing and the vocal mechanism. that this connection has a physical basis in the nervous structure is fairly well established. "the centers for sight and for arm movements, for instance, or those of hearing and of vocal movements, have connecting pathways between them." (_feeling and will_, jas. m. baldwin, 1894.) the psychological law of tone-production is that the vocal organs adjust themselves, without conscious guidance, to produce the tones mentally conceived. in actual singing the practical application of this law is that the voice is guided by the ear. this guidance of the voice by the ear is incessant. it must not be understood that the mental ear simply conceives a single tone, and that the vocal machinery then operates without further guidance. all the characteristics of the vocal tones,--pitch, quality, and power,--are constantly changing. these changes require corresponding changes in the muscular adjustments. the muscular contractions in turn are guided by the demands of the mental ear. as a psychological process, singing may therefore be analyzed as follows: the singer mentally sings the composition. in response to the ever varying demands of the ear the vocal organs adjust themselves to produce actually the sounds thus mentally conceived. the singer listens to these sounds and at every instant compares them to the mental conception. if the tones actually produced fail to correspond exactly to those mentally conceived, the singer instantly notes this variation and bids the vocal organs to correct it. the ear has therefore a dual function in singing. first, the mental ear directs the voice in its operations. second, the physical ear acts as a check or corrective on the voice. to sum up the psychology of tone-production, the singer guides or manages the voice by attentively listening to the tones of the voice. this is the only possible means of vocal guidance. the voice and the ear together form one complete organ. but we are still apparently as far as ever from the specific meaning of the correct vocal action. that the voice instinctively obeys the commands of the ear may be true theoretically. in actual practice we know that this does not by any means always occur. singers are often unable to get the desired results from their voices, even when they believe themselves to rely on the sense of hearing. there must therefore be some influence which under certain conditions interferes with the operations of the vocal organs. the problem of tone-production is thus seen to be one of psychology. it narrows down to this: what can interfere with the normal action of the voice and prevent the vocal organs from instinctively responding to the demands of the ear? a satisfactory answer to this problem will be found only by a consideration of all available knowledge of the voice, both empirical and scientific. this forms the material of the final division of the present work. part iv vocal science and practical voice culture chapter i the correct vocal action two distinct lines of approach were laid down for studying the operations of the voice. first, the manner of investigation usually accepted as scientific. this is, to study the vocal mechanism; to determine, as far as possible, the laws of its operation, in accordance with the principles of anatomy, acoustics, mechanics, and psychology. second, the manner of investigation generally called empirical. this begins with the observing of the tones of the voice, considered simply as sounds. from the tones we work back to the vocal organs and apply to them the information obtained by attentive listening. both of these means of investigation have been utilized; we are now in possession of the most salient facts obtainable regarding the vocal action. separately considered, neither the scientific nor the empirical study of the voice is alone sufficient to inform us of the exact nature of the correct vocal action. the next step is therefore to combine the information obtained from the two sources, scientific analysis and empirical observation. let us begin by summing up all the facts so far ascertained. tone-production in singing is a conscious and voluntary muscular operation. the vocal organs consist of a number of sets of voluntary muscles, of the bones and cartilages to which these muscles are attached, and of the nerves and nerve centers governing their actions. the precise nature of the muscular contractions of tone-production, whether correct or incorrect, is not known. these contractions occur in accordance with established laws of acoustics and mechanics. under normal conditions the vocal organs instinctively respond to the demands of the singer, through the guidance of the sense of hearing. the ability of the vocal organs to adjust themselves properly may be upset by some influence apparently outside the singer's voluntary control. study of the vocal mechanism does not inform us of the meaning of the correct vocal action, nor of the difference between this action and any other mode of operation of the voice. empirically considered, there is a striking difference between the correct vocal action and any other manner of tone-production. a perfect vocal tone awakens in the hearer a distinct set of auditory and muscular sensations. attentively observed, the muscular sensations of the hearer indicate that the perfect vocal tone is produced by the balanced and harmonious action of all the muscles of the singer's vocal mechanism. in listening to perfect singing the hearer feels that every muscle of the singer's vocal organs is contracted with exactly the appropriate degree of strength. any vocal tone of unsatisfactory sound awakens in the hearer a set of muscular sensations, the direct opposite of those indicating the correct vocal action. an incorrectly produced tone imparts to the hearer a sensation of stiffness and undue muscular tension, located more or less definitely in the throat. this sensation indicates that the singer's throat is stiffened by excessive muscular contraction. further, this feeling of throat stiffness indicates to the hearer that the singer's vocal action would become correct if the undue muscular tension were relaxed. combining now the results of empirical and scientific investigation of the voice, throat stiffness is seen to be the interfering influence which disturbs the instinctive connection between voice and ear. let us now consider the meaning of throat stiffness as a feature of incorrect tone-production. first, what is muscular stiffness? all the voluntary muscles of the body are arranged in opposed pairs, sets, or groups. a typical pair of opposed muscles are the biceps and triceps of the upper arm. contraction of the biceps flexes the forearm at the elbow; the contrary movement, extending the forearm, results from the contraction of the triceps. this principle of opposition applies to the entire muscular system. one set of muscles raises the ribs in inspiration, another set lowers them in expiration; one group flexes the fingers and clenches the fist, an opposed set extends the fingers and opens the hand. muscular opposition does not imply that the entire structure is made up of parallel pairs of muscles, like the biceps and triceps, located on opposite sides of the same bone. it means only that the opposed sets pull in contrary directions. each opposed set consists of muscles of about equal strength. under normal conditions of relaxation the entire muscular system exerts a slight degree of contraction. to this normal state of oppositional contraction the name "muscular tonicity" is given. the present purpose does not call for a discussion of the subject of muscular tonicity. this form of contraction has no direct bearing on the performance of voluntary movements. what effect has the voluntary contraction of all the muscles of any member, each opposed set exerting the same degree of strength? no motion of the member results, but the member is brought on tension and stiffened. this is well illustrated in the case of the arm. extend the arm and clench the fist; then contract all the muscles of the arm, about as the athlete does to display his muscular development. you will notice that the arm becomes stiff and tense. this state of tension is commonly called "muscular stiffness," but the term is open to objection. it is really the joints which are stiffened, not the muscles. we are, however, so accustomed to speak of muscular stiffness, and particularly of throat stiffness, that little is to be gained by substituting a more accurate expression. a condition of muscular stiffness results from the contraction of all the muscles of a member, whether this contraction be voluntary or involuntary. this condition does not prevent the normal movements of the member; it only renders the movements more difficult and fatiguing and less effective. it is readily seen why this is the case. more than the necessary strength is exerted by the muscles. suppose the biceps and triceps, for example, each to be contracted with five units of strength; then let some work be performed by the flexing of the forearm, requiring the exertion of two units of strength. in this case the biceps must exert two units of strength more than the triceps, that is, seven units. in all, the two muscles together exert twelve units of strength to accomplish the effective result of two units. six times the needed strength is exerted. activity of this kind is naturally fatiguing. muscular stiffness increases the difficulty of complex movements. not only is unnecessary strength exerted; the stiffness of the joints also interferes with the freedom and facility of motion. but this unfavorable condition does not upset the power of coördination. the instinctive connection between the nerve centers of consciousness and the motor centers is not broken. although hampered in their efforts, the muscles are still able to execute the demands of consciousness. as an illustration of this analysis of muscular stiffness let us consider the actions of writing, when performed under the conditions just described. it is possible to write with the hand and arm in a state of muscular stiffness. but one does not write so easily, so rapidly, nor so well with the arm stiff as with the arm normally relaxed. closer attention must be paid to the forming of the letters, and more effort must be put forth to write with the muscles stiffened; yet the result is not equal to that obtained with less care and labor under normal muscular conditions. all that has been said of muscular stiffness applies with especial force to the vocal organs. like the rest of the muscular system, the muscles of the vocal organs are arranged in opposed pairs and sets. the contraction of all the muscles of the throat, each opposed set or pair exerting about the same degree of strength, causes a condition of throat stiffness. singing is possible in this condition. but the singer's command of the voice is not so complete and satisfactory as under normal conditions. throat stiffness does not altogether deprive the vocal organs of their faculty of instinctive adjustment in obedience to the demands of the ear. to a fair extent the voice is under the command of the singer. the vocal cords adjust themselves readily enough for the desired pitch; tones of the various degrees of loudness and softness can be sung in a fairly satisfactory manner. but the muscles are somewhat hampered in their contractions, and the response to the demands of the ear is not quite perfect. this lack of perfect command is evidenced specially in the quality of the tones. some form of throaty quality always mars the voice when the throat is in a stiffened condition. in this regard the voice refuses to fulfill the demands of the ear. even though the singer hears, and indeed feels, the effects of the muscular tension, and strives to remedy the fault of production, the voice still refuses to respond. this incomplete command of the voice is frequently observed, even among singers of very high standing. at first sight the condition here described seems to disprove the statement that the voice normally obeys the ear. but there is no real contradiction of the psychological law of vocal command in the case of a stiff-throated singer. for one thing, whatever degree of command the singer possesses is obtained in accordance with the law of guidance by the ear. moreover, the failure to secure perfect response is due solely to the interference with the normal workings of the voice, occasioned by the state of throat stiffness. far from this form of muscular contraction being a contradiction of psychological principles, it will be found on examination to be in perfect accord with well-established laws of physiological psychology. it is hardly to be supposed that the singer consciously and voluntarily contracts the muscles of the entire vocal mechanism and so deliberately brings about the stiffening of the throat. true, this can readily be done. we can at will sing throaty and nasal tones. but this form of voluntary throat tension is not, properly speaking, an incorrect vocal action. so long as the vocal organs respond to the demands of the ear, the vocal action is correct. only when the voice refuses to obey can the action be described as incorrect. a satisfactory definition of the various modes of vocal action can now be given. the correct vocal action is the natural operation of the vocal organs; the voice normally obeys the commands of the ear. an incorrect vocal action occurs when the throat is stiffened by the involuntary contraction of the muscles of the vocal mechanism. this definition of the vocal action does not solve the problem of tone-production. it is still to be determined how the involuntary contraction of the throat muscles is caused. chapter ii the causes of throat stiffness and of incorrect vocal action involuntary contractions of the voluntary muscles can occur only as reflex actions. if the muscles of the vocal organs are subject to involuntary contractions, the causes of these contractions must be sought through an investigation of the subject of reflex actions. reflex actions are of several kinds; of these the simplest type, and the one most easily studied, is the muscular contraction due to the excitation of the sensory nerve endings located in the skin. thus when the sole of the foot of a sleeping person is tickled, the leg is at first drawn up and then violently kicked out. an exhaustive discussion of the physiological and psychological features of reflex action is not called for here; a sufficient understanding of the subject may safely be assumed to be possessed by the reader. involuntary muscular contractions often occur as reflex actions without any direct or tactual irritation of the sensory nerve endings. several examples of this form of reflex action are now to be considered. these actions will be seen to be matters of such common experience as to call for no special proof. they are the following: (_a_) reflex actions performed under the influence of sensory impressions other than those of touch or muscular sense. (_b_) involuntary muscular contractions due to nervousness. (_c_) contractions of the muscles of certain members, caused by the turning of the attention specially to the members. (_d_) involuntary contractions of muscles, accompanying the exertion of other associated and antagonist muscles, and due to the radiation of nerve impulse. (_a_) _reflex actions due to sensory impressions other than those of touch or muscular sense_ a wide range of movements is included under this heading. of these it is necessary to mention only a few, such as the sudden start on the hearing of an unexpected noise, the instinctive movement of dodging to escape an approaching missile, and the raising of the arm to ward off an expected blow. actions of a somewhat similar character normally occur in which it is not easy to point to the excitation of any sense or senses. these include the instinctive cowering attitude of fear, the play of facial expression caused by sentiment and emotion, etc. (_b_) _involuntary actions due to nervousness_ a condition of marked nervousness generally causes the involuntary contraction of muscles. who does not recall his earliest attempts at "speaking a piece" in school? the trembling of the lips, the twitching of the arms and hands, and the vain attempts to govern the bodily movements, are an experience painful even in the recollection. movements and contractions due to nervousness are entirely purposeless; they even defy the most earnest efforts at inhibition. a marked feature of this type of involuntary action is the contraction of antagonist groups of muscles, productive of muscular stiffness of the members. an extreme example of this form of nervousness is offered by the unfortunate sufferer from stage fright. in this condition the entire body often stiffens, and purposeful movement of any kind becomes for a time impossible. (_c_) _contractions caused by special attention to certain members_ suppose a small boy of sensitive nature to enter a room suddenly, and to be at once chided for his awkwardness. his body will probably stiffen, and his awkwardness become more pronounced. now call his attention to his hands and tell him he is holding them badly. his arms and hands will immediately become painfully stiff. speak of his feet and his legs come on tension. whatever member his attention is turned to, the muscles of that part contract involuntarily. photographers sometimes have to contend with this form of involuntary action on the part of their sitters. when the hands are to be posed the arms stiffen; so also do the legs, the shoulders, and the neck, each when its turn comes to receive attention. under normal conditions this form of awkwardness is easily overcome. sitting for a photograph soon becomes a simple matter. the boy outgrows the awkward stage and gradually acquires a natural and easy bearing. muscular stiffening due to attention to special members is usually the result of an uncomfortable feeling of being out of one's element, and ill at ease in one's surroundings. so soon as this feeling wears off the tendency to this form of stiffness disappears. (_d_) _contractions of muscles due to the radiation of nerve impulse_ a voluntary exertion of some of the muscles of a member sometimes causes the involuntary contraction of all the other muscles of the part. as will readily be seen, the exercise then takes place under conditions of muscular stiffness. this is commonly a feature of the unskilful and unaccustomed performance of muscular activities. a few examples will serve to illustrate this type of involuntary contraction better than a lengthy discussion of the physio-psychological principles involved. when a novice takes his first lesson in riding a bicycle he clutches the handle bars in a vise-like grip. his knees are so stiff as to bend only with a great exertion of strength. to steer the wheel the learner must put forth his most powerful muscular efforts. a half-hour lesson in bicycle riding often tires the beginner more than an afternoon's ride does the experienced cyclist. this condition of muscular stiffness is due to the contraction of antagonist groups of muscles, involving practically the entire body. in one sense the excessive muscular contractions are involuntary; yet it would not be easy to define where the voluntary element of the contractions leaves off. a similar excessive expenditure of strength may be seen in the attempt of an illiterate laborer to sign his name. he grips the pen as though it were a crowbar, and puts forth enough strength to handle a twenty-pound weight. learning to dance, or to skate, or to row a boat, is usually accompanied in the beginning by this form of muscular stiffness. as skill is acquired by practice in the performance of complex activities, the undue muscular tension of the initial stage is gradually relaxed. there is another way in which the radiation of nerve impulse may be caused, entirely distinct from the lack of use or skill. muscular stiffness may be induced in the case of activities so thoroughly habitual as to be normally performed automatically. the cause of muscular stiffness now to be considered is the attempt to perform complex activities mechanically, that is, by consciously directing the individual component movements and muscular contractions involved in the actions. involuntary contractions of associated and antagonist muscles take place under these conditions, in addition to the voluntary exercise of the muscles normally exerted in the movements. this fact may be illustrated by attempting to write a few lines, and forming every stroke of each letter by a distinct exercise of the will. if you keep up this attempt for ten minutes you will find that you press upon the paper with many times your accustomed weight. the hand stiffens in consequence of the close attention paid to its movements. this stiffness will extend to the arm, and even to the shoulder, if the exercise be continued long enough and with sufficient intensity of attention to the hand. another good illustration of this form of muscular stiffening may be found by walking upstairs, and paying the same kind of attention to the muscular actions. try to ascend a single flight of stairs, performing each elementary movement by a distinct volitional impulse. pause on the first step to secure perfect balance on one foot; raise the other foot, bending the leg at the knee, then place this foot carefully on the next higher step. now gradually shift the weight of the body from the lower to the higher foot; as the body inclines forward, exert the muscles of the back and sides to preserve your balance; then contract the leg muscles so as to raise the body to the higher step, with the weight supported on that foot. repeat this operation for each step. to mount one flight of stairs in this way will tire you more than ascending a half dozen flights in the ordinary automatic way. all four of the types of involuntary muscular contraction just described may be combined in a single instance. an inexperienced violin soloist, such as a student playing at a conservatory recital, often exemplifies this. nervousness and awkwardness cause him to tremble; the scratchy sound of his tones makes him twitch and start; meanwhile, the close attention paid to his fingering and bowing stiffens his arms and completes his difficulty. the vocal organs are peculiarly subject to the forms of involuntary muscular contraction under consideration. each of the causes of muscular tension may exert its special influence on the voice. let us go over the ground once more, this time with special reference to the actions of the throat muscles. _(a) reflex actions of the muscles of the vocal organs, independent of direct sensory excitation_ involuntary actions of the vocal organs normally occur in response to stimuli furnished by the emotions and feelings. every one is familiar with the shout of triumph, the sigh of relief, and the ejaculation of surprise. some emotions cause a convulsive stiffening of the muscles of the vocal organs so complete as to render tone-production for a time absolutely impossible. "speechless with terror," "breathless with apprehension," are expressions which accurately describe psychological processes. a crowd of people watching a difficult rescue of a drowning man is silent so long as the uncertainty lasts. a shout instantly goes up when the rescue is seen to be safely effected. both the silence of the nervous strain and the shout of relief are normal involuntary responses to the emotional states. _(b) the influence of nervousness on the vocal action_ nervous conditions exert a striking influence on the operations of the voice. even when our self-control under trying conditions is complete in all other respects we are often unable to prevent our voices betraying our nervous state. stage fright, an extreme form of nervousness, sometimes deprives the sufferer entirely of the power of speech. this temporary loss of vocal command is not due to an inability to innervate the muscles of the vocal organs; on the contrary, it is caused by extreme muscular stiffness due to the violent, though involuntary, contraction of all the muscles of the vocal organs. under normal conditions, entirely aside from nervousness, the voice instinctively reflects every phase of sentiment and emotion. love and hate, sorrow and joy, anger, fear, and rage, each is clearly expressed by the quality of the tones, independent of the meaning of the spoken words. all these fine shades of tone quality result from muscular adjustments of the vocal mechanism. in some mysterious manner the outflow of motor impulses to the throat muscles is governed by the nervous and emotional states. this form of muscular contraction is in one sense not involuntary. as the voice is voluntarily used, all the muscular contractions involved are voluntary. yet the minute contractions producing tone qualities expressive of emotion are distinctly involuntary. more than this, these contractions cannot usually be inhibited. an angry man cannot make his voice sound other than angry. our voices often betray our feelings in spite of the most earnest efforts at concealment. while the voice always normally and involuntarily adopts the tone quality indicative of the emotional state, this action of the vocal organs may be voluntarily and purposely performed. a perfect command of these fine shades of tone quality renders the voice a very potent instrument of expression. for the purposes of dramatic singing this form of vocal expression might be of great value. it is to be regretted that dramatic singers of this day pay so little attention to purely tonal expressiveness. this is probably due in great measure to the prevalence of throat stiffness, which robs the voice of much of its expressive power. _(c) contractions of the throat muscles, caused by attention to the throat_ when a physician attempts to examine a child's throat, the tendency of the throat muscles to this form of involuntary contractions is apt to be evidenced. the jaw stiffens and the tongue rises; for a time the rebellious little throat refuses to remain quiet and relaxed. people usually have some such difficulty the first time they submit to examination with the laryngoscope. this is very apt to occur, even in the case of experienced singers. needless to say, this form of muscular contraction is entirely involuntary; it even defies the most earnest attempts at prevention. comparatively little experience is required for normal people to overcome this tendency. the throat usually becomes tractable after one or two trials with the laryngoscope. vocalists are well aware of the proneness of one part of the vocal mechanism, the tongue, to stiffen in consequence of direct attention being paid to this member. in this connection frangçon-davies remarks: "when the writer in early student days concentrated his attention upon his tongue he found that this member became very stiff and unruly indeed." (_the singing of the future_, london, 1906.) leo kofler speaks of the same tendency: "tell a pupil to let his tongue lie flat in his mouth; he draws it back till it dams up his throat." (_werner's magazine_, oct., 1899.) _(d) throat stiffness due to the radiation of nerve impulse_ two types of muscular tension due to the radiation of motor impulses were noted; first, the stiffness incident to the early stages of practice in complex activities; second, the stiffness caused by the attempt to perform complex activities in a mechanical manner by paying attention to the individual component movements and contractions. to both these types of muscular stiffness the voice is especially subject. it is not easy to find a perfect illustration of throat stiffness incident to the early stages of instruction in singing. for this the chief reason is that the later form of stiffness, due to the attempt directly to manage the vocal organs, is much more pronounced than the temporary early tension. as good an example as possible would be the following: let some one possessed of a fine natural untrained voice sing a steady tone and then attempt to trill on the same note. the attempted trill will invariably indicate a much higher degree of stiffness than the single tone. several investigators of the voice have noticed the tendency of the throat to stiffen when the singer tries to manage the voice by paying direct attention to the mechanical action. clara kathleen rogers points this out clearly in the following passage: "there exists a possible and a dangerous obstacle to the performance of the natural mission of the voice. that obstacle is what? it is a superfluous and misdirected mental activity which is fruitful of a corresponding obstruction on the part of the body. in the body this obstruction takes the form of superfluous or unnatural tension." (_the philosophy of singing_, n. y., 1893.) prof. scripture describes in scientific language the results of any attempt directly to manage the vocal organs. speaking of the use of the voice under unfavorable conditions, he says: "the attempt is instinctively made by the speaker or singer to correct such a fault by voluntary innervation of the muscles; this cannot succeed perfectly because an increase of innervation brings about contractions of associated and antagonist muscles with the result of changed conditions and changed sounds. such extra muscular effort is, moreover, very fatiguing." (_the elements of experimental phonetics_, 1902.) for the purposes of scientific voice culture this is one of the most important facts which have been determined. the attempt to manage the voice, by paying attention to the mechanical operations of the vocal organs, causes an involuntary contraction of all the throat muscles, and so interferes with the normal instinctive vocal action. even the mere thinking of the throat in singing, and especially in practising, is enough to induce throat stiffness. chapter iii throat stiffness and incorrect singing it is a lamentable fact that most of the singing heard nowadays gives evidence of throat stiffness. perfect singing becomes more rare with each succeeding year. the younger generation of artists in particular evince a marked tendency to this fault of production. considered as a cause of faulty tone-production in singing, throat stiffness is due to only one influence, viz., the attempt to manage the voice by thinking of the vocal organs and their mechanical operations. muscular tension due to nervousness, or to the unskilful nature of first attempts at singing, cannot be looked upon as causing a wrong vocal action. in the case of nervousness the lack of vocal command faithfully reflects the psychological condition of the singer; the imperfect response of the voice is normal to this condition. the stiffness due to first attempts is also perfectly normal. moreover, both these forms of throat stiffness are temporary; they disappear when the cause, nervousness or lack of skill, is removed. throat stiffness does not necessarily destroy the musical character of the voice. very many degrees and varieties of excessive throat tension are possible. the undue muscular exertion may be so slight in degree that the throat stiffness can be detected in the sound of the tones only by a highly sensitive and observant hearer. or on the other hand, the muscles of the entire throat may be so powerfully contracted that the singer has only a very imperfect command of the voice. between the two extremes, perfect tone-production and exaggerated stiffness, every conceivable shade of difference in degree of undue tension might be illustrated in the case of some prominent singer. faulty tone-production manifests itself in two ways; first, in its effects on the tones of the voice; second, in its effects on the singer's throat. let us consider each of these topics separately. _the effect of throat stiffness on the sound of the voice_ in whatever degree throat stiffness is present, to just that extent the voice sacrifices something of its capabilities as a musical instrument. the voice can realize its full natural resources of beauty, range, power, and flexibility only when the throat is absolutely free from undue tension. as regards the quality of the tones, every phase of undue throat tension has its effect on the sound of the voice. these effects are always bad; the same voice is less beautiful when used in a stiffened condition than when perfectly produced. throaty and nasal tones are always more or less harsh and offensive to the sensitive hearer. further, the more pronounced the state of throat stiffness the more marked does the throaty or nasal quality become. under conditions of throat tension the range of the voice is almost always curtailed. the highest and lowest notes possible to any voice can be reached only when the throat is entirely free from stiffness. so also with regard to the varying degrees of power, undue tension prevents the singer from obtaining the extreme effects. a throaty singer's soft tones generally lack the carrying quality. louder tones can be produced with a normally relaxed than with a stiffened throat. real flexibility of voice is impossible to a stiff-throated singer. extreme rapidity and accuracy of muscular adjustments, the physical basis of coloratura singing, cannot be attained when the muscles are hampered by undue tension. a distinct fault of production, the tremolo, is directly due to throat stiffness. a simple experiment illustrates the nature of the muscular action from which the tremolo results. "set" the muscles of the arm by contracting the biceps and triceps with the utmost possible strength. with the arm in this stiffened condition flex and extend the forearm slowly several times. you will notice a pronounced trembling of the arm. why a condition of muscular stiffness should cause the affected member to tremble is not well understood. but the fact admits of no question. it is highly probable that the tremolo is caused by a trembling of the vocal organs, due to muscular stiffness. the tones of a voice afflicted with tremolo always give evidence of extreme throat tension. another bad result of throat stiffness in tone-production is seen in the matter of intonation. tones produced with a stiff throat are seldom in perfect tune. this subject will be more fully treated in a later chapter. _effects of muscular stiffness on the throat_ many of the muscles of the vocal organs, particularly the laryngeal muscles, are extremely small and delicate. under normal conditions these muscles are fully capable of exerting the relatively small amount of strength required of them without strain or injury. but when the voice is used in a stiffened condition the delicate muscles of the larynx are obliged to contract with much more than their normal strength. to borrow an expression of the engineers, the throat muscles are then forced to carry an excessive load. a balanced contraction of antagonist groups of muscles is the muscular basis of throat stiffness. when the voice is used in this condition each muscle of the vocal organs must put forth the amount of effort necessary to produce the desired effect under normal conditions, in addition to an effort equal to the counterbalancing pull of its antagonist muscle. an increase in the degree of throat stiffness demands a corresponding increase in the effort exerted by every muscle of the throat. over-exertion of muscles always results in strain and injury. the extent of the injury to the muscular tissues varies with the degree of excessive exertion and with the duration of the injurious exercise. an advanced stage of muscular strain is distinctly a pathological condition. tone-production in a state of throat stiffness is of necessity injurious to the muscles of the vocal organs. the delicate laryngeal muscles are specially subject to the injurious effects of strain. these effects vary in extent and character, according to the degree of throat stiffness, to the extent and duration of the faulty use of the voice, and to the individual characteristics of the singer. a very slight degree of undue tension may not sensibly injure the voice. even a fairly marked condition of tension, such as is evidenced by the uniformly throaty quality of many baritones and mezzo-sopranos, may be persisted in for years without perceptibly straining the throat or destroying the musical value of the voice. but a misuse of the voice is bound, in the course of time, to show its injurious results on the throat. how many promising young singers are forced to abandon their careers in early life, at the time when their artistic and dramatic powers are just ripening to fruition! a misused voice "wears out" years before its time. most of the throat troubles of singers are directly caused by throat stiffness and muscular strain. dr. mills, among others, touches on this fact. "all the author's experience as a laryngologist tended to convince him that most of those evils from which speakers and singers suffer, whatever the part of the vocal mechanism affected, arise from faulty methods of voice production, or excess in the use of methods in themselves correct." (_voice production in singing and speaking_, phila., 1906.) for the purposes of artistic singing, a voice loses all its value when the injurious effects of throat stiffness become very pronounced. on this account singers are obliged to give up appearing in public before the condition reaches the extreme. it follows therefore that only in the case of public speakers do we see the extreme results of persistence in the wrong use of the voice. "clergyman's sore throat" is the name usually applied to this condition. the sustained use of the voice, under conditions of extreme strain, is exceedingly painful both to the speaker and to the hearer. singers are usually unconscious of throat stiffness unless the condition be very pronounced. neither the sense of hearing nor the muscular sense informs the singer of the state of tension. accustomed to the sound of his own voice, the singer may be unaware of a throaty or nasal quality which he would instantly detect in another voice. this is also true of the muscular sensations of tone-production; habit makes the singer inattentive to the sensations caused by throat tension. throat stiffness always tends to become greater in degree; it is a self-aggravating condition. even though very slight in its beginnings, the state of stiffness obliges the singer to put forth more than the normal effort in order to secure the desired effects. this increase of innervation is not confined to the muscles which need to be more strongly contracted. as prof. scripture points out, it also extends to the associated and antagonist muscles, that is, to all the muscles of the throat. thus the stiffness is increased in degree. still greater exertion is then required, resulting in still greater stiffness. this may go on for years, the voice gradually becoming less responsive to the demands of the singer. individual personal characteristics are an important factor in determining a singer's experience with throat stiffness. some singers are so fortunately constituted as to be almost entirely free from the tendency to stiffen the throat. others detect the tendency in its beginning and find no difficulty in correcting it. still others habituate themselves to some manner of tone-production, and neither increase nor diminish the degree of stiffness. even under modern methods of instruction, many artists are correctly trained from the start and so never stiffen their throats in any way. several traits of character are concerned in determining the individual tendency to throat stiffness. nervous temperament, keenness of ear, artistic and musical endowment, each has its influence in this connection. the great prevalence of throat stiffness among present-day singers is due primarily to the idea of mechanical vocal management as the basis of instruction in singing. not only are modern methods intrinsically worthless, in that a correct use of the voice cannot be attained by the application of mechanical rules. worse than this, the means used for training the voice are such as to defeat their own purpose. at every instant of instruction the student's attention is expressly turned to the vocal organs and to the mechanical operations of the voice. the only possible result of this kind of vocal instruction is to stiffen the throat and so to render the correct vocal action an impossibility. a peculiar contradiction is presented by the modern vocal teacher; his artistic conception of singing is utterly at variance with his ideas of mechanical tone-production. it may safely be said that the vast majority of vocal teachers are thoroughly conversant with the highest standards of artistic singing. they know what effects their pupils ought to obtain. but the means they use for enabling the pupils to get these effects have exactly the contrary result. when the student tries to open the throat this obstinate organ only closes the tighter. attempting to correct a tremolo by "holding the throat steady" causes the throat to tremble all the more. modern voice culture, in its practical aspect, is a struggle with throat stiffness. everything the student does, for the purpose of acquiring direct command of the voice, has some influence in causing the throat to stiffen. telling the student to hold the throat relaxed seldom effects a cure; this direction includes a primary cause of tension,--the turning of attention to the throat. all the teacher can do to counteract the stiffening influence is to give relaxing exercises. these are in most cases efficacious so long as constructive instruction is abandoned, and the relaxing of the throat is made the sole purpose of study. but soon after positive instruction is resumed the tendency to stiffen reappears. as lesson follows after lesson, the stiffness becomes gradually, imperceptibly more pronounced. at length the time again comes for relaxing exercises. a single repetition of this process, relaxing the throat and then stiffening it again, may extend over several months of study. during this time the student naturally learns a great deal about music and the artistic side of singing, and also improves the keenness of the sense of hearing. this artistic development is necessarily reflected in the voice so soon as the throat is again relaxed. it usually happens that students change teachers about the time the voice has become unmanageably stiff. in this condition the student, of course, sings rather badly. a marked improvement in the singing generally results from the change of teachers. this is easy to understand because the new teacher devotes his first efforts to relaxing the stiffened throat. later on this improvement is very likely to be lost, for the second teacher has nothing more of a positive nature to offer than the first. vocal teachers in general seem to be aware of the fact that mechanical instruction causes the student's throat to stiffen. a much-debated question is whether "local effort" is needed to bring about the correct vocal action. the term local effort is used to describe the direct innervation of the throat muscles. a logical application of the mechanical idea absolutely demands the use of local effort. this is the main argument of the local-effort teachers. those teachers who discountenance local effort have only their own experience to guide them. they simply know that local effort results in throat stiffness. yet these teachers have nothing to offer in place of the mechanical management of the vocal organs. even though aware of the evil results of local effort, they yet know of no other means of imparting the correct vocal action. the weakness of the position of these teachers is well summed up by a writer in _werner's magazine_ for june, 1899: "to teach without local effort or local thought is to teach in the dark. every exponent of the non-local-effort theory contradicts his theory every time he tells of it." to that extent this writer states the case correctly. every modern vocal teacher believes that the voice must be consciously guided in its muscular operations. until this erroneous belief is abandoned it is idle for a teacher to decry the use of local effort. chapter iv the true meaning of vocal training in all scientific treatises on the voice it is assumed that the voice has some specifically correct mode of operation. training the voice is supposed to involve the leading of the vocal organs to abandon their natural and instinctive manner of operating, and to adopt some other form of activity. further, the assumption is made that the student of singing must cause the vocal organs to adopt a supposedly correct manner of operating by paying direct attention to the mechanical movements of tone-production. both these assumptions are utterly mistaken. on scientific analysis no difference is seen between the right and the wrong vocal action, such as is assumed in the accepted vocal science. psychological principles do not countenance the idea of mechanical vocal management. yet the fact remains, as a matter of empirical observation, that there is a marked difference between the natural voice and the correctly trained voice. what change takes place in the voice as a result of correct training? singing is a natural function of the vocal organs. learning to sing artistically does not involve a departure from natural and instinctive processes. the training of the voice consists of the acquirement of skill in the use of the vocal organs, and of nothing more. under normal conditions the vocal organs instinctively adjust themselves, by performing the necessary muscular contractions, to fulfill the demands of the ear. in order that a perfect musical tone be produced it is necessary in the first place that the ear be keen and well trained; only such an ear can know the exact sound of a perfect tone, and so demand it of the voice. second, the vocal organs must make repeated efforts to produce the perfect tone, each response approaching nearer to the mentally-conceived tone. two elements are therefore involved in the training of the voice; first, the cultivation of the sense of hearing; second, the acquirement of skill in the use of the voice by the actual practice of singing. practical vocal teachers generally recognize the importance of both these elements of voice culture. only in one way do they fall short of fully realizing the value of ear training and of practice guided by the ear;--they do not see that these two topics sum up the whole material of vocal training. unfortunately, the search after some imaginary means of direct vocal management destroys, in all modern methods, most of the value of the real elements of voice culture. a few citations from standard writers on the voice will show the estimation in which ear-training is held. to begin with, the old italian masters were fully alive to the necessity of cultivating the sense of hearing, as witness tosi: "one who has not a good ear should not undertake either to instruct or to sing." this writer also says in the chapter headed "observations for a student": "let him hear as much as he can the most celebrated singers, and likewise the most excellent instrumental performers; because from the attention in hearing them one reaps more advantage than from any instruction whatsoever." another early writer on the voice, the celebrated adolph bernhard marx, speaks of the advantage derived from the attentive listening to voices: "an important influence is exerted by the frequent attentive hearing of good voices. through this an idea of good tone is strengthened, which gains an influence on the use and also on the training of the organs, not perhaps immediate, but clearly seen in its results." (_die kunst des gesanges_, berlin, 1826.) among modern writers only a few need be mentioned. d. frangçon-davies remarks: "the training of the ear is one half of the training of the voice." (_the singing of the future._) clara kathleen rogers is even more emphatic in her statement: "not to exercise our sense of hearing is to rob it gradually of the habit of acting at all; whereas, if we keep it in exercise, it will daily grow readier, finer, more acute, more analytical, and the ear will serve as an ever more effective medium of reaction on the will." the following remark of the same writer points unmistakably to an understanding of the evil results of the attempt to sing mechanically: "if the singer's attention is directed to any part of the vocal instrument, or even to its motor, the breath, his sense of sound, and his perception of either the beautiful or the bad elements in sound, will grow fainter and fainter." (_the physiology of singing._) as for the purpose of cultivating the sense of hearing, this is also pointed out by several prominent vocal theorists. one of the latest exponents of the traditional method of instruction was stéphen de la madelaine, who remarks: "the first need of the voice is to be guided in its exercise by an ear capable of appreciating naturally its least deviation." (_théorie complète du chant_, paris, 1852.) one of the most recent authoritative writers on voice culture, dr. mills, speaks at length of the necessity of guiding the voice by the sense of hearing. "we cannot too much insist on both speaker and singer attending to forming a connection between his ear and his mouth cavity. he is to hear that he may produce good tones, and the tones cannot be correctly formed if they be not well observed. to listen to one's self carefully and constantly is a most valuable but little practised art. the student should listen as an inexorable critic, accepting only the best from himself." dr. mills touches on the psychological features of the connection between voice and ear. "there can be no doubt that the nervous impulses that pass from the ear to the brain are of all sensory messages the most important guides for the outgoing ones that determine the necessary movements." summing up the matter of ear-training and vocal guidance dr. mills says: "the author would impress on all students of music, and of the voice as used in both singing and speaking, the paramount importance of learning early to listen most attentively to others when executing music; and above all to listen with the greatest care to themselves, and never to accept any musical tone that does not fully satisfy the ear." (_voice production in singing and speaking_, 1906.) one more citation from mrs. rogers must suffice. "and now, in conclusion, let me once more remind the singer that in practising these and all other vocal exercises the ear is the only safe guide." given a fine natural voice and a trained musical ear, skill is acquired in the use of the voice by the repetition of effort. the only necessity is for the singer to have a clear mental conception of the effects to be obtained, and to listen attentively to the voice. with each repetition of an exercise, whether on sustained tones, scale passages, crescendo and diminuendo, or whatever else, the voice responds more smoothly and accurately to the mental demand. each time the student practises the exercise he listens to the tones and notes how they differ from the desired effect; he strives the next time to correct this departure. psychological principles verify the proverb that practice makes perfect. this is true of all complex activities. through repeated performance the muscles, or rather the motor-nerve centers, become habituated to complex activities. coördinations gradually become perfect and automatic because the nerve impulses naturally tend to take the well-worn paths. to this rule the voice is no exception. practice makes perfect, with the voice, as with every other muscular activity. in practical voice culture the ear and the voice are normally trained together. the proper function of the teacher is to guide the student in developing along the two lines. listening to his own voice is a valuable means for the student to develop his sense of hearing. it is for the master to point out the salient qualities and faults in the pupil's tones in order that the pupil may know what to listen for. as the ear gradually becomes keener and better acquainted with the characteristics of perfect singing, it also becomes more exacting in its demands on the voice. in its turn the voice steadily improves in its responsiveness to the ear. skill in using the voice involves something more than has thus far been considered under the head of tone-production. skill in singing is synonymous with finished vocal technique, and the basis of technique is the correctly produced single tone. it is seen that a single tone can be sung correctly when, first, the singer knows the sound of the perfect musical tone, and second, the vocal organs are not hampered by muscular stiffness. when these conditions are fulfilled nothing but practice is needed for the acquirement of technical skill. coloratura singing presents the highest development of vocal technique. dazzling as the effects of coloratura are, they are obtained by the combination of a few simple elements. perfect command of the single tone throughout the entire compass of the voice, with accurately graded crescendo and diminuendo, the clear, rapid, and accurate transition from one note to another in the varying degrees of staccato and legato,--these elements include the whole physical material of vocal technique. training the voice is one concrete process. its component features may be considered separately; the cultivation of the sense of hearing, the acquirement of command of the single tone, and the development of technical skill,--each may be considered apart from its companion processes. but in actual practice the three elements of voice culture cannot be dissociated. the student of singing progresses simultaneously along all three lines. intelligently directed practice in singing results in this simultaneous progress. as the voice depends for guidance on the ear, so the ear benefits by the improvement of the voice. each advance made by the voice toward the perfect production of tone is marked by a greater facility in the technical use of the voice. correct tone-production cannot be directly acquired by the singing of single tones. this practice would tend to stiffen the throat. technique and tone-production must be developed together. there is a difference between the natural and the properly trained voice. as to the nature of this difference the facts of empirical observation are borne out by the results of scientific analysis. the natural voice is crude because it is unskilfully used. a lack of facility is revealed in the untrained singer's handling of the voice. intonations are imperfect; transitions from note to note are rough; the whole effect indicates that the voice is not completely under the command of the singer. further, the sound of the individual tones betrays faults of production. the tones are more or less throaty or nasal, or indicative of some degree of muscular tension. a perfectly used voice, on the other hand, convinces the hearer that the singer has full command of all the resources of the vocal organs. each tone is a perfect musical sound, free from fault or blemish. the voice moves from one note to another with ease and with purity of intonation. all the gradations of loud and soft, all the lights and shades of sentiment or passion, seem to respond directly to the singer's instinctive desire for musical expression. on the physical side the singer's voice is felt by the hearer to be in a condition of balanced and harmonious muscular activity. when the possessor of a good natural voice goes through a proper course of vocal training, the faults of production native to the untrained voice are gradually corrected. wrong muscular tension is imperceptibly relaxed. little by little the student acquires facility in handling the voice. coincident with this progress is the advance toward the correct vocal action. the transition from the natural to the perfect use of the voice is gradual and imperceptible. there is no stage of progress at which the operations of the voice radically change in character. at no time does the student change the manner of managing the voice. effects difficult at first gradually become easier, simply as the result of practice. this is the only change that the voice undergoes in training. one influence, and only one, can interfere with this normal development of the voice. this is the involuntary and unconscious stiffening of the throat. in the normal practice of singing nothing is involved which could cause the throat to stiffen. true, the first stages of study are usually marked by a slight degree of stiffness, due solely to the lack of practice and experience. this initial stiffness does not tend to become habitual; it disappears before the student becomes aware of it, and leaves no permanent trace on the voice. that is, provided mechanical instruction does not intervene, to introduce the tendency directly to stiffen the throat. as the initial stiffness disappears, and the vocal action gradually becomes smooth and automatic, the voice begins to take on the characteristics of perfect tone-production. the voice rounds out, the tones become free and true, and in perfect tune. no excessive throat tension being present, the voice conforms to the correct empirical standard of tone-production. it gives evidence to the ear of correct support and of open throat. the tones issue freely from the mouth and convey no impression of throat or nose. as a matter of experience it is known that vocal students generally make satisfactory progress in the first few months of study. this is perfectly natural. it requires several months for the normally constituted student to grasp the idea of mechanical vocal management. gifted with a fine voice, the natural impulse of any one is to sing. by singing naturally the voice is bound to improve. just so soon as the student begins to understand the meaning of attempted mechanical guidance of the voice, the evil effects of throat stiffness begin to be manifest. the more earnest and intelligent students are often the worst sufferers from throat stiffness. they more readily grasp the mechanical doctrines of modern methods and apply the mechanical idea more thoroughly. there is in reality no problem of tone-production such as the accepted theory of voice culture propounds. the voice does not require to be taught how to act. tone-production was never thought to involve any mechanical problem until the attention of vocalists was turned to the mechanical operations of the voice. this dates, roughly speaking, from about 1800. since that time the whole tendency of voice culture has been mechanical. nowadays the entire musical world is acquainted with the idea that the voice must be directly guided; hardly any one has ever heard this belief contradicted. to say that the voice needs no guidance other than the ear would seem utterly preposterous to the average lover of singing. it is even highly probable that this statement would not be understood. yet there is strong evidence that the old italian masters would have had equal difficulty in grasping the idea of mechanical vocal management. how long it will take for the vocal profession to be persuaded of the error of the mechanical idea only the future can determine. probably the most important fact about vocal training is the following: the voice is benefited by producing beautiful tones, and is injured by producing harsh sounds. a tone of perfect beauty can be sung only when the vocal organs are free from unnecessary tension. the nearer the tones approach to the perfection of beauty, the closer does the voice come to the correct action. healthy exercise of the voice, with the throat free from strain, strengthens and develops the throat muscles. harsh and unmusical sounds, produced by the voice, indicate that the throat is in a condition of injurious tension. singing under these circumstances strains and weakens the muscles of the throat and injures the voice. the harsher the tones the worse they are for the voice. beauty of tone is the only criterion of the correct vocal action. by listening to himself the singer may know whether his tone-production is correct. if the tones are beautiful the tone-production cannot be wrong. the ear must always decide. a normally constituted ear instinctively delights in hearing beautiful sounds. while attentive listening renders the ear more keen and discriminating, no vocal student of average gifts need be told the meaning of tonal beauty. instinct prompts the possessor of a fine natural voice and a musical ear to sing, and to sing beautiful tones. no normally constituted student can take pleasure in the practice of mechanical exercises. this form of study is repugnant to the musical sensibility. vocal students want to sing; they feel instinctively that the practice of mechanical exercises is not singing. a prominent exponent of mechanical instruction complains: "i tell them to take breathing exercises three times a day--but they all want to go right to singing songs." (_werner's magazine_, april, 1899.) these students are perfectly right. they know instinctively that the voice can be trained only by singing. there is no connection between artistic singing and the practice of toneless breathing exercises. "five finger drills" and studies in broken scales of the types generally used are also utterly unmusical. mechanical drills, whether toneless or vocal, have little effect other than to induce throat stiffness. chapter v imitation the rational basis of voice culture it is generally assumed by vocal theorists that the voice cannot be trained by imitation. browne and behnke state this belief definitely: "singing cannot be learned exclusively by imitation." (_voice, song, and speech._) having ascertained the futility of the attempt to teach singing mechanically, it is now in order to determine the truth or falsity of the statement that the exercise of the imitative faculty alone does not suffice for the training of the voice. in the first place, no one has ever thought of questioning the existence of an instinct of vocal imitation. on the contrary, this instinct is everywhere recognized. in childhood we learn to speak our mother tongue by imitating the speech of those about us. "talking proper does not set in till the instinct to _imitate sounds_ ripens in the nervous system." (_the principles of psychology_, wm. james, new york, 1890.) vocal imitation would be impossible without the ability of the voice to produce sounds in obedience to the commands of the ear. this ability the voice normally possesses; spoken language could not otherwise exist. the voice can imitate a wide range of sounds. if the perfect vocal tone can be shown to be included in this range of sounds, then the voice can be trained by imitation. exceptional powers of vocal imitation are sometimes developed. vaudeville performers are by no means rare who can imitate the tones of the oboe, the clarinet, the muted trumpet, and several other instruments. imitation of the notes and songs of birds is also a familiar type of performance. this peculiar gift of imitation results in each case from some special structure of the vocal organs. one performer can imitate the reed instruments, another the lighter brasses, and so on. just what peculiar formation of the vocal organs is required for this type of imitative ability need not be inquired here. all that need be noted is, that the vocal organs must be so constructed as to be able to produce the particular quality of sound. given this natural ability on the part of the vocal organs, the power to produce the tone quality is developed by repeated attempts at imitation. the possessor of the natural gift perfects this gift by practice. for practice in the imitation of sounds to be effective it is necessary that the ear be well acquainted with the tone quality to be reproduced. in addition, the practice must be guided by the performer listening closely to the sounds produced by the vocal organs, and constantly comparing these sounds to the tones of the instrument chosen for imitation. this vocal imitation of instruments is not a normal ability; the tones of the oboe and trumpet do not lie within the range of qualities native to the normal voice. but the quality of the perfect vocal tone is unquestionably within the range of every voice so constituted as to be capable of artistic singing. a fine natural voice normally produces beautiful tones. it is only with this type of voice that voice culture is concerned. such a voice must be capable of producing the perfect vocal tone. can it learn to produce this quality of tone by imitation? it cannot be questioned that the faulty tones of one voice can readily be imitated by another voice. any one endowed with normal powers of speech can imitate a markedly nasal speaking voice. this is equally true of a nasal tone in singing, and of a strongly throaty tone as well. the more marked the fault of production the more readily it is heard and the more easily it can be imitated. let us imagine the case of a vocal teacher who undertakes to teach a gifted pupil by having the pupil imitate tones of faulty production, and gradually correcting the faults in the tones sung as a model for the pupil. the master is of course understood to have perfect command of his own voice. suppose this master to begin the course of instruction by singing for the pupil tones of exaggerated throaty quality, and bidding the pupil to imitate these tones. naturally, the pupil would have no difficulty in doing so. at the next lesson the master would very slightly improve the quality of the tones sung as a model for the pupil's imitation. the student would listen to these tones and model his daily practice accordingly. just so soon as the student had succeeded in correctly reproducing this slightly less throaty tone the master would again set a slightly improved model. with each successive step the master might eliminate, one by one, the faults of his own tone-production. following the same course, the pupil would also gradually approach a correct model of tone. finally, all the faults of tone-production having been corrected, both of master and pupil, the latter would be called upon to imitate perfect vocal tones. it would necessarily follow either that the student would successfully imitate the master's perfect tones or that at some point in this progress the student's imitative faculty would be found lacking. could any point be located at which the student would be unable to imitate the teacher's voice? this could certainly not be in the early stages of the course. any one can imitate a very bad throaty or nasal tone. this being done, the imitation of a slightly less faulty tone would also present no difficulty. a second improvement in the master's model tone would again be readily imitated, and so on, with each succeeding correction of the faults of production. when the last trace of faulty production in the student's voice had been eliminated, he would be singing perfect tones. it is utterly impossible to define a point in this progress at which the pupil would be unable to imitate the teacher's voice. if a bad fault of production can be imitated, so can a comparatively slight fault. further, if the pupil can correct his pronounced faulty production by imitating a tone not quite so faulty, so can he improve upon this tone by imitating a still better model of production. this process of gradual improvement by imitation must be capable of continuation until the last fault is eliminated. no limit can be set to the ability of the voice to improve its manner of tone-production by imitation. it must therefore be concluded that the perfect vocal action can be acquired by imitation. in practical voice culture, learning to sing by imitation means simply the cultivation of the sense of hearing and the guidance of the voice by the ear. in other words, those vocal theorists who insist upon ear training commit themselves to the theory of imitative voice culture. what necessity is there of mechanical management of the vocal organs if the voice is to be guided by the ear? even if mechanical management of the voice were possible it would be entirely superfluous. the voice needs no other guidance than the singer's sense of hearing. here another striking question is encountered: why should the vocal organs be thought to be unable to adjust themselves for the tone quality demanded by the ear any more than for the pitch? no vocal theorist has ever thought to formulate rules for securing the tension of the vocal cords necessary for the desired pitch. this is always left to instinctive processes. no one would ever undertake to question the voice's ability to sing by imitation a note of any particular pitch. what valid reason can be given for denying the corresponding ability regarding tone quality? only one answer can be made to this question. the whole matter of mechanical vocal management rests on pure assumption. no scientific proof has ever been sought for the belief that the voice requires mechanical management. this necessity is always assumed, but the assumption is utterly illogical. the vocal organs adjust themselves for the imitation of tone quality by exactly the same psychological processes as for the imitation of pitch. neither pitch nor tone quality can be regulated in any other way than by the guidance of the ear. imitation furnishes the only means of acquiring the correct vocal action. several authorities on the voice admit the value of imitation, even though they also make much of the mechanical doctrines of modern methods. sieber gives imitation as the best means of curing faults of production. "the best means to free the student of the three forms of faulty tone just described is possessed by that teacher who is able to imitate these faults with his own voice." (_vollständiges lehrbuch der gesangskunst_, ferd. sieber, 1858.) dr. mills goes further and advocates the imitating of finished singers for the purpose of acquiring the correct vocal action. "the author would recommend all students who have begun a serious practical study of the registers to hear, if possible, some singer of eminence who observes register formation strictly." (_voice production in singing and speaking_, phila., 1906.) kofler even declares that imitation is an indispensable element of instruction. "it is just as difficult or impossible to learn to sing good tones without hearing the teacher's pure model tone as it is difficult or impossible to learn to speak without hearing." (_the art of breathing_, leo kofler, 1889.) if the correct vocal action is to be acquired by imitation, of what use are the mechanical doctrines of vocal management? kofler seeks to combine these two forms of instruction. "physiological theories must go hand in hand with the musical ear or the law of imitation." scientifically considered, this attempted combination of mechanical vocal training and instruction by imitation is an utter absurdity. there is no possibility of connection between vocal imitation and mechanical vocal management. reliance on the imitative faculty involves the utter rejection of the mechanical idea. compromise, or combination of the two, is a logical absurdity. imitation and attempted mechanical management of the voice are absolutely incompatible. any attempt consciously to direct the muscular workings of the vocal organs is an interference with the normal action of the voice. so soon as conscious mechanical management of the voice is attempted throat stiffness results, and the voice is hampered in the exercise of its instinctive faculty of imitation. it is impossible to acquire the correct vocal action by the application of mechanical rules, because a consistent following of mechanical doctrines utterly prevents the vocal organs from operating normally, even though the student try at the same time to guide the voice by the sense of hearing. a close scrutiny of the practices of modern vocal teachers reveals convincing evidence that all their successes are due to a reliance, conscious or unconscious, on the imitative faculty. teachers are as a rule not aware of the appeal to the instinct of imitation; neither indeed do the students usually pay much attention to this feature of their lessons. much of modern vocal instruction is dual in character. when, for example, the teacher wishes to correct a marked fault in the pupil's tone-production, he adopts this dual mode of imparting his ideas. first, he explains to the pupil the (supposed) mechanical operation; second, he imitates the pupil's faulty production and then sings a correct tone to show how it should be produced. for the teacher to sing the correct tone takes but a few seconds and requires almost no thought. the mechanical explanation, on the other hand, calls for much more of time, and of voluntary attention, from both master and student. it thus follows that they both look upon the mechanical rule as the important matter, and consider the teacher's perfect tone as merely an illustration of the rule. in most cases the student strives to apply the mechanical rule, particularly in home practice between lessons. under these circumstances the voice does not respond satisfactorily. but it often happens that the student pays little attention to the mechanical rule, and simply imitates the teacher's voice. there being then nothing to interfere, the student's voice naturally responds. the master ascribes this satisfactory result to the application of the mechanical doctrine, while in fact the result is due to the student's complete ignoring of the doctrine. vocal imitation is often completely unconscious. individuals vary greatly, as regards the tendency to unconscious imitation. of two english lads coming to america at the age of fifteen, one may be found ten years later to have entirely lost the english accent, the other may retain it all his life. this difference in individual traits has much to do with determining to what extent the vocal student may unconsciously imitate correct models of singing. other characteristics are also influential in this regard. some students so dislike to sing mechanically that they neglect, in their home study, to practise their exercises in the prescribed way. this is often due to an instinctive abhorrence of harsh sounds. other students are so gifted with the true feeling for vocal melody that mechanical instruction makes no impression on them. as a general rule, the reliance on the imitative faculty in modern vocal instruction is entirely unconscious on the part of both master and pupil. adherence to the mechanical idea excludes from the student's mind all thought of any means of vocal guidance other than mechanical. this is true, even in the most common form of instruction, imitation and mechanical doctrine combined. as regards the master, his only conscious exercise of the imitative faculty is the reproduction of the pupil's faulty tones. he seldom thinks of telling the pupil to imitate his own correctly produced tones. imitation supplies the only practical means for training voices. all the elements of voice culture are combined in one simple process, when the master sings correctly, and the student imitates the master. this exercise of the imitative faculty may be made to suffice for both the training of the ear and the cultivation of the voice. on practical, as well as on scientific grounds, imitation is the only rational basis of a method of voice culture. chapter vi the old italian method to the believer in the necessity of direct mechanical management of the voice, the old italian method is a complete mystery. modern vocal theorists are at a loss to account for the success of the old masters in training voices. many authorities go so far as to assert that these masters possessed some insight into the operations of the vocal organs, along the lines of accepted vocal science. in their introductory chapter, "a plea for vocal physiology," browne and behnke attempt to prove that the old masters studied the anatomy of the vocal organs. but even if this could be proved, that would not solve the mystery of the old method. modern teachers are certainly as well acquainted with the mechanical features of tone-production as the old masters were. yet, judged by their results, modern methods are distinctly inferior to the old italian method. there is absolutely no ground for the belief that the old masters owed their success to a knowledge of vocal physiology. this idea of ascribing scientific knowledge to the early teachers results only from erroneous belief that no other means of training the voice is possible. it may be set down as absolutely certain that the old method was not based on the principles of the accepted vocal science. yet the old masters undoubtedly possessed some means of training voices. they must have known something about the voice. their knowledge, whatever it was, is commonly believed to have been lost. many modern teachers claim to have inherited the old method. still these teachers have nothing to offer beyond the well-known doctrines of breathing, breath-control, forward tone, etc. how these doctrines might have been applied in practical instruction nobody is able to tell. little attention need be paid to the claim of any modern teacher to possess the old italian method of training voices. so early as 1847 garcia remarked the dearth of information of a literary character bearing on the old method. "unfortunately this epoch has left us only vague and incomplete documents bearing on its traditions. of the methods then followed we have only an approximate and confused idea." (_école de garcia_, mayence, 1847.) although familiar with the works of tosi and mancini, garcia was unable to find in their writings any hint of the means used for imparting the correct vocal action. this same remark is made by many other investigators. yet a reconstruction of the old method is not necessarily a matter of conjecture. once the possibility of training the voice by imitation is established, the old italian method is easily understood. speaking of the glorious past of the art of voice culture, dr. mills says: "we have advanced, musically, in many respects since the days of the old italian masters, but just as we must turn to the greeks to learn what constitutes the highest and best in sculpture, so must we sit at the feet of these old masters. consciously or unconsciously they taught on sound physiological principles." (_voice production in singing and speaking._) dr. mills' statement might be more complete if it were made to read, "consciously or unconsciously they taught on sound physiological and psychological principles." vocal instruction on sound principles is simply the training of the voice by imitation. with the scientific basis of their method--the laws of physiological psychology--the old masters were utterly unacquainted. vocal imitation is purely instinctive. probably the old masters could not even have formulated a concise statement of their reasons for relying on the imitative faculty. garcia's complaint of the dearth of literary information regarding the old method is by no means justified. naturally there is no record of any means for imparting a direct mechanical management of the voice. nothing of the kind was thought of. but as a description of a course in voice training by imitation, the works of tosi and mancini leave little to be desired. both tosi and mancini devote by far the greater portion of their books to describing the ornaments and embellishments of vocal music. they take up the singer's education from the beginning and seem to assume, as a matter of course, that the training in the art of music is coincident, if not indeed identical, with the cultivation of the voice. but they do not by any means neglect the subject of tone-production. most modern readers of these early writers overlook the simple directions given for securing a proper use of the voice. this is, of course, due to the current belief that directions for vocal management must of necessity deal with mechanical and muscular operations. finding nothing of this kind in tosi and mancini, the modern investigator concludes that these writers for some reason failed to record the means used for imparting the correct vocal action. all that can be found by such an investigator in the works of tosi and mancini is an outline of an elaborate system of coloratura singing. much more is seen when the meaning of imitative voice culture is understood. let us consider first the "observations" of tosi. this writer devotes his first few pages to some remarks on the art of singing, and to a general consideration of the practices of voice culture. almost at the outset we meet this striking statement: "it would be needless to say that verbal instruction would be of no use to singers any farther than to prevent 'em falling into errors, and that it is practice alone can set them right." that is certainly a sound principle. consider also this passage. "the faults in singing insinuate themselves so easily into the minds of young beginners, and there are such difficulties in correcting them, when grown into an habit, that it were to be wished the ablest singers would undertake the task of teaching, they best knowing how to conduct the scholar from the first elements to perfection. but there being none (if i mistake not) but who abhor the thoughts of it, we must reserve them for those delicacies of the art, which enchant the soul. therefore the first rudiments necessarily fall to a master of a lower rank, till the scholar can sing his part at sight; whom one would at least wish to be an honest man, diligent and experienced, without the defects of singing through the nose, or in the throat, and that he have a command of voice, some glimpse of a good taste, able to make himself understood with ease, a perfect intonation, and a patience to endure the fatigue of a most tiresome employment." this brings out three striking facts. first, that the student learned to use his voice by imitating the voice of the master. second, that the initial work of "voice placing" was merely an incident in the training in sight singing and the rudiments of music. third, that "voice placing" was considered of too little importance to claim the attention of masters of the first rank. this feature of instruction, so important now as to overshadow all else, was at that time left to masters of a lower rank. this passage is followed by a short discourse on the rudiments of _sol fa_, a subject of only academic interest to the modern student. we are so thoroughly accustomed nowadays to the diatonic scale that it is almost impossible for us to understand the old system of _muance_ or _solmisation_. suffice it to say that only four keys were known, and that each note was called by its full sol-fa name. thus d was called _d-la-sol-re_, c was _c-sol-fa-ut_, etc. in studying sight singing, the student pronounced the full name of each note in every exercise. instruction in singing began with this study of sight reading. in the course of this practice the student somehow learned to produce his voice correctly. tosi does not leave us in doubt what was to be done in order to lead the pupil to adopt a correct manner of tone-production. "let the master do his utmost to make the scholar hit and sound the notes perfectly in tune in _sol-fa-ing_.... let the master attend with great care to the voice of the scholar, which should always come forth neat and clear, without passing through the nose or being choaked in the throat." to sing in tune and to produce tones of good quality,--this summed up for tosi the whole matter of tone-production. many teachers in the old days composed _sol-fa_ exercises and vocalises for their own use. tosi did not think this indispensable. but he points out the need of the teacher having an extensive repertoire of graded exercises and vocalises. to his mind these should always be melodious and singable. "if the master does not understand composition let him provide himself with good examples of _sol-fa-ing_ in divers stiles, which insensibly lead from the most easy to the most difficult, according as he finds the scholar improves; with this caution, that however difficult, they may be always natural and agreeable, to induce the scholar to study with pleasure." how many months of study were supposed to be required for this preliminary course we have no means of judging from tosi's work. at any rate the combining of the registers was accomplished during this time. tosi's description of the registers is very concise. "_voce di petto_ is a full voice which comes from the breast by strength, and is the most sonorous and expressive. _voce di testa_ comes more from the throat than from the breast, and is capable of more volubility. _falsetto_ is a feigned voice which is formed entirely in the throat, has more volubility than any, but of no substance." he speaks of the necessity of uniting the registers, but gives no directions how this is to be accomplished. evidently this seemed to him to present no difficulty whatever. in this early period of instruction the pupil was exercised in both _portamento_ and _messa di voce_. "let him learn the manner to glide with the vowels, and to drag the voice gently from the high to the lower note.... in the same lessons let him teach the art to put forth the voice, which consists in letting it swell by degrees from the softest _piano_ to the loudest _forte_, and from thence with the same art return from the _forte_ to the _piano_. a beautiful _messa di voce_ can never fail of having an excellent effect." only the first chapter of tosi's book is devoted to this initial study. that the student was expected to make steady progress as a result of this study is evident from the closing sentence of this chapter. "the scholar having now made some remarkable progress, the instructor may acquaint him with the first embellishments of the art, which are the _appoggiaturas_, and apply them to the vowels." the remainder of the work is devoted almost entirely to the embellishments of singing. here and there an interesting passage is found. "after the scholar has made himself perfect in the shake and the divisions, the master should let him read and pronounce the words." (shake was the old name for trill, and division for run.) again, "i return to the master only to put him in mind that his duty is to teach musick; and if the scholar, before he gets out of his hands, does not sing readily and at sight, the innocent is injured without remedy from the guilty." this injunction might well be taken to heart by the modern teacher. good sight readers are rare nowadays, outside of chorus choirs. mancini begins his outline of the course of instruction in singing with this striking sentence: "nothing is more insufferable and more inexcusable in a musician than wrong intonation; singing in the throat or in the nose will certainly be tolerated rather than singing out of tune." this is followed by the advice to the teacher to ascertain beyond a doubt that a prospective pupil is endowed with a true musical ear. this being done the pupil is to begin his studies by _sol-fa_-ing the scales. "having determined the disposition and capacity of the student with respect to intonation, and finding him able and disposed to succeed, let him fortify himself in correct intonation by _sol-fa_-ing the scale, ascending and descending. this must be executed with scrupulous attention in order that the notes may be perfectly intoned." in this practice the quality of the tone is of the highest importance. "the utmost care is necessary with the student to render him able to manage this portion of his voice with the proper sweetness and proportion." mancini takes it for granted that the student will progress steadily on account of this practice. "when the teacher observes that the pupil is sufficiently free in delivering the voice, in intonation, and in naming the notes, let him waste no time, but have the pupil vocalize without delay." regarding the registers, mancini disagrees with tosi and names only two. "voices ordinarily divide themselves into two registers which are called, one of the chest, the other of the head, or falsetto." his method was to exercise the voice at first in the chest register, and then gradually to extend the compass of the voice upward. "every student can for himself with perfect ease recognize the difference between these two separate registers. it will suffice therefore to commence by singing the scale, for example, if a soprano, from g to d;[10] let him take care that these five notes are sonorous, and say them with force and clearness, and without effort." for uniting the registers, "the most certain means is to hold back the tones of the chest and to sing the transition notes in the head register, increasing the power little by little." [note 10: mancini of course uses the _sol-fa_ names of these notes.] mancini devotes a few pages to a description of the vocal organs. this fact is cited by several modern theorists in support of their statement that the old masters based their methods on mechanical principles. in the following chapter this topic of mancini's treatise will be considered. probably the best summary of the old italian method offered by any modern teacher is contained in a little booklet by j. frank botume, entitled _modern singing methods_. (boston, 1885. the citations are from the fourth edition, 1896.) speaking of the meaning of the word method, as applied to a system of rules for acquiring the correct vocal action, this writer says: "if a teacher says, 'that tone is harsh, sing more sweetly,' he has given no method to his pupil. he has asked the scholar to change his tone, but has not shown him how to do it. if, on the other hand, he directs the pupil to keep back the pressure of the breath, or to change the location of the tone; if he instructs him in regard to the correct use of his vocal cords, or speaks of the position of his tongue, of his diaphragm, of his mouth, etc., he gives him method. the italian teachers of the early period of this art had so little method that it can hardly be said to have existed with them. in fact, the word method, as now used, is of comparatively modern origin. the founders of the art of singing aimed at results directly; the manner of using the vocal apparatus for the purpose of reaching these results troubled them comparatively little. the old italian teacher took the voice as he found it. he began with the simplest and easiest work, and trusted to patient and long-continued exercise to develop the vocal apparatus. in all this there is no method as we understand the term. the result is aimed at directly. the manner of getting it is not shown. there is no conscious control of the vocal apparatus for the purpose of effecting a certain result." this sums up beautifully the external aspects of the old italian method, and of modern methods as well. it points out clearly the difference between the old and the modern system. but it is a mistake to say that the old masters followed no systematized plan of instruction. tosi's advice, already quoted ("let the master provide himself with examples of sol-fa, leading insensibly from the easy to the difficult," etc.), shows a thorough grasp of the meaning of methodical instruction. once the real nature of vocal training is understood, both tosi and mancini are seen to describe a well worked out system of voice culture. the only important difference between the old and the new system is this: one relied on instinctive and imitative processes for imparting the correct vocal action, the other seeks to accomplish the same result through the mechanical management of the vocal organs. in this regard the advantage is all on the side of the old italian method. one question regarding the old method remains to be answered. this has to do with the use of the empirical precepts in practical instruction. so far as the written record goes we have no means of answering this question. neither tosi nor mancini mentions the old precepts in any way. the answer can therefore be only conjectural. we may at once dismiss the idea that the old masters used the precepts in the currently accepted manner as rules for the mechanical management of the voice. this application of the empirical precepts followed upon the acceptance of the idea of mechanical voice culture. a fine description of perfect singing, considered empirically, was found to be embodied in the traditional precepts. such a description of correctly produced tone might be of great value in the training of the ear. the sense of hearing is developed by listening; and attentive listening is rendered doubly effective in the singer's education by the attention being consciously directed to particular characteristics of the sounds observed. a highly important aspect of ear training in voice culture is the acquainting the student with the highest standards of singing. the student derives a double advantage from listening to artistic singing when he knows what to listen for. telling the student that in perfect singing the throat seems to be open makes him keenly attentive in observing this characteristic sound of the correctly produced tone. this seems to be the most effective manner of utilizing the empirical precepts. a student may be helped in imitating correct models of singing by knowing what characteristics of the tones it is most important to reproduce. in pointing out to the student his own faults of production, the judicious use of the precepts might also be of considerable value. probably the old masters treated the precepts about in this fashion. chapter vii the disappearance of the old italian method and the development of mechanical instruction one of the most mysterious facts in the history of voice culture is the utter disappearance of the old italian method. this has occurred in spite of the earnest efforts of vocal teachers to preserve the old traditions. if the conclusions drawn in the preceding chapter are justified, the old method consisted of a system of teaching singing by imitation. assuming this to be true, there should now be no difficulty in accounting for the disappearance of the imitative method by tracing the development of the mechanical idea. imitative voice culture was purely empirical in the ordinary meaning of this word. the old masters did not knowingly base their instruction on any set of principles. they simply taught as their instincts prompted them. there can now be no doubt that the old masters were fully justified in their empiricism. they taught singing as nature intends it to be taught. but the old masters were not aware of the scientific soundness of their position. so soon as the correctness of empirical teaching was questioned they abandoned it without an attempt at defense. as a system of voice culture, the old method occupied a weak strategic position. with absolute right on its side, it still had no power of resistance against hostile influences. this does not imply that the old masters were ignorant men. on the contrary, the intellectual standard of the vocal profession seems to have been fully as high two hundred years ago as to-day. even famous composers and musical theorists did not disdain to teach singing. but this very fact, the generally high culture of the old masters, was an important factor in the weakness of the old method against attack. the most intelligent masters were the ones most likely to abandon the empirical system in favor of supposedly scientific and precise methods of instruction. the hostile influence to which the old italian method succumbed was the idea of mechanical vocal management. this idea entered almost imperceptibly into the minds of vocal teachers in the guise of a scientific theory of voice culture. a short historical sketch will bring this fact out clearly. this necessitates a repetition of some of the material of chapter i of part i; the entire subject will however appear in a new light now that the true nature of the mechanical idea is understood. from the founding of the art of voice culture, about 1600, up to 1741, no vocalist seems to have paid any attention to the anatomy or muscular movements of the vocal organs. in 1741 a french physician, ferrein, presented to the academy of sciences a treatise on the anatomy of the vocal organs, entitled "de la formation de la voix de l'homme." this treatise was published in the same year, and it seems to have attracted at once the attention of the most enlightened masters of singing. that ferrein was the first to call the attention of vocalists to the mechanical features of tone-production is strongly indicated in the german translation of tosi's "observations." in the original italian edition, 1723, and the english translation, 1742, there is absolutely no mention of the anatomy or physiology of the vocal organs. but in preparing the german edition, published in 1757, the translator, j. f. agricola, inserted a description of the vocal organs which he credited directly to ferrein. mancini followed agricola's example, and included in this "riflessioni" (1776) a brief description of the vocal organs. but mancini made no attempt to apply this description in formulating a system of instruction. he recommends the parents of a prospective singer to ascertain, by a physician's examination, that the child's vocal organs are normal and in good health. he also gives one mechanical rule, so obvious as to seem rather quaint. "every singer must place his mouth in a natural smiling position, that is, with the upper teeth perpendicularly and moderately removed from the lower." beyond this mancini says not a word of mechanical vocal management. there is no mention of breathing, or tone reflection, or laryngeal action. although mancini borrowed his description of the vocal organs from ferrein, his notion of the mechanics of tone-production was very crude. "the air of the lungs operates on the larynx in singing exactly as it operates on the head of the flute." voice culture has passed through three successive periods. from 1600 to 1741 instruction in singing was purely empirical. ferrein's treatise may be said to mark the beginning of a transition period during which empirical instruction was gradually displaced by so-called scientific methods. this transition period lasted, roughly speaking, till the invention of the laryngoscope in 1855. since that time vocal instruction has been carried on almost exclusively along mechanical lines. no vocal teacher had ever heard of a problem of tone-production previous to 1741, and indeed for many years thereafter. the earlier masters were not aware of any possibility of difficulty in causing the voice to operate properly. their success justified their ignoring of any mechanical basis of instruction; but even of this justification the later masters of the old school were only dimly conscious. they builded better than they knew. when any teacher of the transition period was called upon to explain his manner of imparting the correct vocal action he was at once put on the defensive. no champion of the imitative faculty could be found. this lack of understanding of the basis of the empirical method, on the part of its most intelligent and successful exponents, was the first cause of the weakness of this method against attack. another source of weakness in the hold of empirical systems on the vocal profession was seen in the generally high intellectual standard of the more prominent teachers. these masters gladly accepted the new knowledge of the basis of their art, offered them in the description of the vocal organs. thoroughly conversant with every detail of the empirical knowledge of the voice, the masters of the transition period were well prepared to understand something of the mechanical features of tone-production. by their auditory and muscular sensations of vocal tone they were able, to their own satisfaction at least, to verify the statements of the anatomists. it is not easy for us to put ourselves mentally in the position of a vocalist, thoroughly familiar with the empirical knowledge of the voice, and yet ignorant of the first principles of vocal mechanics. in all probability the early masters were not even aware that tone is produced by the action of the breath on the larynx. they did not know that different qualities and pitches result from special adjustments and contractions of the throat muscles. yet they were keenly aware of all the muscular sensations resulting from these contractions. we can well imagine how interesting these vocalists of the early transition period must have found the description of the cartilages and muscles of the throat. it seems to us but a short step from the study of vocal mechanics to the application of the results of this study in the formulating of a practical system of vocal instruction. yet it required more than sixty years for the vocal profession to travel so far. even then the true bearing of this development of voice culture was but dimly realized. in 1800 the mechanical management of the voice was not even thought of. this is conclusively proved by a most important work, the _méthode de chant du conservatoire de musique_, published in paris in 1803. there can be no question that this méthode represents the most enlightened and advanced thought of the vocal profession of that day. not only does it contain everything then known about the training of the voice; it was drawn up with the same exhaustive care and analytical attention to detail that were devoted to the formulation of the metric system. to mechanical rules less than one page is devoted. respiration is the only subject to receive more than a few lines. a system of breathing with flat abdomen and high chest is outlined, and the student is instructed to practise breathing exercises daily. five lines are contained in the chapter headed "de l'emission du son," and these five lines are simply a warning against throaty and nasal _quality_. the pupil is told to stand erect, and to open the mouth properly. but a foot-note is given to the rule for the position of the mouth which shows how thoroughly the mechanical rule was subordinated to considerations of tone quality. "as there is no rule without exceptions, we think it useful to observe at what opening of the mouth the pupil produces the most agreeable, sonorous, and pure quality of tone in order to have him always open the mouth in that manner." in the main the méthode outlines a purely empirical system of instruction, based on the guidance of the voice by the ear. there can be no question that the idea of mechanical management of the voice was introduced later than 1803. citations might be made to show the gradual advance of the mechanical idea from two interesting works, _die kunst des gesanges_, by adolph b. marx, berlin, 1826, and _die grosse italienische gesangschule_, by h. f. mannstein, dresden, 1834. but this is not necessary. it is enough to say that scientific voice culture was not generally thought to be identical with mechanical vocal management until later than 1855. manuel garcia was the first vocal teacher to undertake to found a practical method of instruction on the mechanical principles of the vocal action. when only twenty-seven years old, in 1832, garcia determined to reform the practices of voice culture by furnishing an improved method of instruction. (_grove's dictionary._) his first definite pronouncement of this purpose is contained in the preface to his _école de garcia_, 1847. "as all the effects of song are, in the last analysis, the product of the vocal organs, i have submitted the study to physiological considerations." this statement of garcia's idea of scientific instruction strikes us as a commonplace. but that serves only to prove how thoroughly the world has since been converted to the idea of mechanical voice culture. at that time it was generally believed to be a distinct advance. garcia expected to bring about a great improvement in the art of voice culture. his idea was that the voice can be trained in less time and with greater certainty by mechanical than by imitative methods. as for the inherent falsity of this idea, that has been sufficiently exposed. so soon as the theory of mechanical vocal management began to find acceptance, the old method yielded the ground to the new idea. that this occurred so easily was due to a number of causes. of these several have already been noted,--the readiness of the most prominent teachers to broaden their field of knowledge, in particular. other causes contributing to the acceptance of the mechanical idea were the elusive character of empirical knowledge of the voice, and the unconscious aspect of the instinct of vocal imitation. no master of the later transition period deliberately discarded his empirical knowledge. this could have been possible only by the master losing his sense of hearing. neither did the master cease to rely on the imitative faculty. although unconsciously exercised, that was a habit too firmly fixed to be even intentionally abandoned. public opinion also had much to do with the spread of the mechanical idea. teachers found that they could get pupils easier by claiming to understand the mechanical workings of the voice. in order to obtain recognition, teachers were obliged to study vocal mechanics and to adapt their methods to the growing demand for scientific instruction. no master of this period seems to have intentionally abandoned the traditional method. their first purpose in adopting the new scientific idea was to elucidate and fortify the old method. every successful master undoubtedly taught many pupils who in their turn became teachers. there must have been, in each succession of master and pupil, one teacher who failed to transmit the old method in its entirety. both master and pupil must have been unconscious of this. no master can be believed to have deliberately withheld any of his knowledge from his pupils. neither can any student have been aware that he failed to receive his master's complete method. let us consider a typical instance of master and pupil in the later transition period. instruction in this case was probably of a dual character. both teacher and pupil devoted most of their attention to the mechanical features of tone-production. yet the master continued to listen closely to the student's voice, just as he had done before adopting the (supposedly) scientific idea of instruction. unconsciously he led the pupil to listen and imitate. when the student found it difficult to apply the mechanical instruction the master would say, "listen to me and do as i do." naturally this would bring the desired result. yet both master and pupil would attribute the result to the application of the mechanical rule. the student's voice would be successfully trained, but he would carry away an erroneous idea of the means by which this was accomplished. becoming a teacher in his turn, the vocalist taught in this fashion would entirely overlook the unobtrusive element of imitation and would devote himself to mechanical instruction. he would, for example, construe the precept, "sing with open throat," as a rule to be directly applied; that he had acquired the open throat by imitating his master's tones this teacher would be utterly unaware. more than one generation of master and pupil was probably concerned, in each succession, in the gradual loss of the substance of the old method. the possibility of learning to sing by imitation was only gradually lost to sight. this is well expressed by paolo guetta. "the aphorism 'listen and imitate,' which was the device of the ancient school, coming down by way of tradition, underwent the fate of all sane precepts passed along from generation to generation. through elimination and individual adaptation, through assuming the personal imprint, it degenerated into a purely empirical formula." (_il canto nel suo mecanismo_, milan, 1902.) guetta is himself evidently at a loss to grasp the significance of the empirical formula, "listen and imitate." he seems however to be aware of an antagonism between imitation and mechanical vocal management. the reason of this antagonism has already been noticed, but it will bear repetition. for a teacher to tell a pupil to "hold your throat open and imitate my tone," is to demand the impossible. a conscious effort directly to hold the throat open only causes the throat to stiffen. in this condition the normal action of the voice is upset and the pupil cannot imitate the teacher's voice. this was the condition confronting the teacher of the second generation in the "maestral succession" just considered. he found his pupils unable to get with their voices the results which had come easily to him. attributing his satisfactory progress as a student to the mastery of the supposed mechanical principles of tone-production, this teacher ascribed his pupil's difficulties to their failure to grasp the same mechanical ideas. as a natural consequence he labored even more energetically along mechanical lines. curiously, no teacher seems to have questioned the soundness of the mechanical idea. failure on the part of the pupil to obtain the correct use of the voice served only to make the master more insistent on mechanical exercises. in direct proportion to the prominence given to the idea of mechanical management of the voice, the difficulties of teachers and students became ever more pronounced. the trouble caused by throat stiffness led the teachers to seek new means for imparting the correct vocal action, always along mechanical lines. in this way the progress of the mechanical idea was accelerated, and the problem of tone-production received ever more attention. faith in the imitative faculty was gradually undermined by the progress of the mechanical idea. with each succeeding generation of master and pupil, the mechanical idea became more firmly established. something akin to a vicious circle was involved in this progress. as attention was paid in practical instruction to the mechanical operations of the voice, so the voice's instinctive power of imitation was curtailed by throat stiffness. this served to make more pressing the apparent need of means for the mechanical management of the voice. thus the mechanical idea found ever new arguments in its favor, based always on the difficulties itself had caused. it is impossible to assign a precise date to the disappearance of the old italian method. the last exponent of the old traditions was francesco lamperti, who retired from active teaching in 1876. yet even lamperti finally yielded, in theory at least, to the mechanical idea. in the closing years of his active life as a teacher (1875 and 1876), lamperti wrote a book descriptive of his method, _a treatise on the art of singing_ (translated into english by j. c. griffith and published by ed. schuberth & co., new york). when this work was about ready for the press, lamperti read dr. mandl's _gesundheitslehre der stimme_, containing the first definite statement of the opposed-muscular-action theory of breath-control. at the last moment lamperti inserted a note in his book to signify his acceptance of this theory. vocal mechanics was at first studied by teachers of singing as a matter of purely academic interest. no insufficiency of imitative teaching had ever been felt. teachers of the transition period, even so late probably as 1830, had in most cases no reason to be dissatisfied with their methods of instruction. garcia himself started out modestly enough to place the traditional method, received from his father, on a definite basis. his first idea, announced in the preface to the first edition of his _école de garcia_, was to "reproduce my father's method, attempting only to give it a more theoretical form, and to connect results with causes." interest in the mechanics of the voice continued to be almost entirely academic until the invention of the laryngoscope in 1855. then the popular note was struck. the marvelous industrial and scientific progress of the preceding fifty years had prepared the world to demand advancement in methods of teaching singing, as in everything else. when the secrets of the vocal action were laid bare, a new and better method of teaching singing was at once expected. within very few years scientific knowledge of the voice was demanded of every vocal teacher. nothing could well be more natural than a belief in the efficacy of scientific knowledge of the vocal organs as the basis of instruction in singing. surely no earnest investigator of the voice can be criticized for adopting this belief. no one ever thought of questioning the soundness of the new scientific idea. the belief was everywhere accepted, as a matter of course, that methods of instruction in singing were about to be vastly improved. vocal theorists spoke confidently of discovering means for training the voice in a few months of study. the singer's education under the old system had demanded from four to seven years; science was expected to revolutionize this, and to accomplish in months what had formerly required years. even then tone-production was not seen to be a distinct problem. the old imitative method was still successfully followed. no one thought of discarding the traditional method, but only of improving it by reducing it to scientific principles. but that could not last. soon after the attempt began to be made to manage the voice mechanically, tone-production was found to contain a real problem. this was of course due to the introduction of throat stiffness. from that time on (about 1860 to 1865), the problem of tone-production has become steadily more difficult of solution in each individual case. this problem has been, since 1865, the one absorbing topic of voice culture. probably the most unfortunate single fact in the history of voice culture is that scientific study of the voice was from the beginning confined solely to the mechanical features of tone-production. had scientific investigators turned their attention also to the analysis of the auditory impressions of vocal tones, and to the psychological aspect of tone-production, scientific instruction in singing would probably not have been identified with mechanical management of the voice. all the subsequent difficulties of the vocal profession would almost certainly have been avoided. every attempt at a solution of the problem of tone-production has been made along strictly mechanical lines. attention has been devoted solely to the anatomy and physiology of the vocal organs, and to the acoustic principles of the vocal action. since 1865 hardly a year has passed without some important contribution to the sum of knowledge of the vocal mechanism. for many years this development of vocal science was eagerly followed by the vocal teachers. any seemingly authoritative announcement of a new theory of the voice was sure to bring its reward in an immediate influx of earnest students. prominent teachers made it their practice to spend their vacations in studying with the famous specialists and investigators. each new theory of the vocal action was at once put into practice, or at any rate this attempt was made. yet each new attempt brought only a fresh disappointment. the mystery of the voice was only deepened with each successive failure at solution. a review in detail of the development of vocal science would be of only academic interest. very little of practical moment would probably be added to the outline of modern methods contained in part i. teachers of singing at present evince an attitude of skepticism toward new theories of the vocal action. voice culture has settled along well-established lines. in the past fifteen years little change can be noted in the practices of vocal teachers. the mechanical idea is so firmly established that no question is ever raised as to its scientific soundness. under the limitations imposed by this erroneous idea, teachers do their best to train the voices entrusted to their care. vocal science is of vastly less importance in modern voice culture than the world in general supposes. only an imaginary relation has ever existed between the scientific knowledge of the voice and practical methods of instruction. to cause the summits of the arytenoid cartilages, for example, to incline toward each other is entirely beyond the direct power of the singer. how many similar impossibilities have been seriously advocated can be known only to the academic student of vocal science. vocal teachers in general have ceased to attempt any such application of the doctrines of vocal science. even if these doctrines could be shown to be scientifically sound it would still be impossible to devise means for applying them to the management of the voice. accepted vocal science has contributed only one element of the practical scheme of modern voice culture; this is the erroneous notion that the vocal organs require to be managed mechanically. chapter viii the materials of rational instruction in singing practical methods of instruction in singing may be judged by their results fully as well as by a scientific analysis of their basic principles. if the progress of the art of singing in the past fifty years has been commensurate with the amount of study devoted to the operations of the vocal mechanism, then the value of present methods is established. otherwise the need is proved for some reform in the present system of training voices. judged by this standard modern methods are not found to be satisfactory. there has been no progress in the art of singing; exactly the contrary is the case. a prominent vocalist goes so far as to say that "vocal insufficiency and decay are prevalent." (_the singing of the future_, d. frangçon-davies, m.a., 1906.) it is perhaps an exaggeration of the condition to call it "insufficiency and decay." yet a gradual decline in the art of singing must be apparent to any lover of the art who has listened to most of the famous singers of the past twenty or twenty-five years. operatic performance has been improved in every other respect, but pure singing, the perfection of the vocal art, has become almost a rarity. this is true not only of coloratura singing; it applies with almost equal force to the use of the singing voice for the purpose of dramatic and emotional expression. musical critics are beginning to comment on the decline of singing. they seek naturally for the causes of this decline. many influences are cited by different writers, each of which has undoubtedly contributed something toward lowering the present standard of singing. most influential among these contributing causes, in the general opinion, is the dramatic style of singing demanded in wagner's later operas. yet several writers point out that the rôles of tristan, brunnhilde, etc., are vastly more effective when well sung than when merely shouted or declaimed. a change in the public taste is also spoken of. audiences are said to be indifferent to the older operas, written to suit the style of florid singing. but even this statement does not pass unchallenged. a prominent critic asserts that "the world is still hungry" for florid singing. "it is altogether likely," continues this writer, "that composers would begin to write florid works again if they were assured of competent interpretation, for there is always a public eager for music of this sort." this critic asserts that the decline of coloratura singing is due to the indifference of the artists themselves to this style of singing. still another commentator ascribes the decline of pure singing in recent years to the rise of a new school of dramatic interpretation among the younger operatic artists. "nowadays it is not the singing that counts. it is the interpretation; and the chances are there will be more and more interpretation and less and less singing every year." even this view has its limitations. faithful dramatic interpretation, and attention to all the details of make-up and "business," are not in any way antagonistic to pure singing. one of the most potent means of emotional expression is vocal tone color. but the skilful use of expressive tone quality is possible only to a singer possessed of a perfect command of all the resources of the voice. many vocal shortcomings are forgiven in the singer of convincing interpretive power. this is probably an important factor in influencing the younger generation of artists to devote so much attention to interpretation. more important than any of the reasons just given to account for the present state of the art of singing, is the decline in the art of training voices. the prospects of an improvement in the art of voice culture, imagined by the early investigators of the vocal mechanism, have not been realized. voice culture has not progressed in the past sixty years. exactly the contrary has taken place. before the introduction of mechanical methods every earnest vocal student was sure of learning to use his voice properly, and of developing the full measure of his natural endowments. mechanical instruction has upset all this. nowadays the successful vocal student is the exception. even those students who succeed in acquiring sufficient command of their voices to win public acceptance are unable to master the finest points of vocal technique. perfect singing is becoming rare, mainly because the technical mastery of the voice cannot be acquired under modern methods of instruction. these methods have been found unsatisfactory in every way. a change must be made in the practices of voice culture; its present state cannot be regarded as permanent. modern methods are not truly scientific. there is at present no justification for the belief that the art of voice culture is founded an assured scientific principles. this does not by any means invalidate the idea that voice culture is properly a subject for scientific regulation. modern methods are unsatisfactory only because they do not conform to the fundamental laws of science. in order to erect a satisfactory art of voice culture it is necessary only that the art be brought into conformity with scientific principles. no sweeping reform of modern methods is called for. a thorough application of scientific principles in the training of voices demands only one thing,--the abandonment of the idea of mechanical vocal management. this is not a backward step; on the contrary, it means a distinct advance. once freed from the burden of the mechanical idea, the art of voice culture will be in position to advance, even beyond the ideals of the old masters. nothing could well be simpler than the dropping of the mechanical idea. it was pointed out in the review of modern methods that most of the time spent in giving and taking lessons is devoted to actual singing by the student. this is exactly what rational instruction means. were it not for the evil influence of the mechanical idea, the results of present instruction would in most cases be satisfactory. it is only in consequence of the attention paid to the mechanical workings of the vocal organs that throat stiffness is interposed between the ear and the voice. let the mechanical idea be dropped, and instruction may be carried on exactly as at present. there will be only one marked difference,--throat stiffness will cease to be a source of difficulty. it is for the individual teacher to change his own practices. this could be done so easily that students would hardly note a change in the form of instruction. simply call the pupil's attention always to the quality of the tones, and never to the throat. cease to talk of breathing and of laryngeal action, and these subjects will never suggest themselves to the student's mind. continue to have the student sing vocalises, scales, songs, and arias, just as at present. teach the student to listen closely to his own voice, and familiarize him with correct models of singing. this covers the whole ground of rational voice culture. it is a great mistake to suppose that a vocal student comes to the teacher with a definite idea of the need of direct vocal management. several months of study are required before the student begins to grasp the teacher's idea of mechanical management of the voice. even then the student rarely comes to a clear understanding of the mechanical idea. in the great majority of cases the student never gets beyond the vague notion that he must "do something" to bring the tones. yet this vague idea is enough to keep his attention constantly directed to his vocal organs, and so to hamper their normal activity. so soon as a teacher drops the mechanical idea, his pupils will not think of their throats, nor demand mechanical instruction. there will be no need of his cautioning his pupils not to pay attention to the muscular workings of the vocal organs. no vocal student ever would do this were the practice not demanded in modern methods. at first thought it may seem that for a teacher to drop all mechanical instruction would leave a great gap in his method. how is the correct vocal action to be imparted to the pupil if not by direct instruction to this end? this question has already been answered in preceding chapters, but the answer may well be repeated. the correct vocal action is naturally and instinctively adopted by the voice without any attention being paid to the operations of the vocal mechanism. it is necessary only that the student sing his daily exercises and listen to his voice. the voice's own instinct will lead it gradually to the perfect action. nothing need be substituted for mechanical instruction. present methods of voice culture will be in every way complete, they will leave nothing to be desired, when the mechanical idea is abandoned. this change in the character of vocal instruction will not be in any sense a return to empiricism. it will be a distinct advance in the application of scientific principles. when fully understood, a practical science of voice culture is seen to embrace only three topics,--the musical education of the student, the training of the ear, and the acquirement of skill in the use of the voice. the avoidance of throat stiffness is not properly a separate topic of vocal science, as in rational instruction nothing should ever be done to cause the throat to stiffen. let us consider in detail these three topics of practical vocal science. _the musical education of a singer_ every singer should be a well-educated and accomplished musician. this does not mean that the singer must be a capable performer on the piano or violin; yet some facility in playing the piano is of enormous benefit to the singer. a general understanding of the art of music is not necessarily dependent on the ability to play any instrument. the rudiments of music may quite well be mastered through the study of sight singing. this was the course adopted by the old masters, and it will serve equally well in our day. one of the evil results of the introduction of the mechanical idea in voice culture is that almost the entire lesson time is devoted to the matter of tone-production. to the rudiments of music no attention whatever is usually paid. many vocal students realize the need of a general musical training, and seek it through studying the piano and through choir and chorus singing. but the vocal teacher seldom finds time to teach his pupils to read music at sight. this is a serious mistake. the artistic use of the voice is dependent on the possession of a trained ear and a cultured musical taste. ear training and musical culture are greatly facilitated by a knowledge of the technical basis of the art of music. this latter is best acquired, by the vocal student at any rate, through the study of sight reading. sight singing and the rudiments of music are taught to better advantage in class work than in private individual instruction. the class system also secures a great saving of time to the teacher. every teacher should form a little class in sight reading and choral singing, made up of all his pupils. an hour or an hour and a half each week, devoted by the entire class to the study of sight singing and simple part songs and choruses, would give an ample training to all the pupils in this important branch of the art of music. many vocal teachers advise their pupils not to sing in choirs and choruses. there may be some ground for the belief that students are apt to fall into bad vocal habits while singing in the chorus. but this risk is entirely avoided by the teacher having his pupils sing in his own chorus, under his own direction. another important feature of the musical education is the hearing of good music artistically performed. vocal students should be urged to attend the opera and the orchestral concerts. they should become familiar with the different forms of composition by actually hearing the masterpieces of music. chamber music concerts, song recitals, and oratoric performances,--all are of great advantage to the earnest student. when students attend the opera, or hear the great singers in concerts and recitals, they should listen to the singers' tones, and not wonder how the tones are produced. _ear training_ no special exercises can be given for the training of the ear. the sense of hearing is developed only by attentive listening. every vocal student should be urged, and frequently reminded, to form the habit of listening attentively to the tones of all voices and instruments. a highly trained sense of hearing is one of the musician's most valuable gifts. a naturally keen musical ear is of course presupposed in the case of any one desiring to study music. this natural gift must be developed by exercise in the ear's proper function,--listening to sounds. experience in listening to voices is made doubly effective in the training of the ear when the student's attention is called to the salient characteristics of the tones heard. in this regard the two points most important for the student to notice are the intonation and the tone quality. absolute correctness of intonation, whether in the voice or in an instrument, can be appreciated only by the possessor of a highly cultivated sense of hearing. many tones are accepted as being in tune which are heard by a very keen ear to be slightly off the pitch, or untrue to the pitch. this matter of a tone being untrue to the pitch is of great importance to the student of music. many instruments, when unskilfully played, give out tones of this character. the tones are impure; instead of containing only one pitch, each note shades off into pitches a trifle higher, or lower, or both. this faulty type of tone is illustrated by a piano slightly out of tune. on a single note of this piano one string may have remained in perfect tune, the second may have flatted by the merest fraction of a semitone, and the third by a slightly greater interval. when this note is played it is in one sense not out of tune. yet its pitch is untrue, and it shades off into a slightly flat note. in the case of many instruments, notably the flute, the clarinet, and the french horn, unskilled performers often play notes of this character. but in these instruments the composite character of the note is vastly more complex than in the piano. a very keen ear is required to appreciate fully the nature of this untrueness to the pitch. but this is exactly the kind of ear the singer must possess, and it can be acquired only by the experience of attentive listening. the voice is especially liable to produce tones untrue to the pitch. stiff-throated singers almost invariably exhibit this faulty tendency. an excessive tension of the throat hampers the vocal cords in their adjustments, and the result is an impure tone. this is more often the cause of an artist singing out of tune than a deficiency of the sense of hearing. many singers "sharp" or "flat" habitually, and are unable to overcome the habit, even though well aware of it. only a voice entirely free from stiffness can produce tones of absolute correctness and perfect intonation. du maurier hit upon a very apt description of pure intonation when he said that trilby always sang "right into the middle of the note." as an impurity of intonation is almost always an indication of throat tension, vocal teachers should be keenly sensitive to this type of faulty tone. tone quality is a subject of surpassing interest to the musician. whatever may be thought the true purpose of music, there can be no question as to one demand made on each individual instrument,--it must produce tones of sensuous beauty. a composer may delight in dissonances; but no instrument of the orchestra may produce harsh or discordant tones. of beauty of tone the ear is the sole judge; naturally so, for the only appeal of the individual tone is to the ear. melody, rhythm, and harmony may appeal to the intellect, but the quality of each component tone is judged only by the ear. each instrument has its own characteristic tone quality. the student of singing should become familiar with the sounds of the different orchestral instruments. attention to this is extremely valuable in the training of the ear. beauty of tone was seen to be the truest and best indication of the correct vocal action. the voice has its own tonal beauty, entirely different in character from any artificial instrument. students of singing should listen for every fine shade of tone quality in the voices of other singers. they should learn to detect the slightest blemish on the quality of every tone, the slightest deviation from the correct pitch. as the voice is guided by the ear, the first requirement of a singer is a keen sense of hearing. for a keen ear to be of benefit, the student must learn to listen to his own voice. this is not altogether an easy matter. for one to learn to hear oneself justly and correctly requires considerable practice. the singer is placed at a natural disadvantage in listening to himself. this is due to two causes. in the first place, the direct muscular sensations of singing are so complex, and so distributed about the throat and face, that the singer's attention is apt to be divided between these and his auditory sensations. second, the sound waves are conducted to the ear internally, by the vibration of the bones of the head, as well as externally, by the air waves. the internally conveyed vibrations are a rumbling rather than a true sound; the only true tone is the external sound, heard by the singer in the same way as by a listener. yet the attention is more apt to be taken up with the internal rumbling than with the external tone. every vocal student must be taught to listen to himself, to disregard the muscular sensations and the internal rumbling, and to pay attention only to the real tones of his voice. throat stiffness greatly increases the difficulty of listening to oneself. both the muscular sensations and the internal rumbling are heightened by the increased muscular tension. a stiff-throated singer confounds the muscular with the auditory sensations; the feeling of muscular effort also makes him believe his tones to be much more powerful than they really are. _the acquirement of skill_ skill in the use of the voice is acquired solely by practice in singing. only one rule is required for the conduct of vocal practice, that is, that the voice thrives on beautiful sounds. musical taste must always guide the vocal student in practising. the voice cannot well do more than is demanded by the ear. if a student is unable to distinguish a correct intonation, his voice will not intone correctly. a student must hear and recognize his own faults or there is no possibility of his correcting them. he must be familiar with the characteristics of a perfect musical tone in order to demand this tone of his voice. in the student's progress the ear always keeps slightly in advance of the voice. both develop together, but the ear takes the lead. the voice needs practice to enable it to meet the demands of the ear. as this practice goes on day by day the ear in the meantime becomes keener and still more exacting in its demands on the voice. to train a voice is in reality a very simple matter. nothing is required of the student but straightforward singing. provided the student's daily practice of singing be guided by a naturally keen ear and a sound musical taste, the voice will steadily progress. little need be said here about the technical demands made on the voice in modern music. the standards of vocal technique are well known to all vocal teachers, and indeed to musicians generally. further, the scope of this work is limited to the basic principle of vocal technique,--correct tone-production. for starting the voice properly on the road to the perfect action, intelligently guided practice alone is needed. this practice must be carried on under the direction of a competent teacher. but the teacher cannot pay attention solely to the technical training of the student's voice. as has been seen, the training of the voice is impossible without the cultivation of the sense of hearing; and this is dependent in great measure on the general musical education of the student. the teacher must therefore direct the student's musical education as the basic principle of voice culture. _the avoidance of throat stiffness_ a great advance will be brought about in the profession of voice culture when vocal teachers become thoroughly familiar with the subject of throat stiffness. this is the only troublesome feature of the training of voices. teachers must be always on the alert to note every indication of throat stiffness. the correction of faults of production has always been recognized as one of the most important elements of vocal training. faults of production are of two kinds, natural and acquired. natural faults are exhibited in some degree by every vocal student. these are due solely to the lack of facility in the use of the voice and to the beginner's want of experience in hearing his own voice. acquired faults develop only as the result of unnatural throat tension. the most common cause of acquired faults of tone-production was seen in the attempt consciously to direct the mechanical operations of the voice. equipped with a thorough understanding of the subject of throat stiffness, the teacher is in no danger of permitting his pupils to contract faulty habits of tone-production. here the great value of the empirical knowledge of the voice is seen. the slightest trace of incipient throat stiffness must be immediately detected by the teacher in the sound of the pupil's tones. to correct the faulty tendency in the beginning is comparatively simple. by listening closely to every tone sung by his pupils in the course of instruction, noting both the musical character of the tones and the sympathetic sensations of throat action, the master will never be in doubt whether a tendency to throat stiffness is shown. in locating the natural faults of production the teacher will also find his empirical knowledge of the voice a most valuable possession. chapter ix outlines of a practical method of voice culture according to the accepted idea of voice culture, the word "method" is taken to mean only the plan supposedly followed for imparting a correct manner of tone-production. owing to the prevalence of the mechanical idea, the acquirement of the correct vocal action has become so difficult as to demand almost the exclusive attention of both teachers and students. very little time is left for other subjects of vastly more importance. aside from the matter of tone-production, teachers do not seem to realize the importance, or even the possibility, of systematizing a course of instruction in singing. scientific voice culture is inconceivable without a systematic plan of procedure. but this is not dependent on a set of rules for imparting the correct vocal action. eliminating the idea of mechanical vocal management does not imply the abandonment of methodical instruction in singing. on the contrary, voice culture cannot be made truly systematic so long as it is based on an erroneous and unscientific theory of vocal management. a vocal teacher cannot perfect a system of instruction until he has done with the mechanical idea. then he will find himself to be in possession of all the materials of a sound practical method. most important of the materials of a practical method is a comprehensive repertoire of vocal music. every teacher should have at his command a wide range of compositions in every form available for the voice. this should include simple exercises, vocalises with and without words, songs of every description, arias of the lyric, dramatic, and coloratura type, and recitatives, as well as concerted numbers of every description. all these compositions should be graded, according to the difficulties they present, both technical in the vocal sense, and musical. for every stage of a pupil's progress the teacher should know exactly what composition to assign for study. every composition used in instruction, be it simple exercise or elaborate aria, should be first of all melodious. for the normally gifted student the sense of melody and the love of singing are almost synonymous. next to the physical endowments of voice and ear the sense of melody is the vocal student's most important gift. this feeling for melody should be appealed to at every instant. students should not be permitted to sing anything in a mechanical fashion. broken scales, "five finger exercises," and mechanical drills of every kind, are altogether objectionable. they blunt the sense of melody, and at the same time they tend to induce throat stiffness. beauty of tone and of melody should always be the guiding principle in the practice of singing. all the elements of instruction,--musical education, ear training, and the acquirement of facility in the use of the voice,--can be combined in the singing of melodious compositions. while the teacher should know the precise object of each study, this is not necessary for the student. have the pupil simply sing his daily studies, with good tone and true musical feeling, and all the rest will take care of itself. every vocal teacher will formulate his method of instruction according to his own taste and judgment. there will always be room for the exercise of originality, and for the working out of individual ideas. his own experience, and his judgment in each individual case, must guide the teacher in answering many important questions. whether to train a voice up or down, whether to pay special attention to enunciation, when to introduce the trill, what form of studies to use for technique and ornament,--these are all matters for the teacher to decide in his own way. above all else the teacher should seek to make the study of singing interesting to his pupils. this cannot be done by making the idea of method and of mechanical drudgery prominent. singing is an art; both teacher and student must love their art or they cannot succeed. everything the student is called on to do should be a distinct pleasure. to master the piano or the violin many hours of tedious practice are required. students of singing are indeed fortunate to be spared the necessity of this tiresome work. in place of two or three hours' daily practice of scales and exercises, the vocal student need do nothing but sing good music. much is required of a competent vocal teacher. first of all, he must be a cultured musician and a capable judge both of composition and of performance. further, while not necessarily a great singer, he must have a thorough command of all the resources of his own voice. his understanding of the voice should embrace a fair knowledge of vocal physiology and of vocal psychology. his ear should be so highly trained, and his experience in hearing singers so wide, that he possess in full the empirical knowledge of the voice. the vocal teacher must be familiar with the highest standards of singing. he should hear the great artists of his day and also be well versed in the traditions of his art. a highly important gift of the vocal teacher is tact. he must know how to deal with his pupils, how to smooth over the rough places of temperament. he should be able to foster a spirit of comradeship among his pupils, to secure the stimulating effect of rivalry, while avoiding the evils of jealousy. tact is an important element also in individual instruction. some students will demand to know the reason of everything, others will be content to do as they are told without question. one student may be led to stiffen his throat by instruction which would have no such effect on another. in every case the teacher must study the individual temperaments of his pupils and adapt his method to the character of each student. practical instruction, in its outward aspect, should be very simple. at one lesson the teacher assigns certain studies and has the pupil sing them. now and then the teacher sings a few measures in order to give the student the correct idea of the effects to be obtained. if any pronounced fault is shown in the student's tones, the master calls attention to the fault, perhaps imitating it, to make it more apparent to the student. in his home practice the student sings the assigned studies, trying always to get his tones pure and true. at the next lesson the same studies are again sung, and new compositions given for further study. a great advantage might be gained by combining three, four, or five students in a class and giving lessons of an hour's time, or even an hour and a half. the students might sing in turn, all the others listening to the one who is singing. this form of instruction would be of great service in ear training, and in acquainting the students with the various qualities of vocal tone, both correct and faulty. much time would thus be saved in giving explanations and in pointing out the characteristics of tone to be sought or avoided. on the side of musical education, instruction in small classes would also be found very effective. a thorough understanding of vocal science, including both the mechanical features of tone-production and the psychological aspects of singing, is almost indispensable to the vocal teacher. but the student of singing will in most cases derive no benefit from this scientific knowledge. those students who plan to become teachers must of course study vocal science. yet even these students will do well to defer this study until they have acquired a thorough mastery of their voices. * * * musical progress would seem to have taken a peculiar direction when a voice need be raised in defense of the old art of pure singing. several famous writers on musical subjects would have us believe that the love of vocal melody is outgrown by one who reaches the heights of musical development. this may be true; but if so, the world has not yet progressed so far. music without melody may some day be written. but mozart knew naught of it, nor beethoven, nor wagner. melody is still beautiful, and never more lovely than when artistically sung by a beautiful voice. we have not reached a point where we can afford to toss lightly aside the old art of bel canto. for its future development, if not indeed for its continued existence, the art of singing depends on an improvement in the art of training voices. for this to be accomplished, mechanical methods must be abandoned. if this work succeeds in bringing home to the vocal profession the error of mechanical instruction in singing, it 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(trans. by beata garcia). new york, 1894. ferdinand sieber: _vollstaendiges lehrbuch der gesangskunst_. magdeburg, 1858. _the art of singing_. (trans. by dr. f. seeger). new york, 1872. stéphen de la madelaine: _théorie complète du chant_. paris, 1852. lennox browne and emil behnke: _voice, song, and speech_. london, 1883. john howard: _the physiology of artistic singing_. new york, 1886. gordon holmes: _a treatise on vocal physiology and hygiene_. london, 1879. emma seiler: _the voice in singing_. philadelphia, 1886. j. frank botume: _modern singing methods_. boston, 1885. francesco lamperti: _a treatise on the art of singing_. (trans. by j. c. griffith). new york. original about 1876. wesley mills, m. d.: _voice production in singing and speaking_. philadelphia, 1906. dr. w. reinecke: _die kunst der idealen tonbildung_. leipzig, 1906. william shakespeare: _the art of singing_. london, 1898. g. b. lamperti: _the technics of bel canto_. new york, 1905. paolo guetta: _il canto nel suo mecanismo_. milan, 1902. lilli lehmann: _meine gesangskunst_. berlin, 1902. david frangçon-davies: _the singing of the future_. london, 1906. leo kofler: _the old italian method_. albany, 1880. _the art of breathing_. new york, 1889. clara kathleen rogers: _the philosophy of singing_. new york, 1893. albert b. bach: _the principles of singing_. london (2d ed.), 1897. julius stockhausen's _gesangsmethode_. leipzig, 1884. sir morell mackenzie: _the hygiene of the vocal organs_. london, 1886. charles lunn: _the philosophy of the voice_. london, 1878. antoine ferrein: _de la formation de la voix de l'homme_. paris, 1741. sir charles bell: _on the organs of the human voice_. london, 1832. carl ludwig merkel: _der kehlkopf_. leipzig, 1873. dr. l. mandl: _die gesundheitslehre der stimme_. braunschweig, 1876. george f. ladd: _outlines of physiological psychology_. new york, 1892. james m. baldwin: _feeling and will_. new york, 1894. h. s. curtis: "automatic movements of the larynx," _amer. jour. psych._, vol. 11, p. 237. 1900. h. l. f. helmholtz: _die lehre von den tonempfindungen_. braunschweig, 1862. e. w. scripture: _the new psychology_, london, 1897. _the elements of experimental phonetics_. new york, 1902. _the study of speech curves_. washington, 1906. william james: _the principles of psychology_. new york, 1890. hansen and lehmann: "ueber unwillkuerliches fluestern," _philo. stud._, vol. 11, p. 471. 1895. c. lloyd morgan: _an introduction to comparative psychology_. 1894. wilhelm wundt: _grundzuege der physiologischen psychologie_. leipzig, 1874. grove's _dictionary of music and musicians_. fétis: _biographie universelle des musiciens_. musikalisches conversations-lexikon. quellen lexikon der musiker. (robt. eitner, leipzig, 1902.) index acoustics of voice, 188, 216. anatomy of vocal organs, 211. attack, 51, 53. breathing, 20, 130. breath, singing on the, 14, 27, 32, 72, 194. candle-flame test, 221. coloratura, 195, 282. decline of singing, 341. ear training, 276, 281, 319, 351. emission, 68, 125, 188. empirical knowledge, 151, 176, 181, 359. basis of, 155. in modern instruction, 75, 199, 207. in traditional precepts, 184. enunciation, 88. exercises for breath-control, 26, 31. for breathing, 22. for muscular movements, 46, 50. for relaxing muscles, 90, 272. on vowels and consonants, 85. forward tone, 14, 68, 71, 125, 187. garcia, 16, 22, 34, 35, 56, 328. glottic stroke, 30, 52. history of voice culture, 8, 322. howard, john, 43. imitation, 134, 166, 291, 298, 307, 309, 324, 332. intonation, 265, 311, 314, 352. laryngeal action, 34, 36, 44. laryngoscope, 16, 35, 56, 214, 215, 258, 336. lessons, 103, 366. local effort, 273. mancini, 12, 156, 307, 314, 323. mask, singing in the, 74, 81. mechanical vocal management, 83, 102, 109, 113, 135, 271, 287, 297, 299, 321, 329, 333, 346. mechanics of voice, 118, 220, 325, 335. mental voice, 180, 183. messa di voce, 40, 312. method, 92, 96, 99. old italian, 10, 304, 316, 320. méthode de chant, 326. muscular sense, 143, 170. stiffness, 240, 251. strain, 267. nasal tone, 62, 129, 205. nervousness, 249, 256. old italian masters, 9, 11, 14, 54, 306, 320. method, 10, 304, 316, 320. open throat, 14, 60, 86, 191. placing the voice, 38, 41, 93, 310. practice, 5, 105, 281, 366. precepts, 13, 72, 76, 184, 186, 317. problem of voice, 4, 7, 287, 324, 337, 338. psychology of muscular guidance, 136, 227. of sympathetic sensations, 165. of vocal management, 144, 229, 297. pure vowel theory, 88. quality of tone, 40, 62, 156, 179, 182, 314, 346. radiation of nerve impulse, 251, 259. reflex actions, 247, 255. registers, 34, 38, 55, 312, 315. relaxing exercises, 90, 272. resonance, 54, 58. chest, 61, 127. mouth-pharynx, 59. nasal, 62, 87, 127, 204. sounding-board, 44, 65. sensations of singing, 160. direct, 161, 173. in modern instruction, 78, 84, 114. muscular, 78. sympathetic, 161, 162, 176. of vibration, 54, 55, 58, 80. sight reading, 309, 310, 313. singing in the mask, 74, 81. on the breath, 14, 27, 32, 72, 194. sol-fa, 310, 314. stiffness, muscular, 240, 251. throat, 89, 243, 260, 262, 285, 356, 358. support of tone, 14, 27, 32, 73, 192. sympathetic sensations, 161, 162, 165, 176. technique, 6, 94, 282. throat stiffness, 89, 243, 260, 262, 285, 356, 358. tone-production, 4. problem of 7, 287, 324, 337, 338. tosi, 12, 55, 63, 156, 307, 308, 322. traditional precepts, 13, 14, 76, 186, 317. empirical basis, 184. in modern instruction, 72, 77. tremolo, 265, 272. vocal action, 5, 17, 92, 112, 246. vocal science, 17, 19, 37, 98, 152, 339, 361, 367. wearing voice into place, 101. voice production in singing and speaking based on scientific principles by wesley mills, m.a., m.d., f.r.s.c. emeritus professor of physiology in mcgill university, and lecturer on vocal physiology and hygiene in the mcgill university conservatorium of music, montreal, canada _fourth edition, revised and enlarged_ [illustration: publisher logo] philadelphia & london j.b. lippincott company copyright, 1906, by j.b. lippincott company the rights of translation and all other rights reserved copyright, 1913, by j.b. lippincott company electrotyped and printed by j.b. lippincott company, philadelphia, u.s.a. [transcriber's notes: in this e-text, illustrations of music notation have been rendered using standard text notation, e.g.: c = c two octaves below middle c; c = c one octave below middle c; c' = middle c; c'' = c one octave above middle c, etc. macrons are indicated thus: [=a], [=e], [=i], [=o], [=u].] [illustration: illustrations of the appearance of the larynx during phonation in two special cases. (grünwald.)] explanation of the colored illustrations. they contrast with each other in that the one (upper) is too red; the other, too pale. the upper represents appearances such as one gets with the laryngoscope when the subject has a very severe cold, or even inflammation of the larynx, including the central vocal bands. in this particular case, a young woman of twenty-five years of age, there was inflammation with a certain amount of weakness of the internal thyro-arytenoid muscles. speaking was almost impossible, and such voice as was produced was of a very rough character. in the lower illustration we have the appearances presented in a man affected with tuberculosis of the lungs and larynx. the pallor of the larynx is characteristic. there is weakness of the internal thyro-arytenoid muscle on the right side, which results in imperfect tension of the vocal band on that side, so that the voice is uncertain and harsh. such illustrations are introduced to impress the normal by contrast. the reader is strongly advised to compare these figures with others in the body of the work, especially those of chapter vii. preface to the fourth revised and enlarged edition. in addition to certain emendations, etc., introduced throughout the work, i have thought it well to add a chapter in which the whole subject is treated in a broad and comprehensive way in the light of the latest scientific knowledge. in this review the psychological aspects of the subject have not been neglected, and the whole has been related to practice to as great an extent as the character of the book permits. it is significant that on both sides of the atlantic there is a growing conviction that the foundations for speaking and singing as an art must be made as scientific as the state of our knowledge will permit. the author. january, 1913. preface to the third edition. no preface to the second edition was written, so few were the changes that were made in the work, and the same might apply to this third edition. however, the fact that within a period of less than two years, a second english and a third american edition have been called for, seems to the author to be so conclusive an endorsement of the application of science to vocal art, that he may be entitled at least to express his gratification at the progress the cause, to which he has devoted his pen, is making. it would seem that the better portion at least of that public that is interested in the progress of vocal art has made up its mind that the time has come when sense and science must replace tradition and empiricism. the author. montreal, september, 1908. preface. the present work is based on a life study of the voice, and has grown out of the conviction that all teaching and learning in voice-culture, whether for the purposes of singing or speaking, should as far as possible rest on a scientific foundation. the author, believing that practice and principles have been too much separated, has endeavored to combine them in this book. his purpose has not been to write an exhaustive work on vocal physiology, with references at every step to the views of various authors; rather has he tried always to keep in mind the real needs of the practical voice-user, and to give him a sure foundation for the principles that must underlie sound practice. a perusal of the first chapter of the work will give the reader a clearer idea of the author's purpose as briefly expressed above. the writer bespeaks an unprejudiced hearing, being convinced that in art as in all else there is but one ultimate court of appeal: to the scientific, the demonstrable--to what lies at the very foundations of human nature. in conclusion, the author desires to thank those publishers and authors who have kindly permitted the use of their illustrations. the author. mcgill university, montreal, october, 1906. table of contents. chapter i. the claims and importance of vocal physiology. science and art--the engineer, architect, physician, nurse, and others, compared with the vocal teacher and learner--unfavorable tendencies--the old masters--the great elocutionists--causes of failure--the lack of an adequate technique--correct methods are physiological--summary of the advantages of teaching and learning based on scientific principles--illustrations of the application of physiological principles to actual cases--the evils from which speakers and singers suffer owing to wrong methods--speaking and singing based on the same principles--relation of hygiene to physiology 17 chapter ii. general physiological principles. relations of animals to each other--common properties of living matter--explanation of these--the mammal and man--the stimulus and its results--the one-celled animal--various "systems"necessary--complexity of structure and function--harmony through the nervous system--the rule of nervous centres--means by which they are influenced, and by which they influence--reflex action--muscular mechanisms and neuro-muscular mechanisms--work of the singer and speaker largely reflex in character--summary 34 chapter iii. breathing considered theoretically and practically. breathing the great essential--misconceptions--purpose of breathing as a vital process--the respiratory organs--their nature--relations of the lungs to the chest-wall--expansion of the chest--its diameters--the muscles of respiration--personal observation--the diaphragm--varying quantities of air breathed--breathing when properly carried out by the singer or speaker is healthful 44 chapter iv. breathing further considered theoretically and practically. relations of the nervous system to breathing--the respiratory centre--reflex action in breathing--methods of preventing nervousness--tones produced by the outgoing breath--waste of breath--the happy combination for good singing or speaking 57 chapter v. breathing with special regard to practical considerations. the well-developed chest--the voice-user a kind of athlete--the tremolo--exercises recommended for the development of the chest--forms of dress that hamper breathing--weighing and measuring, re-measurement, etc.--specific directions for methods to develop the chest--warnings--additional exercises--breathing through the nose and through the mouth--exercises for the development of the diaphragm and abdominal muscles--relation of the diaphragm to the staccato effect--forms of general exercise for the voice-user--summary 62 chapter vi. the special voice-producing mechanism, the larynx. not the only voice-producing apparatus--specific structures of the larynx in use when the subject phonates--muscles and their attachments--the cartilages of the larynx--the lining mucous membrane--changes in it when one has a "cold"--the vocal bands--functions of the epiglottis--the "middle line" and relative position of parts--adam's apple--ventricle of the larynx--the importance of the arytenoid cartilages--muscles of the larynx in detail--sphincter action--straining--position of the larynx--practical considerations--dissection of a "pluck" and especially of the larynx--hygiene--how disorder of one part may affect another--summary 74 chapter vii. sound--the laryngoscope--the larynx reconsidered. some study of physics desirable--sound and vibrations--the sounding body--experiments to illustrate the principles of sound--qualities of sound--animals and perception of sound--the range of hearing in man--the larynx as a musical instrument--experiments of johannes müller--discovery of the laryngoscope by garcia--description of the instrument--method of using the laryngoscope--the difficulties--auto-laryngoscopy--the importance of both laryngoscopy and auto-laryngoscopy--change in size of the larynx due to use--delicate changes in the laryngeal mechanism--changes in the larynx during adolescence--warnings--the "breaking" of the voice--analogies with fatigue, etc.--when should singing be begun?--singing with others--choral singing 97 chapter viii. further consideration of breathing, laryngeal adjustment, etc. various kinds of breathing, as "abdominal," "clavicular," etc., discussed--control of the whole of the breathing mechanism urged--correct breathing as a habit--breathing in the most vigorous speaking and singing--different views expressed by a diagram--economy of energy in art--reserve energy in breathing--"pumping"--_coup de glotte_--"attack"--breath-adjustment--quality of sound the prime consideration in tone-production--tremolo and other faults--tests of good breathing--mouth-breathing--exercises--singing of a single tone--its relation to scale-singing--summary and review 118 chapter ix. the resonance-chambers. vocal bands and resonance-chambers compared--improvised mechanism to illustrate resonance--musical instruments as resonance-bodies--a vowel in relation to the resonance-chambers--description of the resonance-chambers--how the quality of tones may be made to vary--new views as to the sounding-chambers--summary 140 chapter x. the registers of the singing voice. a controverted subject--definitions of a register--qualifications for dealing with this subject--madame seiler--tabular statement of her views--garcia's and behnke's divisions of registers--sir morell mackenzie's views in detail--the author's earlier investigations--madame marchesi's views and practice 151 chapter xi. further consideration of the registers of the singing voice. auto-laryngoscopy and photography of the larynx--dogmatism and science--confusion and controversy--the break--ignoring registers--modification of tones, or "covering"--points of agreement between different writers on the subject--the falsetto for males--madame seiler's special qualifications--behnke's and mackenzie's views--the author's conclusions--rule for the extension of a register--why certain artists deteriorate while others do not---males and females compared as to registers--the division of the registers for female voices recommended by the author--teacher and pupil as regards registers--objection to registers answered--the manner of using the breath and registers--how to distinguish registers--the teacher's part--hearing singers of eminence is recommended--madame melba--guiding sensations--summary 161 chapter xii. fundamental principles underlying voice-production. artistic expression only through movements--emotions and technique--relation of ideas to movements--memories and movements--guiding sensations essential for movements--the principles underlying all movements the same--associated reflexes and habits--how habits are formed--inhibitions and their importance--early practices only before the teacher--careful practice with concentration of energy the best--queries as to practice--fatigue a warning--practice in the early hours of the day, and short of fatigue--quality to be aimed at rather than quantity--the total amount of time to be devoted to practice--"hasten slowly;" "little and often"--the treatment of the voice ruined by wrong methods--summary 179 chapter xiii. chiefly an application to voice-production of facts and principles previously considered. vowels, consonants, noise--consonants and pauses--voice-production and vowels--certain vowel sounds common to most languages--why german and english are relatively unmusical--the needs of the musical artist--the mechanism required for the production of a vowel sound--reconsideration of the resonance-chambers--the larynx to be steadied but not held rigidly immovable--the principal modifiers of the shape of the mouth-cavity--breath to be taken through the mouth--the lips--tongue and lip practice before a mirror--importance of the connection between the ear and the mouth parts, etc--"open mouth"--the mouth in singing a descending scale--undue opening of the mouth--proper method of opening the mouth--causes of compression and the consequences 195 chapter xiv. some specific applications of principles in tone-production. principles and their expression in a few exercises--analysis of the methods of tone-production--the sustained tone--smoothly linked tones--the legato--the staccato and kindred effects--the mechanisms concerned--perfection requires years of careful practice--the bel canto and the swell--the same exercises for singer and speaker--"forward," "backward," etc., production--escape of breath--the action of the soft palate--when to use "forward" and when "backward" production--voice-placement--nasal resonance, not nasal twang--summary 207 chapter xv. the elements of speech and song. the subject may be made dry or the reverse--vowels, consonants, noise--the position of the lips and the shape of the mouth-cavity in sounding the various vowels--how to demonstrate that the mouth-cavity is a resonance-chamber--practical considerations growing out of the above--speaker, vocalist, and composer--bearing of these facts on the learning of languages--consonants as musical nuisances--their great variation in pitch--brücke's division of consonants--tabulation of the same 218 chapter xvi. further theoretical and practical consideration of vowels and consonants. the best vowel to use in practice--necessary to practise all--the guttural _r_ and the lingual _r_--consonants that favor nasality of tone--overtones and fundamental tones--relation of intensity and quality--the carrying power of a tone--unusual distinctness in practice as related to ease--the registers of the speaking voice according to madame seiler--the range in speaking--summary 230 chapter xvii. the hearing apparatus and hearing in music. why this chapter is introduced--the essential mechanism of hearing--the part played by waves and vibrations--divisions of the ear--the external ear in lower animals--the drum-head or tympanic membrane--the middle ear and its connections--relation of the throat and the ear--the inner ear or labyrinth--the end-organ and its relations--the connection of the ear and various parts of the brain--the musician's ear--relation of music and hearing--lack of ear and inattention--the artist and the musician--the ear and the speaking voice--general musical training in relation to intonation, etc--the appreciation of music, and training to that end--the art of listening with close attention--summary 236 chapter xviii. consideration of general and special hygiene and related subjects. hygienic as related to physiological principles--hygiene in the widest sense--unfavorable conditions in the public life of an artist--qualifications for success--technique and a public career--the isolation of the artist and its dangers--the need for greater preparation now than ever--choral singing and its possible dangers--the tendencies of the wagner music-drama--special faults, as the "scoop," "_vibrato_," "_tremolo_," "pumping"--desirability of consultations by teachers of the use of the voice--things the voice-user should avoid--mouth-toilets--lozenges--the sipping of water--what one should and should not eat--tea and coffee--the whole subject of congestion from compression, straining, etc., of the utmost importance--a sore throat when frequent should give rise to inquiry as to methods--constipation--exercise--bathing 251 chapter xix. further treatment of physical and mental hygiene. stammering and stuttering--those who have broken down--the increase of the range of a voice--the part the student plays in settling such questions--selections to be avoided--conservation of energy--change and contrast--the voice as related to the building in which it is produced--the listener and pauses--nervousness, and how to ward it off--general conclusion 268 chapter xx. review and revision. the object of the speaker or singer--the idea of co-ordination--the study of vocalization may be considered a study of movements--the psychic condition--the instrument which is played upon--how is this instrument played upon?--vibration of the air--breathing--the aim of all training--the whole subject of breathing--breathing exercises--the resonance chambers--the formation of vowels--muscular efforts for the production of consonants--the pronunciation of words--general health of great importance 276 list of illustrations. fig. page appearance of the larynx during phonation in two special cases (in colors) _frontispiece_ 1. muscle-fibres from the heart, much magnified 34 2. small portion of muscle, moderately magnified 34 3. muscle-cells from coats of intestine 35 4. body of a nerve-cell of the spinal cord 38 5. large nerve-cell from spinal cord of an ox 38 6. cell from the cortex cerebri 38-39 7. nerve terminating in a muscle 38-39 8. muscle-fibres with capillaries around and between them 39 9. parts of the respiratory apparatus 44 10. trachea and bronchial tubes 45 11. heart, lungs, and diaphragm 45 12. diagram showing changes in shape of chest during inspiration 49 13. diagram showing depression of the diaphragm during inspiration 50 14. position of diaphragm, abdominal walls, etc., during expiration 55 15. diagram illustrating reflex action 58 16. a well-developed, healthy chest 62 17. a chest deformed by corsets 62 18. normal position of diaphragm and vital organs 63 19. vital organs misplaced by compression of the chest 63 20. thyroid and cricoid cartilages, side view 76 21. thyroid and cricoid cartilages, front view 76 22. back surface of cricoid cartilage 77 23. cricoid cartilage, side view. 77 24. arytenoid cartilages 77 25. a view of the larynx from behind 78 26. epiglottis, thyroid and cricoid cartilages, etc. 78-79 27. hyoid bone, crico-thyroid muscle, etc. 78-79 28. posterior view of the larynx 79 29. diagram showing relation of parts to the thyroid cartilage 80 30. diagram showing the action of crico-thyroid muscle 82 31. view of larynx from above 83 32. transverse section of larynx 83 33. false and true vocal bands, etc. 86 34. inner surface of the larynx 87 35. diagram to show the action of the laryngeal muscles 96 36. registering the vibrations of a tuning-fork 100 37. illustrating the transmission of vibrations 101 38. illustrating the theory and practice of laryngoscopic examination 104 39. illustrating the practice of laryngoscopic examination 106 40. laryngoscopic picture of male larynx 112 41. laryngoscopic picture of female larynx 112 42. larynx during an attack of a common "cold" 113 43. the vocal bands as seen with laryngoscope during deep inspiration 113 44. diagram showing form of chest and abdomen in forced abdominal breathing 122 45. the vocal bands during the production of a high-pitched tone 138 46. water being poured into a tube until the remaining air-space becomes a resonator of a tuning-fork 142 47. soft palate, fauces, and tonsils 142-143 48. nares and soft palate, from behind 142-143 49. turbinated bones of the nose 143 50. madame seiler's division of the registers 155 51. appearance of the vocal bands when sounding first e and then f sharp 164 52. diagram to show the nature of registers and breaks 166 53. diagram of the processes involved in singing 186 54. highly magnified diagramatic representation of a section through the superficial part of the great brain 188 55. nerve-cell from the outer rind of the great brain, much magnified 189 56. position of parts in sounding the vowel a 219 57. position of the parts in sounding i 220 58. position of the parts in sounding ou 222 59. position of the parts in sounding t, k, f, r, n, and p 227 60. vertical section of the auditory apparatus 237 61. diagram of the auditory apparatus 238 62. two of the ear-bones (malleus and incus), enlarged 239 63. the complete chain of auditory ossicles 240 voice production chapter i. the claims and importance of vocal physiology. to know consciously and to do with special reference to guiding principles are to be distinguished from carrying out some process without bearing in mind the why or wherefore. science is exact and related knowledge, facts bound together by principles. art is execution, doing, and has not necessarily any conscious reference to principles. while every art has its corresponding science, their relation is in some cases of much greater practical importance than in others. while a painter may be the better for knowing the laws of light, there can be no question that he may do very good work without any knowledge whatever of the science of optics. he is at least in no danger of injuring any part of his person. entirely otherwise is it with the voice-user. he employs a delicate and easily injured vital apparatus. his results depend on the most accurate adjustment of certain neuro-muscular mechanisms, and one might suppose that it would be obvious to all who are concerned with this art that a knowledge of the structure and functions of these delicate arrangements of nature would be at least of great if not of essential importance. the engineer knows the structure and uses of each part of his engine, and does not trust to unintelligent observation of the mere working of mechanisms which others have constructed. the architect studies not only the principles of design, etc., but also the nature and relative value of materials. in his own way he is a kind of anatomist and physiologist. we do not trust the care of our bodies to those who have picked up a few methods of treatment by experience or the imitation of others. the doctor must have, we all believe, a knowledge of the structure and working of the animal body; he must understand the action of drugs and other healing agents. we expect him not only to diagnose the disease--to tell us exactly what is the matter--but also to be able to predict with, some degree of certainty the course of the malady. even the nurse of the day must show some grasp of the principles underlying her art. in connection with all the largest and best equipped universities in america there are officials to plan and direct the courses in physical culture. this matter is no longer entrusted to a "trainer," who has only his experience and observation to rely upon. it is realized that the building up of the mechanism which they are supposed to train in an intelligent manner rests upon well-established principles. it would be just as reasonable for an engineer to point to the fact that his engine works well, as evidence of his ability, as for the teacher of voice-production to make the same claim in regard to the vocal mechanism. in each case there is a certain amount of justification for the claim, but such teaching cannot be called scientific. is it even enlightened? it is just as rational to follow in medicine methods that seem to lead to good results, without any reference to the reason why, as to train for results in speaking and singing by methods which have for the student and teacher no conscious basis in scientific knowledge. the physician to-day who treats disease without reference to anatomy and physiology is, at best, but a sort of respectable charlatan. why should students and teachers of voice-production be content to remain, in the advanced present, where they were hundreds of years ago? indeed, there is much more reason now than formerly why the vocalist, speaker, and teacher should have a theoretical and practical knowledge of the structure and workings of the mechanism employed. many tendencies of the present day work against successful voice-training--worst of all, perhaps, the spirit of haste, the desire to reach ends by short cuts, the aim to substitute tricky for straightforward vocalization, and much more which i shall refer to again and again. they hurt this cause; and i am deeply impressed with the conviction that, if we are to attain the best results in singing and speaking, we must betake ourselves in practice to the methods in vogue at a time which may be justly characterized as the golden age of voice-production. we have advanced, musically, in many respects since the days of the old italian masters, but just as we must turn to the greeks to learn what constitutes the highest and best in sculpture, so must we sit at the feet of these old masters. consciously or unconsciously they taught on sound physiological principles, and they insisted on the voice-training absolutely necessary to the attainment of the best art. however talented any individual may be, he can only produce the best results as a singer, actor, or speaker, when the mechanisms by which he hopes to influence his listeners are adequately trained. why do we look in vain to-day for elocutionists such as vandenhoff, bell, and others? why are there not actors with the voices of garrick, kean, kemble, or mrs. siddons, or singers with the vocal powers of a score of celebrities of a former time? it is not that voices are rarer, or talent less widely bestowed by nature. it is because _we do not to-day pursue right methods for a sufficient length of time_; because our methods rest frequently on a foundation less physiological, and therefore less sound. take a single instance, breath-control. in this alone singers to-day are far behind those of the old italian period, not always because they do not know how to breathe, but because often they are unwilling to give the time necessary for the full development of adequate breathing power and control. there was probably never a time when so much attention was paid to the interpretation of music, yet the results are often unsatisfactory because of inadequate technique. people seem to hope to impress us, on the stage, with voices that from a technical point of view are crude and undeveloped, and accordingly lack beauty and expressiveness. speakers to-day have often every qualification except voice--a voice that can arrest attention, charm with its music, or carry conviction by the adequate expression of the idea or emotion intended. is it not strange that a student of the piano or violin is willing to devote perhaps ten years to the study of the technique of his instrument, while the voice-user expects to succeed with a period of vocal practice extending over a year or two, possibly even only a few months? when the anatomy and physiology of the larynx are considered, it will be seen that the muscular mechanisms concerned in voice-production are of a delicacy unequalled anywhere in the body except possibly in the eye and the ear. and when it is further considered that these elaborate and sensitive mechanisms of the larynx are of little use except when adequately put into action by the breath-stream, which again involves hosts of other muscular movements, and the whole in relation to the parts of the vocal apparatus above the larynx, the mouth, nose, etc., it becomes clear that only long, patient, and _intelligent_ study will lead to the highest results. it should also be remembered that such an apparatus can easily acquire habits which may last for life, for good or ill, artistically considered. such delicate mechanisms can also be easily injured or hopelessly ruined; and, as a matter of fact, this is being done daily. a great musical periodical has made the statement that thousands of voices are being ruined annually, in america alone, by incompetent teaching. my experience when a practising laryngologist made me acquainted with the extent of the ruin that may be brought about by incorrect methods of using the voice, both as regards the throat and the voice itself; and contact with teachers and students has so impressed me with the importance of placing voice-production on a sound foundation, not only artistic but physiological, that i have felt constrained to tell others who may be willing to hear me what i have learned as to correct methods, with some reference also to wrong ones, though the latter are so numerous that i shall not be able to find the space to deal at length with them. the correct methods of singing and speaking are always, of necessity, physiological. others may satisfy a vitiated or undeveloped public taste, but what is artistically sound is also physiological. none have ever sung with more ease than those taught by the correct methods of the old italian masters; as none run so easily as the wisely trained athlete, and none endure so well. people in singing and speaking will, as in other cases, get what they work for, but have no right to expect to sing or speak effectively by inspiration, any more than the athlete to win a race because he is born naturally fleet of foot or with a quick intelligence. in each case the ideas are converted into performance, the results attained, by the exercise of neuro-muscular mechanisms. i am most anxious that it shall be perceived that this is the case, that the same laws apply to voice-production as to running or any other exercise. the difference is one of delicacy and complexity so far as the body is concerned. it will be understood that i speak only of the technique. for art there must be more than technique, but there is no art without good methods of execution, which constitute technique. the latter is nothing more than method--manner of performance. behind these methods of performance, or the simplest part of them, there must be some idea. the more intelligent the student, speaker or singer, as to his art and generally, the better for the teacher who instructs scientifically, though such intelligence is largely lost to the teacher who depends on tradition and pure imitation. in the present work i shall be so concerned with the physical that i shall be able only to refer briefly to the part that intelligence and feeling play in the result. the qualifications for the successful treatment of vocal physiology--that is, such a discussion of the subject as shall lead to a clear comprehension of the nature of the principles involved, and place them on a practical foundation, make them at once usable in actual study and in teaching--such qualifications are many, and, in their totality and in an adequate degree, difficult to attain. after more than twenty years of the best study i could give to this subject in both a theoretical and a practical manner, i feel that i have something to say which may be useful to a large class, and, so far as i know, that is my reason for writing this book. for myself music is indispensable. the one instrument we all possess is a voice-mechanism. i am one of those who regret that so little attention is paid, especially in america, to pleasing and expressive use of the voice in ordinary conversation. yet how much pleasure cannot a beautiful speaking voice convey! the college undergraduate rarely finds vocal study among the requirements, in spite of the fact that the voice is an instrument that he will use much more than the pen. the truth is, the home methods of voice-production are those we are most likely to carry with us through life, and, unfortunately, little attention is given to the subject. sometimes a love of sweet sounds may be a hidden cause for much that would otherwise be inexplicable in an entire career, as in my own case. it led to an early study of singers and actors and their performances; it gave rise to an effort to form a voice that would meet the requirements of an unusually sensitive ear; it led to the practice and teaching of elocution, and, later, to much communion with voice-users, both singers and speakers. in the meantime came medical practice, with speedy specialization as a laryngologist, when there were daily consultations with singers and speakers who had employed wrong methods of voice-production; this again led on to the scientific investigation of voice problems, with a view of settling certain disputed points; then came renewed and deeper study of music, both as an art and as a science, with a profound interest in the study of the philosophy of musical art and the psychological study of the musical artist, all culminating in this attempt to help those who will listen to me without prejudice. i do not think i know all that is to be known, but i believe i do know how to form and preserve the voice according to physiological principles; i at least ask the reader to give my teachings and recommendations a fair trial. he shall have reasons for what is presented and recommended to him. once more let it be said that i do not deny that good practical results may follow teaching that is not put before the pupil as physiology; but what is claimed for physiological teaching is that-1. it is more rational. the student sees that things must be thus and so, and not otherwise. 2. faults can be the better recognized and explained. 3. the student can the more surely guide his own development, and meet the stress and storm that sooner or later come to every professional voice-user. 4. injured voices can be the more effectively restored. 5. the physical welfare of the student is advanced--a matter which i find is often neglected by teachers of music, though more so in the case of instrumental than vocal teachers. 6. the student can much more effectively learn from the performances of others, because he sees that singing and speaking are physical processes leading to artistic ends. this is perhaps one of the most valuable results, and i can testify to the greater readiness with which analysis of a performance can be made after even moderate advancement. the teacher who is wise will encourage the student to hear those who excel, and to analyze the methods which successful artists employ. the student can much more readily accomplish this than detect the mental movements of the artist, though the two really go hand in hand to a large extent. the above are some of the advantages, but by no means all, of a method of study of voice-production which i must claim is the only rational one--certainly, the only one that rests on a scientific foundation. it does not follow that such study, to be scientific, shall be made repellent by the use of technical terms the significance of which the reader is left to guess at, but finds unexplained. i fear such treatment of vocal physiology has brought it into disrepute. the aim of the writer will be to give a clear scientific treatment of the subject, which shall not be obscured by unexplained technical terms, and which shall be _practical_--capable of immediate use by student and teacher. if he did not believe the latter possible he would not think it worth while to attempt the former, especially as this has often been done before, he regrets to say, badly enough. although the author has not now the tune to give regular lessons in voice-production, he is frequently consulted, especially when abroad, during his vacations, by speakers and especially singers who are anxious to learn how they may increase their efficiency in the profession by which they earn their livelihood and make their reputation; and the reader may be gratified to learn how, in such cases, the writer applies the principles he so strongly recommends to others. let two or three illustrations suffice: 1. a tenor of world renown consulted him in regard to the position of the larynx in singing, as he had a suspicion that his practice was not correct, inasmuch as his voice seemed to be deteriorating to some extent. the answer to his question need not be given here, as this subject is discussed adequately in a later chapter. 2. the second was the case of a young lady, an amateur singer, who was anxious to know why she failed to get satisfactory results. the author heard her in a large room, without any accompaniment (to cover up defects, etc.), and standing at first at some distance from her, then nearer. her tones were delightfully pure and beautiful, but her performance suggested rather the sound of some instrument than singing in the proper sense. it was impossible to learn the ideas to be imparted, as the words could not be distinctly made out; there was a monotony in the whole performance, though, it must be confessed, a beautiful monotony, and there was a total lack of that vigor and sureness that both educated and uneducated listeners must be made to feel, or there results a sense of dissatisfaction, if not even irritation. the beauty of tone was owing to a production that was to a certain extent sound, and this explained why the voice carried well in spite of its being small. this young lady was well educated, had heard much good music, possessed a sensitive ear and a fine æsthetic taste, and, perhaps most important of all, in this case at least, was able to think for herself. she was very slight of body, with an ill-developed chest, and, from her appearance, could not have enjoyed robust health. it was at once evident that this was an admirable case by which to test the views advocated. accordingly, the author addressed the young lady as follows: "your voice is beautiful in quality, and carries well; you observe the registers properly; but your vocalization is feeble, and your singing is ineffective. this is due largely to the lack of robustness in your voice, but not wholly. you do not tell your story in song so that the listener may know what you have to say to him. the imperfections in your method of speaking, so common in america--an imperfect articulation and a limp texture of voice--are evident in your singing; you do not phrase well, and you paint all in one color. this is due chiefly to your breathing and your attacks. one may observe that at no time do you fill your chest completely. you use the lower chest and the diaphragm correctly, but you rob yourself of one half of your breathing power, and your chest is not at all well developed. you do not use the parts above your voice-box with vigor and efficiency, and you direct so much attention to the quality of the tone that you neglect its quantity and the ideas to be expressed. you have been correctly but inadequately instructed. your teachers have evidently understood registers practically, as few do, but they have only half taught you breathing and attack. their fidelity to that high ideal of quality of tone as the final consideration wins my respect." the writer thought, but did not say, that they must have understood little of vocal physiology, or they would not have left this young lady so ill-developed physically, at least so far as the chest is concerned. i then asked this earnest and intelligent student, as she proved to be, to take a full breath. she did not understand this, and was absolutely incapable of doing it. she had been taught to begin breathing below, to expand from the lower chest upward, and, as a natural result, she never filled the upper chest. she was at once shown how it was done, when she seemed greatly surprised, and said: "i never have done that in my whole life." "did you not run and shout as a child?" "no, i never did run enough or shout enough to fill up my chest." the latter was small, and flat. the method of attack was next explained and illustrated, first without reference to words, and then to show its importance in conveying ideas, and the causes of the defects in speaking were indicated, and the corrections named and illustrated. the lady was then asked to sing again, making the improvements suggested, with the result that it was clear that every principle set forth had been clearly apprehended, though of course as yet only imperfectly carried out. the student was recommended to take walking exercise, and to practice filling the chest in the manner to be explained later. after six weeks she again asked to be heard. the change effected was wonderful; she was another type of vocalist now. without any loss in quality her voice had a volume and intensity that made it adequate for singing in at least a small hall; her attacks were good, though not perfect; and at the end of a very large room it could easily be seen that her chest was, when necessary, filled full, so that she was able to produce a large and prolonged tone. but, best of all, her health had greatly improved, and she had gained in size and weight. it is but fair to point out that, in the present case, the student was an unusually intelligent and thoughtful person. had it been otherwise, more consultations would have been necessary, with probably many detailed instructions and much practice before the teacher. but the case sufficed to convince me afresh that only physiological teaching meets the needs of pupil and teacher. i do not claim, of course, that it is a panacea. it will not supply the lack of a musical ear or an artistic temperament. vocalization does not make an artist, but there can be no artist without sound vocalization. all the author's experience as a laryngologist tended to convince him that most of those evils from which speakers and singers suffer, whatever the part of the vocal mechanism affected, arise from faulty methods of voice-production, or excess in the use of methods in themselves correct. a showman may have a correct method of voice-production--indeed, the writer has often studied the showman with admiration--but if he speak for hours in the open air in all sorts of weather, a disordered throat is but the natural consequence; and the wagnerian singer who will shout instead of sing must not expect to retain a voice of musical quality, if, indeed, he retain one at all. throughout this work it will be assumed that the speaker and the singer should employ essentially the same vocal methods. the singer should be a good speaker, even a good elocutionist, and the speaker should be able to produce tones equal in beauty, power, and expressiveness to those of the singer, but, of course, within a more limited range, and less prolonged, as a rule. to each alike is voice-training essential, if artistic results are to follow; neither rhetorical training on the one hand nor musical training on the other will alone suffice. so that it may be clear that the same physiological principles apply to the vocal mechanism as to all others in the body, a short chapter dealing with this subject is introduced, before taking up the structure and functions of any part of that apparatus by which the speaker or singer produces his results as a specialist. the laws of health known as hygiene follow so naturally on those of physiology that brief references to this subject, from time to time, with a chapter at the end of the work bearing specially on the life of the voice-user, will probably suffice. chapter ii. general and physiological considerations. the principle that knowledge consists in a perception of relations will now be applied to the structure and functions or uses of the different parts of the body. the demonstration that all animals, even all living things, have certain properties or functions in common is one of the great results of modern science. man no longer can be rightly viewed apart from other animals. in many respects he is in no wise superior to them. the most desirable course to pursue is to learn wherein animals resemble and wherein they differ, without dwelling at great length on the question of relative superiority or inferiority. it may be unhesitatingly asserted that all animals live, move, and have their being, in every essential respect, in the same way. whether one considers those creatures of microscopic size living in stagnant ponds, or man himself, it is found that certain qualities characterize them all. that minute mass of jelly-like substance known as protoplasm, constituting the one-celled animal amoeba, may be described as _ingestive_, _digestive_, _secretory_, _excretory_, _assimilative_, _respiratory_, _irritable_, _contractile_, and _reproductive_: that is to say, the amoeba must take in food; must digest it, or change its form; must produce some fluid within itself which acts on food; must cast out from itself what is no longer of any use; must convert the digested material into its own substance--perhaps the most wonderful property of living things; must take up into its own substance oxygen, and expel carbonic acid gas (carbon dioxide); and possess the power to respond to a stimulus, or cause of change, the property of changing form, and, finally, the ability to bring into being others like itself. [illustration: fig. 1. muscle-fibres from the heart, much magnified, showing cross-stripings, nuclei, or the darkly stained central bodies very important to the life of the cell, also the divisions and points of union. (schäfer's _histology_.)] [illustration: fig. 2. appearance of a small portion of muscle under a moderate magnification. between the muscle-cells proper a form of binding tissue may be seen.] [illustration: fig. 3. muscle-cells isolated from the muscular coats of the intestine. similar cells are found in some part of most of the internal organs, including the bronchial tubes. these cells are less ready in responding to a stimulus, contract more slowly, and tend to remain longer contracted when they pass into this condition than striped muscle cells. (schäfer.)] before justifying these statements in detail it will be desirable to say something of the anatomy or structure of a mammal, and we may select man himself, though it is to be remembered that one might apply exactly the same treatment to a dog, pig, mouse, or any other member of this group of animals. the amoeba and creatures like it live immersed in water; man, at the bottom of an ocean of air. both move in their own medium, the amoeba creeping with extreme slowness, man moving with a speed incalculably greater. in each case the movements are determined by some cause from without which is termed by physiologists a _stimulus_. the slightest movement of the thin cover-glass placed over the drop of water in which an amoeba is immersed, on a microscopic slide, suffices to act as a stimulus, and serves much the same purpose as an electric shock to the muscles of a man. in man an elaborate apparatus exists for the process known as respiration, but in this and in all other cases the mechanism is composed of what is known technically as _cells_, the latter being the units of structure, the individual bricks of the building, so to speak; and just as any edifice is made up of individual pieces some of which differ from one another while others do not to any appreciable extent, so is it with the body. the individual cells of a muscle are alike in structure and function, but they differ widely from those of a gland or secreting organ, as the liver. but it is to be ever remembered that the statements with which we set out hold: that is, that however cells may differ, they have in all animals certain properties in common. of the muscle-cell, the liver-cell, and the one-celled animal we may affirm the same properties, but the difference is that while all are secretory the liver-cell is eminently so, and produces bile, which other cells do not; that while it is but feebly contractile, or susceptible of change of form, the muscle-cell is characterized by this property above all others. the lower we descend in the animal scale the more simple are the mechanisms by which results are attained. the one-celled animal may be said to breathe with its whole body, while the man employs a large number of muscles, not to speak, at present, of other arrangements. but when a muscle is examined under the microscope, it is found to consist of cells, each one of which is physiologically in all essentials like an amoeba, so that we may say that a muscle or other tissue or organ is really a sort of colony of cells of similar structure and function, all working in harmony like a happy family. we actually do find colonies of unicellular animals much like amoeba, so that the muscle-cells and all other cells of the body may be compared to amoeba and other one-celled animals. but while in such unicellular creatures all functions are properties of the individual cell, among higher forms _systems_ take the place of the protoplasm of the single cell. there is a circulatory system, a respiratory system, etc.; but we must once more point out that such systems are made up of cells, so that every function of the highest animal may be finally reduced to what takes place in the unicellular animal. a circulatory system consists of a heart and blood-vessels, all filled with blood, which latter is "the life," as was known from the earliest times; yet this same blood is of no more use for the nourishment of the body while it is contained in those tubes which constitute the blood-vessels than is bread locked up in a pantry to a hungry boy. that which really provides the nutriment for the body is a fluid derived from the blood, a something like the liquid part of blood and known as _lymph_. this latter is to the cells of any tissue, as a muscle, as is the water filled with the food on which an amoeba lives. in like manner, in spite of the complicated apparatus which supplies oxygen and removes carbon dioxide, the respiratory system, respiration is finally the work of the cell, as in amoeba; a muscle-cell respires exactly as does the one-celled animal. when we consider the marvellous complexity of structure of one of the higher animals, and the amazing variety of its functions, the question naturally arises as to how all this is brought about without any sort of clashing of the interests of one part with those of another. why is it that the stomach has enough and not too much blood? by what means has nature solved the problem of supplying more oxygen to parts in action than to those at rest? how is it that one set of muscles acts with instead of antagonizing another set, as in any complicated series of movements, such as walking? to bring about this harmonization, or _co-ordination_, the nervous system has been provided. as the nervous and muscular systems are of preëminent importance in voice-production, they will now be considered with more detail than it is necessary to give to other systems. complicated as is the nervous system, modern advances in the sciences of anatomy and physiology have made the comprehension of the subject easier. it is now known that the nervous system, in spite of its wide ramifications, is also made up of cells which are structurally and functionally related to each other, and make connection with every part of the whole community, the body. a nerve-cell, or _neurone_, may be very complicated in its structure because of its many branches or extensions from the main body of the cell. [illustration: fig. 4. body of a nerve-cell of the spinal cord, specially stained so as to show the minute structure. (schäfer's _histology_.)] [illustration: fig. 5. a large nerve-cell from the spinal cord of the ox, magnified 175 diameters. (schäfer.)] [illustration: fig. 6. a cell of another form, from the superficial or outer part of the greater brain (cortex cerebri). the great amount of branching is suggestive of the power to receive and to transmit nervous influences (impulses) from various other cells; in other words, complexity of structure suggests a corresponding complexity of function.] [illustration: fig. 7. representation of the manner in which a nerve is seen to terminate in a muscle, such ending being one form of "nerve-ending" termed a "muscle plate." it tends to emphasize the close relationship existing between muscle and nerve, and to justify the expression "neuro-muscular mechanism," the nervous system being as important for movements as the muscles. (schäfer's _histology_.)] [illustration: fig. 8. three muscle-fibres lying beside each other, with the small blood-vessels (capillaries) around and between them. such are the appearances presented under the microscope by skeletal or striped muscles such as those of the larynx. (schäfer.)] it may be said, in general terms, that the nervous _centres_, the brain and the spinal cord, which are parts of one anatomical whole, are characterized by the presence of the cell-bodies as well as their extensions, while nerves consist only of the extensions or arms of the cell-bodies. the nerve-cell whose body is in the top of the brain may have an extension or arm which may reach practically to the end of the spinal cord, and there make communication with another cell whose arm, in turn, may reach as far as the toe. such nerve arms or extensions constitute the _nerve-fibres_, and bundles of these _nerves_, or _nerve-trunks_. usually nerve-fibres make connection with the cells of an organ by a special modification of structure known as a _nerve-ending_. a nervous message or influence (_nerve-impulse_) may pass either to the centre--_i.e._, toward a cell-body--or from it; in other words, a nervous impulse may originate in the centre or in some organ more or less distant from it; a nervous impulse may be _central_ or _peripheral_. nearly all central impulses, we now know, arise because of the peripheral ones. one may illustrate this important relation by a telegraph system. the message a railroad operator sends out--_e.g._, that which determines whether a train is to be held at a certain station or sent on--might depend wholly on information received from another office. the extra flow of blood to the stomach when food enters it is owing to such a relation of things. the food acts as a stimulus to the ends of the nerve-fibres, and, in consequence, there is an ingoing (_afferent_) message or impulse, and, by reason of this, an outgoing (_efferent_) one to the muscle-cells of the small blood-vessels, owing to which they contract less strongly and the calibre of these vessels is increased; hence more blood reaches the smallest vessels of all (_capillaries_.) such a physiological relation of things is termed _reflex action_. for such reflex action there are required structurally at least two neurones or nerve-cells, and functionally a stimulus of a certain strength and quality. of course, if more blood passes to the stomach there must be less somewhere else, as the total volume of the blood is limited. the value of the knowledge of such a fact is obvious. it must be unwise to exercise vigorously immediately after meals, for this determines blood to the muscles which would serve a better purpose in the digestive organs. for a like reason the singer who would do his best before the public will refrain from taking a large meal before appearing. as this subject of reflex action is of the highest importance, the reader is advised to make himself thoroughly familiar with the principles involved before perusing the future chapters of this work. fig. 16 shows the structural relations for reflex action. it also indicates how such nervous relations may be complicated by other connections of the nerve-cells involved in the reflex action. it will be seen that they make many upward connections with the brain, in consequence of which consciousness may be involved. ordinarily one is more or less conscious of reflex action, though the will is not involved; in fact, a willed or voluntary action is usually considered the reverse of a reflex or involuntary action. but for a reflex action the brain is not essential. as is well known, a snake's hinder part will move in response to a touch when completely severed from the head end; and movements of considerable complexity can be evoked in a headless frog. herein, then, lies the solution of the problem. this is nature's way of bringing one part into harmonious relations with another. as by a telegraphic system the most distant parts of a vast railway system may be brought into harmonious working, so is it with the body by means of the nervous system. the nerve-centres correspond to the heads of the railway system, or, perhaps more correctly, to the various officials resident in some large city who from this centre regulate the affairs of the whole line. the muscular system is made up of cells of two kinds, those characteristic of the muscles used in ordinary movements, and those employed for the movements of the internal organs. the muscles of the limbs are made up of striped muscle-cells; those of the stomach, etc., of unstriped cells. these latter are slower to act when stimulated, contract more slowly, and cease to function more tardily when the stimulus is withdrawn. the muscular mechanisms used by the singer and speaker are of the skeletal variety. if it be true that the welfare of one part of the body is bound up with that of every other, as are the interests of one member of a firm with those of another, in a great business, it will at once appear that the most perfect results can follow for the voice-user only under certain conditions. however perfect by nature the vocal mechanism, the result in any case must be largely determined by the character of the body as a whole. the man of fine physique generally has naturally more to hope for than one with an ill-developed body. in the natural working of the body the stimulus to a muscle is nervous; hence we may appropriately, and often to advantage, speak of _neuro-muscular_ mechanism, the nervous element being as important as the muscular. in a later chapter it will be shown that the work of the singer and speaker when most successfully carried out must be largely reflex in nature--a fact on which hang weighty considerations with regard to many questions, among them methods of practice, the influence of example, etc.--be he ever so much the natural artist. it will be the writer's aim, however, to give such warnings and advice as may assist each reader in his own best development. many who began with a comparatively poor physical stock in trade have surpassed the self-satisfied ones who trusted too much to what nature gave them. singers as well as others would do well to believe that _labor omnia vincit_. summary. the same fundamental physiological principles apply to the lowest and to the highest animals. to all belong certain properties or qualities. as structure is differentiated, or as one animal differs from another owing to greater or less complexity of form, there is a corresponding differentiation of function, none, however, ever losing the fundamental properties of protoplasm. each organ comes to perform some one function better than all others. this is specialization, and implies advance among animals as it does in civilization. the neuro-muscular system is of great moment to the voice-user. he is a specialist as regards the neuro-muscular systems of the vocal mechanism. but the same laws apply to it as to other neuro-muscular mechanisms. it is of great theoretical and practical importance to recognize this, and that one part of the body is related to every other, which relationship is maintained chiefly by the nervous system, and largely through reflex action. chapter iii. breathing considered theoretically and practically. if the old orator was right in considering _delivery_ as the essence of public speaking as an art, it may with equal truth be said of singing, the term being always so extended in signification as to imply what rossini named as the essential for the singer--_voice_. looking at it from the physiological point of view, we may say that the one absolutely essential thing for singers and speakers is breathing. without methods of breathing that are correct and adequate there may be a perfect larynx and admirably formed resonance-chambers above the vocal bands, with very unsatisfactory results. the more the writer knows of singers and speakers, the more deeply does he become convinced that singing and speaking may be resolved into the correct use of the breathing apparatus, above all else. not that this alone will suffice, but it is the most important, and determines more than any other factor the question of success or failure. breathing is the key-note with which we must begin, and to which we must return again and again. the extent to which this subject has been misunderstood, misrepresented, and obscured in works on the voice, and its neglect by so large a number of those who profess to understand how to teach singing and public speaking, are truly amazing. that many should fail to fully appreciate its importance in attaining artistic results is not so surprising as that the process itself should have been so ill understood, especially as it is open to any one to observe in himself, or in our domestic animals, nature's method of getting air into and out of the body. [illustration: fig. 9. a front view of parts of the respiratory apparatus. (halliburton's physiology.)] [illustration: fig. 9. a back view of the parts represented in fig. 9. (halliburton's physiology.)] [transcriber's note: numbered thus in original.] [illustration: fig. 10 (spalteholz). a view of the lower part of the trachea, dividing into the main bronchial tubes, which again branch into a tree-like form. the air-cells are built up around the terminations of the finest bronchial tubes, of which they are a sort of membranous extension.] [illustration: fig. 11 (spalteholz). shows well the relations of heart, lungs, and diaphragm. the lungs have been drawn back, otherwise the heart would be covered almost wholly by them. it will be noted that the heart-covering is attached to the diaphragm. the fact that the stomach and other important organs of the abdomen lie immediately beneath the diaphragm is a significant one for the voice-user. manifestly, a full stomach and free, vigorous breathing are incompatible.] this misapprehension is in all probability to be traced to the dependence of the student and teacher on tradition rather than observation--on authority rather than rational judgment. if a great teacher or singer makes any announcement whatever in regard to the technique of his art, it is natural that it should be considered with attention, but it may prove a great misfortune for the individual to accept it without thoughtful consideration. the author will illustrate, from time to time, the truth of the above. in this and all other chapters of this work the student, by which term i mean every one who is seriously interested in the use of the voice, is recommended to give attention, before reading on any subject, to the illustrations employed, perusing very carefully the explanatory remarks beneath them. the author considers the summaries at the conclusion of the chapters of much importance. they not only furnish exact and condensed statements of the main facts and principles involved, but afford the reader a test of the extent to which the foregoing chapter has been comprehended. as the author has a horror of what is termed "cramming," he expresses the hope that no student will use these synopses, which have been prepared with much care, for so great a misuse of the mind as cramming implies. breathing is essential for life. the oxygen of the air is, of all food-stuffs, the most important. without it a mammal will perish in less than three minutes; hence there is no need of the body so urgent as that of oxygen. it is also of great moment that the waste--the carbon dioxide, or carbonic acid gas--should be got rid of rapidly; nevertheless, it is not this gas which kills when the air-passages are closed, though it is highly deleterious. the body is a sort of furnace in which combustions are continually going on, and oxygen is as essential for these as for the burning of a candle, and the products are in each case the same. whether the voice-user respires, like others, to maintain the functions of the body, or whether he employs the breathing apparatus to produce sound, it is to be borne in mind that he uses the same physical mechanisms, so that the way is at once clear to consider the anatomy and physiology of the breathing organs. it has been already pointed out that respiration is in all animals, in the end, the same process. the one-celled animal and the muscle-cell respire in the same way, and with the same results--oxidation, combustion, and resulting waste products. in the animal of complicated structure special mechanisms are necessary that the essential oxygen be brought to the blood and the useless carbon dioxide removed. the respiratory organs or tract include the mouth, nose, larynx, trachea, bronchial tubes, and the lung-tissue proper or the air-cells. the mouth, nose, and larynx, in so far as they are of special importance in voice-production, will be considered later. the air enters the trachea, or windpipe, through a relatively narrow slit in the larynx, or voice-box, known as the _glottis_, or _chink of the glottis_, which is wider when air is being taken in (_inspiration_) than when it is being expelled (_expiration_). life depends on this chink being kept open. the windpipe is composed of a series of cartilaginous or gristly rings connected together by softer tissues. these rings are not entire, but are completed behind by soft tissues including muscle. it follows that this tube is pliable and extensible--a very important provision, especially when large movements of the neck are made, during vigorous exercise, and also in singing and speaking. the bronchial tubes are the tree-like branches of the trachea, and extend to the air-cells themselves, which may be considered as built up around them in some such fashion as a toy balloon on its wooden stem, but with many infoldings, etc. (fig. 10). the air-cells are composed of a membrane which may be compared to the walls of the balloon, but we are of course dealing with living tissue supplied by countless blood-vessels of the most minute calibre, in which the blood is brought very near to the air which passes over them. throughout, the respiratory tract is lined with mucous membrane. mucous membranes are so named because they secrete mucus, the fluid which moistens the nose, mouth, and all parts of the respiratory tract. when one suffers from a cold the mucous membrane, in the early stages, may become dry from failure of this natural secretion; hence sneezing, coughing, etc., as the air then acts as an irritant. at no time do we breathe pure oxygen, but "air"--_i.e._, a mixture of 21 parts of the former with 79 parts of an inert gas, nitrogen; and there is always in the air more oxygen than the blood actually takes from it in the air-cells. the intaking of air is termed by physiologists _inspiration_, and its expulsion _expiration_, the whole process being _respiration_. expiration takes a very little longer than inspiration, and the rapidity of respiration depends on the needs of the body. the more active the exercise, the more rapidly vital processes go on, the more ventilation of the tissues is required and the more is actually effected. when one is at rest breathing takes place at the rate of from 14 to 18 inspirations and expirations in the minute; but of all the processes of the body none is more variable than respiration, and of necessity, for every modification of action, every movement, implies a demand for an increased quantity of oxygen. it is not surprising, therefore, that the very exercise of singing tends in itself to put one out of breath. [illustration: fig. 12. in the above, the shaded outlines indicate the shape of the bony cage of the chest during inspiration, and the lighter ones the same during expiration. the alterations in the position of the ribs and in the diameters of the chest, giving rise to its greater capacity during inspiration, are evident.] [illustration: fig. 13. this figure is intended to indicate, in a purely diagrammatic way, by dotted lines, the position of the diaphragm (1) when inspiration is moderate, and (2) when very deep. the unbroken curved line above the dotted ones indicates the position of the diaphragm (only approximately, of course) after expiration.] attention will now be directed to some facts that it is of the utmost importance to clearly understand, if one is to know how to breathe and the reasons for the method employed. the lungs are contained in a cavity the walls of which are made up of a domed muscular (and tendinous) structure below, and elsewhere of bony and cartilaginous tissues filled in with soft structures, chiefly muscles. this cage is lined within by a smooth membrane which is kept constantly moist by its own secretion. the lungs are covered by a similar membrane, both of these fitting closely like the hand to a glove, so that there are two smooth membranes in opposition. it cannot be too well remembered that these two, the inner surface of the chest walls and the outer surface of the lungs, are in the closest contact. this is so whatever the changes that take place in the size and shape of the chest. the lungs are concave below, and so fit accurately to the fleshy partition between the chest and the abdomen which constitutes the lower boundary of the chest, if we may use the term "chest" somewhat loosely. above, suiting the shape of the chest, the lungs are somewhat conical. the pressure of the air tends of itself to expand the lungs, which are highly elastic, even when one does not breathe at all. but if more air is to enter there must be additional space provided; hence greater expansion of the lungs can only follow an enlargement of the chest cavity in one or in all directions. these are spoken of as _diameters_. it follows that it is possible to conceive of the chest being enlarged in three, and only three, directions; so that it may be increased in size in its vertical, its transverse, and its antero-posterior diameter, or diameter from before backwards. this expansion, as in the case of all other movements, can be effected only by muscles, or, to speak more accurately, by neuro-muscular mechanisms. exactly what muscles are employed may be learned from the accompanying illustrations and by observation. while it is highly important to know in a general way which muscles are chiefly concerned, or, rather, where they are situated, it cannot be deemed essential for every reader to learn their names, attachments, etc., down to the minutest details, as in the case of a student of anatomy proper. the author does, however, deem it of the highest importance that the student should learn by actual observation on his own person that his chest does expand in each of the three directions indicated above. it is not necessary to dissect to observe muscles; in fact, they can be seen in action only on the living subject. all who would really understand breathing should study the chest when divested of all clothing and before a sufficiently large mirror. he may then observe the following during a fairly deep inspiration: 1. the chest is enlarged as a whole. 2. the abdominal walls move outward. 3. the ribs pass from a more oblique to a less oblique position, and may become almost horizontal; their upper edges are also turned out slightly, though this is not so easy to observe. 4. again, in the case of a very deep and sudden inspiration, the abdomen and the lower ribs also are drawn inward. the changes above referred to are brought about in this way: 1. the total enlargement is due to the action of many muscles which function in harmony with each other. 2. the chief changes are brought about by those muscles attached between the ribs (_intercostales_); but these act more efficiently owing to the coöperation of other muscles which steady the ribs and chest generally, such as those attached to the shoulder-bones and the upper ribs; indeed, the most powerful inspiration possible can only be effected when most of the other muscles of the body are brought into action. one may observe that even the arms and legs are called into requisition when a tenor sings his highest tone as forcibly as possible, though this is often overdone in a way to be condemned. art should not be reduced to a gymnastic feat. the most important muscle of inspiration is the _diaphragm_, or midriff, because it produces a greater change in the size of the chest than any other single muscle. some animals can get the oxygen they require to maintain life by the action of this large muscle alone, when all other respiratory muscles are paralyzed. as it is so important, and above all to the voice-user, it merits special consideration. in studying the action of a muscle it is necessary to note its _points of attachment_ to harder structures, either bone or cartilage. nearly always one such point is more fixed than the other, and from this the muscle pulls when it contracts. the diaphragm is peculiar in that it is somewhat circular in shape and is more or less tendinous or sinew-like in the middle. being attached to the spinal column behind and to the lower six or seven ribs, when the muscle contracts it becomes less domed in shape--less convex upward--and of course descends to a variable degree depending on the extent of the muscular contraction. as to whether the ribs, and with them the abdominal muscles, are drawn in or the reverse, is determined wholly by the degree of force with which the contraction takes place and the extent to which it is resisted. throughout the body muscles are arranged in sets which may either coöperate with or antagonize each other, as required. the forcible bending of one's arm by another person may be resisted by one through the use of certain muscles. in this the action of the muscles which bend the arm is imitated by the agent seeking to perform this movement for us. the muscles acting in opposition to certain others are said to be their _antagonists_. were the diaphragm to contract moderately the ribs would be but little drawn in, even if no muscles acted as antagonists. but, as a matter of fact, this domed muscle descends at the same time as the ribs ascend, because of the action of the muscles attached to them. the diaphragm being concave below toward the abdomen, the contents of this cavity fit closely to its under surface. there are found the liver, stomach, intestines, etc.--a part of great practical importance, as will be shown presently. naturally, in breathing, the organs of the abdomen, especially those above, are pressed down somewhat with the descent of the diaphragm in inspiration, and, in turn, push out the abdominal walls. if, however, the midriff contract so powerfully that the lower ribs are drawn inward, the abdominal walls follow them. although the actual extent of the descent of the diaphragm is small in itself, since the total surface is large it effects a very considerable enlargement of the chest in the vertical diameter. the capacity of the lungs for air is a very variable quantity: 1. the quantity of air taken in with a single inspiration in quiet breathing (_tidal air_) is about 20-30 cubic inches. 2. the quantity taken in with the deepest possible inspiration (_complemental air_) is about 100 cubic inches. 3. the quantity that may be expelled by the most forcible expiration (_supplemental air_) is about 100 cubic inches. 4. the quantity that can under no circumstances be expelled (_residual air_) is about 100 cubic inches. 5. the quantity that can be expelled after the most forcible inspiration--_i.e._, the amount of air that can be moved--indicates the _vital capacity_. this varies very much with the individual, and depends not a little on the elasticity of the chest walls, and so diminishes with age. it follows that youth is the best period for the development of the chest, and the time to learn that special breath-control so essential to good singing and speaking. when the ribs have been raised by inspiration and the abdominal organs pressed down by the diaphragm, the chest, on the cessation of the act, tends to resume its former shape, owing to elastic recoil quite apart from all muscular action; in other words, inspiration is active, expiration largely passive. with the voice-user, especially the singer, expiration becomes the more important, and the more difficult to control, as will be shown later. it must now be apparent that such use of the voice as is necessitated by speaking for the public, or by singing, still more, perhaps, must tend to the general welfare of the body--_i.e._, the hygiene of respiration is evident from the physiology. actual experience proves this to be the case. the author has known the greatest improvement in health and vigor follow on the judicious use of the voice, owing largely to a more active respiration. it also follows, however, that exhaustion may result from the excessive use of the respiratory muscles, as with any others, even when the method of chest-expansion is quite correct. before condemning any vocal method one does well to inquire in regard to the extent to which it has been employed, as well as the circumstances of the voice-user. a poor clergyman worried with the fear of being supplanted by another man, or a singer unable to secure employment, possibly from lack of means to advertise himself, is not likely to grow fat under any method of vocal exercise, be it ever so physiological; while the prima donna who has chanced to please the popular taste and become a favorite may "wax fat and kick." [illustration: figs. 14, a and b, are to be compared: that on the left shows the position of the diaphragm, abdominal walls, etc., during expiration; the one on the right, during inspiration. the relative quantities of air in the chest in each case are approximately indicated by the shaded areas.] chapter iv. breathing further considered theoretically and practically. when one takes into account the large number of muscles employed in respiration, and remembers that these muscles must act in perfect harmony with each other if the great end is to be attained, he naturally inquires how this complex series of muscular contractions has been brought into concerted action so as to result in that physiological unity known as breathing. it is impossible to conceive of such results being effected except through the influence of the nervous system, which acts as a sort of regulator throughout the whole economy. all the parts of the respiratory tract are supplied with nerves, which are of both kinds--those which carry nervous impulses or messages from and those which convey them to the nervous centres concerned; in other words, to and from the bodies of the nerve-cells whose extensions are termed nerves. these centres are the central offices where the information is received and from which orders are issued, so to speak. the chief respiratory centre--_the_ centre--is situated in that portion of the brain just above the spinal cord, in its continuation, in fact, and is known as the _medulla oblongata_, or _bulb_. but while this is the head centre, at which the ingoing (_afferent_) impulses are received and from which the outgoing (_efferent_) ones proceed, it makes use of many other collections of nerve-cells, or subordinate centres--_e.g._, those whose nerve-extensions or nerve-fibres proceed from the spinal cord to the muscles of respiration. [illustration: fig. 15. the purpose of this diagram is to indicate the relation between ingoing (afferent) and outgoing (efferent) nervous influences (impulses)--in other words, to illustrate _reflex action_. the paths of the ingoing impulses are indicated by black lines, and those of the outgoing ones by red lines, the point of termination being shown by an arrow-tip. the result of an ingoing message may be either favorable or unfavorable. the nervous impulse that reaches the brain through the eye may be either exhilarating or depressing. the experienced singer is usually stimulated by the sight of an audience, while the beginner may be rendered nervous, and this may express itself in many and widely distant parts of the body. an unfavorable message may reach the diaphragm or intercostal muscles, and render breathing shallow, irregular, or, in the worst cases, almost gasping. the heart or stomach, even the muscles of the larynx, the limbs, etc., may be affected, and trembling be the result. on the other hand, the laryngeal and other muscles may be toned up, and the voice rendered better than usual, as a result of applause--_i.e._, by nervous impulses through the ear--or, again, by the sight of a friend. even a very tight glove or a pinching shoe may suffice to hamper the action of the muscles required for singing or speaking. all this is a result of reflex action--_i.e._, outgoing messages set up by ingoing ones--the "centre" being either the brain or the spinal cord. from all this it is evident that the singer or speaker must guard against everything unfavorable, to an extent that an ordinary person need not. the stomach, as the diagram is also meant to show, may express itself on the brain, and give rise, as in fact it often does, owing to indiscretion in eating, to unpleasant outward effects on the muscles required in singing or speaking. of course, no attempt has been made in the above figure to express anatomical forms and relations exactly.] when all the ingoing impulses from the lungs, etc., are cut off, if respiration does not actually cease, it is carried out in a way so ineffective that life cannot be long sustained. it follows that as the muscular contractions necessary for the chest and other respiratory movements are dependent on the impulses passing in from the lungs, etc., breathing belongs to the class of movements known as reflex--chiefly so, at all events. it will thus be seen that respiration is a sort of self-regulative process, the movements being in proportion to the needs of the body. the greater the need for oxygen, the more are the nerve-terminals in the lungs and the centre itself stimulated, with, as a result, corresponding outgoing impulses to muscles. as the respiratory centre is readily reached by impulses from every part of the body, like one who keeps open house, there are many different sorts of visitors, not all desirable. if, for example, a drop of a fluid that produces no special effect when on the tongue gets into the larynx, trachea, or lungs, the most violent coughing follows. this is one illustration of the _protective_ character of many reflexes. this violent action of the respiratory apparatus is not in itself a desirable thing, because it disturbs if it does not exhaust, but it is preferable to the inflammation that might result if the fluid, a bread-crumb, etc., were to pass into the lungs. in like manner, the deep breath and the "oh!" that follow a fear-inspiring sight, a very loud noise, or a severe pinch of the skin, are examples of reflex action. they are quite independent of the will, though in some cases they may be prevented by it. this reflex nature of breathing throws much light on many matters of great interest to the speaker and singer, some of which, as the formation of good habits of breathing, will be considered later. unfortunately for the nervous débutant, his breathing is anything but what he could wish it. the pale face and almost gasping respiration, in the worst cases, are not unknown to the experienced observer. in such cases the preventive (_inhibitory_) influence of certain ingoing impulses is but too obvious. such undesirable messages may pass in through the eyes when the young singer looks out on the throng that may either approve or condemn; or they may originate within, and pass from the higher part of the brain to the lower breathing centre. the beginner may have high ideals of art, and fear that they will be but ill realized in his performance. his ideals in this instance do not help but hinder, for they interfere with the regular action of the breathing centre. a few deep breaths after the platform has been reached greatly help under such circumstances. it is also wise for the singer to avoid those songs that begin softly and require long breaths and very evenly sustained tones. it is much better to begin with a selection that brings the breathing organs into fairly active exercise at once. one feeble, hesitating, or otherwise ineffective tone is in itself a stimulus of the wrong kind, sending in unfavorable messages which are only too apt to reach the breathing and other centres concerned in voice-production; but of this subject of nervousness again. it is important to realize that sounds, whether musical or the reverse, are produced by the outgoing stream of breath, by an expiratory effort. breath is taken in by the voice-producer in order to be converted into that expiratory force which, playing on the vocal bands, causes them to vibrate or pass into the rapid movements which give rise to similar movements of the air in the cavities above the larynx, the resonance-chambers, and on which the final result as regards sound is dependent. important as is inspiration to the speaker and singer, expiration is much more so. many persons fill the lungs well, but do not understand how to husband their resources, and so waste breath instead of converting every particle into sound, so to speak. after the larynx has been studied the importance of the expiratory blast will be better understood. for the voice-user, it cannot be too soon realized that _all breath that does not become sound is wasted_, or, to express the same truth otherwise, the sole purpose of breathing is to cause effective vibrations of the vocal bands. in these two words, _effective vibrations_, lies the whole secret of voice production, the whole purpose of training, the key to the highest technical results, the cause of success or failure for those who speak or sing. before the larynx, the apparatus that produces sound-vibrations, can be effectively employed, the source of power, the bellows, must be developed. to some nature has been generous--they have large chests; to others she has given a smaller wind-chest, but has perhaps compensated by providing an especially fine voice-box. happy are they who have both, and thrice happy those who have all three requirements: a fine chest, a well-constructed larynx, and beautifully formed resonance-chambers. if with all these there are the musical ear and the artistic temperament, we have the singer who is born great. these are the very few. to most it must be--if greatness at all--greatness thrust upon them, greatness the result of long and patient effort to attain perfect development. indeed, even those with the most complete natural outfit can only reach the highest results of which they are capable by long and patient application. those who do not believe in attainment only through labor would do well to abandon an art career, as there is already a great deal too much poor speaking and bad singing. chapter v. breathing with special regard to practical considerations. the first great requisite for a voice-user is a well-developed chest; the next, complete control of it, or, to put it otherwise, the art of breathing, as briefly explained above. the chest may be large enough, yet not be, in the physiological sense, developed. the voice-user is a sort of athlete, a specialist whose chest muscles must be strong and not covered up by very much superfluous tissue in the form of fat, etc. whatever the public may think of the goodly form, the singer must remember that fat is practically of no use to any one in voice-production, and may prove a great hindrance, possibly in some cases being a coöperative cause of that _tremolo_ so fatal to good singing. [illustration: fig. 16. the appearance of a well-developed, healthy person, with special reference to the chest.] [illustration: fig. 17. the appearance of the chest after undue compression, as with corsets.] [illustration: fig. 18. in this figure, the dark curved line in the middle is meant to represent the position, etc., of the diaphragm, beneath which, and fitting closely to it, are the liver, stomach, and other abdominal organs, in this case not pressed upon or injured in any way. this represents the normal human being.] [illustration: fig. 19. a condition the reverse of that represented in the preceding. the vital organs are pressed upon, with results some of which are obvious; others equally serious are not such as appear to the eye.] the voice-user should eschew ease and take plenty of exercise, but most of all must he use those forms of exercise which develop the breathing apparatus and tend to keep it in the best condition. walking, running, and hill climbing are all excellent, but do not in themselves suffice to develop the chest to the utmost. to the beginner the following exercises are strongly recommended. they are highly important for all, whether beginners or not, who would have the best development of the breathing apparatus. deep breathing, such a use of the respiratory organs as leads to the greatest possible expansion of the chest, should be learned and practised, if not absolutely before vocal exercises are attempted, at all events as soon after as possible. as in all cases where muscles are employed, the exercise should be _graduated_. it may be even harmful to attempt to fill the chest to its utmost capacity at once. it is better to breathe very moderately for several days. any such symptoms as dizziness or headache accompanying or following the exercises indicate that they have been too vigorous, too long continued, or carried out under unsuitable conditions. above all must the air be pure, and the body absolutely unhampered--most of all, the chest--by any form of clothing. last century most ladies and some men applied to the chest a form of apparatus known as corsets, under the mistaken belief that they were for women a necessary support and improved the figure. they no doubt were responsible for much lack of development, and feeble health, and, as has been proved by examination of the body after death, led to compression of the liver and other organs. no voice-user should use such an effective means of preventing the very thing he should most desire, a full and free use of the breathing apparatus. before carrying out the exercises suggested or others equally good, the student is recommended to be weighed, and especially to have the chest carefully _measured_. this can be done with sufficient accuracy by the use of a tape-measure. it will be well to take the circumference a few inches above and below a certain point, so that it may be ascertained that the chest expands in every region. the measurements should be taken under the following conditions: 1. the chest should be almost or wholly divested of clothing. 2. its circumference is to be ascertained--(_a_) when the breath has been allowed to pass out gently, and before a new breath is taken; (_b_) with the deepest possible inspiration; (_c_) after the deepest possible expiration, which has been preceded by a similar inspiration. after about three weeks the individual should be again measured, by the same person, in exactly the same way, in order to learn whether there has been development or not, and, if so, how much. it is important that the measurements should be made at exactly the same horizontal planes, and with this end in view it is desirable to put a small mark of some kind on the chest, which may remain till the next measurements are made. the method of breathing recommended is as follows: 1. inhale very slowly through the nostrils, with closed mouth, counting mentally one, two, three, four, etc., with regularity. 2. hold the breath thus taken, but only for a short time, counting in the same manner as before. 3. exhale slowly, still counting. after a few moments' rest the exercise may be again carried out in the same way. these exercises may be in series, several times a day. the following warnings are especially to be observed: 1. never continue any exercise when there is a sense of discomfort of any kind whatever. such usually indicates that it is being carried out too vigorously. 2. increase the depth of the inspirations daily, but not very rapidly. 3. the inspirations and expirations should both be carried out very slowly at first. 4. cease the exercise before any sense of fatigue is experienced. fatigue is nature's warning, and should be always obeyed. it indicates that the waste products which result from the use of the muscles are accumulating and proving harmful. after a week of such exercises the following modification of them is recommended: 1. inhale with the lips slightly apart. 2. gradually increase the length of the time the breath is held, but let it never exceed a few seconds. 3. through open lips allow the breath to pass out, but with extreme slowness. the student should try to increase this last, somewhat, daily, as it is above all what is required in singing, and also in speaking, though to a somewhat less degree--a slow, regulated expulsion of the breath. if when the chest is full of air the subject gently raises the arms over the head, or directs them backward, he will experience a sense of pressure on the chest. if this be carefully done, its effect is to strengthen, and it is especially valuable for those inclined to stoop. the recommendation to inspire through the open lips applies only when one is in a room, or in the open air when it is warm enough and free from dust. but the student should learn to inspire through the slightly open mouth, as to breathe through the nose in speaking, and especially in singing, is objectionable for several reasons which can be better explained later; so that the rule is to _breathe through the nose when not using the voice, and through the mouth when one does_. though all the exercises thus far referred to tend to develop the diaphragm and abdominal muscles, these may be strengthened by special exercises. the diaphragm is the soft floor of the chest, and must at once bear the strain of the air that acts on the approximated vocal bands, and assist in applying that pressure with just the amount of force required, and no more; hence it is important that this muscle be both strong and under perfect control. this large central muscle is probably not only the most generally effective of all the respiratory muscles, but has an action more precise and often more delicate, more nicely controlled, than that of any other. it is possible to make very powerful movements of this muscle, and an exercise that will cause it to descend deeply and remain in a tense condition is valuable. to effect this, one pushes it down as far as possible, and holds it there for a few seconds, then permits it to relax gradually. the extent to which this is successful can be inferred from the degree to which the abdominal wall bulges forward. the sudden though slight movements required in those forms of vocalization that bear more or less resemblance to what vocalists term _staccato_, and which are so effective in dramatic speaking and singing, can be prepared for by larger but sudden movements of the diaphragm, as when one taking a full breath imitates coughing movements, but in a regular and measured way, the throat being used but little. at the same time, or separately, the abdominal muscles may be effectively exercised by being drawn in and thrust out with considerable force. none of these movements are elegant--they scarcely put one in an artistic light; but they are highly effective in strengthening parts every voice-user must employ. to furnish adequate support for the diaphragm and chest in a very vigorous use of the voice, as in the most trying passages a tragic actor has to speak or a vocalist to sing, the abdominal muscles must remain more or less tense, and to do so effectually they must have strength beyond that possessed by the corresponding muscles in ordinary persons; hence the desirability of employing special exercises to increase their vigor. hill climbing and bicycling also tend to this end, but the latter is for many reasons not a form of exercise to be recommended to one who wishes to attain the highest results with the voice. wind, dust, a stooping position, excessive heat of the body, etc., are all among the many factors of risk for the delicate vocal mechanism. as the expiratory blast is so important in voice-production, the exercises above recommended should be followed by others in which this principle is specially recognized. 1. inspire so as to fill the chest to the fullest with considerable rapidity; then allow the breath-stream to pass out with the utmost slowness. 2. fill the chest with special reference to its lower or its upper part, as desired, and very rapidly, letting the breath flow out slowly. summary. the primary purpose of respiration in all animals is the same--namely, to furnish oxygen and remove carbon dioxide (carbonic acid). the lowest animals, as the amoeba, breathe by the whole surface of the body. in all vertebrates the anatomical mechanism is essentially the same: a membrane (covered with flat cells) in which the blood is distributed in the minutest blood-vessels (capillaries). respiration is finally effected in the tissues (cells) of the body. the more active the animal, or the higher in the scale, the more need of frequent interchange between the air, the blood, and the tissues. the respiratory organs in mammals are the mouth, nose, larynx, trachea, bronchial tubes, and lung-tissue or air-cells proper. the windpipe is made up of cartilaginous rings completed by membrane, muscle, etc. (behind). the bronchial tubes are the continuation of the windpipe, and branch tree-like until they become very fine. the air-cells are built round these latter. the lung-tissue is highly elastic. the lungs are made up of an elastic membrane, covered with flat cells, and very abundantly supplied with a mesh-work of the finest blood-vessels. the whole of the respiratory tract as far as the air-cells is lined by mucous membrane. the air consists essentially of 21 parts of oxygen and 79 parts of nitrogen, with a variable quantity of watery vapor. only a small portion of the total oxygen of the air is removed before it is exhaled. the respiratory act consists of (1) inspiration, and (2) expiration; the latter is of a little longer duration than the former. the rate of breathing in man is from 14 to 18 per minute, in the resting state, or about one respiration to three or four heart-beats. the quantity of air inspired depends on (1) the size of the thorax, and (2) the extent of its movements. these are effected solely by muscular contractions, and give rise to an increase in all the diameters of the thorax. the lungs are closely applied (but not attached) to the inside of the chest wall, and remain so under all circumstances. when the chest cavity is enlarged by inspiration, the air, pressing down into the elastic lungs, expands them as much as possible, that is, as much as the chest walls will allow; but the lungs are never at any time either filled with or emptied of air to their utmost capacity. at most, the amount of expansion is very moderate. _the quantity of air in the lungs._ 1. the quantity of air inspired in quiet breathing is about 20-30 cubic inches. 2. the quantity that can be added to this by a deep inspiration is about 100 cubic inches. 3. the quantity that can be expelled by a forcible expiration is about 100 cubic inches. 4. the quantity that cannot be expelled at all is about 100 cubic inches. the above are named: (1) the tidal air; (2) complemental air; (3) supplemental air; (4) residual air. the quantity that can be expelled by the most forcible expiration after the most forcible inspiration, that is, the air that can be moved, indicating the "vital capacity," is about 225-250 inches. the chest is enlarged by the muscles of inspiration, the principal of which is the diaphragm or midriff. this muscle (tendinous in the centre) is attached to the spinal column (behind) and to the last six or seven ribs. when it contracts it becomes less domed upward, and is pressed down more or less on the contents of the abdomen; hence the walls of the latter move outward. during ordinary inspiration the lower ribs are steadied by other muscles, so that no indrawing of these ribs takes place, but a very forcible expiration makes such indrawing very noticeable. in addition to the enlargement of the chest by the descent of the diaphragm, the ribs are elevated and everted by the muscles attached to them, with the total result that the chest cavity is enlarged in all its three diameters during inspiration. the first rib is fixed by muscles from above. during extremely forced inspiration a large proportion of all the muscles of the body may act. ordinary expiration is the result largely of the elastic recoil of the chest walls, only a few muscles taking part. the diaphragm ascends and becomes more domed. during forced expiration many other muscles are called into action. it is of importance for the singer and speaker to note: (1) that the chest cavity should be increased in all its directions; (2) that the muscular action should be easy and under perfect control, but also vigorous when required; (3) that the breath be taken through the nostrils when the individual is not actually vocalizing or about to do so; (4) that the breath be kept in or let out in the proportion required. breathing is a reflex or involuntary act. the respiratory centre, consisting of an expiratory and inspiratory division, is situated in the bulb, or medulla oblongata, the portion of the brain just above the spinal cord. all the ingoing nervous impulses affect respiration through the outgoing impulses that pass along the nerves to the muscles; that is, the ingoing impulses pass up by the nerves from the lungs to the centre, and thence along other nerves to the respiratory muscles. the condition of the blood determines the activity of the respiratory centre, but the incoming impulses regulate this activity. the respiratory centre can be approached from every part of the body. _hygiene._ every thing that favors the full and free expansion of the chest in a pure atmosphere is favorable, and the reverse unfavorable. corsets are against the laws of beauty, are unnecessary for support, and may by compression injure and displace important organs, as the liver, stomach, etc.; and must interfere with the fullest expansion of the chest. they have militated against the physical, and indirectly the moral and mental advancement of the race. _practical exercises._ i. measurements of the chest. ii. exercises to strengthen muscles, promote complete expansion, regulate inflow and outflow of air, etc. 1. (_a_) inspiring slowly, with counting. (_b_) holding. (_c_) expiring slowly, with counting. 2. the same, holding longer. 3. the same, with shorter inspiration and longer expiration. gradually diminish first and lengthen last. 4. breathing through open lips. 5. exercises to strengthen diaphragm. 6. exercises to improve shape of chest and strengthen muscles. 7. exercises to strengthen abdominal muscles. chapter vi. the special voice-producing mechanism, the larynx. the larynx, or voice-box, is not the sole voice-producing apparatus, as is often supposed, but it is of great, possibly the greatest, importance. in describing the parts of this portion of the vocal mechanism the author deems it wiser to use the terms commonly employed by anatomists and physiologists, as others are awkward and inadequate. moreover, there is this great advantage in learning the technical names of structures, that should the reader desire to consult a special work on anatomy in reference to this or other important organs, he will find in use the same terms as he has himself already learned. such are, as a matter of fact, not difficult to learn or remember if one knows their derivation or other reason for their employment. all the muscles of the larynx have names which are not arbitrary but based on the names of the structures to which they are attached, so that one has but to know their connections and the names of the solid structures, which are few, to have a key to the whole nomenclature. when one is not using the voice the larynx is simply a part of the respiratory apparatus, but when one phonates this organ assumes a special function for which specific structures are essential. as sound is caused by vibrations of the air, and these may be set up by vibrations of the vocal cords, it may with absolute correctness be said that the whole larynx exists for the vocal bands so far as voice-production is concerned. such a view renders the study of the larynx much more interesting and rational; one is then engaged in working out that solution of a problem which nature has accomplished. the vocal cords, we can conceive, might be either relaxed or tightened, and lengthened or shortened, or both, and beyond that we can scarcely understand how they might have been modified so as to be effective in the production of sounds of different pitch. as a matter of fact, these are the methods nature has employed to accomplish her purpose. for each vocal cord one fixed point, and only one, is required. we know of only one method in use by nature to cause movement in living structures--viz., contraction, and muscle is the tissue which above all others has that property; hence the movements of the vocal cords are brought about by muscles. but both for the attachment of the muscles and the vocal cords themselves solid, relatively hard structures are required. bone would prove too unyielding, but cartilage, or gristle, meets the case exactly. the entire framework of the larynx--its skeleton, so to speak--is made up of a series of cartilages united together so as to ensure sufficient firmness with pliability. the cartilages have been named from their shape, as that appealed to the original observers, and the terms employed are of greek origin. the largest and strongest is the _thyroid_ (_thureos_, a shield) cartilage, which resembles somewhat two shields put together in front without any visible joint, and open behind but presenting a strongly convex surface externally, in front and laterally. "front" (anterior) and "back" (posterior) always refer in anatomy to the subject described, and not to the observer's position. in observing another's larynx the subject observed and the observer naturally stand front to front, and it is impossible to see or touch the back of the larynx as it is covered behind by the other structures of the neck. this thyroid, the largest of the cartilages, is attached to the hyoid or tongue bone above by a membrane, so that the whole larynx hangs suspended from this bone by a membrane, though not by it alone, for muscles are attached to it which also serve for its support. it is of practical importance to remember that the larynx is free to a very considerable extent, otherwise it would go ill with the voice-producer in the vigorous use of the voice, not to mention the advantages of mobility as well as pliability in the movements of the neck generally. [illustration: fig. 20 (spalteholz). shows the thyroid cartilage above and the cricoid below both viewed from the side. the anterior surface is turned toward the right.] [illustration: fig. 21 (spalteholz). a front view of fig. 20.] [illustration: fig. 22 (spalteholz). the back or signet surface of the cricoid or ring cartilage, to which several muscles are attached.] [illustration: fig. 23 (spalteholz). the cricoid cartilage, seen from the side, and showing behind and laterally the articular or joint surfaces by which it connects with the thyroid below and the arytenoid cartilage above.] [illustration: fig. 24 (spalteholz). shows the arytenoid cartilages, the most important of all the cartilages of the larynx, inasmuch as to the part termed "vocal process" the vocal band is attached on each side. the movements of the vocal bands are nearly all determined by the movements of these cartilages, which have a swivel-like action. in the above the front surfaces are turned toward each other.] the _cricoid_ (_krikos_, a signet-ring) is the cartilage next in size. it is situated below the thyroid cartilage, with which it is connected by a membrane, the crico-thyroid. the wider part of this signet-ring is situated behind, where it affords attachment to large muscles. it also furnishes a base of support for two very important structures, the _arytenoid_ (_arutaina_, a ladle) cartilages. as the vocal bands are attached behind to them, and as they have a large degree of mobility, they are from a physiological point of view the most important of all the solid structures of the larynx. there are two pairs of small bodies, the _cartilages of santorini_, or _cornicula laryngis_, surmounting the arytenoids, and the _cuneiform_, or _cartilages of wrisberg_, situated in the folds of mucous membrane on each side of the arytenoids; but these structures are of little importance. the whole of the inner surface of the larynx is lined with mucous membrane, though that covering over the true vocal bands is very thin, and so does not cause them to appear red like the false vocal bands, which are merely folds of the mucous membrane. however, the true vocal bands may become red and thickened when inflamed, because of this same mucous membrane, which, though ordinarily not visible to the eye, becomes so when the condition referred to is present; for inflammation is always attended by excess in the blood supply, with a prominence of the small blood-vessels resulting in a corresponding redness. the same thing happens, in fact, as in inflammation of the eyes or the nose, both of which are more open to observation. bearing this in mind one can readily understand why in such a condition, which is often approached if not actually present in the case of "a cold," the voice becomes so changed. such vocal bands are clumsy in movement, as the arms or any other part would be if thus swollen. the plain remedy is rest, cessation of function--no speaking, much less attempts at singing. like the nose the larynx, and especially the vocal bands, may be catarrhal, and such a condition may call for medical treatment before the speaker or singer can do the most effective vocal work. while the _false vocal bands_ have little or nothing to do with phonation directly, they do serve a good purpose as protectors to the more exalted true vocal bands. when coughing, swallowing, vomiting, holding the breath tightly, etc., these folds of mucous membrane close over the true bands, often completely, and thus shut up for the moment the whole of that space between the bands known as the glottis, or glottic chink, to which reference was made in a previous chapter as the space through which the air finally gains access to the lungs. the true vocal cords (which, because of having some breadth and being rather flat, are better termed vocal bands) are composed largely of _elastic tissue_. the reader may be familiar with this structure, which is often to be found in the portions of the neck of the ox that the butcher sells as soup beef. it is yellow in color, and stretching it has furnished many a boy with amusement. it is so unmanageable when raw that when it falls to the dog he usually bolts it, the case being otherwise hopeless. such elastic tissue is, however, the very material for the construction of vocal bands, as they require to be firm yet elastic. [illustration: fig. 25 (spalteholz). a view of the larynx from behind. several of the muscles are well shown, of which the two indicated above are of the most importance. the arytenoideus proprius tends to bring the cartilages from which it is named, and therefore the vocal bands, toward each other; while the posterior crico-thyroid, from its attachments and line of pull, tends to separate these and lengthen the vocal bands.] [illustration: fig. 26 (spalteholz). showing structures as indicated above. the mucous membrane, that naturally covers all parts within the vocal mechanism, has been dissected away to show the muscles.] [illustration: fig. 27 (spalteholz). showing the parts indicated above; and of these the crico-thyroid muscle is to be especially observed. the oblique (especially so in the posterior part) direction of its fibres is evident, so that when it contracts, it must pull up the ring cartilage in front, and so tilt back its hinder portion and with it the arytenoid cartilages, and so lengthen and tense the vocal bands, as in the utterance of low tones.] [illustration: fig. 28 (spalteholz). a back (posterior) view of the larynx, etc. note how the arytenoid cartilages rest on the cricoid; how the epiglottis overhangs, as its name implies, the glottis; and that the posterior part of the windpipe is closed in by soft structures, including (unstriped) muscle.] it is important to remember the relative position of parts and to bear in mind that most of the laryngeal structures are in pairs. to this last statement the thyroid and cricoid cartilages and the epiglottis are exceptions, being single. of the _epiglottis_, a flexible cartilage, it is necessary to say little, as its function in voice-production, if it have any, has never been determined. it hangs as a flexible protective lid over the glottis, and food in being swallowed passes over and about it. it no doubt acts to keep food and drink out of the larynx, yet in its absence, in some cases, owing to disease, no very great difficulty was experienced, probably because certain muscles acted more vigorously than usual and tended to close up the glottic chink. the following simple diagram will, it is hoped, make the relative position of parts plain so far as the anterior (front) attachments of parts to the thyroid cartilage are concerned. it will be understood that the inner anterior surface is meant, and that by "middle line" is intended the middle line of the body, the imaginary vertical diameter passing like a plumb-line from the middle plane of the head, let us suppose, downward just in front of the larynx. [illustration: fig. 29.] the angle made above and in front where the two wings of the thyroid cartilage meet is termed _adam's apple_ (_pomum adami_), and in some cases, mostly males, is very prominent. adam's apple has in itself, however, no special significance in voice-production. the little concavity between the false vocal bands above and the true vocal bands below is termed the _ventricle of the larynx_. it allows of more space for the free movements of the bands, especially those more important in voice-production. the vocal bands are attached behind to the projecting angle of the base of the arytenoid cartilage, which is itself somewhat triangular in shape, the base of the triangle being downward and resting on the upper and posterior (back) surface of the cricoid cartilage, with which it makes a free joint, so that it can move swivel-like in all directions. this is most important, because through it is explained the fact that the vocal bands may be either tensed and lengthened or relaxed and shortened. _the muscles act on these movable cartilages, and nearly all the changes in the vocal bands are brought about through the alterations in position of the arytenoid cartilages, to which they are attached behind._ before describing the muscles of the larynx, the reader is reminded of the order of structures from above downward, in front, which is as follows: the hyoid bone. the thyro-hyoid membrane. the thyroid cartilage. the crico-thyroid membrane. the cricoid cartilage. the trachea. the latter is connected with the cricoid cartilage by its membrane. all the above structures can be felt in one's own person, the more readily if he be thin and have a long neck. the hyoid bone, or tongue-bone, is that hard structure just above the cricoid cartilage, and which one may easily demonstrate to be much more movable than the larynx itself. the tongue muscles are attached to it above, and from it, below, the larynx is suspended, as already explained. the muscles of the larynx are best understood if the principle of antagonistic action already referred to be remembered. speaking generally, the muscles are arranged _in pairs_ which have an opposite or antagonistic action--viz.: (1) those that open and close the glottis; (2) those that regulate the tension, or degree of tightness, of the vocal bands. 1. the muscles whose action tends to approximate the vocal bands--the _adductors_--are the _arytenoid[=e]us proprius_ and the _thyro-arytenoid[=e]us_. the former is attached to the posterior or back surface of both arytenoid cartilages; the latter, as its name indicates, to the anterior and inner surface of the thyroid and the anterior lower surface or angle (_vocal process_) of the arytenoid. the opening or widening of the glottis is effected on each side (one muscle of the pair and its action being alone described in this and other cases) by the antagonist of these muscles, the _crico-arytenoid[=e]us posticus_, whose attachments are exactly as indicated by the names--viz., to the posterior part of the two cartilages named. when reading the description of these or other muscles it is absolutely necessary to have a pictorial illustration or the real object before one. the pull of this muscle is from the more fixed point, as in all other cases; hence the force is applied in a direction from below and outward, with the result that the arytenoid cartilage is tilted outward, and with it the vocal band is moved from the middle line. [illustration: fig. 30 (chapman). diagram showing action of crico-thyroid muscle, stretching of the vocal cords, and lengthening of them. the dotted lines indicate the position assumed when the muscle has contracted.] [illustration: fig. 31 (spalteholz). view of the larynx as looked at from above. the illustration shows particularly well both the true and the false vocal bands. the true vocal bands are placed much as they are when a barytone is singing a very low tone. the part of the figure lowest on the page represents the back part of the larynx.] [illustration: fig. 32 (spalteholz). a cross-section transverse to the larynx, such as can be readily made with a strong knife.] the _crico-thyroid_ also tends to open the glottis. just as the diaphragm is the most important muscle of breathing, so is the crico-thyroid the most important in ordinary speaking and in singing in the lower register. it is a relatively large and strong muscle with an oblique direction in the main, though it is composed in reality of several sets of fibres some of which are much more oblique in direction than others (fig. 28). as its name indicates, its points of attachment are to the thyroid and the cricoid cartilages, but the most fixed point (_origin_) is its point of attachment to the larger cartilage; hence its direction of pull is from the thyroid, with the result that the anterior part of the cricoid is drawn up, the posterior part down, and the arytenoid cartilage, resting on the upper part of the cricoid, backward, so that the vocal band is rendered longer and more tense (see especially fig. 29). it is important to note that this is the muscle most used in singing the lower tones of the scale, and that its action must necessarily cease, to a great extent, when a certain point in the pitch is reached, as there is a limit to the degree of contraction of all muscles; and, besides, the crico-thyroid space is of very moderate size, and the cricoid cartilage can ascend only within the limits thus determined. it thus follows that nature has provided in the change of mechanism for a new register, which is nothing else than a change of mechanism with a corresponding change of function. it will be at once apparent that the claim that registers are an invention of men, and without foundation in nature, is without support in anatomy and physiology. the crico-thyroid is probably, however, of much more importance to tragic actors and barytones than to tenors or sopranos. this, however, is no excuse for the neglect of its development by the latter class, as often happens, for without it the best tones of the lower register are impossible. on the other hand, the elocutionists who prescribe for students practices that involve the excessive use of this muscle, with a cramped position of the vocal organs, the larynx being greatly drawn down, with the view of producing disproportionately heavy lower tones, must take no comfort from the above anatomical and physiological facts. art implies proportion, and it was one of the ambitions of all the best actors in the golden age of histrionic art to have an "even voice"--_i.e._, one equally good through the whole range required. the tragic actor, elocutionist, and public speaker, and the singer, whether soprano or bass, should neglect no muscle, though they may be justified in developing some in excess of others, but ever with a watchful eye on the weakest part. 2. the muscles which regulate the tension of the vocal bands are the following: (_a_) the _thyro-arytenoid[=e]us_ (pair), which by tilting the arytenoid cartilages forward relaxes the tension of the vocal bands. when they act with the adductors--_e.g._, the arytenoid[=e]us proprius--the result must be relaxation and approximation behind, which implies a greater or less degree of shortening, as usually happens when a certain point in an ascending scale is reached in persons whose methods of voice-production have not been in some way modified, and a new register begins, which in most female voices is marked by a more or less distinct and abrupt alteration of the quality of the tone. the crico-thyroids are the antagonists of the above-named muscles, and they may act either very much alone or, to some extent, in coöperation with the above, to regulate or steady their action; for in movements so complicated as those required for voice-production it is highly probable that we are inclined to reduce our explanations of muscular action to a simplicity that is excessive, and to appreciate but inadequately the delicacy and complexity of the mechanism and the processes involved. it is quite certain that in the production of the highest tones of a tenor or soprano several muscles coöperate, and one, especially, seems to be of great importance in the formation of such tones, most of all, perhaps, in high sopranos. the muscle referred to is the thyro-arytenoid already described. it is not only attached to the two cartilages indicated by its name, but also along the whole of the external or outer surface of the vocal band. it will be remembered that practically all the muscles are arranged in pairs, one on each side of the middle line. the muscle now under consideration, more, perhaps, than any other, is complex in its action. apparently a very few of its fibres may act more or less independently of all the others at a particular moment and with a specific and very delicate result, a very slight change in pitch. exactly how this is attained no one has as yet adequately explained; but it is doubtful whether any singer who does not possess a perfect control over this muscle can produce the highest tones of the soprano with ease and effectiveness. it is especially the muscle of the human birds of the higher flights. (_b_) to these thyro-arytenoids, which for most singers and all speakers are probably chiefly relaxing in action, must be added as aiding in this function another pair, the _lateral crico-arytenoids_. they are situated between the cricoid and arytenoid cartilages, and the direction of action is obliquely from below and forward, upward, and backward, so that the arytenoids are brought forward and also approximated more or less, which involves relaxed tension, at least, possibly also shortening of the vocal bands. when a tenor or soprano singer reaches the upper tones, say about [illustration: e'' f'' g''], or higher, there is considerable closing up in the larynx, much in the way in which the parts of the month are brought together in sucking. this is termed _sphincter action_, the mouth and the eyes being closed by such action, of which they are the most easily observed examples. as a result of this squeezing there is in some cases that reddening of the face and that tightness which is often felt uncomfortably, and which is _straining_, because when present in more than a very slight degree it is injurious, owing to congestion or accumulation of blood in the blood-vessels, with all the bad consequences of such a state of things. when the tightening does not go beyond a certain point it is normal--indeed, such sphincter action is inevitable; but it is the excess which is so common in tenors and others who strain for undue power, and to produce tones too high in pitch for their development or their method, which is so disastrous to the throat and to the best art also. [illustration: fig. 33 (spalteholz). shows various structures, and especially well the false and the true vocal bands, with the space between them (ventricle of morgagni), but which has no special function in phonation, unless it acts as a small resonance-chamber, which is possible. this space is a natural result of the existence of two pairs of vocal bands in such close proximity.] [illustration: fig. 34 (spalteholz). parts have been cut away to expose to view the whole of the inner surface of the larynx (lined with mucous membrane). an excellent view of the vocal bands and of the "ventricle" of the larynx, between them, is afforded.] when the vocal bands are in action their vibrations are accompanied by corresponding vibrations of the cartilages of the larynx--a fact of which any one may convince himself by laying his fingers on the upper part of the thyroid, especially when a low and powerful tone is produced. this vibration is not confined to the larynx, but extends to other parts--_e.g._, the chest itself, for when one speaks or sings a distinct vibration of the chest walls can be felt, though the extent to which this is present is very variable in different persons. as an ascending scale is sung the larynx can be felt (by the fingers) to rise, and the reverse as the pitch is lowered. this is due partly to the action of those muscles attached to the larynx which are not connected with the movements of the vocal bands, and partly to the influence of the expiratory air-blast. the glottis, partially closed as it must be in phonation, presents considerable resistance to the outgoing stream of air, hence the upward movement of the larynx when it is left free, and not held down by muscular action. in singing and speaking the larynx should be steadied, otherwise the "attack," or application of the air-blast to the vocal bands, cannot be perfect. on the other hand, it is obviously incorrect to attempt to hold the larynx always in the same position. holding down this organ by main force, as in the production of the so-called "straw bass," is one of the surest methods of producing congestion and consequent disorders of the vocal organs; and the author wishes to warn all voice-producers against such unnatural practices. students of elocution and young actors often sin in a similar way, and "clergyman's sore throat" is almost always due to this or some similar misuse of the vocal organs. one's own sensations and common sense should never be disregarded, however eminent the teacher who recommends unphysiological methods. practical considerations. when the student has read the above description of the structure and functions of the larynx, and studied the illustrations well, he will be prepared to deal with the subject in a practical manner, and without that it is feared his ideas will remain somewhat hazy. first of all, he should try to find the parts mentioned in his own person, following this up by examinations of others, for which purpose children make good subjects, as they have usually necks that are not too deeply padded with fat, and they may be easily led to take the examinations as a sort of fun. from above downward one feels in the middle line the parts in the order previously mentioned, beginning with the hyoid bone. one may learn that the larynx is movable and yielding, a hard structure covered with softer tissues, but what these are, and much more, can only be learned by examination of the larynx after it has been removed from some animal. every butcher can provide the material for getting a sound, practical knowledge of the respiratory apparatus. he may be asked to supply the following: 1. a pig's "pluck"--_i.e._, the "lights," or lungs, with the windpipe attached. the liver, heart, etc., are not required, though to observe the relations of the circulatory system--_i.e._, the heart and large blood-vessels--to the respiratory system will be time well spent. unless special instructions are given, the larynx, which the butcher may term the "weezend," may be lacking or mutilated. it should be explained that this organ, with a part of the windpipe and the extreme back part of the tongue, and all below it, are required. for one sitting this single "pluck" will suffice, as it will serve for a general examination. the lungs may be dilated by inserting a tube into the windpipe, tying it in position, and blowing into it with greater or less force. it should be especially observed how suddenly the lungs collapse when the breath force is removed, as this illustrates well their _elasticity_. by cutting through the windpipe lengthwise and following it downward one learns how numerous are the branches of the bronchial tree, etc. for a second sitting one should secure at least two specimens of the larynx of the pig or sheep, though the former is more like the human, and so the better on the whole. a case of dissecting instruments is not essential; a sharp pocket-knife will serve the purpose. in order that the student may have a clear idea of the cartilages, all the soft tissues must be cut or scraped away. it is necessary to exercise great care, or the membranes connecting the cartilages together will be cut through; and on the other hand, unless the work in the neighborhood of the arytenoids be cautiously done, these cartilages may be injured, and it is most important that their swivel-like action and their relations to the true vocal bands be observed. the glottic chink can be seen from above or below, and should be observed from both view-points. its margins are formed by the true vocal bands. then, with the figures before him, the student should endeavor to isolate each of the muscles described. the muscles can always be recognized by their red color, but it is to be remembered that those on the inner surface of the larynx, such as the crico-arytenoid, are covered with mucous membrane, which after death is very pale. this can by careful dissection be removed, and if in doing this a small pair of forceps be employed, the work will be greatly facilitated. one must be very skilful indeed if he would get all the muscles "out," or well exposed to view as individuals, on a single specimen. likely several will be required before entirely satisfactory results are reached, but these are well worth all the time and labor required. the action of the muscles can in some measure be demonstrated by pulling on them in the direction of their loosest attachment, though it must be confessed this is much more difficult in the case of most of the muscles of the larynx than in those of other parts of the body. should the specimens be very successfully dissected, it may be worth while to keep them for future observation, in rather weak alcohol (40 per cent.), in, say, a preserve jar. all examinations of the vocal bands may leave the observer disappointed; he may fail to realize, most likely, how such wonderful results can be accomplished by structures so simple as those he sees before him. but when the laryngoscope is brought into use, then comes a revelation. this instrument will be described in the next chapter. hygiene. some of the hygienic principles involved have already been referred to and illustrated, and others follow from the facts already set forth. it is very important for the voice-user to bear in mind that his larynx is a part of the respiratory tract, and that the whole of this region and the entire digestive tract, part of which is common to both, are lined with mucous membrane. if the nose be affected with catarrh, the throat does not usually long escape; and if the back of the mouth cavity (_pharynx_) be disordered, the vocal bands and other parts of the larynx are almost sure to be involved more or less. the condition of the stomach is reflexly, if not by direct continuity through the mucous membrane, expressed in the throat generally; hence as experience shows, the voice-user cannot exercise too great care as to what and how much he eats, especially before a public appearance. he must know himself what best suits him, in this regard, to a degree that is necessary for few others. when singing, more blood is sent to the organs used, hence the great danger of that excess of blood being retained in the parts too long, as might easily happen from pressure about the neck, etc. it is scarcely necessary to point out that draughts, cold rooms, etc., will also determine the blood from the skin inward, and set up that complicated condition of multiform evils known as "a cold." the obvious principle of prevention lies in keeping the body, and especially the neck, shoulders, and chest, warm after using the vocal organs in any way in public. to hand the singer a wrap after leaving the platform is always wise, and the judicious friend will see that conversation is not allowed, much less forced on the possibly breathless and wearied voice-user--a precaution that is probably more honored in the breach than in the observance, for in this as in other cases one's friends are sometimes his worst enemies. summary. the larynx is the most important organ in voice-production, and consists of cartilages, muscles, the vocal bands, true and false, membranes and ligaments, folds of mucous membrane, etc. it is situated between the hyoid (tongue) bone above and the trachea below. the cartilages are the (1) epiglottis, (2) thyroid, cricoid, arytenoid, the two small, unimportant cornicula laryngis, or cartilages of santorini, surmounting the arytenoids, and the two cuneiform, or cartilages of wrisberg, in the folds of mucous membrane on each side of the arytenoids. the muscles are attached to the main cartilages. in addition to the muscles that are concerned with the movements of the vocal bands, others that hold the larynx in place or raise and lower it are attached _externally_ to these, especially to the large thyroid cartilage. the epiglottis, the false vocal cords, the true vocal cords, and the thyro-arytenoid muscles are attached to the interior anterior surface of the thyroid in this order from above down. the false vocal bands have no direct function in phonation. _the whole larynx, so far as phonation is concerned, may be said to exist for the true vocal bands._ they are attached close together to the internal and anterior surface of the thyroid in front and to the lower anterior angles (vocal processes) of the arytenoids behind. between the false vocal bands above and the true vocal bands below there is a cavity (the ventricle of morgagni). the false vocal bands are protective, and approximate closely during coughing, swallowing, etc. it is very important to note that the arytenoid cartilages move freely on their base, swivel-like, so that nearly all the changes effected in the movements and tension of the vocal bands are brought about through alterations in the position of these cartilages; and this implies that all the muscles concerned are attached to them. from above down, in front, the order of structures is as follows: hyoid bone. membrane. thyroid cartilage. membrane. cricoid cartilage. trachea. the hyoid bone is not a part of the larynx, but from it the larynx is suspended. the bone itself gives attachment to the muscles of the tongue. the glottis is the chink between the true vocal bands. the muscles of the larynx may be divided into the following: (1) those that open and those that close the glottis; (2) those which regulate the tension of the vocal bands. the latter include the (_a_) crico-thyroids, which tense and elongate them, (_b_) thyro-arytenoids, which relax and shorten them. the crico-thyroid may be considered the most important muscle of phonation, because it is so much used and so effective. by its action the cricoid is pulled up in front and down behind, so that the arytenoids are drawn back, and thus the vocal bands tensed and lengthened. the lateral crico-arytenoids and the thyro-arytenoids have the opposite effect--_i.e._, they relax and shorten the vocal bands; hence when they come into play a new register begins. the thyro-arytenoids, attached along the whole length of the vocal bands externally, have a very important but not well-understood action in the production of the higher tones, and probably also of the falsetto. the whole larynx is lined with mucous membrane, that covering the true vocal bands being very thin. the false vocal bands are made up chiefly of mucous membrane; the true vocal bands abound in elastic tissue. the larynx rises during the production of high tones, and during phonation its vibrations may be felt, as also those of the chest. _practical._ 1. feel in your own person the parts of the larynx, etc., from above down. 2. note the vibration of the larynx when a vowel is spoken or sung. a similar vibration of the chest walls may be felt by the hands laid over them. 3. note the change of position of the larynx in singing a scale. 4. dissect a pig's or sheep's pluck and some specimens of the larynx. [illustration: fig. 35. these three figures illustrate perhaps more clearly the _action_ of the muscles indicated figs. 26-34. the arrows show the direction of the pull of the muscles. the result of this action is the new position of the cartilages and vocal bands, which is shown by red outlines. the muscle is also depicted in red. the heavier outer rim is to indicate the thyroid cartilage. by comparing the upper and the lowest figure it will be seen that they are opposites. of course, in phonation the vocal bands are never so much separated as shown in the illustrations. rather does the lower figure indicate a case of extreme separation due to a very deep inspiration. however, these illustrations are merely diagrams meant to indicate in a general way the manner of the working of parts. for exact pictures of the vocal bands and related parts, see chapter vii.] chapter vii. sound--the laryngoscope--the larynx reconsidered. before discussing our subject further it is desirable that some attention be given to a few of the fundamental principles of that department of physics termed _acoustics_, and which deals with the subject of sound. if the student has the opportunity to study this subject theoretically and practically, as it is set forth in some good work on physics, he will have no reason to regret the time spent. a deep knowledge of the laws of sound is not absolutely essential, or even highly necessary, for a sufficient understanding of the principles involved in voice-production. it is, however, all-important that a few facts and principles be thoroughly grasped. for those who feel that they have the time for a study of acoustics, the author would especially recommend tyndall's work on sound, in which the subject is treated with wonderful clearness and charm. what we endeavor now to bring before the reader we have found sufficient for nearly all the purposes of the voice-user. an observer on the street, looking at a military band, notices certain movements of one member of the organization which result in what he termed the sound of the drum; but a deaf man by his side, though he sees the movements, hears nothing. this, being analyzed, means that the movements of the drummer's arm, conveyed through the drumstick to the membrane of the drum, give rise to movements in it which set up corresponding movements of the air within the drum, which again cause movements of the body of the instrument, the whole causing movements of the external air; and here the purely physical process ends. the movements other than muscular ones are not readily observed, but experiments not only prove that they exist, but demonstrate their nature, even to their exact rate of occurrence, their size, etc. these movements are termed _vibrations_, and, as has been indicated previously, they are the sole physical cause of sound. but that the latter is not due wholly to a physical origin is evident from the fact that sound for the deaf does not exist. it must, therefore, be a personal, a subjective experience, and as the sleeping, unconscious person does not necessarily hear a sound, the process is not wholly a corporeal or physiological process; it is finally an experience of the mind, the consciousness, and so is psychological as well as physiological. the fact that sound has a physical basis in the vibrations of bodies, either solid, liquid, or gaseous, may be brought home to one in various ways. concussion or shaking of some kind is essential to start these vibrations. the air is made up of its particles, and one being moved sets up, inevitably, movements in neighboring particles on all sides, hence vibrations travel in all directions; which explains why a sound in the street may be heard by those in every part of the street not too distant, and also in the upper rooms of the houses and below in the basements. this is an important fact for the singer or speaker to bear in mind. his purpose must be to set up vibrations that will travel with great perfection and rapidity in all directions. the following experiments of a simple kind will serve to convince those who may not have given much attention to the subject that sound is due to movements of some object, which we term the sounding body, strictly that which starts the vibrations by its own movements or vibrations. if a sufficiently flexible band of metal or a stiff piece of whalebone be fixed at one end in a vice, and then sharply pulled to one side and suddenly let go, a sound results. the same effect is produced when a tight cord or small rope is plucked at and then suddenly released. in each of these cases, if actual movements are not seen, a certain haze which seems to surround the object may be observed. the same can be seen when a tuning-fork is set into action by a bow, a blow, etc. in the case of the fork a graphic tracing (fig. 36) can be readily taken on smoked paper, thus demonstrating to the eye that vibrations exist, that they occur with perfect regularity and with a frequency that can be measured. [illustration: fig. 36 (tyndall). illustrates how the vibrations of a tuning-fork are registered on a blackened (smoked) glass. in order that the movements of the fork shall be traced in the form of regular curves, the surface must be kept moving at a definite regular rate.] a similar observation can be made in the case of stringed instruments. if pieces of paper be laid on the strings of a violin, and the bow then drawn across them, the bits of paper will fly off owing to the movements--_i.e._, the vibrations--of the strings. that a force applied at one end of several objects in a line or series causes an obvious effect at the other end, can be well illustrated in a simple way. if a number of individuals stand one behind another in a line, each with his hands laid firmly on the shoulders of the one next to him, and the person at the end be pushed, the force will be conveyed through all the intermediate individuals, and cause the unsupported person at the distant end to move. so is it with the particles of which the air is composed. the movements begun in the drum set up by contact corresponding movements or vibrations in the adjacent air, which ultimately reach the hearing subject's ear, thereby affect his brain, and are accompanied by that change in consciousness which he terms "hearing." it will be observed that these events constitute a chain, and a break anywhere will prevent a sound being heard; there is then, in fact, no sound. sounds are characterized by _pitch_, _volume_, and _quality_. the _pitch_ is determined by the number of vibrations that reach the ear within a certain time; the more numerous the sound-waves (vibrations) in a second, the higher the pitch. [illustration: fig. 37 (tyndall). meant to illustrate vibrations. the impulse communicated by the ball pushed from the hand to all the intervening ones causes only the last to actually move bodily.] animals differ a good deal as to the limits of hearing. cats hear very high-pitched sounds, as of mice, that human beings may not notice, and it is likely that insects hear sounds altogether beyond the limit of the human ear. but it is wonderful how much human beings differ among themselves in regard to this matter. it has surprised the author to find that many persons cannot hear the high-pitched note of certain birds, as the wax-wing. the lower limit, speaking generally, is for most persons 16 vibrations, and the highest 38000 vibrations a second, according to helmholtz, hence the entire range of the human ear would be fully 11 octaves; but the practical range of musical sounds is within 40 and 4000 vibrations a second--_i.e._, about 7 octaves--and, as is well known, even this range is beyond the appreciation of most persons, though as to this much depends on cultivation--attention to the subject extending over a considerable period of time. the _volume_, or loudness, of a sound depends on the size of the vibrations, just as one feels a blow from a large object, other things being equal, more than from a small one. the ear drum-head is in the case of a large sound beaten, as it were, more powerfully. the singers that give us bigness of sound instead of quality belabor our ears, so to speak; they treat us as persons of mean understanding--dull intellects; the thing is essentially vulgar. the _quality_ of a sound is determined by the form of the vibrations. a sound of good quality is to the ear what a beautiful statue or picture is to the eye. as will be explained later, the form or quality depends largely on the shape, etc., of the resonance-chambers above the vocal bands. much discussion has taken place from time to time as to the nature of the larynx as a musical instrument, some being inclined to regard it as most closely allied to a stringed instrument, others to a wind-instrument. it has obviously points of resemblance to both, but the most recent researches make it clearer than ever that it is neither one nor the other, strictly speaking, but that it stands in a class by itself. it is, however, helpful, in considering many questions, to bear in mind its resemblances to both wind and stringed instruments. the vocal bands are not wholly free throughout their length, like the strings of a violin, nor do they bear any great resemblance to the reed of such an instrument as the clarinet, but as in the latter the force causing the vibrations is a blast of air. we have already pointed out that the vocal bands are set into vibration solely by the _expiratory_ blast of air. the laryngoscope. the distinguished physiologist johannes müller demonstrated the working of the larynx by special experiments. he fixed into the windpipe a bellows, and showed, in the dead larynx, of course, that the blast from this source could cause the vocal bands to vibrate and thus produce sounds, which by varying the strength of the force, etc., were made to vary in pitch. while such experiments indicate the essential principles of a possible voice-production, as the conditions in life were not and could not be fully met these results were rather suggestive than demonstrative of nature's methods. these investigations served a good purpose, but they were manifestly inadequate, and this was felt by one thoughtful vocal teacher so keenly that he pondered much on the subject, in the hope of finding a method of observing the larynx during actual phonation. to this distinguished teacher, manuel garcia, belongs the honor of inventing the means of observing the vocal bands in action. this was accomplished in 1854, and, soon after, garcia read an account of his observations to the royal society of london; and though much in this paper required correction by subsequent observations, it remains to this day the foundation of our knowledge of the action of the larynx in voice-production. [illustration: fig. 38 (bosworth). intended to illustrate the optical principles involved and the practical method of carrying out laryngoscopic examination. the dotted lines show the paths of the light-rays.] as usually employed, the laryngoscope consists of two mirrors, the head-mirror, so called because it is usually attached to the forehead by an elastic band, and the throat-mirror, which is placed in the back part of the mouth cavity. the purpose of the head-mirror is to reflect the light that reaches it from a lamp or other source of illumination into the mouth cavity so perfectly that not only the back of the mouth, etc., but the larynx itself may be well lighted up; but inasmuch as this illumination may be accomplished, under favorable circumstances, by direct sunlight, the head-mirror is, though mostly indispensable, not an absolutely essential part of the laryngoscope. there is, indeed, one advantage in the use of direct sunlight, in that the color of the parts seen remains more nearly normal. lamplight tends, because of its yellow color, to make parts seem rather of a deeper red than they actually are; but this to the practised observer, always using the same source of illumination, is not a serious matter--his standards of comparison remain the same. moreover, this objection does not apply equally to electric light, now so much used. [illustration: fig. 39. this illustration is meant to show more especially the relative position of observer and observed. the observer, on the right, is wearing the head-mirror, while two throat-mirrors seem to be in position--in reality, the same mirror in two different positions. one is placed so as to reflect the picture of the nasal chambers, especially their hinder portion. the walls of the nose, etc., may for the purposes of this illustration be considered transparent, so that the scroll (turbinated) bones, etc., come into view. the tongue is protruded. the light, not seen in this figure, is usually placed on the left of the subject, as in fig. 38.] it being a fundamental law of light that the angle of reflection and the angle of incidence correspond--are, in fact, the same--it was necessary that the throat-mirror should be set at an angle to its stem, so that the light passing up by reflection from the larynx should, when striking on the surface of this plane throat-mirror, be reflected outward in a straight line to the eye, which must be in the same horizontal plane with it. this and all the other facts and principles involved can only be understood by a careful inspection of the accompanying figures, which it is hoped will make the subject plain. the throat-mirror is none other than the mouth-mirror of the dentists, and in use by them before garcia discovered how it might be employed to throw light on the larynx, in a double sense. the essentials, then, for a view of the interior of the larynx are: a source of illumination; a mirror to reflect the light reaching it from this source into the back of the throat and larynx; and a second mirror to reflect the light outward which is, in the first instance, reflected from below, from the interior of the larynx. the principles involved are few and simple, but their application to any particular case is not easy, and is sometimes well-nigh impossible. the throat-mirror should be placed against that curtain suspended in the back of the mouth cavity known as the soft palate, so that it must be pushed back out of the line of view. but many persons find such a foreign object in the throat a sufficient cause of unpleasant sensations so that retching may be the result. generally there is a tendency to raise the tongue behind in a way fatal to a view of the mirror and the picture reflected from it. these difficulties, however, can be overcome by a deft hand using the mirror brought to "blood heat" by placing it in warm water or holding it over some source of heat, as a small lamp, and directing the subject observed to breathe freely and _through the mouth_. this latter tends to quiet that unruly member, the tongue, and lead it to assume the flat position so important to an unobstructed view. it is for the same reason the author urges mouth breathing during speaking and singing. no other tends so well to put the tongue in the correct position. the extent to which one feels the annoyance of a small mirror held gently in the throat depends really on the amount of attention directed to it, and the degree of determination with which he resolves to exercise self-control. the author has examined an entire class of students of voice-production and found only one person who did not succeed in at once giving him a view of the larynx. but it must be at once said that of all persons examined by the author during his experience as an investigator of voice-production and in special medical practice, none have been able to show their throats, the larynx included, so well as speakers and, above all, singers; which in itself indicates that speaking and singing do give control of the throat--that all its parts respond to the will of the observed person. the author must further, however, remark that he has found this control associated not so much with vocal power as with intelligent study. intelligence tells in music a good deal more than many people have yet learned to believe; but on this point the reader will long since have learned the author's views--in fact, so deep are his convictions on this subject that he hopes he may be pardoned for frequent reference to them, in one form or another. one anatomical fact may be so invincible that a view of the glottis cannot be obtained at all: the epiglottis may so overhang the opening to the larynx that a good view of its interior is absolutely impossible, in other cases only occasionally and under very favorable circumstances. such cases are, however, of the rarest occurrence, while there are not a few persons in whom one may even see down the windpipe as far as its division into the two main bronchial tubes, and inflammation may thus often be traced from the vocal bands far down the mucous membrane common to the larynx, windpipe, etc. as has been remarked previously, it is only by the use of the laryngoscope that one can see the vocal mechanism of the larynx in action, so that for investigation laryngoscopy is essential. auto-laryngoscopy, or the use of the laryngoscope by the subject to observe his own larynx, has its special difficulties and advantages, the greatest of the latter being, perhaps, that the observer may use himself as often and as long as he will, while he would hesitate to make observations on others at great length or with frequent repetition. there are no new principles involved in auto-laryngoscopy. the observer must simply see that a good light is reflected into his own throat, and that the picture in his throat-mirror is reflected into another into which he may gaze, an ordinary small hand-glass usually sufficing. only rarely is the individual met who can himself so control his tongue that assistance from the observing laryngologist is unnecessary. in by far the greater number of instances the tongue, after being protruded, must be gently held by the left hand of the observer, a small napkin covering the tip of the organ. the auto-laryngologist must, of course, control his own tongue, and better if without any hand contact. it is scarcely necessary to say that before placing the mirror in the mouth its temperature must be tested by touching it for a moment against the back of the hand. nearly all the facts of importance in phonation, several of which have already been referred to, or will be mentioned in the "summary and review" below, could only have been discovered by the use of the laryngoscope. the difference in the larynx in the two sexes and in different types of singers and speakers, though open to ordinary observation, dissection, etc., are still better brought out by the use of the instrument now under consideration. one naturally expects any organ to be larger and heavier in the male than in the female, and to this the larynx is no exception; and individual differences are equally pronounced. there may be almost if not quite as much difference between the larynx of a barytone and of a tenor as between that of an ordinary man who is not a public voice-user and the larynx of the ordinary woman. the larynx of the contralto may in its size and general development remind one of the same organ in the male. the vocal bands of the bass singer may be to those of a soprano as are the strings of a violoncello to those of a violin--using these examples, it will be understood, merely as rough illustrations. the change in the size of the larynx produced by even a few months' judicious practice may be astonishing. as already hinted, it is important that in bringing about this development exclusive attention should not be given, as is sometimes done, especially in the case of speakers, to the lower tones, though it is not so important for them as for singers to have an even development up to the highest range. but again the author would urge the voice-user to aim at attaining that delicate control of muscles (neuro-muscular mechanisms, to speak more scientifically) so important for the finest vocal effects, rather than be satisfied with mere power. the vocalist and speaker must indeed be athletic specialists, but they should not aim at being like the ordinary athlete, much less mere strong men of the circus. it is said that madame mara within her range of three octaves could effect 2100 changes of pitch, or 100 between each two tones of the twenty-one in her compass, which would represent a successive change in the length of the vocal bands of a small fraction, possibly not more than 1/17000 of an inch--something unapproachable in nicety in the use of any other instrument. even if we make large deductions from the above, the performances of those who have reached the highest laryngeal control must remain marvellous, all the more when it is remembered that this control over the larynx, to be efficient for musical purposes, must be accompanied by a corresponding mastery of the art of breathing. is it necessary to point out that such wonderful development and control can only be attained after years of steady work by the best methods? at one period in the life of the individual changes of such importance take place in the entire nature, physical, mental, and moral, that he becomes almost a new being. this epoch is known as the period of puberty or adolescence, and may be considered that of the gravest moment during one's whole life; for then, for better or worse, great changes inevitably occur. it is incomparably the period of greatest development, and, unfortunately, there may also spring into being, with striking suddenness, physical and psychic traits which cause the greatest anxiety. in any case, the thoughtful must then regard the youth or maiden with feelings of the deepest interest, if not anxiety; and in the case of the voice-user, especially the singer, this period may come laden with the destinies of the future. the vocal organs, especially in males, undergo very marked changes in relative proportions and actual growth. so marked is this that the boy soprano may actually become a barytone, or, unfortunately, no longer have a singing voice at all. [illustration: fig. 40 (grünwald). if this be compared with the next illustration (fig. 41), some of the differences between the larynx of the male and that of the female may be noted. the vocal bands in fig. 40, being those of a male, are heavier and wider. they are more covered by the epiglottis than in the other case--that of a female (fig. 41). the false vocal bands are well seen in both cases, and by their redness (dark in the figures) contrast with the whiteness of the true vocal bands. in both illustrations the bands are in the inspiration position.] [illustration: fig. 41 (grünwald). laryngoscopic picture of the female larynx--to be contrasted with that of a male, shown in fig. 40.] [illustration: fig. 42 (grünwald). in this case, owing to the subject having a cold, it is with difficulty that the true can be distinguished from the false vocal bands, so reddened (dark, in the figure) were the former, with corresponding changes in the character of the voice. this view was obtained as the subject was phonating, so that the vocal bands are approximated somewhat closely.] [illustration: fig. 43 (grünwald). shows the larynx as it may be seen only by the use of the laryngoscope. the above is an example of the appearance of the vocal bands during a deep inspiration, and in this subject, as in those illustrated by figs. 40, 41, the circumstances were so favorable that the observer could see even the trachea, the rings of which are indicated in the picture. the reader will bear in mind that in this and all laryngoscopic pictures, while right remains right, front becomes back, and back front, so that the back of the larynx appears toward the observer--_i.e._, is lowest on the page.] so far as the larynx is concerned the changes are less pronounced, usually, in the girl; nevertheless, the period is one of such change for the female that the greatest care should be exercised at this time, especially in the case of city girls. the body requires all its available resources for the growth and development which is so characteristic of this biological and psychological epoch; hence it may be ruinous for the future of the girl if at this time the same strain is put upon her as on the adult, whether in the direction of study, physical exertion, or social excitement, and of course the voice must suffer with all the rest. the farmer who would attempt to work the colt of a year or two old as he does the horse of four or five would be regarded as either grossly ignorant of his business or utterly reckless as to his own interests, if not positively cruel. do our modern usages not show a neglect of facts of vital moment still more marked? unfortunately, the woman all her life must live, to a greater or less extent, on a sort of periodic up-curve or down-curve of vitality; and that this fact is so generally ignored by society and educators is one of those peculiarities of our age at which, in spite of its great advancement in so many directions, a future generation must wonder. to use the voice when the health is even slightly disordered is not without risk to the vocal organs, and it is the clear duty of every teacher of vocal culture, at all events, to allow no practice and to give no lessons that imply the actual use of the vocal organs at these times. nor is this a great loss, rightly considered, for the intellectual side of the subject, which requires so much attention, may readily be made to take the place of the vocal for a few days. the so-called "breaking" of the voice is largely confined to males, because the growth changes, etc., as already said, are most marked in boys. at this time, also, there is frequently an excess of blood supplied to the larynx, with possibly some degree of stagnation or congestion, which results in a thickening of the vocal bands, unequal action of muscles, etc., which must involve imperfections in the voice. in all such cases common sense and physiology alike plainly indicate that rest is desirable. all shouting, singing, etc., should be refrained from, and even ordinary speech, as much as possible, in very marked cases, especially when the individual is even slightly indisposed or weary. in other cases the changes are so gradual and so little marked that it is not at all necessary to discontinue vocal practice, if carried out with care and under the guidance of an intelligent friend or teacher; but because of the possibility of the voice changing in quality, there is no time when the advice of an experienced and enlightened teacher or laryngologist is more necessary. the condition present in the vocal bands and larynx generally of the boy at puberty is more or less akin to that found in fatigue, ill-health, hoarseness, etc., as well as in old age, when muscular action is very uncertain, so that in the weak larynx, as elsewhere, the old man may approach the undeveloped youth, and for much the same reason--lack of co-ordinated or harmonious control of parts. these remarks imply, of course, that the youth has already begun studies in voice-production, and that raises another important question, viz.: when should the individual who is sufficiently endowed musically begin to sing, or study public utterance practically in some of its forms? no faculty develops earlier than the musical, and this is a strong argument in itself for the early study of music, apart altogether from other considerations about which there is room for more difference of opinion. should the child get his musical development through the use of his own musical instrument or another? if he shows natural ability for the use of the voice, should he be trained very early? against early training may be urged the facts above referred to--the liability of great changes taking place in the larynx at puberty, especially in the boy. but marked are the changes that take place in other parts of the body also, and this is not urged against exercises for general development, for the boy. it is a remarkable fact that many of the great composers sang as boys, and possibly this has had something to do with their writing music for the voice, later, when they were most of them by no means fine singers; but on this too much stress should not be laid. the question at issue is to be sharply marked off from another--the public appearance of children as soloists, reciters, etc. in this case the question is more complicated, and cannot be settled by physiological considerations alone. our problem is also to be kept apart from another very important question--the singing of children, or, indeed, adults, in classes, choirs, etc. if a child shows himself a desire to sing, and especially if he has musical ability above the average and a voice that is of fair range and quality, one can scarcely see why he should not be encouraged, and placed under a wise teacher; for it is doubtful if there be any better way of developing the ear and musical nature, even if in future the child shows that he will accomplish more as an instrumentalist. such vocal training tends to development of the larynx, and that can scarcely be wholly lost, no matter what changes puberty may bring about. at the same time, one must take care not to be too hopeful in regard to child singers. nature gives us some surprises, and not always pleasant ones. but as to the cultivation of the vocal organs with the view of producing a beautiful speaking voice by processes akin to those used for the singer, as the teaching of this work constantly implies, there can be no doubt. unless the individual acquires a respect for the beautiful in the speaking voice when young, it is feared he may never get it, as the existing state of things only too clearly shows. it is hoped that enough has been said on this subject to indicate the principles, at all events so far as physiology is concerned, on which the decisions regarding some weighty questions must be made. the question of singing with others, as usually carried out in schools, seems to the author a very doubtful procedure, to say the least, as for those with fine throats it may prove injurious, 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 of his total breathing efficiency? it is likely that teachers have insisted on diaphragmatic breathing, especially in the case of females, because, unfortunately, prevalent modes of dress so restrict the lower chest, etc., that individuals instinctively seek relief in upper chest or clavicular breathing, in which case it may be observed that the actual breath power of the singer is very small. it cannot be denied that few people ever adequately fill the chest--least of all, few women--and if admonitions as to diaphragmatic breathing accomplish this purpose, the practice must be commended. but another remedy should obviously precede this one: the respiratory prisoner should first be released. no doubt, in the most vigorous singing and speaking the lower part of the chest, with the diaphragm, is of the greatest importance, but often both the speaker and the singer, as in a short, rapid passage, require to take breath, and the only way in which they can really meet the case is by a short, more or less superficial action of the respiratory apparatus, in which the upper chest must play the chief part. there is no opportunity to fill the whole chest, so that any admonition in regard to abdominal breathing is then quite out of place. the fact is, the voice-user should have control of his whole breathing mechanism, and use one part more or less than another, or all parts equally and to the fullest extent, as the circumstances require; and if the student has not already learned such control, the author recommends his practising breathing with special attention first to filling the upper chest completely, and then the lower. it must be remembered that for a long time breathing, for the voice-user, must be a voluntary process, which, as has been pointed out, is not the usual and natural one for the individual when not phonating, which latter is essentially reflex or involuntary. the voice-user, in other words, must, with a definite purpose in view, take charge of himself. in time, breathing for him too will become reflex--_i.e._, correct breathing for the purposes of his art will become a habit. it must be pointed out that the breathing for any particular composition, literary or musical, should be carefully studied out, for this is nothing else than determining how this part of the voice-user's mechanism can be employed with the best artistic result. this, fortunately, is now recognized by a large number of teachers, for the fact is, the artistic is at present much better understood and appreciated than the technical; were it not so, such erratic literature on the subject of breathing could never have appeared. on another aspect of the subject there is room for much greater difference of opinion. among even eminent singers and teachers there is lack of agreement in regard to the part the diaphragm and abdomen should play in the most vigorous (_fortissimo_) singing. singers of renown practise what may be termed a sort of "forced" abdominal or diaphragmatic breathing. the breath is so taken that the whole chest is filled, the diaphragm brought well down, and the abdominal walls drawn in (retracted), which gives the singer, in all parts above and below, a bellows with tense walls in all parts, with the great advantage that such breathing permits of a firmness otherwise unattainable, and he is enabled to exert his breath force with great certainty and power, and, as some maintain, with all the control necessary for even delicate effects. [illustration: fig. 44. intended to express to the eye the two views of respiration discussed in the body of the work (p. 113-117). the dotted lines indicate the form of the chest and abdomen advocated by some as the best for the singing or speaking of long and vigorous passages.] against this it has been urged that it is unnatural, not according to what is found in man and other animals in nature. it is perhaps forgotten that when we make a great effort, as in lifting, we put the breathing apparatus into just this state; we gird up our loins--or the equivalent of that process--so that this method cannot be said to be contrary to nature. the only question seems to be as to whether it is necessary and advantageous, or wasteful of energy. for ordinary efforts it does not seem to be necessary, though the chest must in singing and speaking always be _held_ more or less full, not by any deliberate and painful effort, but in a quiet, unobtrusive way. the diagram (fig. 44) will make the difference in the theories referred to clear. up to the present the student has been urged to fill his chest, after days of less vigorous practice, to the fullest, retain the mechanism in this condition for a short time, and then in the slowest and most regular fashion relax it, the purpose being development and control. in actual speaking and singing such breathing is not usually either possible or desirable. nature herself always works with the least possible expenditure of energy and with power in reserve. these must be the voice-user's principles, to be deliberately and persistently applied. to fill the chest to the fullest on all occasions is to use up energy to no purpose and to induce fatigue. art is ever economical. effort, obvious effort, detracts from the listener's enjoyment. ease in the executant corresponds with enjoyment in the listener, or, at all events, if nothing more, it puts him in such a frame of mind, that the more positive qualities of the performance find him in an undisturbed, receptive state. the singer or speaker must breathe easily and adequately, but not so as to waste his energies. prior to the execution of his task, he should consider what respiratory efficiency calls for in the case of any particular phrase, and meet this without waste--_i.e._, fully, but with something to spare. for the best art, as well as the soundest technique, there should always be in the executant enough and to spare. let the last word be so uttered or sung that the listener may feel, however vigorous the passage, that more could have been done had it been required; in other words, _speak or sing the last word feeling that several others might follow did one so choose_. when this principle of reserve force is not observed, the voice-user may distress himself or his audience in a variety of ways, among others by a bad habit known as "pumping"--_i.e._, endeavoring to produce sound when the breath power is really spent. it is only necessary to refer to it for a moment that its unwisdom and physiological unrighteousness may be apparent. another term, _coup de glotte_ (blow or shock of the glottis), has led to so much confusion and misunderstanding, which unfortunately, has been followed by erroneous practice, that it would be well if its further employment were abandoned. breathing, so far as voice-production is concerned, is for the sole purpose of causing the vocal bands to vibrate; and at this stage we may say that the perfection of any vocal result depends wholly on the efficiency with which these vibrations are produced, so that breathing and tone are brought together, so to speak, by the mediation of these little bands, the vocal cords; and this is the justification for speaking of the larynx as _the_ vocal organ. this usage, however, is objectionable, as it tends to narrowness and to divert the mind from other highly important parts of the vocal mechanism. in one sense, the respiratory organs and the resonance-chambers are each as important as the larynx. the term _coup de glotte_ has been sometimes employed as the equivalent of "attack," and again as the synonym of nearly all that is bad in voice-production. as to this latter, all depends on the sense in which the term is employed. before the vocal bands can be set into suitable vibrations the expiratory breath-stream must be directed against them in a special manner, and they themselves must be adapted to the blast. it is a case of complex and beautiful adaptation. the clarinet or flute player must learn to "blow," and equally must the singer learn to use his breath. the processes each employs, though not identical, are closely related; both use the breath to cause vibrations, and there can be none that are effective, in either case, except a certain relation of adaptation of breath-stream to instrument be effected--with the clarinet-player, adjustment of breath to reed, and with the voice-user, of breath to vocal bands. exactly what changes are made in the larynx, and by what means, have already been described, and will be again considered in more than one part of this volume. the main fact is that owing to a multitude of neuro-muscular mechanisms the different parts of the respiratory and laryngeal apparatus are brought to work in harmony for the production of tones. the nature of the vibrations of the vocal bands, and, therefore, the character of the sounds produced, depend in no small measure on one thing, to which attention cannot be too carefully given. to a large extent the pitch, the volume, the quality, the carrying power, etc., of a tone depend on the adjustment now referred to--one of the facts which were, if not physiologically, at least practically recognized by the old italian masters. teachers everywhere felt the need of some technical term to express the adjustment we are considering, hence the expression _coup de glotte_, which is not in itself necessarily either incorrect or for other reason to be condemned. all depends on the sense in which it is used, as we have already said. it must, however, be admitted that it does; to most persons, convey the idea of something that is more or less violent as well as sudden, so that there seems to lurk in this term a tendency to mislead, to say the least. there really should never be a blow or shock of the glottis; the vocal bands should never strike together violently, or, indeed, strike together at all, in the ordinary sense of the term. they should, however, be approximated with considerable rapidity and with a perfect adjustment to the breath-stream, and this must be associated with a like perfect adaptation of the breath-stream to them through the harmonious working of the many muscles (neuro-muscular mechanisms) which constitute the most important part of the respiratory mechanism. in brief, the adjustment of the breathing and laryngeal mechanisms resulting in the adequate and suitable approximation of the vocal bands for tone-production constitutes the _coup de glotte_, or, as the author prefers to term it, the "attack." to get this perfect should be one of the aims of teachers and one of the ambitions of students. without a good attack the singer or speaker fails to do himself justice, and the listener is left unsatisfied. the good attack suggests physiological and technical perfection, so far as it goes; artistically, it implies power and sureness, and for the listener satisfaction, a feeling that what has been attempted has been accomplished; and the best of it is that the auditor at the end of a large hall experiences this sense of satisfaction quite as fully as the persons sitting in the first row of seats. without good attacks there can be no intellectual singing or speaking, no broad phrasing, and much more that all should aim at who come before the public, and which listeners have, indeed, a right to expect. but just because many persons feel this to be true, they make serious errors in attempting to attain the result; they substitute main force for the correct method. impatience and eagerness may defeat the voice-user's purpose. in this and all other cases the action should be performed with but moderate force, or even, at first, softly, and with gradual increase in vigor, and always in relation to the quality of the sound produced; quality must always be the first if not also the last consideration. if the method be correct, power can be attained with patience; if wrong, the throat and voice may be absolutely ruined. this point will be considered later, but we must at once express the opinion that a bungling attack in which main force is substituted for the proper method is one of the most dangerous, as it is one of the most serious errors in the technique of modern singing, and the same may often be charged against our public speaking. another of the worst faults of singing, the _tremolo_, is due to unsteadiness in attack and in maintaining the proper relations between the breathing and the laryngeal mechanism. if the voice-user fails to get a tone of good quality easily and without escape of breath to any appreciable extent, he must consider that his method is incorrect. there must be no wasted breath in the best vocal technique. this leads to ineffectiveness in the voice-producer and lack of satisfaction in the listener. breath must, for a perfect technique, mean tone--all tone--and this must be produced so that the singer is not aware, by any unpleasant feelings, that he has vocal bands or a larynx at all; in a perfect technique one must only be distinctly aware of certain sensations in the parts above the larynx, in his mouth cavity, etc. his consciousness is concerned with tone--the result. but, to attain this, the method must be physiological--_i.e._, natural, and not only that, but carried out with an approach to perfection in the details of the process which takes time and calls for infinite patience and care, all permeated by sound and clear ideas of what is being aimed at by the voice-user. nothing should be attempted till the method and the end are understood thoroughly; to do otherwise is to waste time, defeat the purpose, and court failure and disappointment; and the more the student can think for himself, and the less dependent he is on his teacher, the better will it be for both and for art itself. from all that has been hitherto said it will be inferred that one of the best tests of a good attack, or any other feature in voice-production, is the absence of escape of breath, as such, from the mouth. many persons begin wrongly; they attempt to produce tones by forcing the breath out in such a way that all their resources in breathing are at once spent, instead of being husbanded with the care of a miser. as time is the most precious possession of man, as man, so is breath for the singer or speaker. it is his hoard. nothing must be paid out of this always limited capital for which the best value is not obtained. the test for perfect economy of breath known to older generations of actors still remains the best. they were accustomed to hold a candle a few inches from the mouth when speaking. if the flame did not flicker, it was clear that breath was not being uselessly expelled. instead of feeling that the breath passes out, the voice-producer should rather feel, when phonating, as if it passed in--an illusion, it is true, but still a safe one. it will be found that holding a mirror or the hand with the back turned toward the mouth, and a few inches (four to six) from it, will serve fairly well to indicate whether the breath is escaping or not, though in sensitiveness and convincing power this is not equal to the flame test. we would again urge that in every instance of phonation in either speaker or singer, the breath be taken through the open mouth. only in this way can enough breath be inhaled in the mere moment available for this purpose. often the singer or actor must take breath with absolutely the greatest rapidity possible, and the narrow passages of the nose do not suffice to admit enough air within the time for action. but even more important, perhaps, is the fact that when breath is taken through the nostrils the singer may find that on opening his mouth to sing the tongue and soft palate are in an unfavorable position for good tone-production; his sounds may be muffled, throaty; but if breath be inhaled through the open mouth, and not through the nose at all, the tongue tends to lie flat, and this organ and other parts assume the correct position for good intonation. mouth breathing, for the purposes of tone-production, is the only method which has physiological justification. many singers especially complain of having trouble with the tongue; some believe it too large, others that it is beyond their control. these so-called large tongues have one advantage--they may exercise a great influence on the quality of the tone; and correct breathing brings them to good behavior. the author has time and again, by explaining the influence of mouth respiration, brought sudden joy to the heart of the singer who had been all his life troubled with the tongue, and worried by the consciousness that his tones lacked in clearness, carrying power, etc. nose breathing is of course to be used exclusively when the subject is not phonating. during the latter many opportunities occur to close the mouth; and the idea that drying of the mucous membrane of the mouth, etc., will occur by reason of mouth breathing in speaking and singing is purely imaginary. exercises. the student, whatever his degree of advancement, will find the exercises about to be recommended, or others closely resembling them, of great value. it cannot be too well borne in mind, obvious though it is, that all speaking and singing, whatever else they be, are tone-production; hence the first thing for every one to ascertain regarding himself is the extent to which he can form and hold tones of good quality--in other words, the success with which he can establish the essential co-ordinations or harmonious actions of the breathing and laryngeal mechanisms, and maintain them for a considerable length of time. many singers can produce a fairly good and powerful tone, but it is a sort of vocal explosion rather than a tone, which will continue to do the singer's bidding for as long as he will. the correctly produced and sustained tone is the foundation of all that is best in voice-production; all the rest is but a series of variations on this. hence the author recommends the following practice to all, whatever else they may do or have done. it is to be a test of inspiration, attack, economy of breath, adjustment of the vocal bands, the resonance-chambers, etc. 1. inhale slowly through the somewhat open mouth, filling the chest moderately full, and at once attack so as to produce a tone of but moderate force, but of the best quality possible. 2. continue to hold this tone as long as the breath is easily sufficient, taking care that the tone be on no account sustained after there is the slightest difficulty in maintaining it of the same quality and power as before. steadiness and perfection in quality are to be the chief considerations. 3. the student is advised, after a few days' practice in this manner, to note with a watch the time during which he can hold a tone under the restrictions above referred to, and to endeavor to increase the holding power daily by a little. it will, of course, be necessary to fill the chest more completely day by day. 4. it will also be well for the voice-producer to practise taking very deep and rapid inspirations, followed by the most prolonged expirations. 5. this method of breathing may then be put to the actual test in intonation. another exercise very valuable in giving breath-control is the following: produce a tone exactly as before, but every now and then, at regular intervals at first, then at irregular ones, cut the tone off short by suddenly arresting the breath, and, after a very short pause, continue again in exactly the same way _without_ taking a fresh breath; and, as in the above and all other exercises, frequently apply the hand and, when more practised, the more exacting flame test. the first of the above exercises may be represented to the eye by a continuous straight line; the second by straight lines with short spaces between them. in all these exercises there must never be any sort of _push_ anywhere, neither in the chest nor throat. such methods are absolutely wrong, because so wasteful of energy. the tone should come as spontaneously and inevitably as the gas from a soda-water bottle when the cork is slightly loosened, or, if this illustration be too strong (it is employed because gas, air, is concerned in each case), let us say, as water from the pipe of a waterworks' system when the tap is turned. _the tone should come, the breath must tarry._ if the student does not feel ease, certainty, and inevitableness in result, he has not made a good attack. if he cannot sustain the tone for a few seconds, he should conclude that his method of using his breath is wasteful. in time a tone should be easily held for at least ten seconds. the purpose of the second exercise is to give still more fully breath-control, and to lead the voice-user to realize how important is breathing for intonation. the student may ask: "why not begin, as is often done, by the singing of scales?" really useful scales are too complex; they imply the use of a series of tones formed according to the principles insisted upon above. the first thing is to get one perfect tone--to use the vocal mechanism under simple conditions; and _that tone should be chosen which the voice-user can produce of best quality and with greatest ease, with least expenditure of energy_. it should never be selected from the extremes of the subject's range. from the favorite or best tone he should work down and up the scale. after this the scale comes easy, and all actual singing is scale singing--the use of intervals--and all speaking the same thing; so that, from every point of view, this exercise should be the first in intonation, and the student will do well not to leave it till the conditions above prescribed can be fully met. some singers have continued such exercises throughout a long artistic career. it is to be understood always that the exercises, etc., recommended in this work are intended for all voice-users, whether they are singers or speakers. it is easy for a speaker to pass from such prolonged tones to the shorter ones required in speaking, but after such exercises he can do so with a feeling of ease, mastery of himself, improved ear, and purity of speech not otherwise attainable. the author would also insist, in the most emphatic manner, on the great importance of making all such exercises musical. every tone should be the best then possible to the voice-user, and power must on no account be aimed at for some time. thus are developed and go hand in hand, as they always should, a sound technique with the artistic conscience and perceptions. summary and review. _the principles of physics, etc., involved._ sound (tone) is a mental result having its origin in certain changes in the ear and the brain, owing to vibrations of the air. tones have _pitch_, depending on the number of vibrations in a second, _volume_ (power), depending on the size of the waves or vibrations, and _quality_ (_timbre_), determined by the shape of the waves. pitch is determined by the vocal bands, volume by the same, in great part, and quality by the shape of the resonance-chambers above the vocal bands. the resonance-chambers influence volume also. a tone is augmented by resonance. the larynx bears certain resemblances to both stringed and wind instruments, but it is really unique (_sui generis_). the vibrations of the vocal bands are caused solely by the expiratory current of air, which is more or less held back by the cords, owing to their approximation, so that the greater the obstruction the stronger must the blast of air be, other things being equal, and the result increase in pitch. the problem nature had to solve is very complex. the laryngoscope was invented in 1854 by a teacher of singing, manuel garcia, who soon after gave an account of it to the royal society of england. the instrument consists essentially of two mirrors, the external, or "head-mirror," which is concave and reflects into the larynx, and the internal, or "mouth-mirror," which reflects the picture outward to the eye. the latter mirror is plane, and set at an angle. the picture may show, under the most favorable circumstances, all the upper parts of the larynx, including the vocal bands, but sometimes, also, the windpipe as far down as its division into the two main bronchial tubes. the difficulties commonly met with in the use of the instrument are a constrained action of the throat and mouth parts of the subject, unnatural breathing, an unruly tongue, etc. the epiglottis may, also, naturally so overhang the glottis that a good view of the vocal cords is impossible. it is difficult to see more than one-half to two-thirds of the length of the vocal bands. the picture seen is that of the parts of the larynx reversed--_i.e._, while right remains right, posterior becomes anterior. the laryngoscope shows that (1) in singing an ascending scale the vocal bands are for a certain time in action (vibration) throughout their whole length; that (2) there may be observed a rather sudden change when the vocal bands are relaxed and shortened, and that this process of shortening goes on, the bands approaching more and more, both behind and in front, till (3) in the highest tones of a soprano of great range there is only a small portion of each vocal cord toward the centre that is not approximated somewhat closely. with certain qualifications, it may be said that the action of the vocal bands is alike for all voices. in all cases a certain degree of approximation of the vocal bands is absolutely necessary for phonation, and the mechanism is generally similar in males and females till the highest tones, above alluded to, are reached. this is in harmony with the following facts: (1) the crico-thyroids are the muscles most in use in ordinary speech and in singing the lower tones. (2) several muscles combine in relaxing and shortening the vocal bands. (3) the peculiar mechanism of the highest tones in a soprano voice of great compass is only to be explained by a combined action of several muscles, and a very delicate and precise use of the internal thyro-arytenoids attached along the whole length of the outer surface of the vocal bands. the larynx of the male differs from that of the female chiefly in its greater size, weight, etc. the vocal bands in the male may measure from three-fifths to four-fifths of an inch when relaxed, and from four-fifths to one inch when tense; in the female, from two-fifths to three-fifths of an inch when relaxed, and from three-fifths to four-fifths of an inch when tense. there are structural differences corresponding to and determining the kind of voice, as to range and power more especially. the bass singer has, as a rule, the largest larynx and the longest and heaviest vocal bands. at puberty the changes that take place in the body generally are associated with corresponding alterations in the larynx. the larynx grows, changes its proportions, etc., often somewhat rapidly, and the result may be a corresponding alteration in voice, as regards range, power, and quality. the voice, because of imperfect anatomical and physiological adjustment, may "break," to a greater or less extent. the same may take place, owing to similar imperfect adjustment, in old age, and temporarily, owing to disease, weakness, nervousness, fatigue, faulty production, etc. these facts indicate that under such circumstances the voice should be used with great care, not at all, or in a whisper, when the vocal bands are practically not in action. [illustration: fig. 45. represents what the author has frequently seen, by the use of the laryngoscope, when a soprano is producing a very high head-tone, say c, d, or e in alt. it will be observed that the vocal bands approximate in front and behind ("stopped"), so that the only parts of the bands capable of vibration are those short portions which form the margins of the oval opening shown in the illustration. only a very limited number of singers are capable of the delicate adjustments required.] in a singer highly endowed by nature and perfected by long training based on the soundest principles, the action of the muscles of the larynx may reach a degree of perfection only to be compared with that of the eye and ear. consideration of the _coup de glotte_, the attack, or adjustment of mechanisms to produce tone that begins correctly; breathing, with open mouth, with effectiveness and economy of energy; singing for children, in choirs, etc., have been discussed. practical exercises should be related to the principles underlying them. musical and æsthetic principles are always to be associated with a sound technique. the artistic and technical or physiological conscience should be associated. chapter ix. the resonance-chambers. when it is borne in mind that the vocal bands have little or nothing to do with the quality of tones, the importance of those parts of the vocal apparatus which determine quality, and the error of speaking of the larynx as if it alone were the sole vocal organ, become apparent. it may be strictly said that the vocal bands serve the purpose of making the resonance mechanism available. what one hears may be said to be vibrations of this resonance apparatus, and not, strictly, those of the vocal bands, though this expression would also be correct, but would not indicate the final link in the series of vibrations. the tone caused by the vibration of two such small bands as the vocal cords must, in the nature of the case, be very feeble. it becomes important for the reader to convince himself of the importance of resonance in sounding bodies and musical instruments. when the stem of a tuning-fork so small that it can be scarcely heard when in vibration, except by, the person holding it, is laid against a solid body, as a table, its sound is at once so increased that it can be heard in the most distant part of a large room. when the same fork is held over an empty jar of suitable size and shape, a similar but much, less marked increase of its tone is to be observed. if a cord of but moderate thickness be fastened at each end to a thin piece of wood, say a split shingle, and a little block of wood, in imitation of the bridge of a violin, be placed under the cord so as to render it tense, we have the essentials of a stringed instrument, the pitch of which can be made to vary by moving the block about and thus varying the tightness of the cord. but the sound of such an improvised instrument, produced by drawing a bow across the cord, is ridiculously feeble. in the actual violin the volume of sound, as well as its quality, depends on the size, shape, and weight of the instrument. the strings serve the purpose of causing the body of the instrument, the air within it, and, in consequence, the air without, between it and the ear of the auditor, to vibrate or move in a specific manner. similarly, the imposing size of the grand piano is associated inevitably with loudness, as compared with a smaller instrument. a violoncello must produce a larger tone than a violin, though not necessarily one more intense. these principles of resonance apply in the case of the singer and the speaker. the bass and barytone produce tones of larger volume (as well as different quality) than those of the tenor, because their resonance apparatus is different in size and shape. it is true, their vocal bands, their wind-power, and the laryngeal muscles are different--they are not of the same size, etc.--and, in a more remote sense, this is the cause of the differences in the tones they produce; but the immediate cause is to be sought in the resonance mechanism, and, above all, in the resonance-chambers. it is true that when one speaks or sings, the chest, windpipe, and larynx may be felt to vibrate, but the essential vibrations are _supra-glottic_--above the vocal bands. these resonance-chambers are the _mouth cavity_, in the widest sense, and the _nasal chambers_. it is highly probable that the vibrations of the chest walls and of the bones of the head may to some degree modify the vibrations of the air within the resonance-chambers, chiefly in the direction of intensification; but the idea that the hollow spaces in certain of the bones of the head have any appreciable influence on the tones of the speaker or singer, can at best not be considered as demonstrated, and it serves no practical purpose to take into account this possibility. the great facts, the facts which are so plain that they may be demonstrated to a child, are these: that the quality of any tone--_e.g._, a vowel--is absolutely determined by the shape of these cavities, the mouth and nasal chambers. this subject will be treated further when the tones, etc., of speech are considered, but inasmuch as no one can sing, in the proper sense of the term, without the use of vowels, at least, and as we produce different vowels with ease, one may at once demonstrate to himself that this is done by altering the shape of his mouth cavity, and chiefly by the agency of the tongue and soft palate. [illustration: fig. 46 (tyndall). representing water being poured into the vessel a b, till the air-space is just sufficient to respond to the vibrations of the tuning-fork. the air thus becomes a resonator of the fork.] [illustration: fig. 47 (spalteholz). the mouth is extremely widely opened. the soft palate is seen terminating in the uvula, and on each side, extending from it, are the pillars of the fauces, a pair of folds between which the tonsil is seen to lie.] [illustration: fig. 48. view of the nose, etc., from behind, showing the parts enumerated above. it is not hard to understand that any considerable amount of swelling of the lining mucous membrane might give rise to difficulty in breathing through the nose, and even compel mouth-breathing.] [illustration: fig. 49 (spalteholz). showing well the scroll (turbinated) bones of the nose, which break up the space and make it more cavernous. it can be seen that there is free communication behind, between the mouth and the nasal cavities, and that if the soft palate and the tongue approximate, the breath-stream must pass into and through the nose, giving rise to nasality in utterance.] a short description of a part to which many voice-users remain strangers all their lives will now be given. these resonance-chambers remain, for many, an apparatus used daily and absolutely essential, yet never examined. fortunately, a few illustrations, which should be followed by an examination of the student's own resonance-chambers and their various parts as they may be seen in a mirror, will remove all difficulty in the understanding of them, and prepare for that detailed study to be recommended in a subsequent chapter. passing from before backward, one meets the _lips_, the _teeth_ and _gums_, the _hard palate_, which is a continuation of the gums; then, suspended from the hard palate, behind, is the _soft palate_, back of which lies the _pharynx_ (often termed "the throat"), and above it and constituting its continuation, the _naso-pharynx_; and lying on the floor of the mouth there is the _tongue_. certain of these parts, as the teeth, gums, hard palate, nasal bones, etc., constitute fixed structures, and though they determine in no small measure the shape of the resonance-chambers, and so to a degree the quality of the voice, so movable are the lips, soft palate, and, above all, the tongue, that there is the widest scope for varying the quality and even the volume of the voice; so that it is a good thing, practically, for every one to believe that so far as quality, at all events, is concerned, he is the master of his own destinies. though we are accustomed to believe that the mouth and nose are, though neighbors, quite separate and independent of each other, such is not the case. indeed, in the pre-natal condition these are not two, but one; and in some instances they remain imperfectly separated, owing to the failure of the hard palate to develop to the full--a condition known as "cleft palate," and giving rise to a peculiar nasal intonation, to be explained presently. the _nasal chambers_ are divided into two by a vertical partition, as one can readily demonstrate by the use of his fingers, and are still further broken up by certain bones, the scroll-shaped or _turbinated_ bones, so that the nasal chambers are of very limited size, and much divided up by bony outgrowths from their walls. the _vertical septum_, while bony above, is cartilaginous and flexible below. without the aid of instruments and a good light the nose can be but indifferently examined from the front, while it requires the greatest skill on the part of a laryngologist to see it well from behind. however, the whole difficulty can be got over by visiting a butcher and securing a sheep's head split through from before back. in a few moments one can learn all the essential facts, including that one of great practical importance--viz.: that every part of the resonance-chambers is lined by the same mucous membrane which is also continued downward into the larynx and the gullet. it will be thus observed that the throat and nose communicate in the freest manner behind, and that the only way of closing off the mouth cavity from the nasal chambers is by means of the tongue and the soft palate working together. as in the proper use of the tongue and soft palate lie many of the secrets of the art of the speaker and singer, special attention must be given to these parts. the _tongue_, which completely fills the floor of the mouth, is made up of several muscles of different attachments, which explains why this organ is so movable. to say that it can with the greatest ease and rapidity be turned toward every one of the thirty-two points marked on a mariner's compass, is but to feebly express its capacity for movements. what we are most concerned with now is its power to alter the shape of the mouth cavity in every part. the _soft palate_ is suspended like a curtain from the hard palate, behind. it is composed of muscles arranged in pairs, and is continued into a conical tip below known as the _uvula_, and on each side into folds, the _pillars of the fauces_, between which lie the _tonsils_, which are in shape like very small almond nuts. when quite normal these should not protrude much, if at all, beyond the cavity made by the folds referred to above. both the tonsils and the uvula may become so enlarged as to be a source of awkwardness or more serious evil to the voice-user. they may, in fact, require operative interference. so serious, however, is the decision to operate, or the reverse, for the voice-user, that the author recommends that such operations be entrusted only to laryngologists who have some knowledge of their influence on voice-production. it is of the greatest moment to observe that the quality of tones can be made to vary in the highest degree by the joint use of the tongue and soft palate. when in vocalizing the tongue is raised behind and the soft palate made to approach it, or actually to meet it, the tone assumes a more or less nasal character. the reason of this is that the cavity of the mouth proper, or "mouth" in the narrower sense, the forward part, is shut off from the hinder part, or the pharynx, so that the breath is then directed upward and passes chiefly through the nose, producing a nasal tone or twang--always a fault, and one fearfully common in america. when the tongue alone is raised behind, or drawn back unduly, tones become muffled--indistinct, etc. this is also a very common fault, but is found in england and germany also. english speech is often hard and guttural, german unduly guttural, if not so hard, and american slovenly and horribly nasal. but what may in a certain degree be disagreeable and a vocal error, is in another a positive excellence; so, in this case, the use of the tongue and soft palate in the proper degree and at the right moment gives us emotional expression. this subject will, however, be considered again later; in the meantime, the student is advised to do a little experimenting in the use of his tongue and soft palate, with a view of noting how the quality of tone may be thus made to vary. he is also advised to use a hand-glass with the object of observing the parts mentioned in this chapter, and if he can also find a friend willing to lend his mouth for observation, so much the better. the sooner any voice-user comes to feel that his vocal destinies lie in his own hands, the better. "know thyself" is as necessary an admonition for the speaker and singer as for any other artist, but with that must go another, "believe in thyself"--that thou canst produce tones of beautiful and expressive quality if thou wilt; it may be only after much wisely directed work, but yet it is possible. allusion must be made to the danger of those engaged in mathematical and physical investigations applying their conclusions in too rigid a manner to the animal body. it was held till recently that the pitch of a vocal tone was determined solely by the number of vibrations of the vocal bands, as if they acted like the strings of a violin or the reed of a clarinet, while the resonance-chambers were thought to simply take up these vibrations and determine nothing but the quality of tone; they were believed not to have any influence on pitch. against this view the author long ago demurred. to prof. scripture, however, belongs the credit of demonstrating that the resonance-chambers determine pitch also. it seems probable that the vocal bands so beat the air within the resonance-chambers as to determine the rate of vibration of the air of these cavities, and so the pitch of the tone produced. these chambers not having rigid walls, one can the better understand that the tension of these parts may not only be different in individuals, but vary in the same person from time to time, according to the condition of his health, etc. herein we find another source of explanation of variations in the voice. all these considerations make the resonance-chambers more important than ever, so that there is greater objection to speaking of the larynx as _the_ vocal organ than we were aware of before these investigations were undertaken. summary. without a resonator, which may be solid or hollow, the sound made by a reed or tense string is feeble. that the mouth can act as a resonator may be proved by holding a vibrating tuning-fork of suitable pitch before this chamber when open. the resonating chambers of importance are supra-glottic. of these the "mouth" including all as far back as the pharynx and the nasal chambers are the principal. these two main cavities are separated from each other by the hard palate, which is a bony floor, covered with mucous membrane, as are all the parts of the resonance-chambers. the hard palate extends horizontally from the gums backward, and is continued as the soft palate. the latter is a muscular and therefore movable curtain that divides, with varying degrees of completeness, the mouth (in the narrower sense) from the pharynx and naso-pharynx--_i.e._, the space back of the soft palate and the posterior nares (back nostrils) respectively. by the elevation of the back of the tongue and the lowering of the soft palate as when one speaks nasally, the mouth proper is largely shut off from the nasal chambers, so that the breath must be directed through the nose. "cleft palate" also connects undesirably the mouth and nasal chambers. the tonsils lie between two folds, the pillars of the fauces, connected with the soft palate. when normal in size the tonsils should scarcely extend beyond these folds. the uvula is the central lower tip of the soft palate. the nasal chambers are divided by a central bony and cartilaginous partition, the septum nasi, but are further encroached upon, on each side, by three scroll-like (turbinated) bones. the tongue is composed of several muscles, which explains why its movements may be so complicated and delicate. the mouth cavity is bounded in front by the gums, teeth, and lips. the form and, to some extent, possibly; the size of the resonance-chambers determine the quality of the tone produced in speaking and singing. the shape and size of the mouth can be made to vary by the soft palate and lips, but chiefly by the tongue, so that the movements of the latter, especially, cannot be too well studied. it was formerly considered that pitch was determined solely by the rate of vibration of the vocal bands; though the author opposed this view as rigidly applied. very recently prof. scripture, by the use of new methods, has shown that the supra-glottic chambers cannot be correctly likened to a resonator with rigid walls. it is held that the vocal bands give a number of sudden shocks to the air in the resonators, so that, in a sense, the resonance-chambers determine both the pitch and the quality of the tone; and as the tension of the resonators varies with both the physical and psychical condition of the individual, variations in tone-production, more especially as to quality, can now be the better understood. according to this view these chambers are not properly resonators but sounding cavities. the reader's attention is particularly drawn to the new views of the method of action of the vocal bands, etc., referred to on this page. since the above was written, such views have become more widely known, and it is hoped that as they are very radical they may be established by other methods. chapter x. the registers of the singing voice.[1] [footnote 1: the chapters on the registers of the singing voice may be omitted by readers whose practical interest is confined to the speaking voice.] about no subject in the whole range of voice-production has there been so much confusion, difference of opinion, and controversy as that of registers; so that it is important at the very outset to define register, and throughout to aim at the utmost precision and clearness. "a register is a series of consecutive and homogeneous sounds rising from the grave to the acute, produced by the development of the same mechanical principle, the nature of which essentially differs from any other series of sounds equally consecutive and homogeneous, produced by another mechanical principle" (manuel garcia). "a register consists of a series of tones which are produced by the same mechanism" (behnke). "a register is the series of tones of like quality producible by a particular adjustment of the vocal cords" (mackenzie). from a consideration of the above proposed definitions it will be seen that for the successful or, at all events, complete or ideal investigation of a subject so many-sided and difficult, many qualifications are desirable, if not absolutely essential. it is not too much to say that the ideal investigator of the registers should have a practical knowledge of general anatomy and physiology, together with a detailed and exact knowledge of the vocal organs; be versed in the laws of sound; have an adequate knowledge of music; be capable of examining himself with the laryngoscope (auto-laryngoscopy) as well as others (laryngoscopy); possess an acute ear for the pitch and quality of tones; be himself able to use his voice at least fairly well in singing and speaking; be provided with the all-important ballast of common sense, and an impartial mind longing above all things to learn the truth. as few can hope to unite all these qualities in themselves in even a moderate degree, openness of mind, temperance in the expression of opinion, and common sense with experience, must be largely relied on to furnish working conclusions. a discussion of a subject so difficult and complicated is not easy to follow. it is but just to other investigators, and fair to the reader, to present the views of those who have possessed special qualifications for dealing with the questions involved. the author will endeavor to present the grounds on which others have taken their stand, in a few words and clearly, if the reader will patiently follow. there will at first seem, possibly, to be little agreement, but it will be shown that on some of the most essential points there is substantial unity of opinion; and the subject is of such vital moment, as the author will endeavor to make clear, that it is hoped that the most patient examination will be given to the questions that arise, from the beginning to the end of the discussion. for the author to express a dogmatic opinion, and simply state his disagreement or agreement with others, would be contrary to the whole spirit of this work, and leave the subject where it once was--in the realm of hopeless disagreement and controversy. if the problem of the registers is to be solved to the satisfaction of the rational thinker, it must be by evidence, and not the mere opinions of any teacher or writer, however eminent. to lay this evidence before the reader is now the author's task. one of those most eminently equipped, by a great variety of qualities, for the investigation of this subject, or any other question of the voice, was madame seiler. whenever the author is obliged to differ from this really great investigator, he does so with the sense of the highest respect for her opinions generally, because she always sought for scientific grounds for such opinions. her views may be thus briefly presented: she recognized three registers, chest, falsetto, and head, with their subdivisions. (1) the first chest register extends (1) the whole glottis (vocal to [illustration: a b-flat] in men, bands) is moved in loose and to [illustration: c' c-sharp'] vibrations. in women. (2) the second chest register extends (2) the vocal ligaments (or to [illustration: f' f-sharp'] in both ligamentous glottis) alone sexes. are in action. (3) the first falsetto extends in (3) the edges alone of the females to [illustration: c'' c-sharp''] vocal bands vibrate, but the and in males to [illustration: e'' whole glottis is in action. e-flat'']. (4) the second falsetto in the (4) the edges only of the female extends to [illustration: vocal bands are used, and the f'' f-sharp''] and to [illustration: g''] vocal ligaments alone are in in women. action. [transcriber's note: so in original; "female" should probably be "male."] (5) above this point head tones (5) edges only of the vocal begin. bands in vibration; partial closure of the ligaments posteriorly (behind). it will be noted that madame seiler spoke of the vocal bands (cords) proper as the "ligamentous glottis," and included in the "glottis" the arytenoid cartilages themselves, or, at all events, that part of them, their lower anterior angles, known as the vocal processes (or extensions), to which the vocal bands proper are attached. the above tabular statement shows (1) that madame seiler recognized five registers for both male and female voices; (2) that she used the term "falsetto" in a sense different from its ordinary one. usually this term is not applied at all to the female voice, but only to that special modification of the male voice seldom employed now, and almost never except by tenors. with this writer, "falsetto" as applied to female voices replaces "middle," in the commoner usage. [illustration: fig. 50. tabular representation of madame seiler's division of the register.] garcia, also, recognized five registers. behnke, a teacher of singing, who practised laryngoscopy and auto-laryngoscopy in the investigation of the registers, used "lower thick," "upper thick," "lower thin," "upper thin," and "small," as answering to the "first chest," "second chest," etc., of madame seiler and others. nearly all writers have used the term "break" to indicate the point at which a new register begins. behnke held that the break between the thick and the thin register occurred in _both_ sexes at about [illustration: f' f-sharp']. the vocal bands in this part of the scale vibrate in their entire breadth, and the series of tones above the point just referred to is produced by a new mechanism, but one which is the same for all voices and both sexes--_i.e._, only the inner edges of the vocal bands vibrate. according to behnke, the male voice has but two registers, the thick and the thin, but the female voice three, the thick, the thin, and the small. these terms were not original with behnke, but had been used earlier by curwen. behnke was emphatic on one point, to which we would call special attention, in his own words: "if there is _straining_ anywhere, it is during the attempt to carry the mechanism of the upper thick beyond its natural limit." mackenzie (afterwards sir morell mackenzie) held that "it is certain that however over-refined musicians may multiply the 'registers' of the voice, physiologically there are but two--_i.e._, 'chest' and 'head,' the falsetto of the man answering to the head production of women." according to the same author, "the essential factor in chest production is the long reed, whilst the essential factor in head delivery is the short reed." the terms "long reed" and "short reed" were the equivalents of madame seiler's "glottis" and "ligamentous glottis" respectively. mackenzie held that the cartilaginous (inter-arytenoid) glottis is generally open in the lower and gently closed in the upper tones of the chest register, while a segment of the ligamentous glottis (vocal bands proper) is tightly closed in the head voice. as the result of the examination of 50 persons gifted with fine voices, 42 of whom were "trained" singers and 8 "natural" singers, mackenzie formulated his conclusions as follows: 1. in tenor voices the whole glottis may be open to [illustration: g a b] and not unfrequently to [illustration: g']. beyond this point there is closure of the cartilaginous glottis. sometimes the whole glottis is open throughout. 2. in barytone voices the whole glottis is often open to [illustration: a b], and occasionally to [illustration: c']. beyond this point the cartilaginous glottis is closed, except in rare cases. 3. in bass voices the whole glottis is sometimes open to [illustration: g b]. beyond this point, except in a few instances, the cartilaginous glottis is gradually closed. 4. in sopranos and mezzo-sopranos the whole glottis is sometimes open to [illustration: f' g'], often to [illustration: c''], beyond which the cartilaginous glottis is usually closed. the glottis is sometimes closed throughout the scale, and in one case it was open throughout. 5. in contralto voices the whole of the glottis is often open to [illustration: f' g'], beyond which the cartilaginous portion is closed. 6. in the head voice of women and the falsetto voice of men "stop-closure" (_i.e._, closure so tight that the cords in this region do not vibrate) always takes place in the posterior portion of the ligamentous glottis, and sometimes at the anterior part also. this writer also held that "boys who sing alto always use the chest register." he was of opinion that "the quality of the voice generally, but not always, indicates which mechanism is being used." the views of the author, published at a former period, and based on the special examination of a large number of persons with the laryngoscope, etc., and on auto-laryngoscopy, may be briefly stated as follows: a nomenclature for the registers involving no theory would be best, such, for example, as _lower_, _middle_, and _upper_ registers. mandl, who recognized only two registers, spoke of them as "lower" and "upper," equivalent to "chest" and "head," as commonly used. the author examined with the laryngoscope 50 persons, who might (with grützner) be divided into "trained singers," "natural singers," and "non-singers." the whole glottis was found to be open in all voices in the lowest tones of the chest register, and this condition obtained up to about [illustration: f-sharp' g'], beyond which another mechanism came into play, except in rare cases. the high falsetto of men and the head voice of women are produced by a similar mechanism and method. in the investigation of registers more attention should be given to the use of the breathing organs than has hitherto been done by those writing on this subject. as madame marchesi, of paris, has taught with preëminent success, and with the greatest practical consideration for the preservation of the voice and the vocal organs in an unimpaired condition, and as the author has had, through her kindness, the opportunity to become acquainted with her methods by observation, her views on the registers are here presented. it is to be understood that as she teaches only ladies, her views are considered, so far as she is concerned, as applying only to female voices. these views are further presented because madame marchesi was herself taught by garcia, who was in the direct line of the old italian masters, though it will be observed that the pupil has retained only the essentials of the master's views on the registers. 1. there are three registers in female voices: chest, middle, and head. 2. while there are small differences in voices and individuals as regards the registers, the following principles apply to all of them: (_a_) the chest register must never be carried above [illustration: f-sharp']. (_b_) [illustration: e' f'] should be "covered" or modified chest tones. (_c_) in all cases [illustration: f-sharp''] must be a head tone. (_d_) in quick passages chest should not be carried beyond [illustration: d-flat']--_i.e._, [illustration: d' e' f'] are middle in quick passages. chapter xi. further consideration of the registers of the singing voice. it will, it is hoped, be apparent to the reader that the subject now under treatment may be considered either theoretically or practically. if science be exact, systematized, and, when complete, unified knowledge, then every source of information must be employed in the investigation of so difficult a subject as the registers. there may be differences of opinion as to the relative importance of some of these means of investigation--_e.g._, auto-laryngoscopy, but that it should be utilized, there can be no question. the value of photography of the larynx, as carried out up to the present, may be questioned; but there can be no doubt that if this method of studying the action of the vocal bands could be pushed to a certain point, much light might be thrown on the questions at issue. merely to assume that a method of treating the registers which has given, apparently, good practical results in the hands of one teacher is sound, and rests on a scientific basis, is unwarranted. it may be simply a little better or a little worse than some other. how is the student to distinguish, in his choice, between mr. a and mr. b, in the case of two successful teachers, both of whom recognize registers? a physiologist may be sound as far as he goes, yet lack that practical knowledge of the voice which the vocal teacher properly considers requisite in determining how a pupil shall use the registers. among those who are most dogmatic on this and other questions there is often a plentiful lack of knowledge of the vocal organs; and some clever laryngologists must have learned, when they were carried into the discussion of this subject, that some knowledge of music and singing is absolutely indispensable, and that enough cannot be picked up, even by an able man, in a few minutes devoted to interrogating singers, especially when these vocalists have been trained by widely different methods, and have, as is too often the case, given but little real _thought_ to the scientific, or, indeed, any other side of their art. we find "break" confounded with "register," and the meaning attached to the latter, at best, one-sided or inadequate in some respects. the truth is, such a subject cannot be settled by the physiologist, even when a laryngologist, as such; nor can the solution to a scientific question of this kind be given by a singer, as a singer. such a problem can only be settled, as we have throughout insisted, by those possessing many qualifications, and even when the investigator unites in himself every intellectual qualification, something will depend on his temperament and spirit. an atmosphere of controversy is not favorable to scientific investigation, and among the dangers that ever lie in the path of the teacher are pride and prejudice. the assumption that one is prepared to teach is too often associated with views and feelings that prevent the guide from remaining himself a student and being ready to learn even from the very beginner, as he must if he have the true spirit. unfortunately, several of the most highly qualified writers on this subject have formulated their views under conditions unfavorable to the attainment of the whole truth. it is to be borne in mind always that a register implies (1) a series of tones of a characteristic clang, _timbre_, color, or quality; (2) that this is due to the employment of a special mechanism of the larynx in a particular manner. it follows that in thinking of registers scientifically, one must take into account both the tones and the mechanisms by which they are produced. naturally, with most untrained people the passage from one register to another is associated with a suddenness of change which is unpleasant, and which is termed the _break_. it is often suggestive of weakness, uncertainty, etc., and to an ear at once sensitive and exacting through training is intolerable when very pronounced. often this break is very marked in contraltos, and is invariably so pronounced in the male voice when it passes to the upper falsetto that even the dullest ear does not fail to notice the change. it is, therefore, not surprising that teachers should have sought to lessen the unpleasant surprise for the listener caused by the break. some have looked on registers as almost an invention of the evil one, and forbidden the use of the term to their students; but such ostrich-like treatment of the subject--such burying of the head in the sand--does not do away with a difficulty, much less can such a plain fact as the existence of registers be ignored without the most detrimental results, as we shall endeavor to make plain. some, feeling that the break was an artistic abomination, have proceeded to teach the student to reduce all tones to the same quality, which is about as rational as asking a painter to give us pictures, by the use of but one pigment. to attempt to abolish registers would be like leaving but one string to the violin; which instrument, in its present form, has a register for each string; and the player endeavors to avoid the breaks that naturally occur in passing from string to string, and to get a smooth series of tones just as the intelligent vocalist does. the registers may be represented to the eye by the method illustrated in figure 52. the wise instructor recognizes registers; they are a fact in nature, and one to be valued. the more colors, the greater the range of the artist's powers, other things being equal, whether the artist paint with pigments or tones; but just as the painter uses intermediate tones of color to prevent rude transitions or breaks, so must the singer modify or "cover" the tones between the registers--_i.e._, use to some extent the mechanism of both neighboring registers. the reader who has perused the previous chapter thoughtfully may naturally ask: "with such difference of opinion among eminent authors like those quoted, how am i to know which one to follow, and what to believe on this subject?" the answer to that question we propose now to give. it will be wise to endeavor to show just wherein the writers quoted differ and on what they agree. a careful examination will show that there is substantial agreement on the most important points: 1. all agree that there are registers, or natural changes of quality of tone, corresponding to changes of mechanism or method. 2. all, with the exception of madame seiler, agree that the most important changes take place at or near [illustration: a'] in female voices, and the majority consider that this applies to both sexes equally. 3. often in males there is some laryngeal change lower than this. 4. all agree that the high falsetto of tenors is of a special quality, and produced by a mechanism of its own--_i.e._, all consider it a separate register--and often, at least, it begins naturally about [illustration: f-sharp'], which is usually, however, written an octave higher, though really sung as given above. [illustration: fig. 51. a photographic representation of the appearances of the vocal bands when the subject is sounding first e and then f sharp, in which latter case "the vibratory portions of the vocal bands are shortened about one-sixteenth inch," according to dr. french, who has been eminently successful in photographing the larynx. it will be noted that this is the point in the scale at which the change of register usually takes place--_i.e._, there is a change of mechanism corresponding to the change in quality. (french-raymond.)] the point of greatest strain is generally, for both sexes, about this point, and many persons cannot sing higher than this--_i.e._, about [illustration: f-sharp'] for males, and its octave for females. it is to be remembered, as madame seiler has pointed out, that at the period of greatest perfection in vocal training, some hundred and fifty years or more ago, concert pitch was very much lower than it is to-day; so that to teach tenors to sing in one register up to [illustration: a''] then, was quite a different matter from what that would be to-day. the old italian masters were accustomed to train singers to the use of the falsetto, and whatever views may be held as to the desirability of the tenor using this register, so far as art is concerned, there can be no question whatever that physiologically it is easy, and one of the means by which relief may be sought from the high tension caused by carrying up the lower register. the author, after a special investigation of this and other questions connected with the registers, came to the conclusion that the falsetto in males and the head voice in females are produced by a similar mechanism. in the high falsetto the vocal bands do not vibrate throughout their whole breadth, and there must be, for a successful result, in every case a feeling of ease, due to the relaxation of certain mechanisms in use up to that point and the employment of new ones. [illustration: figs. 52. these figures are meant to convey through the eye some of the main truths regarding the nature of registers and breaks. the figure on the left applies to the case of one with three registers in the voice, and with the breaks only very moderately marked; the illustration on the right applies to the same person after training, when the breaks have become indistinct, almost imperceptible. for teaching purposes the author is accustomed to use a similar diagram, but in shades of the same color, the difference being rendered less obvious by intermediate shades _between_ the register shades in the right-hand figure.] the author now offers, with all respect, but confidence, a few criticisms on the eminent investigators whose conclusions and methods he has been discussing. madame seiler was the writer who, as has been already said, brought more numerous and higher qualifications of a scientific and practical kind to the investigation of this subject than any other person. however, the study of physics, involving as it does the use of methods of extreme precision, tends to beget habits of mind which are not in all respects the best for the consideration of biological problems. madame seiler and her master, the physicist helmholtz, regarded the vocal mechanism very much in the same light as they did their laboratory apparatus. only in this way can the author explain some of madame seiler's positions; but on this assumption one can understand why she should make five registers, and consider them all, apparently, of equal importance. this latter, together with the tendency generally to present her views in too rigid a form, was, we think, her great error. behnke admitted that all five registers might be heard, especially in contraltos, but he did not attach equal importance to each of these registers. mackenzie the author conceives to have been misled by the very method that he considered a special virtue in his investigations--the examination of trained singers. surely, if one would learn what is nature's teaching on this subject, he must not draw conclusions from trained vocalists alone! by training one may learn to walk well on his hands, but this does not prove such a method the natural one, nor would it be good reasoning to draw this conclusion, even if a few individuals were found who could thus walk more rapidly than in the usual way. the diversity that mackenzie found in singers does not, in the author's opinion, exist in nature; much if not most of it was due to training, and all that can be said is that several people may sing in different ways with not greatly different æsthetic results; but such methods of investigation may, as in this case, lead to conclusions that are dangerously liberal. the author holds to-day, as he did when he published his results many years ago, that "impressions from general laryngoscopic observations or conclusions drawn from single cases will not settle these questions. very likely differences such as these writers allude to may exist to a slight degree; but if they do, i question whether they are sufficiently open to observation ever to be capable of definition; nor is it likely that they interfere with methods of voice-production which are alike operative in all persons." holding these views, not only can the author not agree with those who believe that the change in a register occurs in different persons of the same voice (_e.g._, soprano) at appreciably different levels in the scale, and even varies naturally from day to day, but he holds that to believe this in theory and embody it in practice is to pursue a course not only detrimental to the best artistic results, but contrary to the plain teachings of physiology in general and that of the vocal organs in particular. the change in a register should be placed _low_ enough in the scale to suit all of the same sex. _it is safe to carry a higher register down, but it is always risky, and may be injurious to the throat, to carry a lower up beyond a certain point._ the latter leads not only to a limitation of resources in tone coloring, but also to straining, to which we have before alluded. though this process may not be at once obviously injurious, it _invariably_ becomes so as time passes, and no vocalist who hopes to sing much and to last can ignore registers, much less make the change at a point to any appreciable extent removed from those that scientific investigation and equally sound practice teach us are the correct ones at which to make the changes. why is it that some artists of world-wide reputation sing as well to-day as twenty years ago, while others have broken down or have become hopelessly defective in their vocal results in a few years? there is but one answer in a large proportion of these cases: correct methods in the former and wrong methods in the latter class of singers--and "correct" in no small degree refers to a strict observance of registers. the author has known a professional soprano to sing every tone in the trying "hear, o israel" (_elijah_) in the chest register. how can such a singer hope to retain either voice or a sound throat? but so long as audiences will applaud exhibitions of mere lung-power and brute force the teachings of physiology and healthy art will be violated. but, surely, all artists themselves and all enlightened teachers should unite in condemning such violations of nature's plain teachings! the question of the registers is generally considered now a somewhat simpler one for males than for females. basses and barytones sing in the chest register only; tenors are usually taught to sing in the chest register; but few teachers believe that the high falsetto is worth the expenditure of the time and energy necessary to attain facility in its use. probably in many male voices there are the distinctions of register madame seiler alludes to--_i.e._, first chest and second chest, or some change analogous to the middle of females; but, from one cause and another, this seems to readily disappear. whether it would not be worth maintaining is a question that the author suggests as at least worth consideration. certain it is that, speaking generally, there is no change in males equally pronounced with the passage from the lowest to the next higher (chest to middle) register in females. what, then, are the views that the author believes so well grounded, in regard to the registers, that they may be made, in all confidence, the basis of teaching? without hesitation, he recommends that arrangement of the registers set forth in the last chapter. it is not the exclusive invention nor the basis of practice of any one person, but it may fittingly enough be associated with the name of a woman who for over fifty years has taught singing with so much regard for true art and for nature's teachings--_i.e._, for physiological as well as artistic principles. such a method for female voices is wholly consistent with the best scientific teaching known to the author; it is in harmony with the laws of vocal hygiene; it gives the singer beautiful tones, and leaves her with improved, and not injured, vocal organs. such an arrangement of the registers is not marred by the rigidity of madame seiler's nor the laxity of mackenzie's, but combines flexibility with sufficiently definite limitations. as to just how much a teacher of singing should say to the pupil on the subject of registers, and especially in a physiological way, must depend on circumstances. about the wisdom of teachers of singing (and elocution) understanding the vocal mechanism, and carefully weighing the matter of registers from every point of view, the reader of this book will have no doubt, by this time, the author ventures to hope. of course, one may object that for every tone, as it differs slightly in quality from its neighbor in the scale, there should be a new register--a new mechanism. such an objection, though theoretically sound, is of no practical weight. what students wish to know and instructors to teach is how to attain to good singing--the kind that gives genuinely artistic results, and leaves the throat and entire body of the vocalist the better for his effort. the teaching of this work in regard to the registers and other subjects is intended to accomplish this, and not to occupy the attention of readers with vocal or physiological refinements of no practical importance. the author has always been of opinion that those who have investigated and written on this subject have devoted insufficient attention to one point--viz., the manner of using the breath. the breathing in the use of the high falsetto, for example, is as different as are the laryngeal processes; and this is a point of practical importance, for the voice-user must ever consider economy in breathing. it is expenditure in this direction that most taxes all singers, even the best trained and the most highly endowed. but the student, deeply impressed with the importance of the subject of registers, may ask: "how am i to distinguish between one register and another? how am i to know when i am singing with chest, middle, or head voice?" the answer is: "by sensations"--chiefly by hearing, but also by certain sensations (less properly termed "feelings") in the resonance-chambers and to a certain extent in the larynx. of course, before one can thus identify any register, he must have heard a singer of fairly good voice form the tones of this particular register. one who has never heard sounds of a particular color or quality cannot, of course, learn to recognize them from mere description, though by this means he is often _prepared_ to hear, and to associate clear ideas with that hearing. as the registers are of such great practical importance, especially for the female voice, there is no period when it is of so much value to have a lady teacher as just when the voice is being "placed"--which should mean the recognition of its main quality, and the teaching of registers by imitation as well as description. the student should be made to understand, by practical examples, the subject of "covering," or modification. certainly, the training of a vocalist cannot be adequately undertaken by even the most learned musician, however good an instrumentalist, if he has paid no attention to the voice practically. much of the teaching done by those ignorant of voice-production, however well meant, may be a positive drawback, and leave the would-be singer with faults that may never be wholly eradicated. the author would recommend all students who have begun a serious practical study of the registers to hear, if possible, some singer of eminence who observes register formation strictly. in this way more can often be done in getting a clear notion of their characteristic qualities, in a single evening, than by listening to an ordinary amateur, or to such a voice as an otherwise excellent vocal teacher can bring to her work, on many occasions; better one hour listening to a melba, with her observance of registers, covering, etc., as set forth by the author in this chapter, than a score of vocalists of indifferent, even if not incorrect production. one then has before her an individual who, after long and careful training, attains results not, indeed, within the reach of all, but such as may be approached if the same methods are pursued long enough; and in madame melba, and others that might be named, the student has examples of how those using correct methods, and not worshipping at the shrine of mere vocal power, may retain the vocal organs uninjured and the voice unimpaired after the lapse of well-nigh a score of years of exacting public singing. teachers will do well to encourage their pupils to hear the best singers; for do not students need inspiration as well as discipline? granted that the ear can at once determine what register the pupil herself or another singer may be using, what other guide has she? there are certain sensations, as already said, felt within the resonance-chambers and larynx, which are sure guides. in a person who had learned to recognize the correct register formation by the help of the ear and those sensations now referred to, the latter would suffice to be a partial guide, at least, even had he become deaf. while these sensations are absolutely characteristic, it is difficult to describe them; they must be experienced to be understood. to attempt to describe the taste of a peach to one who knew that of an apple but had never eaten a peach would be, perhaps, not absolutely useless, but would certainly serve little purpose. the sensation must accompany the correct formation of the tone. the term "straining" carries with it the idea of unpleasant sensations; all understand practically what this term means; yet the sensation of strain in a tenor carrying his chest register too high is no more marked than the sensation of relief when he changes to the falsetto. when once the voice has been well placed, little attention need be, or is usually, paid _consciously_ to the sensations associated of necessity with all changes in the vocal organs. when one becomes unduly conscious of any of the normal sensations of the body, he is no longer a perfectly healthy person. at the same time, as we have pointed out in chapter ii., and shall do more at length shortly, sensations are absolutely essential guides for all muscular and other processes of the body; but they should enter just so much into consciousness, and no more. it is practically helpful to the voice-producer and the teacher to think of the resonance-chambers and the ear as bearing a close relationship to the movements essential to tone-production. the sensations from these parts are of importance above all others in voice-production. they are the chief guides, and the attention may to advantage be concentrated on them. no doubt the question of registers for the speaker must be considered, but this can be done to greater advantage in a later chapter. summary. all good definitions of a register must recognize two things: change of quality in the voice, and change of mechanism in the vocal apparatus. a break is not a register, but occurs because of the existence of registers. the abrupt transition, or break, is to be avoided by covering, or modification of the upper tones of the lower (at least) register. for an adequate scientific examination of the question of registers, many qualifications are required in the investigator; and the student, when not an investigator, should endeavor to weigh the evidence presented so as to choose with caution from among conflicting opinions. he should be suspicious of those who scout the value of scientific study of this or any other subject, and also of those who claim that experience is of no importance in settling such a question. though several well-qualified persons who have written on the subject differ in some respects, they are in agreement as to many of the more important points. they are practically all convinced that there is commonly a change of register for all voices, at or near one point in the scale (f), and that if this be practically disregarded, dangerous straining may result. conclusions drawn from trained singers, alone, may be misleading. all classes of persons should be examined with the laryngoscope, if correct and far-reaching generalizations are to be safely made. the precision and rigidity of physics and mathematics cannot be introduced with safety into a subject of this character; otherwise the division and limits of registers will be fixed with a narrowness of margin that does not comport with nature's methods. in all questions of register, the method of breathing--_i.e._, the nature of the application of the expiratory blast--must be duly considered. with male voices, the subject is usually considered much simpler than in the case of female voices. men sing mostly in the chest register; basses and barytones wholly so, with the rarest exceptions. tenors are taught to do so. whether there might not be a subdivision of this register made to advantage in training, the author leaves as an open question; but about straining, in the case of tenors and all others, and as to the importance of recognizing three registers for female voices, there is in his mind no question. the fact that some may not be able to produce head tones does not justify carrying up the chest register to any appreciable extent, even by altos. now, as in past times, the high falsetto for males, if good, the result of proper training, has the warrant of both art and sound physiology. in the use of registers, sensations are infallible guides. of these, the most important are those associated with the organs of hearing, but those arising in the vocal organs are also valuable. those only should expect to sing artistically, and to preserve their voices unimpaired for a long period, who wisely observe nature's teachings in regard to registers. chapter xii. fundamental principles underlying voice-production. it is highly important for the speaker or singer to realize early in his career that all forms of artistic expression can be carried out only through movements--muscular movements; in other words, technique or execution implies the use of neuro-muscular mechanisms. however beautiful the conception in the mind of the painter, it can only become an artistic thing when it assumes material form--when it is put on canvas. the most beautiful melody is no possession of the world while it is in the mind of the composer alone; till it is _expressed_, it is as good as non-existent. even poetry can only affect us when it exists in the form of words produced by lip or pen. between the glowing thought of the poet and the corresponding emotion produced in ourselves there must intervene some form of technique--_i.e._, some application of neuro-muscular action. this latter term is a convenient one, and has been already explained. it is a condensed expression for that use of the nervous and muscular systems that results in movements, simple or complex. without nerve-cells and muscles movements are impossible, speaking generally, and for a willed or voluntary movement there must be something more, an idea or concept. before one can make a movement resulting in a simple line or even dot on a piece of paper, he must have the idea of that line or dot in mind. in like manner, before one plays or sings a single note, he must have the idea of that note in mind; in other words, the idea is the antecedent to the movement, and absolutely essential. to have such an idea, memory is necessary. it is impossible to sing a tone after another, as an imitative effort, unless one has the power to retain that tone in memory for at least a brief period of time; and before this same tone can be reproduced on sight of it as represented by a written note, the memory of the sound to which it answers must first be recalled; and not only so, but other memories--indeed, memories of all the sensations associated with the bodily mechanism used in producing it. this applies to all movements, of whatever kind, that we at any time execute. without the past--_i.e._, without memories--no present. some of the memories associated with an act may be lost, and others, sufficient for its performance in some fashion, remain. a man may forget, after the lapse of months or years, how to tie his necktie in a certain way, as he stands before a mirror; yet on turning away he may succeed at once. in this case the visual memories, those that come through the eyes, were lost, but others, those associated with muscular movements, remain. the muscular sense may prove an adequate guide when the visual is ineffective. in the same way, one may call up a melody by moving the fingers over the piano keys, when it cannot otherwise be recovered, or one rescues an air from oblivion by humming a few of its tones; all of which is explained by the revival of muscular and similar memories. all voluntary movements are at first accomplished relatively slowly and with difficulty. they soon weary us. a child learns to walk with the greatest difficulty, and only after numberless failures or errors. the first tones of the would-be pianist or violinist are produced but slowly and with great difficulty, in spite of the most determined effort. if the attempts to vocalize are any more successful, it is because one has already learned to talk--a process that in the first instance (in infancy) was even more laborious than that of walking. the degree to which any one succeeds in his earliest efforts to sing a scale will depend on the readiness with which he can use a variety of neuro-muscular mechanisms--indeed, all those associated with the respiratory, laryngeal, and resonance apparatus. fortunately for the voice-user, this apparatus has all been in use in ordinary speaking. but when this latter process is analyzed, it is found that it is not essentially different from singing. in each the same mechanism is used, and in much the same way; but every one knows that not all who can talk are able to sing, and it is usual to say that those who cannot have no "ear" for music; and this expresses a part of the truth, though not in a scientific way. what is really the truth is found to be, on analysis, that certain guiding sensations, chiefly those from the hearing apparatus (ear, nerves, brain), are insufficient, owing either to natural defect or lack of training; but that this is not the only explanation is plain from the fact that many composers with the most vivid musical imagination, the most perfect auditory memory, and the most acute ear, cannot sing in any but the most imperfect manner. as we have said before, the speaker of great power to affect his fellows through tones, or the artistic singer, must be a sort of vocal athlete. in the athlete there is a very perfect association into one whole of certain sensations from eye, skin, muscles, etc., and certain movements. these exist in all men, but in very unequal degree. the singer is a tone specialist in whom the perception of the pitch and the quality of sounds may not be more acute than in the composer, possibly less so, but he can do what the composer of music often cannot--viz., associate these sensations with muscular movements of a highly perfect character; in different words, he has the technique which others have not in an equal degree. in the singer and speaker there is a very close association between the sensations of the resonance-chambers, the larynx, and other parts of the vocal mechanism, and those from the ear. so perfect does this become from training that the necessary technique at last becomes easy. but it is of the greatest importance that the exact nature of this process be realized by both students and teachers, for weighty considerations grow out of it. we wish to impress the fact that the nature of all neuro-muscular processes is essentially the same. learning to sing is like learning to talk, and the latter is not radically different from learning to walk. this last is at first slow, imperfect, laborious, and largely a voluntary or willed process, or, more strictly, a series of processes. as progress is made, there is less of the voluntary and more that is involuntary, or what physiologists term reflex. when ideas, feelings, etc., enter into a process which is carried out reflexly, a _habit_ is formed. one may say that talking implies a series of associated reflexes, the parts associated being the respiratory, the laryngeal, and the resonance apparatus. singing only approaches this condition of reflex action and habit after practice, and yet no air is perfectly sung except when the result is the outcome of a sort of new habit. every song involves, the learning of new vocal habits. one forms a new habit of an athletic character all the more readily because of previous ones. a man learns to play one game of ball the better, usually, if he have already played at another, the reason being that he has only to modify the action of neuro-muscular mechanisms, not associate new mechanisms together to the same extent as in the formation of a habit of a widely different kind, as rowing a boat. at the same time, one must always unlearn something--break up old habits, to some extent. an opera singer often makes a failure of oratorio at first. the sets of reflexes or the habits, bodily and mental, which he has found valuable for the one form of art do not suit the other perfectly; nevertheless, the same materials are used, the reflexes are in the main the same. he must use preventions, or _inhibitions_, as the physiologists term them. rather is it that he must avoid doing certain things--_i.e._, modify his neuro-muscular processes or reflexes, than form wholly new ones. were it not for reflexes and habits, learning would be so slow one lifetime would not suffice to make an artist. it must be apparent that habits and reflexes are nature's ways of economizing energy. as the best have but a limited amount of energy, it should be the aim of every one who will not be a mere reckless spendthrift to economize, to make the most of what nature has given him; hence the purpose of practice is not only to render success more certain and more perfect, but to make efforts tell to the fullest extent with as little expenditure of energy to the speaker or singer as possible. _he sings or speaks best who attains the end with the least expenditure of energy._ it may with scientific accuracy be said that the object of the student should be to attain to the formation of correct habits in singing and speaking, and of the teacher to guide in this process. it follows that all practice by the beginner should be carried out only in the presence of one who knows the correct methods and can teach the student how to form his habits wisely. practice alone may not only do little good, but, by the formation of wrong habits of production, be positively mischievous; yet a trainer of athletes often lays more restrictions on his ward as to when and how he shall practise, and exercises more supervision over it, than do some teachers of singing, in spite of the fact that the apparatus the singer or speaker uses is much more delicate, and wrong habits much more injurious. the admonition "practise, practise," is greatly overdone. the best results cannot be obtained in either singing, speaking, or playing, with the lengthy and necessarily more or less imperfect if not careless practice in which many students of music indulge. better ten minutes with the whole attention of a fresh and interested mind given intelligently to a subject than ten hours of mere mechanical movement. it is a mistake to suppose that the acquirement of a sound technique is a purely mechanical process. we have shown that for all successful effort there must be the idea, and as soon as that fades, from weariness, etc., the practice should be discontinued. students are not treated fairly when given exercises the meaning or purpose of which is not explained to them. there is now more need than ever that the teacher of music or elocution should be intellectual and not mechanical in his methods. technique is mechanism, but it should be mechanism subordinated to ideas. technique is essential to art, but it is not art. art is the soul, technique the body. the soul will be unknown to the world without technique; hence the author strives in this book to teach the principles on which a sound vocal technique rests, but only that what is best in the soul be not hidden, that the one noble or poetic thought shall be multiplied a thousand times--indeed, that if it be sufficiently worthy, it shall, like tennyson's brook, "go on forever." to believe, on the one hand, that the highest art can be attained with a very mediocre technique, and, on the other, that a perfect technique is the main object of musical training, are alike great and mischievous errors. the author has been asked frequently such questions as the following: "when is the best time to practise? how long should a singer practise at one time, and for how long during a single day? should one practise softly (_piano_) or vigorously (_forte_)?"--etc. often the student is puzzled by contradictory opinions on this subject. one celebrated prima donna states that she never practises more than one hour a day; another, equally distinguished, that she has often spent several hours in almost continuous strenuous practice. what is the student to believe, and whom to follow? no one, for no two persons are alike. all the above questions can be safely and surely answered in the light of science and experience combined, but such questions cannot be settled by the dictum of any singer, teacher, or writer, nor does the experience, in itself, of any one person furnish an adequate guide for others. [illustration: fig. 53. by this diagram the author has attempted to give the reader some idea of the nature of the chain of processes involved in singing a single tone, from the time the eye looks on the note till the muscles concerned have given it utterance as a tone. the various nervous centres concerned are all in the brain (though the spinal cord supplies some subordinate centres). there are sensory centres, or those for the eye and the ear, and motor centres, or those sending the commands to the muscles involved. further, these must be _connected_ by paths not shown in detail, but represented by one centre spoken of as an "association" centre, which may also, possibly, have much to do with emotions, etc. but, at all events, the dependence of movements on ingoing messages or sensations is emphasized. the deaf cannot speak or sing, and the blind cannot read (ordinary) music. the defect may not be in either senses or muscles, but in the relating nervous mechanism between them. as explained in the body of the work, execution depends on at least two factors, sensations, or ingoing messages, and movements determined by these. now the _connection_ between the ingoing and the outgoing impulses is the most important and the least understood part, but the above diagram will at least serve to emphasize the fact that such connections exist, and that in a general way the result, performance, can be explained. no attempt has been made to trace the path of other sensory impulses than those from eye and ear, as this would make the diagram too complicated.] investigation has shown that the use of muscles tends to the accumulation of the waste products of vital activity; that such accumulation is associated with the experience in consciousness of what we term "fatigue," and which is preceded by "weariness." the latter is a warning that the more serious condition is approaching, but is to be distinguished from another feeling not necessary to name, often present in unwilling youthful students, and for which various forms of treatment are sometimes tried so unsuccessfully that it is as well to discontinue study altogether. 1. the time at which, as a rule, any work can best be carried out is during the early hours of the day, so that if it is possible, practice should be begun early, and after some preliminary exercise for the good of the body generally--_e.g._, a short walk, during which the lungs may be filled with pure air. as the muscles of the chest, etc., are to be used in voice-production, such a walk or other form of general exercise should not be lengthy. energy should be reserved for the muscular activities involved in vocal practice. 2. the principle that guides in all use of the muscles, all exercise, is that it be taken under the most favorable circumstances and short of fatigue, even of weariness; hence the question whether the student should practise five minutes or one hour is one that he himself, and he alone, can determine, provided he is old enough and observant enough to know when he begins to feel weary in his vocal mechanism, whether it be in the respiratory organs, the larynx, or the resonance-chambers. with some there is a weak spot, and this settles the question for all other parts. as a rule, beginners will do well not to practice, at first, for longer at one time than five minutes, not only because of the possible weariness, but because at the outset it is difficult to keep the attention fixed. the ear and brain tire as well as the muscles. naturally, the condition of the student at the time has much to do with the length of a practice, but all things are determined by the sensible application of that principle which science and experience alike show to be a safe guide. naturally, as in other exercises, the duration of an exercise may be gradually lengthened with experience. one singer may find an hour a day sufficient, if she be already perfectly trained in every respect--be "in good form," or "fit," as the athletes say--and have only light or _coloratura_ parts to sing; but would this suffice to form a singer to sustain the heaviest dramatic parts for hours together before a large public audience? the training of a hundred-yards sprinter should not be the same as that prescribed for a long-distance runner or a wrestler. [illustration: fig. 54. the above is a diagrammatic representation of a highly magnified section (or very thin slice) through the outermost or most superficial part of the great brain (cortex cerebri), and is inserted to help the reader to form some idea of the complexity of structure of the most important part of the brain so far as the highest mental processes are concerned. this complexity is greater in man than in other animals.] [illustration: fig. 55. a nerve-cell from the outer rind of the great brain (cortex cerebri), much magnified. (schäfer.)] 3. in all practice it is ever to be borne in mind that the end, even in an exercise, is artistic. tones of that quality only which is the best possible to the singer at the time are to be produced, and everything else must yield to this. 4. no wise trainer ever allows his charges to go on a racing track and at once run a hundred yards at the highest possible speed. such a course would be against all sound knowledge and all the best experience. hence the question of _piano_ and _forte_ practice answers itself; the singer should never begin any exercise _forte_, but either _piano_ or _moderato_--as to which depends on the individual. some persons can only after long study produce really good tones _piano_; such if not most persons should, of course, begin practising with moderate force. certainly, the voice-user should, in order to gain volume, gradually increase the vigor of his practice, but exactly how to do this, and to what extent daily, are questions in which the advice of a sensible and experienced teacher is of great value, though the principle on which that opinion should be founded is clear enough. 5. the questions as to the total amount of time to be devoted to practice in a single day, and as to whether practice should be continued day after day for weeks and months without interruption, must be decided by the condition of the student, and not by any arbitrary opinion. some individuals and some racers have a capacity for steady work not possessed by others, and happy are they; but there are others who go on by spurts, and such natures are often capable of reaching lofty artistic heights, if they be wisely managed. they need much the same sort of care as a very fleet but uncertain race-horse, and they are often a source of disgust to themselves and of worry to their teachers; but they in some cases get far beyond what the more steady ones can attain to, while others are so unsteady without being talented that they are a trial, and a trial only, to all concerned. such people should, even when clever, not be encouraged in their vagaries, but brought gradually and tactfully under a stricter discipline. 6. "hasten slowly" applies to all musical practice, that of the voice included, and there never was a time in the history of the world, unfortunately, when people believed in it less. the author would especially warn the student against attempting to force progress by violent or unduly long-continued practices, for if the vocal apparatus be strained, it may remain impaired for months or even for life. "little and often" is a good maxim for vocal practice, all the more as the discontinuation, for the time, of voice-production need not imply that the mind must cease to act. an artist is not formed by vocalization alone, but by processes of education that are many and complicated, into which we might be tempted to enter did they not lie beyond the range of the present work. if the principles set forth in this chapter are scientifically reliable, and we believe they will not be questioned, certain practical considerations are well worthy of special attention. if practice, repetition, leads to the formation of habits more or less fixed, then there can be no surer way to ruin a speaker or vocalist than to permit him to practise by a wrong method; the more he practises, the more he stamps in what is bad. it follows that the most hopeless cases eminent teachers have to deal with are to be found among those vocalists who come to them after years of professional life before the public. one must look on some of these people as on a building spoiled by a bad architectural design. in some cases there is nothing to do but to take the whole structure apart and put it together afresh. it may be humiliating to the vocalist, and it is a severe condemnation of certain methods of teaching, but there is often no other course open, the only question being as to whether the material is good enough to warrant such a radical proceeding. every eminent teacher can recall such cases, and might fill volumes with their histories. if more of these were published as warnings to students and teachers, a good purpose would be served. it is truly sad to find that the prospects of one who might have been formed into a fine artist have been hopelessly ruined by years of practice based on principles that are radically unsound. in the next chapter some specific applications of the principles discussed in the foregoing pages will be considered. summary. all forms of artistic and other expression imply movements. for a willed or voluntary movement there are required (1) an idea, (2) a neuro-muscular mechanism. such movements may be relatively simple or highly complex. they all tend, when frequently carried out, to become reflex, and to some extent unconscious or subconscious. combinations of reflexes when associated with consciousness become habits. movements only attain their highest perfection when they reach this stage. it follows that the purpose of all musical practice should be to establish those reflexes which attain the end, the ideal, and to form correct habits. a poem properly recited or a song satisfactorily sung implies a combination of certain reflexes or habits. some of these are in their main features common to all speech and song, but many are peculiar to each example. as phonation implies the use of the muscles (neuro-muscular mechanisms) of the (1) respiratory organs, (2) vocal bands, (3) resonance-chambers, and as these must all work in harmony, or be "co-ordinated," it will be seen that speaking and singing are physiologically highly complex. when, in addition, ideas and feelings are associated, and determine the exact form of these co-ordinations, the whole matter is seen to be still more complex. the emission of a single tone implies (1) an idea--the nature of the sound as to pitch and quality, (2) such an arrangement of all the parts of the mechanism as will produce it. the former involves memory of the tone; the latter, memories of former movements. then, partly as a series of voluntary acts and partly reflexly, according as the student is more or less advanced, or the particular tone new or old in experience, do the various neuro-muscular arrangements pass into orderly action. in this process the ear is the chief guide, always in relation to memories. when one uses the printed page, the eyes also guide--_i.e._, the nervous impulses that pass in through these avenues determine the outgoing ones that bring the muscles into action. in doing so they rouse many others (associated nervous connections) which are highly important when an artistic result is to be reached. to consider a single case: assume that the note [illustration: a'] is to be sung. the following are required: (1) memory of this tone. (2) adaptation through eye and ear of all the neuro-muscular mechanisms required for (_a_) bringing the vocal bands into the correct position and degree of tension; (_b_) the proper shape, tension, etc., of the resonance-chambers; (_c_) that use of the breathing apparatus suitable to cause the proper vibrations of the vocal bands. all use of the voice implies this much, but in most instances there are _associated_ nervous mechanisms and ideas that are highly important in determining the exact volume, quality, etc., of the tone as related to expression of ideas and feelings according to conventional usage. the breath-stream must in all cases be so employed that there shall be economy of energy--no waste. waste occurs whenever air escapes to any appreciable extent through the glottis chink, as that implies an imperfect adjustment of the vocal bands and the expiratory current. from this and other points of view it may be said that _he is the best singer who gets the most perfect result with the least expenditure of energy_. it is of the highest importance that during every practice, and every moment of each practice, attention be given to as perfect a result as possible, and that the same method be invariably employed. all questions as to methods of practising can be decided on well-known scientific principles which harmonize with experience, and need not be left in that loose and unsatisfactory condition when the dictum of some individual is substituted for principles capable of actual experimental demonstration. chapter xiii. chiefly an application to voice production of facts and principles previously considered. certain sounds may be made without the use of words or syllables, even without the employment of vowels or consonants, but intonation proper cannot be carried out without vowels, at least. the exact nature of vowels and consonants will be considered in the next chapter, but in the meantime it may be pointed out that a vowel is a free and open sound requiring for its production a certain form of the resonance-chambers. neither vowels nor consonants are absolutely pure--that is, entirely free from foreign elements, from noise; but for all practical purposes a vowel is a pure sound, a consonant a sound accompanied inevitably by much noise. this noise is largely due to the difficulties of sounding consonants, the breath breaking against the vocal organs, especially the teeth, lips, etc., much as the waves of the sea against a rocky beach. so far then as musical quality is concerned, a consonant is an unmitigated nuisance. on the other hand, none but the most elemental communication by sounds could be carried out by the use of vowels alone. the consonants stop the breath-current, separate the vowels, and thus lay the foundation for the expression of ideas. ideas imply differences; a new idea is conveyed by a new word, which in its simplest form is a syllable. when a consonant is introduced after a vowel sound, a momentary arrest is produced in the breath-flow, and this has its corresponding effect on the mind. it is, in fact, equivalent to a pause--say a comma or a period. if introduced before a vowel, it is marked off in a more definite way. the effect of this is to enable the ear the better to grasp the sounds. there is the principle of differentiation and the principle of rest, both highly important in all sensory and other psychic or mental processes. consider the sentence "he is a man"--composed purely of monosyllables. remove the consonants, and we have the following: "e i a a." their ineffectiveness in conveying ideas is at once plain, for though "a man" conveys two ideas, such are not expressed by the vowels, which are identical, while "e" and "i" are common to too many words of one syllable to serve any useful purpose, alone, in the conveyance of _definite_ ideas. the consonants at once mark off the limitations; they fence around the ideas, so to speak. for the communication of ideas they are indispensable; nevertheless, being largely noises, they are musically abominable. it follows that voice-production should begin with vowel sounds, and not words--not even syllables. for successful intonation, the first steps should be made as simple as possible, as we have already endeavored to show, hence no such complication as a consonantal noise should be introduced. upon this point there is room for no difference of opinion, though as to which vowel sound is best suited for the beginner, and for more advanced voice-production, there has been great diversity in teaching--a diversity which we propose to show, in the next chapter, need not exist to any appreciable extent. certain vowel sounds may be said to be common to most of the languages used by civilized peoples. these are _u_ (_oo_), _[=o]_, _a_ (_ah_), _[=a]_, _i_ (_ei_), and _[=e]_. there is, fortunately, among teachers considerable agreement as to the question of the best vowel sound with which to begin intonation, or the process of forming musical tones. there can be no question that _a_ (ah) is for general purposes the best, the reason for which will appear later. unfortunately, there is not in the minds of students or teachers generally a sufficiently deep conviction of the importance of forming the voice by long-continued practice with vowels only, for which lack the spirit of the times is largely responsible. until a student of either speaking or singing can form every vowel perfectly, which implies the recognition of these sounds as pure and perfect, and the ability to sing them as the tones of a musical scale, he should not take a single step in any other direction. to do so is to waste tune and to lower artistic ideals. when words are to be used, the question as to which language should be employed is for the singer, at least, a very important one. the ideal vocalist who will bring before the ideal public the best in vocal music must sing in italian, french, german, and english, at least. each of these languages produces its own effects through the voice, and each presents its own advantages and difficulties; but all competent to judge are agreed that italian, because of the abundance of vowels in its words, is the best language in which to sing, or, at all events, to begin with as a training. because of the prevalence of consonants, the german and the english languages are relatively unmusical. the english abounds in hissing sounds, which are a trial to the singer with an exacting ear and perfect taste, and produce most unwelcome effects on the refined listener who really puts music first and the conveyance of ideas second in a vocal composition. it should, of course, be the aim of the student to overcome these difficulties, as german and english, the languages of goethe, schiller, and shakespeare, are for dramatic and some other purposes not equalled by any other languages. but the artist, and above all the musical artist, must be a citizen of the world. he deals with those forms of emotion common to all mankind, and not with the peculiar little combinations of ideas that grow up in a province, city, or village; though of course he will not neglect local coloring, so well illustrated in the folk-songs or popular melodies that have survived for ages in different countries. though a vowel can be produced pure only when the resonance-chambers assume a certain form, this is, of course, only one link in the chain of production. the breathing apparatus and the larynx are also concerned, and we are again brought back, as ever, to the triple combination of the three sets of mechanisms so often alluded to, yet, we venture to think, very inadequately linked in the minds of learners, if not also of teachers. in producing a vowel sound the end aimed at is, on the one hand, purity, on the other, as a result, the easy and effective use of mechanisms--_i.e._, the technique. in every case the breath must be used without waste--just enough, and no more; the laryngeal apparatus, the vocal bands, must be so adapted as to set the air of the resonance-chambers into perfect vibration, which only occurs when the expiratory blast is applied in the correct way and at the right moment to the properly adjusted vocal bands. this latter we have defined as the attack. it implies giving a good start to the tone. it is not all, but it is a large half, in the artist and for the auditor. reconsideration of the resonance-chambers we shall now give further attention to some of the more important parts of the resonance-chambers, in so far as they bear directly on voice-production. in singing and speaking, the larynx should be _steadied_, but not held rigidly fixed in any one position. it will be remembered that to this part of the vocal mechanism are attached, below, the trachea, and above, the tongue, indirectly through the hyoid bone and the thyro-hyoid membrane, as well as certain muscles which influence the relative position of these various parts, so that to maintain the larynx in the same position, absolutely, must be against nature's methods. the tongue alone must in its movements tend to alter the position of the larynx, as we have before pointed out. at the same time, the laxness and lack of control which some singers permit in their vocal organs, under the mistaken idea that all the parts of the "throat" cannot be too free, prevents them from getting the effects they desire, with that vigor and certainty the public so much admires, and rightly so. the golden mean should be observed; between undue tension, which implies inability to control, whether it be in the larynx or the breathing apparatus, and a looseness inconsistent with neat and certain results, the voice-producer must choose, with that common sense so indispensable to success in all undertakings, but which will never be adequately encouraged till students look more frequently for the reasons of the procedures recommended to them, and teachers strive to gain influence with their pupils by showing them that what they recommend lies beyond their own minds--that it, in fact, has its foundation in the laws of nature. of the tongue, soft palate, and lips, which are the principal modifiers of the shape of the mouth cavity, the tongue has by far the most influence. when the tongue lies flat in the mouth, it may be considered to be in its primary position, and it is important that in singing and speaking the student learn to begin his voice-production with this organ in that position, or a slight modification of it, for it is only when it is thus placed that a tone at once round, full, and pure can be produced. in order to secure this result, the vocalist or speaker must begin by taking breath through the mouth, as we have already insisted, and at once, before there is time for any stiffening of parts, commence to intonate--_i.e._, as soon as enough air has been inhaled for the purpose intended. the correct position is facilitated when one taking breath through the mouth acts as if about to _yawn_. if this act be well imitated, the student will find, on looking into a hand-glass, that the tongue is more or less furrowed behind in the middle--in other words, it forms a sort of trough; and the deeper the trough the student learns to form at will, the better, for there are times in actual singing and speaking when this must be as deep as possible. it is clear that in this way the central convexity above, formed by the hard palate, forms with the corresponding concavity in the tongue a sort of trumpet-shaped organ admirably adapted for the production of the desired tone. the tongue is important in the highest degree not only in the formation of vowels, as will be shown more fully in the next chapter, but also in shaping consonants. it is sometimes important to move the tongue from one position to another with great rapidity. such a composition as figaro's song (cavatina) in rossini's "barber of seville" could not be properly sung by any one not possessing great control over the tongue. indeed, this composition may be considered a perfect test of the extent to which the singer is a master of mouth gymnastics; and this is only one of many such works. in like manner, many passages in shakespeare and others of the best writers in all languages can only be spoken with effect by those with a mastery over the tongue, lips, soft palate, etc., but above all, the tongue. important as are the lips, many persons tend to use them too much, and the tongue too little, in speaking and singing. they attempt to make up for a mouth almost closed in front by the teeth, by excessive movements of the lips. special tongue and lip practice should be carried out before a mirror. the lips should be kept rather close to the gums, and moved away as little as possible (_i.e._, the lips), as to do so serves no good purpose, and is unpleasant to the eye of the observer. teeth and lips must be regarded, so far as musical sounds are concerned, as danger regions--rocks on the shore, against which the singer or speaker may shipwreck his tones. his object should be to use them adequately to form vowels and consonants--in other words, in the formation, not the spoiling, of words, as is so often the case. we cannot too much insist on both speaker and singer attending to forming a connection between his ear and his mouth cavity. he is to hear, that he may produce good tones, and the tones cannot be correctly formed if they be not well observed. to listen to one's self carefully and constantly is a most valuable but little practised art. the student should listen as an inexorable critic, accepting only the best from himself. this leads to the consideration of the question of the open mouth. the expression "open mouth" means, no doubt, to most people, the open lips rather than the open mouth cavity--_i.e._, open in front, the teeth well separated. in voice-production, by "open mouth" both open cavity and open lips must be understood. there is a special tendency in many, perhaps in most persons, to close the mouth cavity unduly in singing a descending scale. this is often accompanied by a bad use of the breath, and a general relaxation of the vocal apparatus, which is possibly more frequent in sopranos and tenors, whose chief effects are often produced by their high tones. but to-day, more than ever, when refined intellectual and emotional effects are demanded, is it important that the lower tones, so effective in producing emotional states, should not be neglected by any singer of whatever voice; while for speakers high tones are really comparatively little used. much more attention is paid by teachers and students to the open mouth at the present time than formerly; in fact, like some other good things, it is often overdone. the individuality of the singer and speaker must always be borne in mind. if some are obliged to open the mouth as much as others, the result will not be happy. any one may demonstrate to himself that the quality of a tone may be at once changed by unduly opening or closing the mouth. one may say that _the mouth should be sufficiently opened to produce the best possible effect_. we have never seen the mouth opened to such an extent that it was positively unsightly--reminding one of the rhinoceros at a zoo--without feeling that the tone had suffered thereby. if all would remember that the mouth is best opened by simply _dropping the lower jaw_, passively, in the easiest manner possible, the difficulties some students experience would disappear. many act as if the process were chiefly an active one, while the reverse is the case, as one may observe in the sleeper when the muscles become unduly relaxed--a condition that is often accompanied by snoring, which is produced by a mouth-breathing that gives rise to vibrations of the soft palate. we mean to say that the lower jaw drops when muscles relax, and that opening the mouth is largely a passive thing, while closing the mouth is an active process. the position of the head in its influence on tone-production is an insufficiently considered subject. it is impossible that the head be much raised or lowered without changes being produced in the vocal apparatus, especially the larynx, and if the tone is not to suffer in consequence, special care must be taken to make compensatory changes in the parts affected. it is only necessary to sing any vowel, and then raise the chin greatly, to observe a distinct change in the quality of the tone, with corresponding sensations in the vocal organs. to speak or sing with the head turned to one side is plainly unfavorable to the well-being of the parts used, because it leads to compression, which gives rise to that congestion before referred to as the source of so many evils in voice-users. to sit at a piano and sing is an unphysiological proceeding, because it implies that the head is bent in reading the music on a page much lower than the eyes, and when, with this, the head is turned to one side to allow of reading the music on the distant side of the page, furthest from the middle line of the head, the case is still worse. if all who thus use the vocal organs do not give evidence of the truth of the above by hoarseness, etc., it is simply because in young and vigorous organs there may be considerable power of resisting unfavorable influences. the student is recommended to use his voice in the standing position only, when possible, as all others are more or less unnatural. one often has the opportunity to observe how the effect is lost when a reader bends his head downward to look at his book or manuscript; and he himself, if the process is long-continued, will almost certainly feel the injurious influence of this acting on his vocal organs. chapter xiv. some specific applications of principles in tone production. it is no doubt valuable, indeed for most singers essential, to employ a series of elaborate exercises, or _vocalises_, which in some cases differ from each other only by slight gradations; but it is to be borne in mind that all the actual principles involved can be expressed practically in a very few exercises. these are: (1) the single sustained tone; (2) the tones of a scale sung so as to be smoothly linked together; (3) the same, sung somewhat more independently of each other; (4) the same, but each tone beginning and ending very suddenly. if the execution of any vocal musical composition be analyzed, it will be found that these four methods cover substantially the whole ground. as one other is very extensively used in giving expression in the form of shading, it is worthy of special mention--viz., (5) the swell. all others are modifications of the above. as these methods of tone-production are of so much importance, it will be worth while to analyze them. it will be found that in each there is a characteristic use of the breathing mechanism. the larynx and the resonance-chambers are of course intermediate, as usual, between the breath-stream and the result, the tone; without them there could be no tones. but if the student have clearly in mind the memory of the tone he wishes to produce, including its various properties of pitch, volume, quality, etc., it will be found that the point requiring strict attention, in production, is the breathing, especially the manner of using the expiratory current. 1. the sustained tone requires an amount of breath proportional to its length, and the great aim in its production should be to convert, so to speak, all the breath into tone, as we explained in a previous chapter. this sustained tone, which may be practised with advantage on every one of the notes of a scale, is, in the nature of things, the very foundation of all good singing and speaking. 2. in the second and third exercises the differences in the method lie in the attack and the manner of using the breath. the smoothly linked tones are the more difficult for most people, since they require special control over the laryngeal mechanism and the breathing apparatus. between the singing of a scale in this manner (_legato_), and as it is frequently done, there is the same difference as in walking up-stairs as does a perfectly trained ballet-dancer, and this act as carried out by a rough countryman, used only to ploughed fields, etc. for a perfect execution, the attack, while decisive enough, must be most carefully regulated, and the breathing, which is always to be considered in a good attack, must be of the most even character; the outflow requires the most perfectly controlled movements of the respiratory apparatus. in the other form of exercise (detached tones) there is often, at least, a little more emphasis on the attack, and the breathing is perhaps not always so even, but in some passages, in actual singing, the method employed for these less closely linked tones is in most respects the same as the last. 3. very different from all the preceding is the mode of production usually designated by musicians _staccato_, _marcato_, etc. the tone is attacked suddenly, and as suddenly dropped, which, expressed physiologically, means that the entire vocal mechanism is rapidly adjusted, one part to another, and as suddenly relaxed; and the one seems to be about as difficult as the other. in this a certain sudden tension of the vocal apparatus is essential. the whole respiratory apparatus, after the breath is taken, is held more or less tense. in executing these abrupt (staccato) effects the diaphragm is the chief agent, and operates against the column of air in the lungs, the chest and abdominal walls being kept more or less tense. though this is the case, the voice-producer will succeed best if he gives attention to the resonance-chambers, after having put the breathing mechanism into the right condition. there should be as little movement of the chest walls, diaphragm, larynx, etc., as possible. the whole is a question of tension, but not rigidity, and the reason the staccato effect is so difficult for most persons is that they attempt to accomplish it by _excessive movements_ of the breathing apparatus or larynx. the _mind_ must be relieved of any feeling of undue tension, and the result attained by the establishment of a close connection between the ear and the resonance-chambers. the first interrupted effects should be of very brief duration and as _piano_ as possible, but the attempt to produce the real staccato may to great advantage be preceded by an exercise recommended in chapter viii.,--viz., singing a tone of some duration, then suddenly interrupting it, and, with the same breath, beginning the tone again as suddenly as it was interrupted. in fact, till this can be done with ease the staccato proper should not be attempted, for though the principles involved are the same, the execution requires far more skill than the exercise recommended for an earlier stage, and which it is well to continue throughout. simple as these exercises seem from mere description, or as carried out with a certain degree of success, perfection in them is not to be attained short of years of the most diligent study. how many singers living can sing an ascending and a descending scale, in succession, with a perfect staccato, to mention no other effect? yet among all the resources of dramatic singing and speaking none is more important than this one. what so eloquent as the silence after a perfect stop--a complete and satisfactory arrest of the tone? how many modern actors are capable of it? how many singers? instead of the perfect arrest, the listener is conscious, not of the rounded and complete tone, but of an edge more or less ragged. there is some noise with the actual tone. the above exercises, when carried out to a perfect result, give us _bel canto_ singing, for which the old italian school was so noted, and which is now largely a lost art, not so much because the methods are not known to teachers, as because students will not do the work necessary to attain to this _bel canto_. we seek for short cuts, and we get corresponding results. the _bel canto_ is, simply, beautiful singing, the result of perfect technique, and is opposed to effects which are not truly artistic, though no doubt often highly expressive to the unmusical and the inartistic. they may appeal to us as feats, but they are not artistic results, and, as we have before insisted, they are injurious in many cases to the vocal organs, while good voice-production strengthens them. 5. the swell is simply a modification of the sustained tone. when a tone is perfectly sustained, without any change in volume, etc., we have a most valuable effect, and one very difficult to achieve, because it implies such a steady application of the breath power and such nice adjustments of all the parts concerned. to produce a tone with variations in it is easy enough, and that is what is usually given us instead of the perfectly even tone, reminding us of a straight line. in the swell, as the name suggests, the tone should rise gradually in volume or loudness, and as gradually decline. if this can be done readily, and continued for several seconds, it will be easy to produce other effects, as the sudden swell, but such effects should come after, not before, the slower ones. a critical observer soon realizes the defects of modern technique when he listens to a singer's tones when attempting slow effects, as in a softly sustained melody. only the well-trained vocalist can hope to sing such a melody, especially if long sustained, in a way to meet the demands of an exacting ear and advanced musical taste. it will be apparent that the swell is the basis of shading, a quality that is so highly appreciated in this refined age. he who can manage the swell perfectly has the secret of this effect in his possession as have none others. although we have referred more to the singer than to the speaker, in this chapter, it is to be understood that these and all other exercises suggested are of great value in forming the voice for public speaking. it is not so important, it must be admitted, for the speaker as for the singer that his tones be musically perfect, as he relies more on ideas than on tones, still, with every idea employed by the public speaker there is the inseparable feeling, or "feeling-tone;" so that the speaker, as well as the singer, is to some extent dependent on tone painting--indeed, must be, if he will be no mere man of wood, a "dry stick," to some extent, in spite of the use of appropriate language, gestures, etc. there are many avenues to the heart, and that by tones cannot with impunity be neglected by the speaker, though for his purpose the singing of tones need occupy only weeks or months, while for singers, in the case of all who would attain to a high degree of excellence, it must extend over years. "forward," "backward," etc., production. certain expressions are in common use by teachers and singers, such as "to direct the breath forward," "forward production," "backward production," etc. no doubt such terms may serve a practical purpose, though they are often used with lamentable vagueness, but it must be understood that they do not answer to any clearly demonstrated physiological principles. there is, for example, no clear evidence that the breath can be directed toward the hard palate in the neighborhood of the teeth, as the drawings sometimes published would indicate. it has already been many times urged that when breathing is satisfactory, breath does not escape to any considerable extent into the mouth cavity, but that the expiratory blast is used to set the air of the resonance-chambers into vibration. the changes that must be made in these cavities, to lead to certain effects, are accompanied by characteristic sensations, and these, and not the direction of the breath, are largely responsible for the ideas on which the above expressions rest. as before shown, the soft palate is constantly being used more or less, and when it and the tongue unite in action so as to cut off the mouth cavity, or, more strictly, the anterior portion of it, from the nasal chambers, a very pronounced modification in the tone results, and, of necessity, such actual escape of breath as occurs takes place through the nose. in reality, there is a special modification of the shape of the resonance-chambers for every tone produced, and especially when the color or quality is changed, as well as the pitch. there is, therefore, not only "forward" and "backward" but also middle production, though, in reality, these terms at best but imperfectly describe, even for practical purposes, what happens. it is to be feared that with some teachers of both singing and speaking "forward production" has become a sort of panacea for all vocal ills; but it is not, and just the reverse teaching is required in certain cases. if a voice be brilliant, yet hard, it will be improved by a more backward production, judiciously employed, and in this way the french language is often to be recommended to such singers, as it favors this backward production, with such use of the nasal resonance as mellows the tones. the tenor who has not learned the use of the nasal resonance, to give richness to the tones of his middle and upper range, has missed a valuable principle. on the other hand, for voices that are too soft, lack brightness, and fail in carrying-power, a more forward production will often improve the quality of the voice greatly. but a little consideration must convince the student that if he is to be master of his voice-production throughout, if he is to produce tones of every shade of quality, he must be able to shift that voice about in every quarter as occasion demands; in other words, _all the changes possible in the resonance-chambers must be at his command_. such is the case in the very greatest singers of both sexes; and, of course, this applies equally, if not still more, to speakers. when the voice-producer has learned to intonate surely, when the voice is "placed," and the secrets of the registers are known to him, he will do well to experiment a little, cautiously, with his own resonance-chambers, so as to widen his practical knowledge of the principles underlying the modification of tones. why should the student of the voice remain a mere imitator, when the one who works in any other direction is, or should be, encouraged to be an original investigator? the inability of students to judge of either the grounds for or the value of the exercises and methods recommended to them by their teachers seems to the author to indicate a regrettable state of things, which teachers of every form of vocal culture should endeavor to remedy. some teachers do not use the terms "backward" and "forward," but "darkening" and "brightening" the voice; and, of course, the result of a certain use of the tongue and soft palate is to darken or veil the quality of the voice. but the attentive reader will scarcely mistake the author's meaning in the above and other references to this subject. it is scarcely necessary to point out that in what has been said no encouragement is intended to be given to the nasal twang, or any thing resembling it--and it is easy to so use the nasal resonance that it becomes a defect; but the value of a judicious use of the nose in singing and speaking is, we are convinced, not as well known in vocal teaching as it deserves to be. summary. the relation of vowels and consonants to singing and speaking. intonation should be by vowels only, at first. consonants are a necessary evil in singing, but all-important in the formation of words--_i.e._, in imparting ideas. every language has its own special merits and defects for the purposes of song and speech. that language which abounds in vowels is the best adapted for vocal exercises, etc. it is a cardinal error to begin a course in speaking and especially singing with exercises based on words. vowel sounds should be exclusively employed at first. in the formation of vowels and consonants the resonance-chambers are especially involved. the tongue, soft palate, and lips are the most movable parts, and so have the largest share in giving color and meaning to sounds--_i.e._, they are the organs most important in the formation of the elements of words. the "open mouth" should mean open mouth cavity and duly separated lips. it is important that there be control of all parts of the resonance-chambers, and always in relation to other parts of the vocal apparatus. chapter xv. the elements of speech and song. the subject treated in this chapter may be made dry enough; but if the student will, while reading the descriptions given, endeavor to form the sounds described, observing at the same time his own resonance-chambers (mouth parts) carefully in a hand-glass, and then follow up the applications made, the reader's experience will be, in all probability, like the author's: the more the subject is studied the more interesting does it become, especially if one experiments with his own resonance apparatus. vowels and consonants are the elements of syllables, and words are composed of the latter. however pure a vowel is, it is accompanied in its utterance by some noise; a consonant, by relatively a great deal of noise. a _noise_, in distinction to a musical tone, is characterized by irregularity as regards the vibrations that reach the ear, while in the case of a tone a definite number of vibrations strikes against the drum-head of the ear within a given time; so that so far as syllables and words, even vowels, are concerned, we are not dealing with pure tones. for the formation of each vowel a definite form of the resonance-chambers is essential. in uttering, either for the purposes of speech or song, the vowel _u_ (_oo_), the mouth cavity has the form of a large flask such as chemists use for their manipulations, but the neck in this case is short. the whole resonance cavity is elongated, and the lips are protruded; the larynx is depressed, and the root of the tongue and the fauces (folds from the soft palate, usually spoken of as the "pillars of the fauces") approach. the pitch of this vowel is very low. [illustration: fig. 56 (beaunis). shows the position of parts in sounding the vowel _a_. by comparing this illustration with those following, the relatively greater size of the cavity of the mouth in this case will be evident. the reader is recommended to at once test the correctness of these representations by sounding the vowels, and observing the parts of his own vocal mechanism with a hand-mirror.] in _[=o]_ the lips are nearer to the teeth, and the neck of the flask is shorter and wider; the larynx is somewhat more elevated than in the last case, and the pitch of the sound is higher. when sounding _a_ (as in _father_) the mouth cavity has the shape of a funnel, wide in front; the tongue lies rather flat on the floor of the mouth, the lips are wide apart, and the soft palate is somewhat raised. in _[=a]_ (as in _fate_) there is some modification of the last, the tongue and larynx being more raised. the pitch of this vowel is higher than is that of the more open _a_. in the case of _[=e]_ (as in _me_) the flask is relatively small, and the neck is long and narrow, the larynx much raised, the lips drawn back against the teeth, and the tongue greatly elevated, so as to form the narrow neck of the flask. the pitch of this vowel is high. [illustration: fig. 57 (beaunis). shows the relative position of parts in sounding _i_. in sounding _e_ the position is a good deal like that for _i_.] when sounding _[=i]_ (as in _mine_) the cavity of the mouth behind resembles a small-bellied flask with a long, narrow neck, the larynx is at its highest, and the lips assume a position much as in the case of _[=e]_; between the hard palate and the back of the tongue there is only a narrow passage--a mere furrow. the pitch of this vowel is also high. it is thus seen that every vowel has its characteristic quality and pitch, the order as regards the latter being from below upward, _u_, _o_, _a_, _[=a]_, _e_, _i_. that the mouth cavity really can act as a resonance-chamber can be easily demonstrated by holding a small vibrating tuning-fork before the open mouth, and varying the shape and size of the cavity till the sound of the fork is observed to be suddenly increased in volume. the cavity then is a resonance-chamber for the fork, and thus intensifies its sound; in other words, the air in the mouth cavity vibrates in harmony with the tuning-fork. to demonstrate in a simple manner that each vowel has its own pitch, the mouth cavity is put into the form usual in sounding the vowel, and the finger is filliped against the cheek, when a tone answering in pitch to that of the vowel in question results. the demonstration is easier with the lower-pitched, broader vowels, but the correctness of the order of the pitch mentioned above can thus be shown to be established. some very important principles for the speaker and singer hinge upon the above-mentioned facts. it follows, for example, that it is impossible to give a vowel its _perfect_ sound in any but one position of the mouth parts, so that for a singer to utter a word containing the vowel _[=u]_ (_oo_) at a high pitch is a practical impossibility. the listener may know what syllable is meant, and overlook the defect either from habit or from an uncritical attitude, but composers of vocal music should bear such facts in mind and not impose impossibilities on singers. at the same time, the vocalist, in order to satisfy a modern audience, is obliged to sound every word and every syllable as correctly as possible, even if the tone suffer somewhat thereby. it is wonderful how fully the best poets have, with the insight of genius, adapted their words (vowels) to the ideas they wish to convey, and had all composers of vocal music done the same, the path of the singer would not have been strewn with so many thorns. the difficulties in the case of the speaker are similar, but less marked, as his range is so much more limited as regards pitch. [illustration: fig. 58 (beaunis). shows the relative position of the parts in sounding _ou_.] this subject has also most important bearings on the learning of languages. one is born with tendencies toward certain mouth positions, etc., and from infancy he is constantly using the resonance-chambers in certain characteristic ways. in the course of years these positions, etc., become such fixed habits that it is difficult to change them, so that for this as well as many other reasons the learning of languages by persons beyond a certain age is a difficult matter. but to all students of a foreign tongue it is really essential to explain the physical mechanism by which the various sounds are made. the author has known an adult to struggle for months with french and german pronunciation, and get into a state of discouragement, fearing that he never would be able to learn the languages in which he wished to speak and sing, when a few moments spent in explaining just what we have written above for vowels, and what we have earlier and shall now more fully set forth in this chapter as regards consonants, have been followed by the lifting of the cloud from the mind and of a load of heaviness from the heart. the learner should (1) hear the sound (elemental--a vowel, say) from the lips of the teacher, and actually perceive just what that sound is--_i.e._, he must really hear it; (2) observe the shape of the resonance-chambers; (3) try to produce the same shape of his own, and under the guidance of his ear and his eye (watching the mouth of the teacher) so utter the sound correctly. this sound should be fixed in the mind, and the ear trained by comparing it with other sounds, as the wise teacher will do, and require imitations. any language can be pronounced correctly in a short time, if this method be followed. it is, indeed, the only one that rests on science and common sense. the student when away from the teacher, after he has once learned to form the vowels correctly, should practise with a hand-glass before him for some time, at least. the learning of a new language is the acquiring of a new mouth, or, at all events, entirely new methods of using the old one. in reality, however, this is not so fully the case as it at first seems. in all the languages one wishes to acquire, the same vowels occur, and for the learner it is often a question of lower or higher pitch, or greater or less breadth, though all this involves the formation of new habits and the fighting of old ones, and often in the case of the adult the struggle is a long-continued and severe one. some nations speak at a lower pitch than others, and if a foreigner enunciate ever so well, yet at the pitch of his own and not that of the new language, his utterance may seem foreign. the germans speak at a much lower pitch than americans, and their tongue, even when grammatically spoken by the latter, is apt to have a sort of foreign flavor. it slightly disturbs the listener, who is not accustomed to hear his mother-tongue transposed into another key, so to speak. we have known a learner to derive great benefit from having it pointed out to him that certain of his vowel sounds would at once cease to be incorrect if their pitch were altered. of course, in doing this, there were at once many changes made in the resonance-chambers, in order to get the changed pitch. pitch, accent, and duration of the sound throw much light on the subject of dialect, as a little analysis of irish or scotch will show. consonants are, as we have already said, noisy nuisances for the singer, but indispensable for word-formation, and so for human intercourse. each has also its own pitch, and investigators have come to a measurable degree of agreement on this subject. to illustrate: madame seiler found that _r_ and _s_ are separated from each other by an interval of many octaves: [illustration: c], _r_; [illustration: b-flat'''], _s_. the latter, _s_, cannot be sounded without more or less of a hissing sound, suggesting escape of air, which is very unpleasant to the ear, and, unfortunately, these hissing sounds are very common in english, so that the speaker or singer is called upon to use all his art to overcome this disagreeable effect. this is also prominent in _whispering_--_i.e._, the escape of breath, with its corresponding effect on the ear. whispering is effected chiefly, if not solely, by the resonance-chambers, the vocal bands taking only the slightest part, if any at all. the physiologist brücke, treating of the utterance of consonants, considered that they were formed by the more or less complete closure of certain doors in the course of the outgoing blast of air, and we have already referred to a consonant as an unpleasant interrupter, musically considered. perhaps we should be disposed to compare them to the people that talk during the performance at a concert, did we not wish to avoid bringing such useful members of the speech community into undeserved disrepute. consonants, like vowels, have their own mouth positions. this follows from their having pitch, but, in addition, they require the use of the tongue, lips, etc., in a special way. the principal articulation positions are the following: (1) between the lips; (2) between the tongue and the hard palate; (3) between the tongue and the soft palate; (4) between the vocal bands. to indicate this, certain terms have been employed, and as they are in common use by those who treat of this subject, it will be well to explain them. _explosives_ are consonants in uttering which there is complete closure with a sudden opening of the resonance-chambers in front, as in _b_ and _p_. [illustration: fig. 59 (beaunis). representation of the relative position of the parts and the resulting shape of the sounding chamber when the consonants indicated are formed vocally. verification of the truthfulness of the illustrations will prove profitable.] _vibratives_ call for an almost complete closure of the door and a vibration of its margin, as in _r_. _aspirates_ partly close the opening, which is at once suddenly opened again, as in _f_, _v_, etc. _resonants_ close the mouth, so the sound must find its way out through the nose, as in _m_, _n_, _ng_. the above may be put in tabular form as follows: articulation positions. explosives. aspirates. vibrates. resonants. 1 _b, p_ _f, v, w_ _m_ 2 _t, d_ _s, z, l, sch, th_ _n_ 3 _k, g_ _j, ch_ palatal _r_ _ng_ 4 _h_ of course the above is only one of many possible classifications, and expresses only a part of the whole truth, for the formation of a single consonant is a very complicated process, the exact nature of which can only be very imperfectly analyzed and expressed in words. in complexity of action the resonance-chambers are wonderful beyond any instrument devised by man, and the more one studies the subject, the greater the wonder becomes at the amount and complexity of the work done in a single day's speaking. it is also easy to understand how difficult it is to attain to absolutely perfect results. to enable one's fellow-creatures to understand him in even his mother-tongue involves an amount of effort and energy, a complexity and facility in function, that can only be reached after months of practice in infancy; but to attain to that degree of perfection that makes an artist in speaking, how much greater is the expenditure in vital capital! is not the result when attained worth the best efforts of the most talented individual? chapter xvi. further theoretical and practical consideration of vowels and consonants. the reader will now be prepared to consider the answer to be given to the question as to the _vowels_ most suitable for practice in intonation. plainly, _a_ (_ah_) puts the resonance-chambers into the easiest and best position to form a good pure tone. the pitch of the vowel is intermediate--not very low and not high in the scale. for the higher tones, evidently, _[=a]_, _e_, and _i_ are better than _a_ (_ah_), much less _o_ and _u_, which are quite out of the question, comparatively speaking. however, as music must be sung with vowels in every position, it is plainly necessary to learn to sound all the vowels well throughout the scale. in fact, one might wisely, after preliminary practice on _a_, begin a scale below with _u_, then go on to _o_, _a_, _[=a]_, _e_, and _i_. some have recommended that the vocalist begin his scale practices with _a_, and when the higher middle tones are reached, that he use _[=a]_, and for head tones _[=a]_ and _e_, an advice which is obviously sound, as it is based on scientific principles. sounds that are very expressive in public utterance, whether in speech or song, are _l_ and especially _r_. in ordinary speech most persons use only the guttural _r_, in the formation of which the soft palate takes a prominent part; but for the speaker and the singer the lingual _r_ is often much more effective. it is produced by the vibration of the tip of the tongue, and can only be formed well, in most cases, after long-continued and persevering practice. certain consonants tend to nasality. these are _m_, _n_, _ng_, and of these all persons who are disposed to this production to the point of excess must especially beware. these letters, with such people, should be given a rapid and forward production, while singers with hard and metallic voices will do well to sing syllables beginning with these consonants, such as _maw_, _naw_, _ang_, _eng_, etc. according to the teachings of physics, the quality of a tone is determined largely by the number and variety of the _overtones_ accompanying the fundamental tone. practically all musical tones, whether vocal or instrumental, are made up of the ground tone and certain others less loud and prominent, and the latter are the overtones. these may be very numerous, and some are favorable and others unfavorable to excellence in quality. it has been thought, as the result of scientific investigation, that when the first octave of the fundamental tone and its fifth interval are prominent, the voice is soft, and with the fifth and seventh well in evidence, the voice is bright and clear. it might be said that the voice-user should endeavor to keep out of his voice certain overtones, especially those which are not within the range of our modern harmonies. a harsh voice is one in which such unharmonic intervals preponderate. the most beautiful quality of tone is produced by keeping intensity within limits, and by a sudden, elastic attack, a point on which we dwelt at some length before; but this only emphasizes the importance of all who use the voice employing, not only when beginners, but throughout their career, exercises with vowels alone. only in this way will the association between the hearing of pure tones and their production be established. such exercises are also necessary to give good carrying power to the voice. if more attention were given to this point, and less to the production of mere volume of sound, it would be well for the best musical art. naturally, the higher the pitch of tones, within certain limits, the greater their carrying power, and the reverse, of course, with the lower tones; so that it is very important that the speaker and singer use all reasonable means to produce these lower tones well, else they are muffled, and the words associated with them are not heard. this principle should be borne in mind especially by tenors and light sopranos, in whom the lower tones are not usually the best, or the easiest to produce; so that a good attack and careful and neat syllable-formation, with all attention to both vowels and consonants, should be especially studied, and, above all, in tones below about g on the treble clef. the tendency to close the mouth, especially in a descending scale, below this point, and to confound blurring with soft (_piano_) singing, is common. a _piano_ tone should be formed with especial care as to attack, open mouth, etc., and all words associated with the duller, lower-pitched vowels be spoken with the greatest distinctness, both in singing and speaking. at the same time, the barytone and contralto should not boast themselves over the tenor or soprano, if they are more successful with lower tones and the words associated with them, for the latter class of singers can often revel like birds in regions not approachable by the deeper-voiced singers. each in its own order! it follows that if the organs of speech are used so as to produce vowels, consonants, and their combinations, with unusual and, for practical purposes, unnecessary distinctness, the actual performance, as demanded by a critical ear, will be easier. one that can run two hundred yards as readily as another can one hundred is in a better position for the shorter sprint than the other man; hence the wisdom of the singer and speaker practising first with unusual and indeed unnecessary distinctness, so far as the listener is concerned, in order that he may satisfy even the critical with _ease_--that all-important principle in art. all persons must, of necessity, speak in some register, and even an ear but little cultivated can recognize that the pitch and quality of the tones of adult males, adult females, and children differ greatly from each other. madame seiler has thus expressed herself on this subject: "women use mostly tones of the second chest and first falsetto registers, sometimes also those of the first chest register. men speak an octave lower than women, and use mostly the upper half of the chest register. in public speaking, as well as on the stage, the second chest register is used by men, and sometimes also the lowest tones of the voice. the second falsetto and head registers are used only by little children." it will be remembered that madame seiler's "second chest" corresponds to the upper chest tones of some writers, and that "falsetto" is equivalent to "middle," as generally employed. ordinary speech is economical, and a range of very few tones, usually not more than two to four intervals of the scale, suffices, but on the stage, and by some of our best public speakers, twice this range may be exceeded. in nature, the cat, under the excitement of a heated interview with a fellow-vocalist, may pass through an entire octave. summary. the shape of the resonance-chambers varies in the formation of vowels and consonants, which may be classified accordingly, or according to their pitch. practical implications for singing and speaking, the learning of foreign languages, the study of dialects, etc. the importance of special attention to those words containing the low-pitched and dark vowels, especially when low in the scale, and when sung _piano_. overtones, and their bearing on the quality of the voice. the carrying power of the voice, determined by the method of its production, is more important than its volume. the value of practice with the use of a mirror, and of the formation of the sounds in practice with a distinctness in excess of the actual needs of the listener. ease is essential to art. chapter xvii. the hearing apparatus and hearing in music. so important are the ingoing sensory messages (impulses) that originate in the ear, as a guide not only in the appreciation of musical sounds but in those movements on which all musical execution, all vocal effects, whether of song or speech, depend, that we think the reader will welcome a chapter on the ear, even though it be no part of the vocal apparatus proper. the essential mechanism used by nature to give us the sensation of sound consists of (1) a complicated form of nerve-ending; (2) an auditory nerve leading from, and a continuation, in a certain sense, of, the latter; (3) nerve tracts and hearing centres in the brain. the whole constitutes a very complicated mechanism, but the principles on which it is constructed may be reduced to a few. mechanical or physical principles, as well as physiological ones, are involved. the entire apparatus has for its purpose the conversion of the vibrations of the air into the vibrations of a fluid, which thus stimulates the end-organ, and brings about those changes in the nerve which result in corresponding changes in the brain, that are associated, in some way we cannot explain, to that state of consciousness we term hearing. complicated as is the auditory apparatus, it can be readily enough comprehended, if the reader accompany the perusal of the text by an examination of the figures introduced. [illustration: fig. 60. (beaunis). in this illustration parts are exposed to view by the removal of others. the whole of the inner ear lies within bone, which in this figure is cut away. the drum-head (membrana tympani); the eustachian tube, extending from the back of the throat, and opening into the middle ear; the semicircular canals (which are not concerned with hearing, but with the maintenance of equilibrium); the cochlea, (snail-shell), which contains the various parts most essential to hearing, as the "hair-cells," the terminals of the auditory nerve, the latter nerve itself, and several other parts--are well shown. should the eustachian tube be closed owing to swelling of its lining mucous membrane, a certain amount of temporary deafness may result, because, the air within the middle ear (drum) being absorbed, and fresh air not being admitted, the outer air presses against the drum-head uncounteracted, and renders the conducting mechanism too rigid.] anatomists speak of (1) an outer or external ear, (2) a middle ear, drum, or tympanum, and (3) an inner ear, or labyrinth. [illustration: fig. 61 (beaunis). diagrammatic representation of the auditory apparatus. the external, middle, and internal ear are separated by dotted lines. a, the external; b, the middle; c, the internal ear; 1, auricle; 2, external auditory meatus; 3, tympanum (middle ear), with its chain of bones, 7, 8, 9. into it opens 5, eustachian tube, leading from back of throat; 4, membrana tympani or drum-head, closing the middle ear off from the external ear. the most important part of the inner ear is 13, the cochlear canal, in which the "hair-cells" are found, around which latter the final branches of the auditory nerve end. above it is the scala vestibuli and below it the scala tympani, passages filled with fluid. the openings to these canals are closed with membrane. attached to the membrane of the oval opening is the stapes (stirrup). it is thus seen that vibrations communicated to the chain of bones from the tympanic membrane are passed on to the fluid filling the passages (scalæ) of the cochlea, and thus affect the hair-cells, and so the nerve of hearing, and through it the brain. the parts indicated by 12 and 16 are important in the maintenance of equilibrium, but are not concerned in hearing.] the purpose of the _outer ear_ is to collect the air vibrations and convey them to the middle ear, which passes them on to the inner ear, where they produce the vibrations in the fluid therein contained and which affect the end-organ and nerve-endings, and thus initiate the essential physiological processes in the nerve of hearing. it follows that we have an instance of the conversion of one kind of vibrations, those of the air, into another kind, those of fluid, which latter furnish a sufficiently delicate stimulus or excitation of the fine hair-like extensions (_processes_) of the cells known as _hair-cells_, about which the nerves in their final smallest branches wrap themselves. [illustration: fig. 62 (beaunis). two of the bones of the ear (the malleus or hammer and the incus or anvil) enlarged. these small ear-bones have joints like larger ones. the line of conveyance of vibrations is indicated by b a.] when we ourselves hear sounds when under water, we are affected directly by the vibrations of that water; in this case we, in our whole body, represent the hair-cells which are stimulated by the fluid (_endolymph_) which surrounds them. [illustration: fig. 63 (beaunis). the complete chain of bones. the arrows indicate in a general way the direction of the line of transmission of vibrations from the tympanic membrane on to the fluid within the passages of the inner ear.] the external ear, well developed in many of the lower animals, being often highly movable, is practically immovable in man, and is wholly wanting in some animals, as the frog. the circular plate one sees behind the eye of the frog is the drum-head of the middle ear. from the _drum-head_, or _tympanic membrane_, the vibrations, which are now those of a solid, are communicated by a series of very small bones, most beautifully linked together by perfect joints, to another membrane, which closes a small hole in the outer wall of the inner ear. the _middle ear_, it will be seen, is a drum with its stretched membrane like any other drum, and it too has a communication with the exterior air through a tube, the _eustachian tube_, which leads from the drum into the back part of the throat. when one has a cold, the mucous membrane which lines this tube may become swollen or even catarrhal, and be so closed that no air can enter from the throat; the air already within the drum being absorbed, the outer air presses unduly against the drum-head, with the result that the whole conducting apparatus is put more or less out of condition, and a certain degree of deafness naturally results. the tension of the drum-head is regulated by a muscle attached to the bone which is connected with the inner part of this membrane. it is now easy to understand how any unfavorable condition of the throat may affect the ear, or that of the ear influence the throat. in the hearing mechanism of man, the _inner ear_, or _labyrinth_, well so named because of its complexity, is really situated in the inner hardest portion of the "temporal" bone. it consists of a membrane and a bony portion, the former containing the essential mechanism of hearing, the latter being chiefly protective to it. the membranous portion consists of a series of canals communicating with some similarly membranous sacs, the whole being surrounded by and filled with fluid. these latter communicate with an extension termed the _cochlea_, which contains a central canal in which that collection of cells is found which constitutes the _end-organ_, among them the hair-cells, about which the nerve ends. this end-organ in the cochlea may be compared very fitly to the telephone which receives the message, and that portion of the brain where the auditory tract ends, to the telephone at the distant end of the path, the listener there representing consciousness. the auditory path within the brain is long and complicated, there being, in fact, many way-stations through which the message passes before it reaches the final one. the auditory nerve proceeds first to the lowest or hindermost portion of the brain, known as the _bulb_, or _medulla oblongata_; thence a continuation of the nerve tract passes forward to a central region, the _posterior corpora quadrigemina_, then, by a new relay of nerve-fibres, to the highest and most important part of the brain, that most closely associated with consciousness, the _cortex of the temporal lobe_, where there is situated the most important of all the centres of hearing. it will be apparent, on consideration, that "hearing" is a very elaborate result, the outcome of many physiological processes (initiated by physical ones), the initial and final being better understood than the intermediate ones. one asks, with natural curiosity and interest, "is the auditory apparatus of the highly endowed musician different from and superior to that of the individual with little talent for music?" it is not easy to give a short and definite answer to this question. no special examinations of the essential parts of the ears of eminent musicians have been made, so far as we are aware, and as yet few of the brains of this class of men. it is, however, practically certain that there is a brain development peculiar to the born musician, and that this, whatever else it may be, involves a special excellence of the auditory path within the brain, rather than any unusual development of the essential parts of the ear. the individual who is a musical prodigy has, without question, _a more perfect connection_ established between his auditory apparatus, in the widest sense of the word, and those muscular mechanisms employed in the execution of music, whether vocal or instrumental, than is the case with the average man. usually, with this goes a wide series of brain associations or connections, we may presume, between the auditory tracts and other regions, for without this it is difficult to explain temperament and artistic perception. that they are not necessarily associated, however, is clear from the fact that some have a high degree of executive ability and little real artistic development. it must never be forgotten, however, that whatever else music may be, it is essentially and primarily a sensuous experience. the one who enjoys music must feel its sensuous charm, and the artist who furnishes that which is enjoyed addresses himself primarily to our auditory mechanism. executing music is hearing music, and enjoying music is hearing music, though both may involve much more than this, and herein individuals must differ greatly, owing to education, past experience, etc.; but all who have the power to really appreciate music must be capable of the sensuous enjoyment of tones. in this all everywhere find something in common; often that which we enjoy is of the most varied nature. one thing is certain: those connections between the hearing and the motor processes we term singing or playing should be made early in life, if they are to reach that degree of facility and general excellence essential to success. we think there is good reason to begin voice-production early, as well as the practice of an instrument, though we do not maintain that the argument is as strong in the one case as in the other. that the "ear for music" may be well developed, in the sense that one may know perfectly what is correct in time and tune, without the power to execute well, there can be no doubt, as witness the case of many composers, but the reverse does not hold. there can be no doubt that _the nervous impulses that pass from the ear to the brain are of all sensory messages the most important guides for the outgoing ones that determine the necessary movements_. the author would advise every serious student of music to believe in the unlimited capacity of his own ear for improvement. the lack of "ear" of many people is due largely, if not solely, to inattention. indeed, an excess of temperament may be a positive hindrance to musical development, both as regards appreciation and execution, for it may be accompanied by inattentive listening and consequent inadequate hearing. on the other hand, no one should, because he has a good faculty for time and tune and the memorizing of airs, conclude that he is an artist. the one faculty may exist altogether apart from the capacity for the highest art. it is a matter of history that several vocalists now before the public, and who rank in the highest class of musical artists, displayed at one period of their career a lack of perception as to pitch or rhythm that was, to say the least, very discouraging, and which, but for their force of character, would have kept them from ever being eminent. if one have neither ear, temperament, nor artistic perception, he should not waste his energies on musical study--at least, not extended efforts; but if he have the two last, and but a moderate ear, he will do well to try to improve the lower for the sake of the higher qualities. in children the difficulty often is due wholly to inattention. those who would cultivate the speaking voice are frequently discouraged from lack of "ear," and when urged to follow such exercises as have been recommended in this work, complain that they have not the "ear" to do so. to such the author would say, "persevere; believe in your ear; learn to listen--_i.e._, to attend to sounds having musical qualities." besides, it must not be forgotten that in addition to the "ear"--_i.e._, the ability to appreciate relative pitch, tune, and rhythm--there is also the entirely distinct faculty that appreciates the _quality_ of sounds. the latter is really more important for the speaker, who can succeed with a very moderate development of the faculty for time and tune, but to whom the power to appreciate the _quality_ of sounds is essential. no doubt the first and fundamental qualities in the make-up of a musician are the capacities to appreciate pitch and rhythm, but no result worthy the term "artistic" can be produced in which attention is not given to the quality of sounds, hence the technical and artistic should be developed together. the lack of attention on the part of a certain class of vocal teachers to the quality of the tones produced is one of the special defects in the instruction of the day. in the early weeks of vocal training, when the student should intone only before his teacher, the former need not be left without musical culture, and it is for each teacher to give the pupil that training, at this time, which will forestall disgust and impatience at the apparent slowness of his progress. at this time much can be done to cultivate the ear in all its various powers. and the author would like to put in a plea for the development of the _appreciation of music_. whatever difference of opinion there may be as to choral singing, singing in schools, etc., there can be no question that time spent in developing the appreciation of musical art is well spent, and makes for the development and provides for the innocent and elevating sources of enjoyment of a people. if some of the time spent in bad piano-playing were devoted to the development of the power to appreciate and delight in really good music, including the sweet sounds of speech and song, the world would thereby be greatly the gainer. the author would impress on all students of music, and of the voice as used in both singing and speaking, the paramount importance of learning early to listen most attentively to others when executing music; and, above all, to listen with the greatest care to themselves, and never to accept any musical tone that does not fully satisfy the ear. when one considers how much harshness is passed as singing or speaking, by the student, even by those who pose as public singers and speakers, one must often wonder where they keep their ears. as a matter of fact, the ideal listeners are rare, and the critical ear, like a sentinel on guard, is among students, really seldom to be met with, if one extend the term "listening" to mean giving attention equally and in the most critical way, not only to pitch and rhythm, but also to the quality of sounds, the effects of pauses, shading, etc., all of which are perceived through the ear. if such listening requires, as it does, the closest attention, it must give rise to fatigue, so that it is clear that the lengthy practices some undertake are against the plainest laws of physiology and psychology, even if the hearing processes alone be considered; but as we have before shown, there are other reasons why such long-continued exercises as some attempt are in every way unwise; in fact, in the author's opinion, they are in the musical world a great evil under the sun. summary. hearing is finally a psychological or mental condition, a state of consciousness, but is always associated with certain physiological processes, which are initiated by a physical stimulus in the form of waves in a fluid surrounding the hair-cells of the auditory end-organ; which waves may again be traced to the movements of the bones of the middle ear, caused by the swinging to and fro of the drum-head, owing to vibrations of the air produced by a sounding body. the ear is anatomically divisible into external, middle (tympanum or drum), and internal (labyrinth). the outer ear collects the vibrations, the middle ear conducts them, and the internal converts them into a special physiological condition of the hair-cells and the auditory nerve. this condition is communicated to the other links in the anatomical hearing chain, until the highest part of the brain, or cortex, is reached. hearing, from the physiological point of view, is the outcome of a series of processes having their development in a corresponding series of centres, or collections of nerve-cells. the perceptions associated with the ear, in the mind of the musician, are those of the pitch, rhythm (and time), and quality of tones. the loudness of a tone is, of course, recognized by the ear also, but this is hardly a musical quality proper. in reality, like all that belongs to hearing, these perceptions are the result of a series of physiological processes, in which the ear takes an important but not the sole or even the chief part, which is to be referred to the brain. it is practically important to recognize that these various qualities are distinct perceptions, and that the "ear" for relative pitch may exist well developed and the color, clang, or quality of a tone be imperfectly recognized, and the reverse. the most comprehensive ear-training involves attention to each of the above characters of tones, and then uniting them in a musically perfect result. lack of "ear" is often simply want of attention to the characters of sounds. the auditory messages are the most important of all the nervous impulses that reach the brain, for the musician, whether appreciation or execution be considered. they are the chief guides for the outgoing nervous impulses to the muscles. the good executant must, above all, be a good listener. chapter xviii. consideration of general and special hygiene and related subjects. hygiene deals with the laws by the observance of which health is to be maintained and disease prevented; but as such laws must be based on physiological principles, hygiene follows from physiology. accordingly, throughout this work our method has been to point out the correct way as soon as the physiological principle has been laid down, so that the reason for the recommendation made would be obvious. however, it may be well if now some of the more important tendencies, errors, bad habits, and dangers to be guarded against by the singer and speaker be pointed out afresh, briefly, with some additional observations that experience has shown to be of practical importance. hygiene, for all persons, should, in the widest sense, refer to the whole man, his body, intellect, feelings, and will, though the term has usually been restricted to the preservation of bodily health. but, fortunately, it is being more and more recognized that man is a whole, and that one part of him cannot suffer without the others participating, so we shall pursue the broader course, and consider the general welfare of the voice-user as properly coming under consideration. he, being a human being like his fellows, must, of course, observe the same laws for the preservation of his general health as they, but just because he comes before the public, his case is peculiar, and he must, in addition, take special precautions to avoid every form of temporary or permanent disability. there is, of course, much in the life of a public speaker or singer that conduces to health of body and mind, such as the vigorous use of the breathing apparatus, the favorable effect of praise expressed in one way and another, etc., but even with the most successful, all this may be more than counter-balanced by other unfavorable factors. when one considers the necessary travelling, often including night journeys, the late hours, the concentrated efforts essential to success, the uncertainty of the public taste, the rivalries, jealousies, exhaustion, etc., often associated with a public career, it must be clear that no one should embark upon it without counting well the cost. for one with mediocre ability, imperfect training, voice of very limited range, power, and quality, feeble will, an imperfectly developed body, and indifferent health, to enter on a public career is practically to court failure and to ensure disappointment and unhappiness. it is to be remembered that never was the world so exacting of the artist, and never were there so many aspirants to popular favor, so that the competition in the ranks of the actors and singers, at least, is very keen. at the same time, there is room for a certain class of persons--viz., those with good health, excellent physique, first-rate ability, self-control, sound moral principles, perseverance, industry, musical feeling, and artistic insight, with vocal organs trained like the muscles of the athlete, and, in the case of singers, sound musical knowledge and an exacting and reliable ear. considering that the actor, often the public speaker, and the singer are constantly being put under excessive strain, it follows that (1) such persons should begin with an unusually good physical organization--others can scarcely hope to get into the first class, even with the best abilities; and (2) because there is a tendency to exhaustion of the body and mind through emotional and other expenditure, the public voice-user must take precautions, on the one hand, to prevent this, and, on the other, to make good his outlay by special means. he needs more sleep and rest generally than others, and he should counteract the influence of unhealthy conditions on the stage or platform by some quiet hours in the open air, all the better if with some congenial friend, sympathetic with his aims, yet belonging, preferably perhaps, to another profession, and who will speak of topics other than those that are ever recurring in the life of an artist. the uninterrupted pursuit of one thing, without the mind and spirit being fed from other springs, can be good for no human being. the specialist who is only a specialist will never reach the very highest point. the artist must seek sources of inspiration and mental nutriment outside of his own line of thought, or he will suffer professionally and in his own spirit. the reader will by this time understand why the author considers that for one who would be an artist to enter on his public career without the fullest mental equipment and vocal training is an exceedingly unwise course. technique should be acquired before an aspirant to success steps on a public stage or platform, and this is exactly what is so seldom done in these days, and why we have so few singers, actors, and public speakers of the highest rank. many, very many, know what they wish to express, and, in a sense, how to express it, but they have neither the formed voice nor the control of that voice by which their ideas are to be embodied. let no one delude himself into the belief that technique will be learned in public; such is rarely, if ever, the case. expression, style, etc., may come to the vocalist or speaker all the more readily if he occasionally goes before the public; but that such may be so, he must first have voice and technique. it is because of the neglect of this training for the acquirement of technique that so many naturally good voices are of little practical use for the public, and this explains why the ranks of the professions are crowded with inferior artists, if, indeed, artists they may be called. the _isolation_ of the dramatic and musical artist from his fellows generally is a great evil. much that society complains of in the lives of artists would never exist but for this isolation, in spite of the fact that the artistic temperament is so moody and so impulsive, so little regardful of ordinary conventionalities. that it is so is partly the fault of society. it is quite true that because of journeying, rehearsals, etc., the travelling artist has little time to meet the members of the community in private life; but this state of things could be mitigated were society and the artists themselves convinced that for any class of people to live in little hives, wholly separated from their fellows, must be unfortunate for them and society. artists as men and women are practically unknown to the world, though their false selves as represented by sensational paragraphs in newspapers are only too familiar to us. it may truly be said of the artist: "be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny." it is within the power of society to alter this, and it should do so. why is it that actors and singers do not prepare themselves by as prolonged and thorough a vocal training as in a past time? considering that there never was a period when there was the same scope for art, never a time when the public was so eager to hear and so able to pay for art, as now, never a period of such widespread intelligence on all subjects, music included, the question is a very pertinent one. we believe there are many factors underlying the technical decadence we must regret. the orchestra has greatly developed, choral singing is common in all countries, and the spirit of the times has changed. so analytical, so refined is our age, that singing sometimes becomes a sort of musical declamation, but, unfortunately, without that power to declaim possessed by the actors and often the opera-singers of a former period. a singer often attempts now to make up by an expressive reading of a song, for technical defects. we must all commend every evidence of intellectuality in music, but this does not imply that we should accept good intentions for execution--performance. let us have every possible development of orchestral music; let every village have, if possible, its choral society, but let none enter it who have not been trained vocally. out of the author's own experience he could a tale unfold of the evil done to the vocal organs by those who have sung in choirs without adequate vocal training. choristers are tempted to reach high tones by a process of their own, without any regard to registers, and with corresponding effects on their throats, some of which imply also lasting injury to the voice itself. in choral singing there is the tendency to lean on certain singers who are natural leaders, with the result that there is little independent listening and individual culture, even if the singer could hear his own voice well, which is not usually the case. the same objections and others apply to class singing in schools, which does little for music, and tends to make slovenly singers. if some of the time given to school singing were taken up in illustrating why certain musical selections are good, and others mere rubbish--in other words, in forming the taste of the nation in the children--a valuable work would be done; but school class singing, as commonly carried out, tends rather to injure than develop voices and good musical taste. we cannot honestly pass by the subject of wagner's music and some of its tendencies. wagner was an intellectual giant among men, and his works are amazingly grand, yet they unfortunately are, in a certain sense, responsible for much bad singing and not a little injury to fine voices. first of all, wagner's operas are, in their present form, too long. to sing these compositions night after night is beyond human powers, even in the case of those of the most perfect musical and technical training. if they were divided into two, and one half sung on one evening and the other on the next, it would be a gain for the public and the artists. it is impossible for even the musically cultivated to absorb and assimilate the whole of such an opera as "siegfried" or "tristan and isolde" in one evening, and it is too much to expect any artist to sing them through without a rest. again, they call for such strong accents, such deep and strenuous breathing, that the artist impersonating a hero or a god or goddess is put to a degree of exertion that is too great for human powers when continued for more than a very moderate period; besides, there is a temptation to a wrong use of the larynx--a forcible _coup de glotte_, or attack--that is exceedingly dangerous, and has injured many voices and ruined others. the man or woman who would sing wagner's greater music dramas should, in addition to a strong physique, be master of a wonderfully perfect technique. these operas should never be attempted by very young singers of either sex, and especially not by very young women. they are for the powerful, the mature, the perfectly trained, the experienced. turning to some special faults, we would warn against the "scoop," the excessive use of the _portamento_, or glide, so common a fault at the present time, and the _vibrato_ and _tremolo_. the two former are musical faults, so we pass them by without further consideration. otherwise is it with the last two faults; they both result from a wrong use of the vocal organs. they are both due to some unsteadiness and lack of control, and, unfortunately, when once acquired, are very difficult to remedy. the unsteadiness may be almost anywhere in the vocal organs, but is usually referable to the respiratory apparatus or to the larynx. a _vibrato_ is the milder form of the evil, and is encouraged, we regret to say, by some teachers, while the _tremolo_ is due to an extreme unsteadiness, and, so far as we are aware, is universally condemned. it is about the worst fault any singer can have. it is evident in some cases only when the vocalist sings _piano_, but mostly in vigorous singing, and often arises from straining, disregard of registers, etc. it may be due to the singer trying to control too large a supply of air, or from bringing a blast to bear on the vocal bands too strong for them. in every case there is lack of adjustment between the vocal bands and the respiratory organs. the remedy must be adapted to the case, but usually the singer must for a time give up the use of the voice in _forte_ singing altogether, and gradually again learn to control his vocal mechanism. associated sometimes with this fault is another, which, indeed, often gives rise to the former--viz., "pumping," or attempting to vocalize after the breath power is exhausted. one should always have enough air in reserve to sing at least two tones more than what is required. it will be observed that good singing and speaking are always physiological--_i.e._, they depend on the observance of well-known physiological principles; we wish we could add, principles clearly recognized by singers and teachers generally. it is to those who do that we would recommend the student of the vocal art to go at the outset of his career, otherwise much time may be lost and possibly much injury done. we distinguish, of course, between the teacher who recognizes physiological principles only practically and the one who does so consciously. the former may be an excellent and safe teacher, though, we think, not so good, other things being equal, as one of the latter type,--as yet somewhat rare. at an earlier period we referred to the important matter of classifying the voice. it often happens that one who is a tenor is trained as a barytone, or a contralto as a soprano, and the reverse, only to discover later that a mistake has been made. if it could become the custom to have vocal consultations among teachers, as medical ones among doctors, the author is convinced it would be well. often a patient is sent a long distance to consult a medical man, and to return to his own physician for treatment based on the diagnosis made. in these instances the doctor consulted is expected to write his views privately to the patient's doctor, and to recommend treatment. why should the same not occur in the vocal teacher's profession? it is considered scandalous in the medical profession to "steal" another physician's patient, and why should not a similar etiquette prevail in the profession now under consideration? the teacher in doubt about a voice might thus obtain the views of another member of his profession, of longer experience, on such a vital point as the classification of a voice, and with satisfaction alike to himself and to his pupil. if the teacher or pupil were not satisfied with the diagnosis, another eminent vocal teacher might be consulted, which would only be following custom in the medical profession. we would again remind the reader that voices are to be _classified by quality_, and not by range, at least not to any appreciable extent. of all persons, the singer should know himself. he must learn his limitations, and the sooner the better. at the outset of his career he may be able to take certain liberties with himself with apparent impunity, but sooner or later he will pay the penalty; so that we recommend him to live with all the care of an athlete in training. however it may be with other men, spirits in every form, tobacco, etc., are not for him. both tend to irritate and relax if not to inflame the throat, not to mention their bad effects on the general health, both psychical and physical. this advice is all the more necessary when one considers the exacting nature of the professional life of the artist. strenuous exertion tends to fatigue and exhaustion, with a natural desire to relieve them by some special means, such as alcohol. to do so is often but to make a beginning of the end. how many bright lights in the dramatic and musical professions have been prematurely quenched through indulgence in the delusive draught! if tonics, sedatives, etc., are to be taken, which should not be a habitual practice, they should be used only under the direction of a medical man, and not self-prescribed. as the speaker and singer must often practise their art in an atmosphere that is far from pure, they will do well to carry out in a routine way some sort of mouth toilet on their return home and the next morning. various simple mouth and throat washes may be used, such as (1) water with a little common salt dissolved in it; (2) water containing a few drops of carbolic acid--just enough to be distinctly tasted; (3) water containing listerine; (4) either of the last two with the addition of a pinch of bicarbonate of sodium to a teacupful of the fluid, when there is a tendency to catarrh. the use of lozenges in a routine way is not to be commended, and those containing morphia, cocaine, etc., should be employed only under the supervision of a medical practitioner. sometimes, especially in the case of nervousness, a licorice pellet or a particle of gum arabic serves a good purpose in aiding in keeping the mouth moist. for one with a healthy throat the sipping of water is unnecessary, and the habit is one on no account to be learned, for the most admirable effect may be spoiled through the speaker stopping to sip water; there is the fatal and rapid descent from the lofty to the little. it is much more important to avoid eating certain things which interfere with the voice than to take anything to improve it before singing or speaking. each individual should learn just what he can or cannot with safety eat. certain kinds of fruit, cheese, fat meat, pastry, nuts, occasionally even butter, not to mention puddings, etc., must be put on the list of what singers and speakers had better not partake of before a public appearance. but the quantity is quite as important as the quality of the food taken. about one half the usual quantity, at most, and of very simple but nourishing food, is enough for any one who would do himself justice before the public. if blood and energy be drawn off to the stomach by a large meal, it cannot be available for the uses of the artist. moreover, a full stomach pressing up under the diaphragm greatly hampers the movements of this, the most important of all the muscles of breathing. of course, the public singer or speaker should eat after his work is done, of what and how much he can best learn by experience. as the author has felt called upon to condemn the use of alcohol in every form, he should, perhaps, point out that to take a cup of such a mild stimulant as tea or coffee during an interval, in the case of those who feel weary, is generally an unobjectionable, indeed, often a useful, procedure; but the less the artist coddles himself, especially while still young, the better. we would again call attention to one anatomical fact of great importance for the explanation of certain facts of experience--viz.: that the whole respiratory tract, the larynx included, is lined with a _mucous membrane_, which is continuous with that covering the inner surface of the digestive organs. that is to say, the nose, the mouth, the back of the throat, the larynx, the windpipe, the bronchial tubes, the gullet, the stomach and intestines are all brought into structural connection by this common lining membrane. moreover, these parts have to some extent the same nerve supply, and are, in fact, so related that derangement in one region must affect sooner or later, and to a variable degree according to the resisting power of each individual, other related parts. thus it is that a disordered stomach affects the voice, that a cold may affect digestion, that a catarrh of the nose will eventually reach the vocal bands, etc. another principle of wide-reaching importance is that all sorts of _compression_ must, of necessity, be attended by functional disorders, which, if long continued, will result in organic or structural changes implying deterioration of a kind that must be more or less permanent. whatever the cause of compression of the chest or neck, the result is the same: a retention of blood in parts for too long a period--a condition of things which must inevitably be injurious. the tissues are made up of cells, which are the individuals of the bodily community. around these cells are found the smallest of the blood-vessels, the capillaries, between which and the tissues a sort of physiological barter is continually going on, the capillaries handing over oxygen and food supplies from the blood, and receiving waste materials in return, as the blood creeps along at a very slow rate. if, however, in consequence of pressure on a part, the blood be kept back in these minute vessels too long, there is naturally a double evil: first, the food and oxygen supplies fail--they have been used up already--and, secondly, the waste products accumulate in the tissue cells, so that there is a combination of starvation and poisoning--a sort of physiological slum life, with corresponding degradation; so that it is not at all difficult to understand why tight collars, neckbands, corsets, etc., must be unmixed evils, apart altogether from the fact that they so greatly hamper the very movements the voice-user most requires for the successful execution of his task. all sorts of straining or forcing also involve this same evil, known to medical men as _congestion_. the sore throats so common with those who force, owing to methods essentially wrong, or simply to the too vigorous use of methods correct in themselves, are to be traced to the above--_i.e._, to this congestion, which is bad, and bad only. if one who had a naturally sound throat at the outset finds that after vocal exercise he experiences either a soreness or an undue weariness of parts, he should conclude, if he is living under healthy conditions, that the methods he is employing are incorrect, and seek the natural remedy. proper vocal exercise should, in those with healthy vocal organs, always improve them and the condition of the whole man. the author has met those who have been ruined vocally for life by the use of certain methods recommended by would-be professional guides. why should not all who assume the responsibility of guiding speakers and especially singers be required by the state to show that they have not only a knowledge of music and vocal technique, but also at least a moderate amount of practical knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of the vocal organs, with some elementary information on general physiology? if the injury done by incompetent teachers were realized, we feel certain that the above proposition would not be questioned. a common cause of congestion of the digestive organs, with which, of course, other parts sympathize physiologically, is _constipation_, very often the result of insufficient exercise, and injurious in many ways. speakers and singers very generally ride to and from their engagements, so that there is special reason why they should see to it that some time is set aside for general exercise, as walking in the open air, which would of itself work against that tendency to grow fat which is the physical curse that seems to fall on artists above most others. it seems scarcely necessary to point out how important it is for those who propose to take up the life of the stage or the platform to look to hardening themselves against catching cold, by friction of the skin, cold bathing, etc. the use of a sponge-bath of cold salt and water to the upper parts of the body, especially the neck and chest, will prove valuable in many cases, but the enervating effects of hot water should be avoided by all. the remarks made in regard to wagner's music on page 257 have been among the very few to which exception has been taken by my reviewers. to those who disagree with me on the merits of the case i have nothing to say, but some have assumed that the writer was speaking out of pure theory, in real ignorance of wagner's works. i wish to set that class of critics right. i have spent a great many seasons in germany, and have heard wagner's works under a great variety of circumstances, and have heard them also in several other countries. i have also had the opportunity of getting behind the scenes in a way that falls to the lot of few, so i think i am entitled to speak with rather more than the usual authority. my convictions as expressed in the foregoing chapter have in the interval rather strengthened than weakened. i am firmly convinced that it would be in the interests of art, the singer, and the auditor alike, either to shorten these operas, or to produce them in some way which will relieve the continuous strain. it must not be forgotten, either, that the poor overworked and greatly underpaid orchestral player often suffers severely in his nervous system from long continued wagner playing. chapter xix. further treatment of physical and mental hygiene. _stammering_ and _stuttering_ are allied but not identical defects. they require special treatment, the earlier the better. much can be done by the exercise of a little patience and kind consideration, to make the subject of these infirmities feel at ease, and so manifest the defects as little as possible. it is, of course, as a general rule, very unwise to take any notice whatever of such imperfections, as they are thereby made worse. as a rule, they are best treated practically by those who have made this branch a specialty. those who have been badly taught, or who have overworked the vocal organs and, in consequence, may have broken down, are among the most discouraging if they be not the very worst cases that come under the treatment of the physician or vocal teacher. if the throat be out of order, a specialist should be consulted. he will likely enjoin complete rest of the vocal organs, and his advice should be implicitly followed. but usually the time comes when some sort of vocal exercises may be resumed. when this is the case, the choice of a teacher becomes of the utmost importance, more so than in ordinary cases, for further injudicious treatment may lead to the utter ruin of the voice. assuming that medical treatment is no longer or not at all required, we recommend: (1) that all practices be only _piano_, or, at most, _moderato_, for some time; (2) that they be of very brief duration at any one period, so as to avoid fatigue; (3) that they be well within the range of the singer. the same principles apply to speakers who have broken down, whether owing to bad methods or to over-use of the voice. it is most important that strength and facility be gradually gained, and that weariness, not to say fatigue, be strictly avoided. if the general health be good, time, patience, and the utmost care in the application of the above principles, under the direction of an enlightened teacher, will in a large proportion of cases restore the voice for efficient use in at least moderate efforts. of course, much depends on the age, general health, intelligence, etc., of the subject. on the question of the extent to which a singer's range can be safely increased, the greatest difference of opinion exists, and very extreme views have been held. on the one hand are those who almost ridicule the idea of "making" tones, and on the other, those who maintain that the range of all young singers can be increased by proper training. as a matter of fact, there are many singers before the public to-day whose range, either upward or downward, has been increased by many tones, in some cases almost an octave, and these singers are successful artists and sound vocalists; while others have sought to add but two or three tones to their range, and in vain. this is quite intelligible. as a rule, those of the former class have fallen into the hands of very good teachers, while yet young, have had excellent health and well-formed vocal organs, and been patient and attentive students. the acquisition has been gradual, and never forced. we have before said that if a pupil felt his throat the worse for a lesson in vocal culture, there was something wrong: either the method was incorrect in itself, or the practice was continued too long or carried out too vigorously. of course, it is always assumed that the vocal organs are in a normal condition, and the student's health good not only generally but on the day of the practice. it is in every case for the student himself to determine, from his own feelings, whether the attempt to reach a certain tone produces straining, and for the teacher to judge whether this be so, from the appearance of the face of the pupil, the character of the tone, etc. one thing is certain: harm, and harm only, is done by any form of forcing or straining. at the same time, as the athlete increases the height to which he can jump, or the speed with which he can run, even during a single season, it seems illogical to conclude that in no case can a singer safely reach tones that are not originally in his voice--meaning thereby that he is unable to sing them at the outset of his career. this is one of those subjects on which common sense and science unite in admonishing us to test cautiously and to progress gradually, if the purpose is to be achieved with good results for the individual and for art. it is also unwise for a singer to attempt those selections in public the range of which taxes him to the very utmost. they lead to undue anxiety as to success, violate the principle of reserve force, to which reference has several times been made, and may lead to vocal failure, if not to injury to the throat. though it is true that occasionally a song suffers by transposition to a lower key, if the vocalist is determined to sing a composition even slightly beyond his easy range, it is better to resort to it than to risk the possibilities mentioned above and other undesirable ones. everyone who purposes to follow the arduous career of the vocal or dramatic artist would do well to realize early the importance of learning the art of conserving energy, or making the most of all that nature has given him. when a man or woman is small, and has less breath power than some others, it becomes more important that they observe the laws of contrast, rest, etc., in their public efforts. a _forte_ has much the same effect, if it be preceded by darker, quieter tones, as if it were really louder. in like manner, a pause may often serve a very good purpose in preparing the ear of the listener for an effect that should be telling, yet a difficult one for a person of limited physical powers. in reality, all the best art recognizes, mostly unconsciously, the peculiarities of our physical and mental nature. a continuous _forte_, for example, ceases to be a _forte_, in reality, since the ear and the mind weary under it, and all the effect of contrast is lost. as we have more than once said, good art is physiological--in harmony with the laws of the body, as well as of the mind. it follows that each one should study especially how to make the wisest, the most effective, use of his powers, for what is best for one may not be so for another. a singer or speaker, by reason of a voice somewhat small in volume, may seem to be shut out from certain buildings. this need rarely be the case. the artist must simply the more carefully consider how he shall vary his effects, how so use his powers that they shall suffice. a loud voice may be a very bad one for the hearer, and may annoy and weary rather than please. when a building is large, nearly all effects should be increased--_e.g._, all pauses lengthened, the _tempo_ taken a little slower, the contrasts made stronger, etc.,--rather than the volume of tone increased. the method of attack becomes of the utmost importance; all low or soft passages should be sung or uttered with the greatest distinctness, all final letters most perfectly finished. it is especially important for a speaker to be aware of his favorite--_i.e._, most easy and natural--pitch, and also that pitch which best adapts his voice to a certain building. many forget that sound does not, in reality, travel very rapidly, and that allowance must be made for this, so that one tone shall not break on the ear before another has had time to be attended to--one idea to be grasped before another is presented. of all things pauses are of the greatest importance, to the listener, that he may apprehend the ideas presented, and to the speaker, that he may have time to take breath and a brief rest, and also seize the opportunity to readdress himself, so to speak, to his auditors, by the use of another accent, pitch of tone, or whatever he deems most apt to his purpose. speakers who make suitable pauses with intention (not from lack of ideas), or from an artistic instinct, give pleasure, as well as effect their intellectual purpose, for the listener also gets his moments for rest, perceives readily what is meant, and enjoys the purely sensuous in the art far more than when the speaker's utterance rushes on like a torrent. all this applies to a certain extent to the singer, though it is but very inadequately observed--we must say, however, much better than at a former period, when "ranting," on the stage especially, was a very common fault. in an earlier chapter attention was given to the precautions to be taken before a public appearance, especially by those who are inexperienced; and we would again emphasize the fact that those who have the best training, and have made the most perfect special preparation for the coming event, are least likely to suffer from that great disturber, nervousness; and when they are somewhat tense, the well-disciplined often recover rapidly, and frequently astonish their friends by the success of their first appearance. we strongly recommend all who can to take rest on the day preceding and following a hard evening's work, and preferably, in summer, in the open air. a quiet walk in a park, where one may think or observe or not, as he feels inclined, is an excellent thing to do, either before or after a strenuous artistic effort. if the battery is to be well charged, it must not be discharged even partially before the right moment. amateurs and the inexperienced are particularly apt to neglect such precaution for success, and to fritter away their energies by attention to details, possibly trivial ones, up to the last moment. happy is he who, well prepared for his task, free from worries, unmoved by envy, jealousy, or undue ambition, can step before the public resolved to do his best for art, and who, having done it, can rest in the satisfaction that he has contributed something to the innocent and ennobling enjoyment of his fellows, and so has helped to advance those of his own generation; caring little for either the flatteries of admirers or a criticism that may be ignorant, unjust, or malignant, but feeling that the best reward is the approval of his own conscience, knowing that "art is long, and life short." chapter xx. review and revision. all the most important truths of any subject may be stated in a brief space. the author proposes to make this final chapter one of a restatement of the essentials of the subject in the light of our present-day knowledge, and with a distinct relation to practice. the object of the speaker or singer is to produce certain sounds which shall as easily as possible convey to the listener his own state of mind. it follows that he must have a clear idea of these sounds, that he must hear them mentally prior to their utterance; in other words, the psychological must precede the physiological. voice production for the purpose of speaking and singing implies a coöperation of the psychic and the physiological, a co-ordination of processes that are psychic, and physical, somatic or physiological. it is well to regard the subject from as many points of view as possible, and to consider the various ways in which the same truth may be stated. stress must be laid on the idea of co-ordination, for processes may be independently satisfactory yet fail to lead to the desired result if they are not connected, harmonised or co-ordinated. the latter is the better term because it suggests a certain order of progress. as a matter of fact, first the psychic, then the physiological. the idea may be clear, yet from a physical defect, as in stammering, the result does not follow, though this physiological imperfection in movement may itself be the result of a psychic condition and generally is so. a clearer case is that of paralysis of the vocal organs. the ideas to be expressed may be perfectly clear in the mind yet impossible of expression. the defect is at the distal end of the combination--_i.e._, in the physical, somatic or bodily part of the process to express the same idea by the use of different terms. the consideration of conditions of defect or pathological states may make normal psychological and physiological ones clearer, as has been shown by the above illustrations. the practical importance of the co-ordination of processes is very great. it is not possible for one born deaf to speak because the necessary mental or psychic conditions for co-ordination do not exist--_i.e._, there is no sound in the mind to be expressed--not because there is any serious anatomical defect. in like manner the student of singing will produce no better tone than he has in mind no matter how much he practices vocalization. it follows, therefore, that the psychic state of the student should be kept in advance of his actual powers of execution. this he will most successfully do by listening to the best artists either directly or if this be impossible by hearing their gramophone records--all this in addition to the best the teacher can do for him by the correction of faults, giving him illustrations of better tone by his own efforts, etc. if the student has the opportunity of hearing himself by means of a phonographic record, he should not fail to do so. no one ever hears himself as others hear him. as the mind and the brain are always associated in thought and feeling; in other words, in psychic processes, and these latter find expression chiefly through movements, in one sense a study of vocalization may be considered a study of movements. these are always brought about by the use of several muscles which act together for a definite end--_i.e._, they are co-ordinated. as such movements generally involve many muscles and to be effective must be exact and under perfect control, much practice is necessary, though "much" should have reference rather to the clearness of the mind in reference to what is to be attained and the means of accomplishing it, rather than to the amount of time spent over the actual performance. we may confidently assert that technique or the physical side of putting the ideas into execution, which is simply making certain movements, is successful largely in proportion to the perfection of the psychic processes involved. a clear head should precede the moving hand, or functioning vocal organs. the student should think technique before and after its actual execution. this is even yet, in spite of a great advance in recent years, the weakest part of the student's method of work. all that we know of science as well as the results of all rightly directed practice emphasizes the importance of this central truth. assuming that the psychic condition is satisfactory for the production of a definite tone--_i.e._, that it is heard mentally, what follows before it is actually produced, before it becomes a tone from the physicist's point of view? what is the chain of physical, somatic, bodily or anatomical (to use several words that express similar but slightly different aspects of the same main idea) connections involved, and what is the nature of the physiological processes; in other words, what are the parts of the body involved and how do they act? this will be clearer if we first consider the mechanism concerned and its functions in a general way. the instrument which is played upon, which finally gives rise to the tone, may be spoken of as that connected series of cavities for which we have no single term but which are generally named the resonance chambers when regarded from the physicist's point of view. to the musician they are the instrument, to the physiologist and anatomist a set of chambers communicating with each other. plainly all the rest of the vocal mechanism exists for them, and too much stress cannot be laid on this fact. however excellent the state of training of the part below them this is of no avail except in so far as it can affect these resonance cavities. how is this instrument played upon and how are these cavities made actually into resounding chambers? in the answer to this, in the recognition of the relationship of the three distinct parts of the vocal apparatus lies the one great fundamental conception of the manner in which tone is produced. to understand this clearly is to comprehend in its main outlines the whole subject of voice production in a scientific way. before a tone is heard vibrations of the atmospheric air must reach the ear. these are set up by the vibration of the air within the resonance chambers, and this again is effected by the mechanism below them--_i.e._, by the movements of the vocal bands of the larynx which are due to the blast of air emanating from the lungs, this itself being brought into being by the movements of the chest, using the term in the widest sense, thus including the diaphragm, etc. breathing has for its object so far as phonation is concerned no other purpose than to so affect the vocal bands, that the resonance chambers really do resound. the question is how is this breathing best accomplished so that the instrument shall be most efficiently played upon? we cannot alter the anatomical structure of the instrument appreciably, but we can improve the functioning of the several parts of the whole apparatus. breathing can be improved as regards power and control. more can be done with less expenditure of energy than originally if there be judicious training. how shall we train? as the outgoing stream of air alone affects the vocal bands, it is clear that we must aim to so apply and regulate this outflow that the desired result shall follow from the least possible expenditure of energy. how the air is got in is important only in relation to its expenditure. but the easier the supply is furnished the better. this law of the conservation of energy is one of the greatest importance, for all beings have but a limited supply of energy and our problem must ever be how best to husband this as a wise man should study how best to spend his limited income. one must not only consider what is called for in ordinary conversational speaking, or in singing in a small room, but also when the greatest possible efforts are demanded. in all cases when movements are concerned, indeed whenever activity of any kind psychic or physiological is involved the _law of habit_ should be borne in mind--_i.e._, one should so think and do that a habit may be established, for a habit implies, when a good one, that there is economy of both mental and bodily energy. the aim of all training is to establish good habits--ways of doing things which will leave the subject with more capital to invest so to speak, as he wastes less. it follows that the same methods should always be used in trying to attain the same end. there are few subjects of equal importance so little considered by students of music in a conscious intelligent way. a clear conviction as to the foundation for close adherence to certain methods of doing things is an invaluable mental asset for any student. the whole subject of breathing has been so fully considered in previous chapters--indeed more or less in all parts of this work--that it is not necessary to go into much detail now. the investigations of physiologists in the internal have only emphasised the author's teaching on this subject. the present position of the subject may be stated thus: (1) in inspiration the whole chest is enlarged, this involving the descent of the diaphragm. (2) the amount of mobility is much greater in the lower half of the chest. (3) this lower half of the chest and the diaphragm act together, constituting a special mechanism of great importance. (4) the abdominal muscles discharge a coöperative function. it follows that the advice of a present day famous tenor to "breathe low" is sound. nevertheless, it must not be forgotten that inspiration begins above and that the upper chest has its functions also. it is not merely a region of support for the lower mechanism, important as this function is. the terms "abdominal" and "diaphragmatic" respiration have led to misunderstanding. neither the abdominal muscles nor the diaphragm ever act alone in normal respiration, though they are important coöperative factors. breathing exercises should be based on broad views of the subject, and no part of the respiratory mechanism should be neglected. small an organ as is the larynx it is through it the energy of the expiratory act is transmitted effectively or the reverse to the all-important resonance chambers. this should be so done that there is no waste; in other words, that there be perfect co-ordination between the breathing and the laryngeal mechanism. the vocal bands must be so related in function to the expiratory mechanism that the outgoing blast of air shall be as effective as possible. there must be no waste of power--_i.e._, of the expiratory blast through escape of air that accomplishes no purpose. the blast must be so applied to the vocal bands, or, in other words, they must be so adapted to the blast that there is no waste of energy. if the bands approximate a little too late there is waste of breath power. the bands must further so beat the air of the resonance chambers as to get the greatest possible result with the least possible expenditure of energy. as all these co-ordinations imply the action of many muscles in a related way, it is plain that intelligent and prolonged training is necessary; and if our scientific knowledge had no other result than to establish such a conviction on a sure basis it would be well worth while; but it is a light unto the feet of the student and teacher at every step, only it must be a clear light, not one seen through a mental haze. if there be failure the fault must not be set down to science but to ourselves. it is ever to be borne in mind that when anything is done in the right way not only is there no pain, unpleasant feeling or evil after-effects, but when real skill has been attained through training, the result is accomplished with a sense of ease and all the accompanying feelings are agreeable. the singer need not know that he has a throat by any disagreeable reminder. at the same time a function may be correctly discharged but continued too long, so that weariness or positive fatigue with some evil consequences may follow. fatigue always implies more or less poisoning of the system. of the resonance chambers, the mouth cavity, the pharyngeal cavity and the naso-pharynx, which may both be regarded as a part of the mouth cavity, and the nasal chambers, the latter may be considered the least variable in shape; nevertheless they can, by means of the soft palate, be to a large extent shut off from the other parts of this series of chambers. the means by which the size and shape of the resonance chambers can be varied are chiefly the soft palate and the tongue, the latter being of the greatest importance. the changes in the shape of the mouth cavity necessary for the formation of vowels are due chiefly to the movements of the tongue, and the tongue is more largely concerned in the utterance of consonants than any other moveable part of the upper voice mechanism. for practical ends it is important to realize that one speaks with the tongue; and if one believed that everything depended on this organ, other parts--including the outer mouth or lips merely to be kept out of the way--the result would on the whole likely be gain. in the formation of vowels the result may be good when the lips take but the slightest active part, and the student is advised to practice vowel formation without the use of the lips. he is likely to use them enough in any case provided he ensures the formation of pure vowel sounds, and people seem to have an extraordinary facility for over-doing the use of lip movements, for getting the teeth in the way and thus spoiling tone, that was begun well, before it has escaped from the mouth. it may be observed that those who get their living on the streets by the use of the voice, and who use the voice much and often speak rapidly, and in spite of this are heard well, so construct their words that the lips are not seen to move to any appreciable extent except as the lower jaw moves. the lips seem to be always apart. it is not the amount of movement that is important but the kind of movement, especially its rapidity. muscular efforts for the production of consonants should be neat, decisive, sharp, rather than held ones, which tend to spoil the word as a whole. as a rule, one is safe in holding the vowel as long as possible and in making the time dwelt on the consonant as short as possible--_i.e._, consistent with distinct and musical utterance. the same applies to singing with even greater force. in speaking especially short pauses not printed in the text may be made to great advantage, and this is often better than dwelling on consonants. the mouth of the speaker and still more that of the singer should not attract the attention of the listener, so the less movement of the lips of a kind readily open to observation, the better. besides such movements being unnecessary are a waste of muscular and nervous energy. singers are not warranted in departing to any appreciable extent from the pronunciation of words laid down as standard for speakers--_e.g._, "shall" should not be sung as "sholl," and in such a word as "motion," the final syllable should not be made equally important with the first one. singers should observe the laws of a good elocution; in other words, such treatment of the language of the song as an approved reader would employ. the author would go so far as to say that no singer should appear in public till he can utter every syllable as he sings so that it is readily recognised by the listener. at present such is rarely the case even with the best vocalists. all prospective vocalists should study utterance by the speaking voice first and continue it when the study of singing has been begun. the words of every song, etc., should be mastered in all respects before they are sung. as the degree of success in singing or speaking depends so far as technique is concerned on a series of co-ordinations the condition of both the psychic and bodily mechanism as determined by training and the general health of the individual is of great importance; and it is not to be forgotten that the mind as well as the body is to be considered in all questions of hygiene. index. a abdominal muscles, 66 acoustics, 97 adam's apple, 80 adductors, 82 air, 48 complemental, 70 quantity of, in lungs, 70 residual, 70 supplemental, 70 tidal, 70 amateurs, 274 american speech, 146 americans, pitch of, 224 antagonists, 53 anatomy, 35 art, 17, 272 artist, isolation of, 254 artistic, 246 perception, 245 temperament, 31 arytenoid cartilages, 77 aspirates, 228 attack, 30, 125, 127, 208 best tests of a good, 129 good, 127, 232 auditory messages, 250 auto-laryngoscopy, 109, 110, 152, 161 b "backward" production, 213 bel canto, 211 break, 162 breath, 60, 72 control of, 20, 21 exercise for, 133, 134 in phonation, 130 manner of using, 172, 208 stream, 22, 125, 194 breathing, 44-73, 118, 124 abdominal, 118 clavicular, 118, 119 deep, 63 diaphragmatic, 118, 119 exercises, 131 mechanism, control of, 120 method of, 64, 177 nose, 131 c cartilage of santorini, 77 wrisberg, 77 cells, 36 chest, 50, 62, 71 cavity of, 71 complete control of, 62 position of, in singing, 123 in speaking, 123 children, public appearance of, 116 register of, 234 choral singing, 247 choristers, 256 circulatory system, 37 clergyman's sore-throat, 88 cold, a, 77, 92 prevention of, 93 color, 214 composers, 116 consonant, a, 195, 196 consonants, 223, 225, 226, 230-235 mouth positions of, 226-228 corsets, evil effects of, 72 coup de glotte, 124-127, 139 cramming, 46 cricoid cartilage, 77, 81 thyroid, 83, 85 membrane, 81 curwen, 156 d dialects, 225, 235 diameters, 50 diaphragm, 52, 53, 66, 71 e ear, 182, 236, 245, 248 connection with mouth cavity, 203 drum-head of, 240 external, purpose of, 240 for music, 244 lack of, 245, 249 inner, 237, 241 middle, 237, 241 musical, 31 outer, 237 purpose of, 238 ease, 123, 233 english, 198 speech, 146 epiglottis, 79 eustachian tube, 241 execution, 179, 256 exercises, 131-135, 139 practical, 73 expiration, 49 expiratory blast, 60, 68, 88, 103, 177 current, 136, 208 explosives, 226 expression, 254 f falsetto, 154 high, 170, 178 in males, 160, 179 "feeling-tone", 212 food, 263 "forward" production, 213 fundamental principles, 179-194 application of, 195-206 tone, 231 g garcia, manuel, 105, 138, 159 german language, 198 speech, 146 germans, pitch of, 224 glide, 258 glottis, 47, 78, 82, 88, 126, 159 in barytone voices, 157 bass voices, 157 contralto voices, 158 mezzo-soprano voices, 158 tenor voices, 157 ligamentous, 157 h head, position of, 205 hearing, 101, 236-250 difference in animals, 101 highest limit of, 102 lower limit of, 102 helmholtz, 167 hygiene, 33, 72, 92, 93, 251-275 hyoid bone, 81, 95 i illustration of principles, 27, 28 impulses, 236 inhibitions, 184 inspiration, 48, 51, 71 intonation, 195, 196, 230 correct position for good, 131 italian language, 198 k knowledge, principle of, 34 l larynx, 60, 74-96, 136, 148, 258 anatomy of, 21 as a musical instrument, 102 change in size of, 111 control over, 112 difference in size, 110 growth of, 138 in action, 109 in singing and speaking, 198 muscles of, 81, 95 of the male 138 photography of, 161 physiology of, 21 ventricle of, 80 vibrations of, 96 whole, 94 laryngoscope, 91, 103, 136 ligamentous glottis, 157 lips, 202 lungs, 49, 63 lymph, 37 m mackenzie, sir morell, 156, 167, 168 mara, madame, range of, 111 marcato production, 209 marchesi, madame, teaching of, 159 men, register of, 234 messages, auditory, 250 methods, correct, 22, 23 faulty, 32 middle production, 214 midriff, see diaphragm mind, 210 mirror, use of, 235 mouth, as a resonance chamber, 221 resonator, 148 cavity, 149 respiration, 131 toilet of, 262 movements, 192 muscles, 36, 82 abdominal, 66 muscular action, 71 mechanism, 42 movements, 179 music, 243 appreciation of, 247 intellectuality in, 256 intelligence in, 108 interpretation of, 21 musical artist, 198 ear, 31 prodigy, 243 faculty develops early, 115 faults, 258 sounds, practical range of, 102 tones, 231 musician, fundamental qualities of, 246 n nasal chambers, 144, 149, 214 nasality, 231 nerve-cells, 38 nervous centres, 39 impulses, 244, 250 system, 38 nervousness, 274 neuro-muscular mechanisms, 17, 42, 181 processes, 183 system, 43 new language, learning of, 224 noise, 218 o open mouth, 203, 204, 217 ordinary speech, 230 overtones, 231, 235 p palate, cleft, 149 hard, 149, 213 soft, 145, 214, 216, 231 phonation, 192, 193 breath in, 130 example of, 193 physics, principles of involved, 135 physiological considerations, 34-43 teachings, 26, 31 piano production, 259 pillars of the fauces, 145 pitch, 101, 136, 150, 214 favorite, 273 portamento production, 258 practical considerations, 88 practice, 132, 185-192 best time to, 186, 187 by wrong method, 191 for sustained tone, 132 methods of, 194 puberty, at, 112, 138 in boys, 114, 115 in girls, 113 public singing, age to begin, 115 speaking, 212 pumping, 259 q quality, 101, 136, 214 r r and s, interval between, 225 reed, long, 157 short, 157 reflex action, 40 reflexes, associated, 183 protective character of, 58, 59 sets of, 184 register, 233 change in, 169, 177 chest, 160 definition of, 176 in female voices, 160 of basses and barytones, 170 of tenors, 170 registers, 151-178 behnke on, 155, 156, 167 garcia on, 155 mackenzie on, 156, 167, 168 madame seiler on, 153, 165, 170 mandl on, 158 resonance chambers, 102, 136, 140-150, 175, 182, 198, 213, 223, 224, 228, 234 in sounding bodies, 140 of musical instruments, 140, 141 resonants, 228 resonator, 148 respiration, 46, 48, 68, 69 forced, 119 hygiene of, 55 mouth, 131 respiratory centre, 57, 58, 172 efficiency, 124 organs, 47 system, 37 tract, 26 s science, 17 scripture, prof., 150 seiler, madame, 153, 165, 170 selections in public, 271 sensations, 172, 174, 175, 178 septum nasi, 149 singer, purpose of, 99 range of, 269 singing, choral, 256 class, 257 fortissimo, 121 good, 259 in schools, 247 song, elements of, 218-229 soprano, highest tones of, 137 light, 232 sound, 60, 97-103, 135, 225 quality of, 102, 246 tyndall on, 97 volume of, 101, 102, 136 sounding body, 99 speaker, purpose of, 99 speaking, good, 259 speech, elements of, 218-229 organs of, 233 purity of, 135 sphincter action, 86 staccato production, 209 stammering, 268 stop-closure, 158 straining, 86, 175 straw bass, 88 stuttering, 268 style, 254 swell, 207, 212 t technique, 23, 179, 183, 185, 186, 254, 255 teeth, 202 temperament, 245 tenors, 232 throat mirror, 107 sore, 265 thyro-arytenoideus, 84, 85 hyoid membrane, 81 thyroid cartilage, 76, 81 timbre, 136 tone, 132, 135, 136 carrying power of, 126 color of, 214 ground, 231 head, 160 piano, 233 pitch of, 126 production, 132, 207-217 quality of, 128, 142, 150, 231 the sustained, 208 volume of, 126 tones, 189 head, 177 highest, 137 lower, 137 quality of, 146 timbre of, 136 upper, 86 tongue, 131, 145, 149, 214 control of, 202 influence of, 201 tonsils, 145, 149 trachea, 81 tremolo, 128, 258, 259 tuning fork, 99 u uvula, 145 v vibrations, 61, 98, 100, 236 vibratives, 228 vibrato, 258 vital capacity, 71 vocal athlete, 182 vocal bands, 87, 103, 126 action of, 137 false, 78 true, 77, 78, 80, 94 vibrations of, 136 cords, false, 95 madame seiler on, 154 true, 95 methods, 32 physiology, 17-32 training, early weeks of, 246 vocalises, 207 vocalist, ideal, 198 vocalization, 19, 31 voice, 44, 254 breaking of, 114 brightening the, 216 carrying power of, 232 darkening the, 216 even, 84 harsh, 232 head, in females, 166 in ill health, 114 loud, 272 placed, 215 position in use of, 206 production, 22, 244 small in volume, 272 user, 17, 33, 46 exercises for, 135 well placed, 175 voices, classification of, 260, 261 injured, 26 vowel, a, 195 purity of, 199 sounds, 196, 197, 216 vowels, adaptation of, to ideas, 222 and consonants, 230, 235 dark, 235 formation of, 218-221 low-pitched, 235 mouth positions of, 218 perfect sound of, 221 pitch of, 221, 225, 230 quality of, 221 w wagner, 257 whispering, 225, 226 women, register of, 234 great singers on the art _of_ singing educational conferences with foremost artists by james francis cooke a series of personal study talks with the most renowned opera concert and oratorio singers of the time _especially planned for voice students_ [illustration] theo. presser co. philadelphia, pa. copyright, 1921, by theo. presser co. international copyright secured contents page introduction 5 the technic of operatic production 21 what the american girl should know about an operatic career _frances alda_ 31 modern vocal methods in italy _pasquale amato_ 38 the main elements of interpretation _david bispham_ 45 success in concert singing _dame clara butt_ 58 the value of self-study in voice training _giuseppe campanari_ 68 italy, the home of song _enrico caruso_ 79 modern roads to vocal success _julia claussen_ 90 self-help in voice study _charles dalmores_ 100 if my daughter should study for grand opera _andreas dippel_ 110 how a great master coached opera singers _emma eames_ 121 the open door to opera _florence easton_ 133 what must i go through to become a prima donna? _geraldine farrar_ 144 the master songs of robert schumann _johanna gadski_ 154 teaching yourself to sing _amelita galli-curci_ 166 the know how in the art of singing _mary garden_ 176 building a vocal repertoire _alma gluck_ 185 opportunities for young concert singers _emilio de gogorza_ 191 thoroughness in vocal preparation _frieda hempel_ 200 common sense in training and preserving the voice _dame nellie melba_ 207 secrets of bel canto _bernice de pasquali_ 217 how fortunes are wasted in vocal education _marcella sembrich_ 227 keeping the voice in prime condition _ernestine schumann-heink_ 235 italian opera in america _antonio scotti_ 251 the singer's larger musical public _henri scott_ 260 singing in concert and what it means _emma thursby_ 269 new aspects of the art of singing in america _reinald werrenrath_ 283 how i regained a lost voice _evan williams_ 292 introduction vocal gold mines and how they are developed plutarch tells how a laconian youth picked all the feathers from the scrawny body of a nightingale and when he saw what a tiny thing was left exclaimed, "_surely thou art all voice and nothing else!_" among the tens of thousands of young men and women who, having heard a few famous singers, suddenly determine to follow the trail of the footlights, there must be a very great number who think that the success of the singer is "voice and nothing else." if this collection of conferences serves to indicate how much more goes into the development of the modern singer than mere voice, the effort will be fruitful. nothing is more fascinating in human relations than the medium of communication we call speech. when this is combined with beautiful music in song, its charm is supreme. the conferences collected in this book were secured during a period of from ten to fifteen years; and in every case the notes have been carefully, often microscopically, reviewed and approved by the artist. they are the record of actual accomplishment and not mere metempirical opinions. the general design was directed by the hundreds of questions that had been presented to the writer in his own experience in teaching the art of singing. only the practical teacher of singing has the opportunity to discover the real needs of the student; and only the artist of wide experience can answer many of the serious questions asked. the writer's first interest in the subject of voice commenced with the recollection of the wonderfully human and fascinating vocal organ of henry ward beecher, whom he had the joy to know in his early boyhood. the memory of such a voice as that of beecher is ineradicable. once, at the same age, he was taken to hear beecher's rival pulpit orator, the rev. t. de witt talmage, in the brooklyn tabernacle. the harsh, raucous, nasal, penetrating, rasping, irritating voice of that clergyman only served to emphasize the delight in listening to beecher. then he heard the wonderful orotund organ of col. robert j. ingersoll and the sonorous, mellow voice of edwin booth. shortly he found himself enlisted as a soprano in the boy choir of a large episcopal church. while there he became the soloist, singing many of the leading arias from famous oratorios before he was able to identify the musical importance of such works. then came a long training in piano and in organ playing, followed by public appearances as a pianist and engagements as an organist and choirmaster in different churches. this, coupled with song composition, musical criticism and editing, experience in conducting, managing concerts, accompanying noted singers and, later, in teaching voice for many years, formed a background that is recounted here only to let the reader know that the conferences were not put down by one unacquainted with the actual daily needs of the student, from his earliest efforts to his platform triumphs. what must the singer have? what must the singer have? a voice? of course. but how good must that voice be? "ah, there's the rub!" it is this very point which adds so much fascination to the chances of becoming a great singer; and it is this very point upon which so many, many careers have been wrecked. the young singer learns that jenny lind was first refused by garcia because he considered her case hopeless; he learns that sir george henschel told bispham that he had insufficient voice to encourage him to take up the career of the singer; he learns dozens of similar instances; and then he goes to hear some famous singer with slender vocal gifts who, by force of tremendous dramatic power, eclipses dozens with finer voices. he thereupon resolves that "voice" must be a secondary matter in the singer's success. there could not be a greater mistake. there must be a good vocal basis. there must be a voice capable of development through a sufficient gamut to encompass the great works written for such a voice. it must be capable of development into sufficient "size" and power that it may fill large auditoriums. it must be sweet, true to pitch, clear; and, above all, it must have that kind of an individual quality which seems to draw the musical interest of the average person to it. the perfect voice paradoxically enough, the public does not seem to want the "perfect" voice, but rather, the "human" voice. a noted expert, who for many years directed the recording laboratories of a famous sound reproducing machine company, a man whose acquaintance with great singers of the time is very wide, once told the writer of a singer who made records so perfect from the standpoint of tone that no musical critic could possibly find fault with them. yet these records did not meet with a market from the general public. the reason is that the public demands something far more than a flawless voice and technically correct singing. it demands the human quality, that wonderful something that shines through the voice of every normal, living being as the soul shines through the eyes. it is this thing which gives individuality and identity to the voice and makes the widest appeal to the greatest number of people. patti was not great because her dulcet tones were like honey to the ear. mere sweetness does not attract vast audiences time and again. once, in a mediæval german city, the writer was informed that a nightingale had been heard in the _glacis_ on the previous night. the following evening a party of friends was formed and wandered through the park whispering with delight at every outburst from the silver throat. never had bird music been so beautiful. the next night someone suggested that we go again; but no one could be found who was enthusiastic enough to repeat the experience. the very perfection of the nightingale's song, once heard, had been sufficient. the lure of individuality certain performers in vaudeville owe their continued popularity to the fascinating individuality of their voices. albert chevalier, once heard, could never be forgotten. his pathetic lilt to "my old dutuch" has made thousands weep. when he sings such a number he has a far higher artistic control over his audience than many an elaborately trained singer trilling away at some very complicated aria. a second-rate opera singer once bemoaned his fate to the writer. he complained that he was obliged to sing for $100.00 a week, notwithstanding his years of study and preparation, while harry lauder, the scotch comedian, could get $1000 a night on his tours. as a matter of fact mr. lauder, entirely apart from his ability as an actor, had a far better voice and had that appealing quality that simply commandeers his auditors the moment he opens his mouth. any method or scheme of teaching the art of singing that does not seek to develop the inherent intellectual and emotional vocal complexion of the singer can never approach a good method. vocal perfection that does not admit of the manifestation of the real individual has been the death knell of many an aspiring student. nordica, jean de reszke, victor maurel, plançon, sims reeves, schumann-heink, garden, dr. wüllner, evan williams, galli-curci, and especially our greatest of american singers, david bispham, all have manifested a vocal individuality as unforgetable to the ear as their countenances are to the eye. if the reader happens to be a young singer and can grasp the significance of the previous paragraph, he may have something more valuable to him than many lessons. the world is not seeking merely the perfect voice but a great musical individuality manifested through a voice developed to express that individuality in the most natural and at the same time the most comprehensive manner possible. therefore, young man and young woman, does it not seem of the greatest importance to you to develop, first of all, the _mind and the soul_, so that when the great hour comes, your audience will hear through the notes that pour from your throat something of your intellectual and emotional character? they will not know how, nor will they ask why they hear it,--but its manifestation will either be there or it will not be there. upon this will depend much of your future success. it can not be concealed from the discerning critics in whose hands your progress rests. the high intellectual training received in college by ffrangçon davies, david bispham, plunkett greene, herbert witherspoon, reinald werrenrath and others, is just as apparent to the intelligent listener, in their singing at recitals, as it would be in their conversation. others have received an equivalent intellectual training in other ways. the young singer, who thinks that in the future he can "get by" without such a training, is booked for disappointment. get a college education if you can; and, if you can not, fight to get its equivalent. no useful experience in the singer's career is a wasted one. the early instrumental training of melba, sembrich, campanari, hempel, dalmores, garden, and galli-curci, shows out in their finished singing, in wonderful manner. every singer should be able to play the piano well. it has a splendid effect in the musical discipline of the mind. in european conservatories, in many instances, the study of the piano is compulsory. your philosophy of singing the student of singing should be an inveterate reader of "worthwhile" comments upon his art. in this way, if he has a discriminating mind, he will be able to form a "philosophy of singing" of his own. richard wagner prefaced his music dramas with lengthy essays giving his reasons for pursuing a certain course. whatever their value may be to the musical public at this time, it could not have been less than that to the great master when he was fighting to straighten out for his own satisfaction in his own mind just what he should do and how he should do it. therefore, read interminably; but believe nothing that you read until you have weighed it carefully in your own mind and determined its usefulness in its application to your own particular case. the student will find the following books of real value in his quest for vocal truth: _the philosophy of singing_, clara kathleen rogers; _the vocal instructor_, e. j. myer; _the psychology of singing_, david c. taylor; _how to sing_, lilli lehmann; _reminiscences of a quaker singer_, david bispham; _the art of the singer_, w. j. henderson. the student should also read the biographies of famous singers and keep in touch with the progress of the art, through reading the best magazines. the history of singing the history of singing parallels the history of civilization. egypt, israel, greece and rome made their contributions; but how they sang and what they sang we can not definitely know because of the destruction of the bridge between ancient and modern notation, and because not until thomas edison invented the phonograph in 1877, was there any tangible means of recording the voices of the singers. the wisdom of socrates, plato and cæsar is therefore of trifling significance in helping us to find out more than how highly the art was regarded. the absurd antics of nero, in his ambition to distinguish himself as a singer, indicated in some more or less indefinite way the importance given to singing in the heyday of rome. the incessant references to singing, in greek literature, tell us that singing was looked upon not merely as an accomplishment but as one of the necessary arts. coincident with the coming of italian opera, about 1600, we find a great revival of the art of singing; and many of the old italian masters have bequeathed us some fairly instructive comments upon the art of _bel canto_. that these old italian teachers were largely individualists and taught empirically, with no set methods other than that which their own ears determined, seems to be accepted quite generally by investigators at this date. the _osservazione sopra il canto figurato_ of pietro francesco tosi (procurable in english), published in 1723, and the _reflessioni pratichi sul canto figurato_, published in 1776, are valuable documents for the serious student, particularly because these men seemed to recognize that the so-called registers should be equalized. with them developed an ever-expanding jargon of voice directions which persist to this day among vocal teachers. such directions as "sing through the mask" (meaning the face); "sing with the throat open"; "sing as though you were just about to smile"; "sing as though you were just about to experience the sensation of swallowing" (_come bere_); "support the tone"; etc., etc., are often more confusing than helpful. manual garcia (1805-1906), who invented the laryngoscope in 1855, made an earnest effort to bring scientific observation to the aid of the vocal teacher, by providing a tiny mirror on the end of a rod, enabling the teacher to see the vocal cords during the process of phonation. how much this actually helped the singing teacher is still a moot point; but it must be remembered that garcia had many extremely successful pupils, including the immortal jenny lind. the writer again advises the serious student of singing to spend a great deal of time in forming his own conception of the principles by which he can get the most from his voice. any progressive artist teacher will encourage him in this course. in other words, it is not enough in these days that he shall sing; but he must know how he produces his results and be able to produce them time and time again with constantly increasing success. note in the succeeding conferences how many of the great singers have given very careful and minute consideration to this. the late evan williams spent years of thought and study upon it; and the writer considers that his observations in this volume are among the most important contributions to the literature of voice teaching. this was the only form in which they appeared in print. only one student in a hundred thousand can dispense with a good vocal teacher, as did the brilliant galli-curci or the unforgetable campanari. a really fine teacher of voice is practically indispensable to most students. this does not mean that the best teacher is the one with the greatest reputation. the reputation of a teacher only too often has depended upon his good fortune early in life in securing pupils who have made spectacular successes in a short time. there are hundreds of splendid vocal teachers in america now, and it is very gratifying to see many of their pupils make great successes in europe without any previous instruction "on the other side." surely nothing can be more helpful to the ambitious vocal student than the direct advice, personal suggestions and hints of the greatest singers of the time. it is with this thought that the writer takes especial pride in being the medium of the presentation of the following conferences. it is suggested that a careful study of the best sound-reproducing-machine records of the great singers included will add much to the interest of the study of this work. the enormous incomes received from some vocal gold mines, such as caruso, john mccormack, patti, galli-curci, and others, have made the lure of the singer's career so great that many young vocalists are inclined to forget that all of the great singers of the day have attained their triumphs only after years of hard work. galli-curci's overwhelmingly successful american début followed years of real labor, when she was glad to accept small engagements in order to advance in her art. john mccormack's first american appearances were at a side show at the st. louis world's fair. sacrifice is often the seed kernel of large success. too few young singers are willing to plant that kernel. they expect success to come at the end of a few courses of study and a few hundred dollars spent in advertising. the public, particularly the american public, is a wary one. it may be possible to advertise worthless gold mining stock in such a way that thousands may be swindled before the crook behind the scheme is jailed. but it is impossible to sell our public a so-called golden-voiced singer whose voice is really nothing more than tin-foil and very thin tin-foil at that. every year certain kinds of slippery managers accept huge fees from would-be singers, which are supposed to be invested in a mysterious formula which, like the philosopher's stone, will turn a baser metal into pure gold. no campaign of advertising spent upon a mediocrity or an inadequately prepared artist can ever result in anything but a disastrous waste. don't spend a penny in advertising until you have really something to sell which the public will want. it takes years to make a fine singer known; but it takes only one concert to expose an inadequate singer. every one of the artists represented in this book has been "through the mill" and every one has triumphed gloriously in the end. there is one road. they have defined it in remarkable fashion in these conferences. the sign-posts read, "work, sacrifice, joy, triumph." with the multiplicity of methods and schemes for practice it is not surprising that the main essentials of the subject are sometimes obscured. that such discussions as those included in this book will enable the thinking student to crystallize in his own mind something which to him will become a method long after he has left his student days, can not be questioned. one of the significant things which he will have to learn is perfect intonation, keeping on the right pitch all the time; and another thing is freedom from restriction, best expressed by the word poise. william shakespeare, greatest of english singing teachers of his day, once expressed these important points in the following words: "the foundations of the art of singing are two in number: "first: (a) how to take breath and (b) how to press it out slowly. (the act of slow exhalation is seen in our endeavor to warm some object with the breath.) "second: how to sing to this controlled breath pressure. "it may be interesting at this point to observe how the old singers practiced when seeking a full tone while using little breath. they watched the effect of their breath by singing against a mirror or against the flame of a taper. if a note required too much pressure the command over the breath was lost--the mirror was unduly tarnished or the flame unduly puffed. 'ah' was their pattern vowel, being the most difficult on account of the openness of the throat--the vowel which, by letting more breath out, demanded the greatest control. the perfect poise of the instrument on the controlled breath was found to bring about _three_ important results to the singer: "_first result_--unerring tuning. as we do not experience any sensation of consciously using the muscles in the throat, we can only judge of the result by listening. when the note sounds to the right breath control it springs unconsciously and instantaneously to the tune we intended. the freedom of the instrument not being interfered with, it follows through our wishing it--like any other act naturally performed. this unerring tuning is the first result of a right foundation. "_second result_--the throat spaces are felt to be unconscious and arrange themselves independently in the different positions prompted by the will and necessary to pronounciation, the factors being freedom of tongue and soft palate, and freedom of lips. "_third result_--the complete freedom of the face and eyes which adapt themselves to those changes necessary to the expression of the emotions. "the artist can increase the intensity of his tone without necessarily increasing its volume, and can thus produce the softest effect. by his skill he can emit the soft note and cause it to travel as far as a loud note, thus arousing emotions as of distance, as of memories of the past. he produces equally well the more powerful gradations without overstepping the boundary of noble and expressive singing. on the other hand, an indifferent performer would scarcely venture on a soft effect, the absence of breath support would cause him to become inaudible and should he attempt to crescendo such a note the result would be throaty and unsatisfactory." another most important subject is diction, and the writer can think of nothing better than to quote from mme. lilli lehmann, the greatest wagnerian soprano of the last century. "let us now consider some of the reasons why some american singers have failed to succeed. how do american women begin their studies? many commence their lessons in december or january. they take two or three half-hour lessons a week, even attending these irregularly, and ending their year's instruction in march or, at the latest, in april. surely music study under such circumstances is little less than farcical. the voice, above all things, needs careful and constant attention. moreover, many are lacking lamentably in the right preparations. some are evidently so benighted as to believe that preparation is unnecessary. or do they believe that the singing teacher must also provide a musical and general education? "is there one among them, for instance, who can enunciate her own language faultlessly; that is, as the stage demands? many fail to realize that they should, first of all, be taught elocution (diction) by teachers who can show them how to pronounce vowels purely and beautifully, and consonants correctly and distinctly, so as to give words their proper sounds. how can anyone expect to sing in a foreign language when he has no idea of his own language--no idea how this wonderful member, the tongue, should be used--to say nothing of the terrible faults in speaking? i endorse the study of elocution as a preparatory study for all singing. no one can realize how much simpler and how much more efficient it would make the work of the singing teacher." finally, the writer feels that there is much to be inferred from the popular criticism of the man in the street--"there is no music in that voice." mr. hoipolloi knows just what he means when he says that. as a matter of fact, the average voice has very little music in it. by music the man means that the pitch of the tones that he hears shall be so unmistakable and so accurate, that the quality shall be so pure and the thought of the singer so sincere and so worth-while, that the auditor feels the wonderful human emotion that comes only from listening to a beautiful human voice. put real music in every tone and your success will not be far distant. james francis cooke. bala, pa. the technic of operatic production what the student who aspires to go into opera should know about the mechanical side of giving an operatic performance even after one has mastered the art of singing there is still much that the artist must learn about the actual working of the opera house itself. this of course is best done by actual experience; but the writer has found that much can be gained by insight into some of the conditions that exist in the modern opera house. in the childhood of hundreds of people now living opera was given with scenery and costumes that would be ridiculed in vaudeville if seen to-day. pianos, lamps, chairs and even bird cages were often painted right on the scenery. one set of costumes and properties was made to do for the better part of the repertoire in such a way that even the most flexible imagination was stretched to the breaking point several times during the performance. now, most of this has changed and the modern opera house stage is often a mechanical and electrical marvel. it is most human to want to peep behind the scenes and see something of the machinery which causes the wonderful spectacle of the stage. we remember how, as children, we longed to open the clock and see the wheels go round. behind the asbestos curtain there is a world of ropes, lights, electrical and mechanical machinery, paints and canvas, which is always a territory filled with interest to those who sit in the seats in front. much of the success of the opera in new york, during the early part of the present century, was due to the great efficiency of the director, giulio gatti-casazza. gatti-casazza was a graduate of the royal italian naval academy at leghorn, and had been intended for a career as a naval engineer before he undertook the management of the opera at ferrara. this he did because his father was on the board of directors of the ferrara opera house, and the institution had not been a great success. his directorship was so well executed that he was appointed head director of the opera at la scala in milan and astonished the musical world with his wonderful italian productions of wagner's operas under the conductorship of toscanini. in new york many reforms were instituted, and later took the new york company to paris, giving performances which made europe realize that opera in new york is as fine as that in any music center in the world, and in some particulars finer. the new york opera is more cosmopolitan than that of any other country. its company included artists from practically every european country, but fortunately includes more american singers and musicians to-day than at any time in our operatic history. we are indebted to the staff of the metropolitan opera house, experts who, with the kind permission of the director, furnished the writer with the following interesting information: [illustration: profile of the paris grand opera. (note that the stage section is larger than the auditorium. also note the immense space given to the grand entrance stairway.)] a world of detail few people have any idea of how many persons and how many departments are connected with the opera and its presentation. considering them in order, they might be classed as follows: the general manager and his assistants. the musical director and his assistants. the stage director and his assistants. the technical director and his assistants. the business director and his assistants. the wardrobe director and his assistants. the master of properties and his assistants. the head engineer and his assistants. the accountant and his assistants. the advertising manager and his assistants. the press representatives and his assistants. the superintendent and his assistants. the head usher and his assistants. the electrician and his assistants. few of these important and necessary factors in the production ever appear before the public. like the miners who supply us with the wealth of the earth, they work, as it were, underground. no one is more directly concerned with making the production than the technical director. in that we are fortunate in having the views of mr. edward siedle, technical director of the metropolitan opera company, of new york. the complete picture that the public sees is made under the supervision of mr. siedle, and during the actual production he is responsible for all of the technical details. his experience has extended over a great many years in different countries. he writes: the technic of the production i understand you wish me to give you some idea of the technicalities involved in producing the stage pictures which go to form an opera. let us suppose it is an opera by an american composer. my first procedure would be to place myself in touch with the author and composer. after having one or two talks with them i secure a libretto. when a mutual understanding is agreed upon between us as to the character of the scenes required and the positions of particular things in relation to the business which has to take place during the performance, i make my plans accordingly, and look up all the data available bearing upon the subject. it is now time to call in the scenic artist, giving him my views and ideas, so that he can start upon the designing and painting of the scenery. his first design would be in the form of a rough sketch and a more clearly worked-out ground plan. after further discussion and alterations we should definitely agree upon a scheme, and he would proceed to make a scale model. when this model is finished it is a perfect miniature scene of the opera as it will appear on the night the opera is produced. the author and composer are then called in to meet the impresario and myself for a final consultation. we now finally criticize our plans, making any alterations which may seem necessary to us. when these alterations are completed the plans are handed over to the carpenter, who immediately starts making his frames and covering them with canvas, working from the scale model. the scenic artist is now able to commence his work in earnest. the "properties" are our next consideration. sketches and patterns are made, authorities are consulted, and everything possible is done to aid the property master in doing his part of the work. unless the opera in question calls for special mechanical effects, or special stage machinery, the scene is adapted to the stage as it is. if anything exceptional has to be achieved, however, special machinery is constructed. the designing of the costumes is gone over in much the same way as the construction of the scenery. the period in which the opera is laid, the various characters and their station in life, are all well talked over by the composer, author and myself. the costume designer is then called in, and after listening to what every one has to say and reading the libretto, he submits his designs. these, when finished, are criticized by the impresario, the composer, the author and myself, and any suggestion which will improve them is accepted by the designer, and alterations are made until everything is satisfactory. the designs are then sent to the costume maker. the important matter of lighting and electrical effects is not dealt with until after the scenery has been completed, painted and set up on the stage, except in the case when exceptional effects are demanded. the matter is then carefully discussed and arranged so that the apparatus will be ready by the time the earlier rehearsals are taking place. the staff required by a technical director in such an institution as the metropolitan opera house is necessarily a large one. he needs an able scenic artist with his assistants and an efficient carpenter with his assistants to complete the scenic arrangements as indicated in the models. the completed scenery is delivered over to the stage carpenter who has a large body of assistants, and is held responsible for the running of the opera during rehearsals and performances. the stage carpenter has also under his control a body of carpenters who work all night, commencing their duties after the opera is over, removing all the scenery used in the opera just finished from the opera house and bringing from the various storehouses the scenery required for the next performance or rehearsal. the electrician is an important member of my staff, and he, of course, has a number of assistants. the property master and his assistants and the wardrobe mistress and her assistants also are extremely important. then the active engineer who is responsible for the heating and ventilating, and also for many of the stage effects, is another necessary and important member. in all, the opera house, when in full swing, requires for the technical or stage detail work alone about 185 people. [illustration: how an operatic stage looks from behind.] thus far we have not considered the musical side of the production. this is, of course, under the management of the general director and the leading musical director. very little time at best is at the disposal of the musical director. a director like toscanini would, in a first-class opera house, with a full and competent company, require about fifteen days to complete the rehearsals, and other preparations for such a production as _aïda_, should such a work be brought out as a novelty. a good conductor needs at least four orchestra rehearsals. _pelleas et melisande_ would require more extensive rehearsing, as the music is of a new order and is, in a sense, a new form of art. important rehearsals while the head musical director is engaged with the principals and the orchestra, the chorus-master spends his time training the chorus. if his work is not efficiently done, the entire production is greatly impeded. the assistant conductors undertake the work of rehearsing the soloists prior to their appearance in connection with the orchestra. they must know the head director's ideas perfectly, and see that the soloists do not introduce interpretations which are too much at variance with his ideas and the accepted traditions. in all about ten rehearsals are given to a work in a room set aside for that purpose, then there are five stage rehearsals, and finally four full ensemble rehearsals with orchestra. in putting on an old work, such as those in the standard repertoire, no rehearsals are demanded. the musical forces of the metropolitan opera house, for instance, make a company of at least two leading conductors, twelve assistant conductors, about ninety soloists, a chorus numbering at least one hundred and twenty-five singers, thirty musicians for stage music, about twenty stage attendants and an orchestra of from eighty to one hundred performers, to say nothing of the costume, scenic and business staff, making a little industry all in itself. the general director, the stage manager, and often the musical director make innumerable suggestions to the singers regarding the proper histrionic presentation of their rôles. as a rule singers give too little attention to the dramatic side of their work and demand too much of the stage manager. in recent years there has been a great improvement in this. prior to the time of gluck, weber and wagner, acting in opera was a matter of ridicule. the ballet about seventy or one hundred persons make up the ballet of a modern grand opera. at least ten years of continuous study are required to make a finished ballet dancer in the histrionic sense. many receive very large fees for their services. the art of stage dancing also has undergone many great reforms in recent years; and the ballets of to-day are therefore much more popular than they were in the latter part of the last century. the most popular ballets of to-day are the _coppelia_ and _sylvia_ of delibes. the ballets from the operas of _la gioconda_, _samson et delila_, _armide_, _mephistophele_, _aïda_, _orfeo_, _l'africaine_, and _the damnation of faust_ also are very popular. at a modern opera house like the metropolitan in new york city the number of employees will be between six hundred and seven hundred, and the cost of a season will be about one million dollars. frances alda (mme. giulio gatti-casazza) biographical mme. frances alda was born at christ church, new zealand, may 31st, 1883. she was educated at melbourne and studied singing with mathilde marchesi in paris. her début was made in massenet's _manon_, at the opera comique in paris in 1904. after highly successful engagements in paris, brussels, parma and milan (where she created the title rôle in the italian version of _louise_), she made her american début at the metropolitan opera house in new york as gilda in verdi's _rigoletto_. since her initial success in new york she has been connected with the metropolitan stage every season. in 1910 she married giulio gatti-casazza, manager of the metropolitan opera house, and is probably better able to speak upon the subject herewith discussed than any one in america. she has also appeared with great success in london, warsaw, buenos aires and other cities, in opera and in concert. many of the most important leading rôles in modern opera have been created by her in america. [illustration: mme. frances alda. © underwood & underwood.] what the american girl should know about an operatic career mme. frances alda (mme. gatti-casazza) regularity and success to the girl who aspires to have an operatic career, who has the requisite vocal gifts, physical health, stage presence and--most important of all--a high degree of intelligence, the great essential is regular daily work. this implies regular lessons, regular practice, regular exercise, regular sleep, regular meals--in fact, a life of regularity. the daily lesson in most cases seems an imperative necessity. lessons strung over a series of years merely because it seems more economical to take one lesson a week instead of seven rarely produce the expected results. marchesi, with her famous wisdom on vocal matters, advised twenty minutes a day and then not more than ten minutes at a time. for nine months i studied with the great parisian maestra and in my tenth month i made my début. of course, i had sung a great deal before that time and also could play both the piano and the violin. a thorough musical knowledge is always valuable. the early years of the girl who is destined for an operatic career may be much more safely spent with czerny exercises for the piano or kreutzer studies for the violin than with concone solfeggios for the voice. most girls over-exercise their voices during the years when they are too delicate. it always pays to wait and spend the time in developing the purely musical side of study. moderation and good sense more voices collapse from over-practice and more careers collapse from under-work than from anything else. the girl who hopes to become a prima donna will dream of her work morning, noon and night. nothing can take it out of her mind. she will seek to study every imaginable thing that could in any way contribute to her equipment. there is so much to learn that she must work hard to learn all. even now i study pretty regularly two hours a day, but i rarely sing more than a few minutes. i hum over my new rôles with my accompanist, frank la forge, and study them in that way. it was to such methods as this that marchesi attributed the wonderful longevity of the voices of her best-known pupils. when they followed the advice of the dear old maestra their voices lasted a long, long time. her vocal exercises were little more than scales sung very slowly, single, sustained tones repeated time and again until her critical ear was entirely satisfied, and then arpeggios. after that came more complicated technical drills to prepare the pupil for the fioriture work demanded in the more florid operas. at the base of all, however, were the simplest kind of exercises. through her discriminating sense of tone quality, her great persistence and her boundless enthusiasm, she used these simple vocal materials with a wizardry that produced great _prime donne_. the precious head voice marchesi laid great stress upon the use of the head voice. this she illustrated to all her pupils herself, at the same time not hesitating to insist that it was impossible for a male teacher to teach the head voice properly. (marchesi herself carried out her theories by refusing to teach any male applicants.) she never let any pupil sing above f on the top line of the treble staff in anything but the head voice. they rarely ever touched their highest notes with full voice. the upper part of the voice was conserved with infinite care to avoid early breakdowns. even when the pupils sang the top notes they did it with the feeling that there was still something in reserve. in my operatic work at present i feel this to be of greatest importance. the singer who exhausts herself upon the top notes is neither artistic nor effective. the american girl's chances in opera the american girl who fancies that she has less chances in opera than her sisters of the european countries is silly. look at the lists of artists at the metropolitan, for instance. the list includes twice as many artists of american nationality as of any other nation. this is in no sense the result of pandering to the patriotism of the american public. it is simply a matter of supply and demand. new yorkers demand the best opera in the world and expect the best voices in the world. the management would accept fine artists with fine voices from china or africa or the north pole if they were forthcoming. a diamond is a diamond no matter where it comes from. the management virtually ransacks the musical marts of europe every year for fine voices. inevitably the list of american artists remains higher. on the whole, the american girls have better natural voices, more ambition and are willing to study seriously, patiently and energetically. this is due in a measure to better physical conditions in america and in australia, another free country that has produced unusual singers. what is the result? america is now producing the best and enjoying the best. there is more fine music of all kinds now in new york during one week than one can get in paris in a month and more than one can get in milan in six months. this has made new york a great operatic and musical center. it is a wonderful opportunity for americans who desire to enter opera. the need for superior intelligence there was a time in the halcyon days of the old coloratura singers when the opera singer was not expected to have very much more intelligence than a parrot. any singer who could warble away at runs and trills was a great artist. the situation has changed entirely to-day. the modern opera-goer demands great acting as well as great singing. the opera house calls for brains as well as voices. there should properly be great and sincere rivalry among fine singers. the singer must listen to other singers with minute care and patience, and then try to learn how to improve herself by self-study and intelligent comparison. just as the great actor studies everything that pertains to his rôle, so the great singer knows the history of the epoch of the opera in which he is to appear, he knows the customs, he may know something of the literature of the time. in other words, he must live and think in another atmosphere before he can walk upon the stage and make the audience feel that he is really a part of the picture. sir herbert beerbohm tree gave a presentation that was convincing and beautiful, while the mediocre actor, not willing to give as much brain work to his performance, falls far short of an artistic performance. a modern performance of any of the great works as they are presented at the metropolitan is rehearsed with great care and attention to historical detail. instances of this are the performances of _l'amore di tre re_, _carmen_, _bohême_, and _lohengrin_, as well as such great works as _die meistersinger_, and _tristan und isolde_. physical strength and singing few singers seem to realize that an operatic career will be determined in its success very largely through physical strength, all other factors being present in the desired degree. that is, the singer must be strong physically in order to succeed in opera. this applies to women as well as to men. no one knows what the physical strain is, how hard the work and study are. in front of you is a sea of highly intelligent, cultured people, who for years have been trained in the best traditions of the opera. they pay the highest prices paid anywhere for entertainment. they are entitled to the best. to face such an audience and maintain the high traditions of the house through three hours of a complicated modern score is a musical, dramatic and intellectual feat that demands, first of all, a superb physical condition. every day of my life in new york i go for a walk, mostly around the reservoir in central park, because it is high and the air is pure and free. as a result i seldom have a cold, even in mid-winter. i have not missed a performance in eight years, and this, of course, is due to the fact that my health is my first daily consideration. [illustration: pasquale amato. © mishkin.] pasquale amato biographical pasquale amato, for so many years the leading baritone at the metropolitan opera house in new york, was born at naples march 21st, 1878. he was intended for the career of an engineer and was educated at the instituto tecnico domenico. he then studied at the conservatory of naples from 1896 to 1899. his teachers there were cucialla and carelli. he made his début as germont in _la traviata_ in the teatro bellini at naples in 1900. thereafter his successes have been exceptionally great in the music centers of south america, italy, russia, england, egypt, and germany. he has created numerous rôles at the metropolitan opera house, among them jack rance in the _girl of the golden west_; golaud in _pelleas and melisande_ (milan); _l'amore di tre re_; _cyrano_ (damrosch); _lodoletta_ (mascagni); _madame sans gene_. he has visited south america as an artist no less than ten times. his voice is susceptible of fine dramatic feeling. modern vocal methods in italy pasquale amato when i was about sixteen years of age my voice was sufficiently settled to encourage my friends and family to believe that i might become a singer. this is a proud discovery for an italian boy, as singing--especially operatic singing--is held in such high regard in italy that one naturally looks forward with joy to a career in the great opera houses of one's native country and possibly to those over the sea. at eighteen i was accordingly entered in the conservatory, but not without many conditions, which should be of especial interest to young american vocal students. the teachers did not immediately accept me as good vocal material. i was recognized to have musical inclinations and musical gifts and i was placed under observation so that it might be determined whether the state-supported conservatory should direct my musical education along vocal lines or along other lines. this is one of the cardinal differences between musical education in america and musical education in italy. in america a pupil suddenly determines that he is destined to become a great opera singer and forthwith he hires a teacher to make him one. he might have been destined to become a plumber, or a lawyer, or a comedian, but that has little to do with the matter if he has money and can employ a teacher. in italy such a direction of talents would be considered a waste to the individual and to the state. of course the system has its very decided faults, for a corps of teachers with poor or biased judgment could do a great deal of damage by discouraging real talent, as was, indeed, the case with the great verdi, who at the age of eighteen was refused admission to the milan conservatory by the director, basili, on the score of lack of talent. however, for the most part the judges are experienced and skilful men, and when a pupil has been under surveillance for some time the liability of an error in judgment is very slight. accordingly, after i had spent some time in getting acquainted with music through the study of notation, sight-singing, theory, harmony, piano, etc., i was informed at the end of two years that i had been selected for an operatic career. i can remember the time with great joy. it meant a new life to me, for i was certain that with the help of such conservative masters i should succeed. on the whole, at this time, i consider the italian system a very wise one for it does not fool away any time with incompetence. i have met so many young musicians who have shown indications of great study but who seem destitute of talent. it seems like coaxing insignificant shrubs to become great oak trees. no amount of coaxing or study will give them real talent if they do not have it, so why waste the money of the state and the money of the individual upon it. on the other hand, wherever in the world there is real talent, the state should provide money to develop it, just as it provides money to educate the young. italian vocal teaching so much has been said about the old italian vocal method that the very name brings ridicule in some quarters. nothing has been the subject for so much charlatanry. it is something that any teacher, good or bad, can claim in this country. every italian is of course very proud indeed of the wonderful vocal traditions of italy, the centuries of idealism in search of better and better tone production. there are of course certain statements made by great voice teachers of other days that have been put down and may be read in almost any library in large american cities. but that these things make a vocal method that will suit all cases is too absurd to consider. the good sense of the old italian master would hold such a plan up to ridicule. singing is first of all an art, and an art can not be circumscribed by any set of rules or principles. the artist must, first of all, know a very great deal about all possible phases of the technic of his art and must then adjust himself to the particular problem before him. therefore we might say that the italian method was a method and then again that it was no method. as a matter of fact it is thousands of methods--one for each case or vocal problem. for instance, if i were to sing by the same means that mr. caruso employs it would not at all be the best thing for my voice, yet for mr. caruso it is without question the very best method, or his vocal quality would not be in such superb condition after constant years of use. he is the proof of his own method. i should say that the italian vocal teacher teaches, first of all, with his ears. he listens with the greatest possible intensity to every shade of tone-color until his ideal tone reveals itself. this often requires months and months of patience. the teacher must recognize the vocal deficiencies and work to correct them. for instance, i never had to work with my high tones. they are to-day produced in the same way in which i produced them when i was a boy. fortunately i had teachers who recognized this and let it go at that. possibly the worst kind of a vocal teacher is the one who has some set plan or device or theory which must be followed "willy-nilly" in order that the teacher's theories may be vindicated. with such a teacher no voice is safe. the very best natural voices have to follow some patent plan just because the teacher has been taught in one way, is inexperienced, and has not good sense enough to let nature's perfect work alone. both of my teachers knew that my high tones were all right and the practice was directed toward the lower tones. they worked me for over ten months on scales and sustained tones until the break that came at e flat above the bass clef was welded from the lower tones to the upper tones so that i could sing up or down with no ugly break audible. i was drilled at first upon the vowel "ah." i hear american vocal authorities refer to "ah" as in father. that seems to me too flat a sound, one lacking in real resonance. the vowel used in my case in italy and in hundreds of other cases i have noted is a slightly broader vowel, such as may be found half-way between the vowel "ah" as in father, and the "aw" as in law. it is not a dull sound, yet it is not the sound of "ah" in father. perhaps the word "doff" or the first syllable of boston, when properly pronounced, gives the right impression. i do not know enough of american vocal training to give an intelligent criticism, but i wonder if american vocal teachers give as much attention to special parts of the training as teachers in italy do. i hope they do, as i consider it very necessary. consider the matter of staccato. a good vocal staccato is really a very difficult thing--difficult when it is right; that is, when on the pitch--every time, clear, distinct, and at the same time not hard and stiff. it took me weeks to acquire the right way of singing such a passage as _un di, quando le veneri_, from _traviata_, but those were very profitable weeks-[illustration: musical notation un di, quan-do le ve-ne-ri il tem-po a-vrà fu-ga-te ] accurate attack in such a passage is by no means easy. anyone can sing it--but _how it is sung_ makes the real difference. the public has very odd ideas about singing. for instance, it would be amazed to learn that _trovatore_ is a much more difficult rôle for me to sing and sing right than either _parsifal_ or _pelleas and melisande_. this largely because of the pure vocal demands and the flowing style. the debussy opera, wonderful as it is, does not begin to make the vocal demands that such a work as _trovatore_ does. when the singer once acquires proficiency, the acquisition of new rôles comes very easy indeed. the main difficulty is the daily need for drilling the voice until it has the same quality every day. it can be done only by incessant attention. here are some of the exercises i do every day with my accompanist: [illustration: musical notation _first time forte second time piano._] david bispham biographical david bispham, in many ways the most distinguished of all american singers, was born in philadelphia january 5th, 1857. educated at haverford college, pa. at first a highly successful amateur in philadelphia choirs and theatricals, he went to milan in 1886, studying with vannuccini, lamperti and later in london with shakespeare and randegger. his operatic début was made in messager's _basoche_ at the royal english opera house, 1891. in 1892 he appeared as kurvenal and met with great favor. his wagnerian rôles have been especially distinctive since the start. from 1896 to 1909 he sang alternately at the metropolitan in new york and at covent garden in london, and was admittedly one of the foremost attractions of those great companies in the golden era of our operatic past. he was also immensely in demand as a recital and as an oratorio singer and as a dramatic reader. few singers have shown the versatility and mastery of david bispham and few have been so justly entitled to the academic honors ll.d., b.a., and mus. doc., which he had earned. he was the author of numerous articles on singing--the very successful autobiography, "a quaker singer's reminiscences," and the collections, "david bispham's recital album," "the david bispham song book" (for schools). he was also ever a strong champion of the use of the english language in singing. he died in new york city oct. 2d, 1921. [illustration: david bispham.] the main elements of interpretation david bispham so many things enter into the great problem of interpretation in singing that it is somewhat difficult to state definitely just what the young singer should consider the most important. generally speaking, the following factors are of prime significance: 1. natural aptitude. 2. general education and culture. 3. good musical training. 4. accurate vocal training. 5. familiarity with traditions. 6. freedom of mind. 7. good health. 8. life experience. 9. personal magnetism--one of the most essential,--and 10. idealism. 1. _natural aptitude._--you will notice that foremost consideration is given to those broad general qualities without which all the technical and musical training of the world is practically worthless. the success of the art worker in all lines depends first upon the nature of the man or woman. technical training of the highest and best kind is essential, but that which moves great audiences is not alone the mechanics of an art, but rather the broad education, experience, ideals, culture, the human sympathy and magnetism of the artist. 2. _the value of education and culture._--i cannot emphasize too strongly the value of a good general education and wide culture for the singer. the day has passed when a pretty face or a well-rounded ankle could be mistaken for art on the operatic stage. the public now demands something more than the heroic looking young fellow who comes down to the footlights with the assurance of youth and offers, for real vocal art, a voice fresh but crudely trained, and a bungling interpretation. good education has often been responsible for the phenomenal success of american singers in european opera houses. before the last war, in nearly all of the great operatic centers of the continent, one found americans ranking with the greatest artists in europe. this was a most propitious condition, for it meant that american audiences have been compelled to give the long-delayed recognition to our own singers, and methods of general and vocal education. in most cases the young people of america who aspire to operatic triumphs come from a somewhat better class than singers do in europe. they have had, in most cases, better educational, cultural and home advantages than the average european student. their minds are trained to study intelligently; they are acquainted with the history of the great nations of the world; their tastes are cultivated, and they are filled with the american energy which is one of the marvels of the centuries. more than this, they have had a kind of moral uplift in their homes which is of immense value to them. they have higher ideals in life, they are more businesslike and they keep their purposes very clearly in view. this has created jealousy in some european centers; but it is simply a case of the survival of the fittest, and europe was compelled to bow in recognition of this. vocal art in our own land is no longer to be ignored, for our standards are as high as the highest in the world, and we are educating a race of singers of which any country might be proud. 3. _good musical training._--a thorough musical training--that is, a training upon some musical instrument such as the piano--is extremely desirable, but not absolutely essential; for the instrument called the human voice can be played on as effectively as a violin. the singer who is convinced of his ability, but who has not had such advantages in early youth, should not be discouraged. he can acquire a thorough knowledge of the essentials later on, but he will have to work very much harder to get his knowledge--as i was obliged to do. artistic ability is by no means a certain quality. the famous art critic, vassari, has called our attention to the fact that one painter who produced wonderful pictures had an exhaustive technical training, another arising at his side who also achieved wonderful results had to secure them by means of much bungling self-study. it is very hard to repress artistic ability. as the bible says: "many waters cannot quench love." so it is with music; if the ability is there, it will come to the front through fire and water. 4. _accurate and rational vocal training._--i have added the word rational for it seems a necessary term at a time when so much vocal teaching is apparently in the hands of "faddists." there is only one way to sing, that is _the right way_, the way that is founded upon natural conditions. so much has been said in print about breathing, and placing the voice, and resonance, that anything new might seem redundant at this time. the whole thing in a nutshell is simply to make an effort to get the breath under such excellent control that it will obey the will so easily and fluently that the singer is almost unconscious of any means he may employ to this end. this can come only through long practice and careful observation. when the breath is once under proper control the supply must be so adjusted that neither too much nor too little will be applied to the larynx at one time. how to do this can be discovered only by much practice and self-criticism. when the tone has been created it must be reinforced and colored by passing through the mouth and nose, and the latter is a very present help in time of vocal trouble. this leads to a good tone on at least twenty-six steps and half-steps of the scale and with twenty or more vowel sounds--no easy task by any means. all this takes time, but there is no reason why it should take an interminable amount of time. if good results are not forthcoming in from nine months to a year, something is wrong with either the pupil or the teacher. the matter of securing vocal flexibility should not be postponed too long, but may in many instances be taken up in conjunction with the studies in tone production, after the first principles have been learned. thereafter one enters upon the endless and indescribably interesting field of securing a repertoire. only a teacher with wide experience and intimacy with the best in the vocal literature of the world can correctly grade and select pieces suitable to the ever-changing needs of the pupil. no matter how wonderful the flexibility of the voice, no matter how powerful the tones, no matter how extensive the repertoire, the singer will find all this worthless unless he possesses a voice that is susceptible to the expression of every shade of mental and emotional meaning which his intelligence, experience and general culture have revealed to him in the work he is interpreting. at all times his voice must be under control. considered from the mechanical standpoint, the voice resembles the violin, the breath, as it passes over the vocal cords, corresponding to the bow and the resonance chambers corresponding to the resonance chambers in the violin. 5. _familiarity with vocal traditions._--we come to the matter of the study of the traditional methods of interpreting vocal masterpieces. we must, of course, study these traditions, but we must not be slaves to them. in other words, we must know the past in order to interpret masterpieces properly in the present. we must not, however, sacrifice that great quality--individuality--for slavery to convention. if the former italian method of rendering certain arias was marred by the tremolo of some famous singers, there is no good artistic reason why any one should retain anything so hideous as a tremolo solely because it is traditional. there is a capital story of a young american singer who went to a european opera house with all the characteristic individuality and inquisitiveness of his people. in one opera the stage director told him to go to the back of the stage before singing his principal number and then walk straight down to the footlights and deliver the aria. "why must i go to the back first?" asked the young singer. the director was amazed and blustered: "why? why, because the great rubini did it that way--he created the part; it is the tradition." but the young singer was not satisfied, and finally found an old chorus man who had sung with rubini, and asked him whether the tradition was founded upon a custom of the celebrated singer. "yes," replied the chorus man, "da gretta rubini he granda man. he go waya back; then he comea front; then he sing. ah, grandissimo!" "but," persisted the young american, "_why did he go to the back before he sang?_" "oh!" exclaimed the excited italian; "why he go back? he go to spit!" farcical as this incident may seem, many musical traditions are founded upon customs with quite as little musical or esthetic importance. many traditions are to-day quite as useless as the buttons on the sleeves of our coats, although these very buttons were at one time employed by our forefathers to fasten back the long cuffs. there are, however, certain traditional methods of rendering great masterpieces, and particularly those marked by the florid ornamentation of the days of handel, bach and haydn, which the singer must know. unfortunately, many of these traditions have not been preserved in print in connection with the scores themselves, and the only way in which the young singer can acquire a knowledge of them is through hearing authoritative artists, or from teachers who have had wide and rich experience. 6. _freedom of mind._--under ideal conditions the mind should be free for music study and for public performance. this is not always possible; and some artists under great mental pressure have done their best work solely because they felt that the only way to bury sorrow and trouble was to thrust themselves into their artistic life and thus forget the pangs of misfortune. the student, however, should do everything possible to have his mind free so that he can give his best to his work. one who is wondering where the next penny is coming from is in a poor condition to impress an audience. nevertheless, if the real ability is there it is bound to triumph over all obstacles. 7. _good health._--good health is one of the great factors of success in singing. who needs a sounder mind than the artist? good health comes from good, sensible living. the singer must never forget that the instrument he plays upon is a part of his body and that that instrument depends for its musical excellence and general condition upon good health. a $20,000 stradivarius would be worthless if it were placed in a tub of water; and a larynx that earns for its owner from $500 to $1,500 a night is equally valueless when saturated with the poisons that come from intemperate or unwise living. many of the singer's throat troubles arise from an unhealthy condition of the stomach caused by excesses of diet; but, aside from this, a disease localized in any other part of the body affects the throat sympathetically and makes it difficult for the singer to get good results. recital work, with its long fatiguing journeys on railroads, together with the other inconveniences of travel and the responsibility and strain that come from knowing that one person alone is to hold from 1,000 to 5,000 people interested for nearly two hours, demands a very sound physical condition. 8. _life experience._--culture does not come from the schoolroom alone. the refining processes of life are long and varied. as the violin gains in richness of tone and intrinsic value with age, so the singer's life experience has an effect upon the character of his singing. he must have seen life in its broadest sense, to place himself in touch with human sympathy. to do this and still retain the freshness and sweetness of his voice should be his great aim. the singer who lives a narrow and bigoted existence rarely meets with wide popular approval. the public wants to hear in a voice that wonderful something that tells them that it has had opportunities to know and to understand the human side of song, not giving parrot-like versions of some teacher's way of singing, but that the understanding comes from the very center of the mind, heart and soul. this is particularly true in the field of the song recital. most of the renowned recital singers of the last half century, including schumann-heink, sembrich, wüllner, the henschels and others, were considerably past their youth when they made their greatest successes. a painting fresh from the artist's brush is raw, hard and uninteresting, till time, with its damp and dust, night and day, heat and cold, gives the enriching touch which adds so wonderfully to the softness and beauty of a picture. we singers are all living canvases. time, and time only, can give us those shades and tints which reveal living experience. the young artist should hear many of the best singers, actors, and speakers, should read many of the best books, should see many beautiful pictures and wonderful buildings. but most of all, he should know and study many people and learn of their joys and their sorrows, their successes and their failures, their strength and their weaknesses, their loves and their hates. in all art human life is reflected, and this is particularly true in the case of vocal art. for years, in my youth, i never failed to attend all of the musical events of consequence in my native city. this was of immense value to me, since it gave me the means of cultivating my own judgment of what was good or bad in singing. do not fear that you will become _blasé_. if you have the right spirit every musical event you attend will spur you on. you may say that it is expensive to hear great singers, and that you can only attend recitals and the opera occasionally. if this is really the case you still have a means of hearing singers which you should not neglect. i refer to the reproducing machines which have grown to be of such importance in vocal education. phonograph records are nothing short of marvelous, and my earnestness in this cause is shown by the fact that i have long advocated their employment in the public schools, and have placed the matter before the educational authorities of new york. i earnestly urge the music teachers of this country, who are working for the real musical development of our children, to take this matter up in all seriousness. i can assure them that their efforts will bring them rich dividends in increased interest in musical work of their pupils, and the forming of a musical public. but nothing but the classics of song must be used. the time for the scorning of "high-brow" songs is past, and music must help this country to rid itself of the vogue of the "low-brow" and the "tough." let singers strive to become educated ornaments of their lofty profession. 9. _personal magnetism._--one of the most essential. the subject of "personal magnetism" is ridiculed by some, of course, but rarely laughed at by the artist who has experienced the astonishing phenomena in the opera house or the concert room. like electricity it is intangible, indefinable, indescribable, but makes its existence known by manifestations that are almost uncanny. if personal magnetism does not exist, how then can we account for the fact that one pianist can sit down to the instrument and play a certain piece, and that another pianist could play the same piece with the same technical effect but losing entirely the charm and attractiveness with which the first pianist imbued the composition? personal magnetism does not depend upon personal beauty nor erudition nor even upon perfect health. henry irving and sarah bernhardt were certainly not beautiful, but they held the world of the theater in the palm of their hand. some artists have really been in the last stages of severe illness but have, nevertheless, possessed the divine electric spark to inspire hundreds, as did the hectic chopin when he made his last famous visit to england and scotland. personal magnetism is not a kind of hypnotic influence to be found solely in the concert hall or the theater. most artists possess it to a certain degree. without this subtle and mysterious force, success with the public never comes. 10. _idealism._--ideals are the flowers of youth. only too often they are not tenderly cared for, and the result is that many who have been on the right track are turned in the direction of failure by materialism. it is absolutely essential for the young singer to have high ideals. direct your efforts to the best in whatever branch of vocal art you determine to undertake. do not for a moment let mediocrity or the substitution of artificial methods enter your vision. holding to your ideal will mean costly sacrifices to you; but all sacrifices are worth while if one can realize one's ideal. the ideal is only another term for heaven to me. if we could all attain to the ideal, we would all be in a kind of earthly paradise. it has always seemed to me that when our lord said "the kingdom of heaven is at hand," he meant that it is at hand for us to possess now; that is the _ideal_ in life. [illustration: dame clara butt.] dame clara butt biographical dame butt was born at southwick, sussex, february 1, 1873. her first lessons were with d. w. rootham in bristol. in 1889 she won a scholarship at the royal college of music where the teacher was j. h. blower. later she studied for short periods with bouhy in paris and etelka gerster in berlin. her début was made as ursula in sullivan's setting of the longfellow poem, _golden legend_. her success was immediate and very great. she became in demand at all of the great english musical festivals and also sang before enormous audiences for years in the great english cities. in 1900 she married the noted english baritone r. kennerly rumford and together they have made many tours, including a tour of the world, appearing everywhere with continued success. her voice is one of rich, full contralto quality with such individual characteristics that great english composers have written special works to reveal these great natural gifts. dame butt received her distinction of "dame" from king george in 1920. her happy family life with her children has won her endless admirers among musical people everywhere. success in concert singing dame clara butt health and singing it must be obvious to all aspiring vocal students that splendid good health is well nigh indispensable to the singer. there have been singers, of course, who have had physical afflictions that have made their public appearances extremely painful, but they have succeeded in spite of these unfortunate drawbacks. in fact, if the young singer is ambitious and has that wonderful gift of directing her efforts in the way most likely to bring fortunate results, even physical weakness may be overcome. by this i mean that the singer will work out some plan for bringing her physical condition to the standard that fine singing demands. i believe most emphatically that the right spirit will conquer obstacles that often seem impassable. one might safely say that nine-tenths of the successes in all branches of artistic work are due to the inextinguishable fire that burns in the heart and mind of the art worker and incites him to pass through any ordeal in order to deliver his message to the world. misdirected effort the cruel part of it all is that many aspire to become great singers who can never possibly have their hopes realized. natural selection rather than destiny seems to govern this matter. the ugly caterpillar seems like an unpromising candidate for the brilliant career of the butterfly, and it oftentimes happens that students who seem unpromising to some have just the qualities which, with the right time, instruction and experience, will entitle them to great success. it is the little ant who hopes to grow iridescent wings, and who travels through conservatory after conservatory, hoping to find the magic chrysalis that will do this, who is to be pitied. great success must depend upon special gifts, intellectual as well as vocal. oh, if we only had some instinct, like that possessed by animals, that would enable us to determine accurately in advance the safest road for us to take, the road that will lead us to the best development of our real talents--not those we imagine we may have or those which the flattery of friends have grafted upon us! mr. rumford and i have witnessed so much very hard and very earnest work carried on by students who have no rational basis to hope for success as singers, that we have been placed in the uncomfortable position of advising young singers to seek some other life work. when to begin the eternal question, "at what age shall i commence to study singing?" is always more or less amusing to the experienced singer. if the singer's spirit is in the child, nothing will stop his singing. he will sing from morning until night, and seems to be guided in most cases by an all-providing nature that makes its untutored efforts the very best kind of practice. unless the child is brought into contact with very bad music he is not likely to be injured. children seem to be trying their best to prove the darwinian theory by showing us that they can mimic quite as well as monkeys. the average child comes into the better part of his little store of wisdom through mimicry. naturally if the little vocal student is taken to the vaudeville theatre, where every imaginable vocal law is smashed during a three-hour performance, and if the child observes that the smashing process is followed by the enthusiastic applause of the unthinking audience, it is only reasonable to suppose that the child will discover in this what he believes to be the most approved art of singing. it is evident then that the first thing which the parent of the musical child should consider is that of teaching him to appreciate what is looked upon as good and what is looked upon as bad. although many singers with fine voices have appeared in vaudeville, the others must be regarded as "horrible" examples, and the child should know that they are such. on the other hand, it is quite evident that the more good singing that the child hears in the impressionable years of its youth the greater will be the effect upon the mind which is to direct the child's musical future. this is a branch of the vocalist's education which may begin long before the actual lessons. if it is carefully conducted the teacher should have far less difficulty in starting the child with the actual work. the only possible danger might be that the child's imitative faculty could lead it to extremes of pitch in imitating some singer. even this is hardly more likely to injure it than the shouting and screaming which often accompanies the play of children. the actual time of starting must depend upon the individual. it is never too early for him to start in acquiring his musical knowledge. everything he might learn of music itself, through the study of the piano or any other instrument would all become a part of his capital when he became a singer. those singers are fortunate whose musical knowledge commenced with the cradle and whose first master was that greatest of all teachers, the mother. speaking generally, it seems to be the impression of singing teachers that voice students should not commence the vocal side of their studies until they are from sixteen to seventeen years of age. in this connection, consider my own case. my first public appearance with orchestra was when i was fourteen. it was in bristol, england, and among other things i sang _ora pro nobis_ from gounod's _workers_. i was fortunate in having in my first teacher, d. w. rootham, a man too thoroughly blessed with good british common sense to have any "tricks." he had no fantastic way of doing things, no proprietary methods, that none else in the world was supposed to possess. he listened for the beautiful in my voice and, as his sense of musical appreciation was highly cultivated, he could detect faults, explain them to me and show me how to overcome them by purely natural methods. the principal part of the process was to make me realize mentally just what was wrong and then what was the more artistic way of doing it. letting the voice grow after all, singing is singing, and i am convinced that my master's idea of just letting the voice grow with normal exercise and without excesses in any direction was the best way for me. it was certainly better than hours and hours of theory, interesting to the student of physiology, but often bewildering to the young vocalist. real singing with real music is immeasurably better than ages of conjecture. it appears that some students spend years in learning how they are going to sing at some glorious day in the future, but it never seems to occur to them that in order to sing they must really use their voices. of course, i do not mean to infer that the student must omit the necessary preparatory work. solfeggios, for instance, and scales are extremely useful. concone, tried and true, gives excellent material for all students. but why spend years in dreaming of theories regarding singing when everyone knows that the theory of singing has been the battleground for innumerable talented writers for centuries? even now it is apparently impossible to reconcile all the vocal writers, except in so far as they all modestly admit that they have rediscovered the real old italian school. perhaps they have. but, admitting that an art teacher rediscovered the actual pigments used by leonardo da vinci, rembrandt or raphael, he would have no little task in creating a student who could duplicate _mona lisa_, _the night watch_ or the _sistine madonna_. after leaving rootham, i won the four hundred guinea scholarship at the royal college of music and studied with henry blower. this i followed with a course with bouhy in paris and etelka gerster in berlin. mr. rumford and i both concur in the opinion that it is necessary for the student who would sing in any foreign language to study in the country in which the language is spoken. in no other way can one get the real atmosphere. the preparatory work may be done in the home country, but if one fails to taste of the musical life of the country in which the songs came into being, there seems to be an indefinable absence of the right flavor. i believe in employing the native tongue for songs in recital work. it seems narrow to me to do otherwise. at the same time, i have always been a champion for songs written originally with english texts, and have sung innumerable times with programs made from english lyrics. preparing a repertoire the idea that concert and recital work is not as difficult as operatic work has been pretty well exploded by this time. in fact, it is very much more difficult to sing a simple song well in concert than it is to sing some of the elaborate wagnerian recitatives in which the very complexities of the music make a convenient hiding place for the artist's vocal shortcomings. in concert everything is concentrated upon the singer. convention has ever deprived him of the convenient gestures that give ease to the opera singer. the selection of useful material for concert purposes is immensely difficult. it must have artistic merit, it must have human interest, it must suit the singer, in most cases the piano must be used for accompaniment and the song must not be dependent upon an orchestral accompaniment for its value. it must not be too old, it must not be too far in advance of popular tastes. it is a bad plan to wander indiscriminately about among countless songs, never learning any really well. the student should begin to select numbers with great care, realizing that it is futile to try to do everything. lord bolingbroke, in his essay on the shortness of human life, shows how impossible it is for a man to read more than a mere fraction of a great library though he read regularly every day of his life. it is very much the same with music. the resources are so vast and time is so limited that there is no opportunity to learn everything. far better is it for the vocalist to do a little well than to do much ineffectually. good music well executed meets with very much the same appreciation everywhere. during our latest tour we gave almost the very same programs in america as those we have been giving upon the european continent. the music-loving american public is likely to differ but slightly from that of the great music centers of the old world. music has truly become a universal language. in developing a repertoire the student might look upon the musical public as though it were a huge circle filled with smaller circles, each little circle being a center of interest. one circle might insist upon old english songs, such as the delightful melodies of arne, carey, monroe. another circle might expect the arias of the old italian masters, carissimi, jomelli, sacchini or scarlatti. another circle would want to hear the german lieder of such composers as schumann, schubert, brahms, franz and wolf. still another circle might go away disappointed if they could not hear something of the ultra modern writers, such as strauss, debussy or even that freak of musical cacophony, schoenberg. however diverse may be the individual likings of these smaller circles, all of the members of your audience are united in liking music as a whole. the audience will demand variety in your repertoire but at the same time it will demand certain musical essentials which appeal to all. there is one circle in your audience that i have purposely reserved for separate discussion. that is the great circle of concert goers who are not skilled musicians, who are too frank, too candid, to adopt any of the cant of those social frauds who revel in reger and schoenberg, and just because it might stamp them as real connoisseurs, but who really can't recognize much difference between the _liebestod_ of _tristan und isolde_ and _rule britannia_,--but the music lovers who are too honest to fail to state that they like the _lost chord_ or the lovely folk songs of your american composer, stephen foster. mr. plunkett greene, in his work upon song interpretation, makes no room for the existence of songs of this kind. indeed, he would cast them all into the discard. this seems to me a huge mistake. surely we can not say that music is a monopoly of the few who have schooled their ears to enjoy outlandish disonances with delight. music is perhaps the most universal of all the arts and with the gradual evolution of those who love it, a natural audience is provided for music of the more complicated sort. we learn to like our musical caviar with surprising rapidity. it was only yesterday that we were objecting to the delightful piano pieces of debussy, who can generate an atmosphere with a single chord just as murillo could inspire an emotion with a stroke of the brush. it is not safe to say that you do not like things in this way. i think that even schoenberg is trying to be true to his muse. we must remember that haydn, beethoven, wagner and brahms passed through the fire of criticism in their day. the more breadth a singer puts into her work the more likely is she to reap success. time only can produce the accomplished artist. the best is to find a joy in your work and think of nothing but large success. if you have the gift, triumph will be yours. [illustration: giuseppe campanari. © dupont.] giuseppe campanari biographical giuseppe campanari was born at venice, italy, nov. 17th, 1858. his parents were not particularly musical but were very anxious for the boy to become a musician. at the age of nine he commenced to study the piano and later he entered the conservatory of milan, making his principal instrument the violoncello. upon his graduation he secured a position in the 'cello section of the orchestra at "la scala." here for years he heard the greatest singers and the greatest operas, gaining a musical insight into the works through an understanding of the scores which has seldom if ever been possessed by a great opera singer. his first appearance as singer was at the teatro dal verme in milan. owing to voice strain he was obliged to give up singing and in the interim he took a position as a 'cellist in the boston symphony orchestra, remaining with that organization some years. he then made appearances with the emma juch opera company, the heinrichs opera company, and eventually at the metropolitan opera company in new york, where he achieved his greatest triumphs as leading baritone. mr. campanari long since became an american citizen and has devoted his attention to teaching for years. his conference which follows is particularly interesting, as from the vocal standpoint he is almost entirely self taught. the value of self-study in voice training giuseppe campanari so much has been written upon the futility of applying one method to all cases in vocal instruction that it seems useless for me to say anything that would add to the volume of testimony against the custom of trying to teach all pupils in the same manner. no one man ever has had, has, or ever will have, a "method" superior to all others, for the very simple reason that the means one vocalist might employ to reach artistic success would be quite different from that which another singer, with an entirely different voice, different throat and different intellect, would be obliged to employ. one of the great laws of nature is the law of variation; that is, no two children of any parents are ever exactly alike. even in the case of twins there is often a great variation. the great english philosopher, darwin, made much of this principle. it is one which all voice students and teachers should consider, for although there are, from the nature of things, many foundation principles which must remain the same in all cases, the differences in individual cases are sufficient to demand the greatest keenness of observation, the widest experience and an inexhaustible supply of patience upon the part of the teacher. please understand, i am not decrying the use of books of exercises such as those of concone, marchesi, regine, panofka and others. such books are necessary. i have used these and others in teaching, suiting the book to the individual case. the pupil needs material of this kind, and it should be chosen with the greatest care and consideration not only of the pupil's voice, but of his intellectual capacity and musical experience. these books should not be considered "methods." they are the common property of all teachers, and most teachers make use of them. my understanding of a "method" is a set of hard and fast rules, usually emanating from the mind of some one person who has the effrontery to pass them off upon an all too gullible public as the one road to a vocal parnassus. only the singer with years of experience can realize how ridiculous this course is and how large is the percentage of failure of the pupils of teachers whose sole claim to fame is that they teach the---method. proud as i am of the glorious past of vocal art in the country of my birth, i cannot help being amused and at the same time somewhat irritated when i think of the many palpable frauds that are classed under the head of the "real old italian method" by inexperienced teachers. we cannot depend upon the past in all cases to meet present conditions. the singers of the olden day in italy were doubtless great, because they possessed naturally fine voices and used them in an unaffected, natural manner. in addition to this they were born speaking a tongue favorable to beautiful singing, led simple lives and had opportunities for hearing the great operas and the great singers unexcelled by those of any other european country. that they became great through the practice of any set of rules or methods is inconceivable. there were great teachers in olden italy, very great teachers, and some of them made notes upon the means they employed, but i cannot believe that if these teachers were living to-day they would insist upon their ideas being applied to each and every individual case in the same identical manner. the value of opera this leads us to the subject at hand. the students in italy in the past have had advantages for self-study that were of greatest importance. on all sides good singing and great singing might be heard conveniently and economically. opera was and is one of the great national amusements of italy. opera houses may be found in all of the larger cities and in most of the smaller ones. the prices of admission are, as a rule, very low. the result is that the boys in the street are often remarkably familiar with some of the best works. indeed, it would not be extravagant to say that they were quite as familiar with these musical masterpieces as some of the residents of america are with the melodramatic doings of jesse james or the "queen of chinatown." thus it is that the average italian boy with a fair education and quick powers of observation reaches his majority with a taste for singing trained by many opportunities to hear great singers. they have had the best vocal instruction in the world, providing, of course, they have exercised their powers of judgment. thus it is that it happens that such a singer as caruso, certainly one of the greatest tenors of all time, could be accidentally heard by a manager while singing and receive an offer for an engagement upon the spot. caruso's present art, of course, is the result of much training that would fall under the head of "coaching," together with his splendid experience upon the operatic stage itself. i trust that i have not by this time given the reader of this page the impression that teachers are unnecessary. this is by no means the case. a good teacher is extremely desirable. if you have the good fortune to fall into the hands of a careful, experienced, intelligent teacher, much may be accomplished; but the teacher is by no means all that is required. the teacher should be judged by his pupils, and by nothing else. no matter what he may claim, it is invariably the results of his work (the pupil's) which must determine his value. teachers come to me with wonderful theories and all imaginable kinds of methods. i always say to them: "show me a good pupil who has been trained by your methods and i will say that you are a good teacher." before our national elections i am asked, "which one of the candidates do you believe will make the best president?" i always reply, "wait four years and i will pass my opinion upon the ability of the candidate the people select." in other words, "the proof of the pudding is in the eating." singers not born, but made we often hear the trite expression, "singers are born, not made." this, to my mind, is by no means the case. one may be born with the talent and deep love for music, and one may be born with the physical qualifications which lead to the development of a beautiful voice, but the singer is something far more than this. given a good voice and the love for his music, the singer's work is only begun. he is at the outstart of a road which is beset with all imaginable kinds of obstacles. in my own case i was extremely ambitious to be a singer. night after night i played 'cello in the orchestra at la scala, in milan, always wishing and praying that i might some day be one of the actors in the wonderful world behind the footlights. i listened to the famous singers in the great opera house with the minutest attention, making mental notes of their manner of placing their voices--their method of interpretation, their stage business, and everything that i thought might be of any possible use to me in the career of the singer, which was dearest to my heart. i endeavored to employ all the common sense and good judgment i possessed to determine what was musically and vocally good or otherwise. i was fortunate in having the training of the musician, and also in having the invaluable advantage of becoming acquainted with the orchestral scores of the famous operas. finally the long-awaited opportunity came and i made my début at the teatro dal verme, in milan. i had had no real vocal instruction in the commonly accepted sense of the term; but i had really had a kind of instruction that was of inestimable value. not given to all to study successfully without a teacher success brought with it its disadvantages. i foolishly strained my voice through overwork. but this did not discourage me. i realized that many of the greatest singers the world has ever known were among those who had met with disastrous failure at some time in their careers. i came to america and played the violoncello in the boston symphony orchestra. all the time i was practicing with the greatest care and with the sole object of restoring my voice. finally it came back better than ever and i sang for maurice grau, the impresario of the metropolitan opera house, in new york. he engaged me and i sang continuously at the metropolitan for several years. notwithstanding this varied experience, i will seek to learn, and to learn by practical example, not theory. the only opera school in the world is the opera house itself. no school ever "made" a great singer or a great artist. the most they have done has been to lay the foundation. the making of the artist comes later. in order to do without instruction one must be very peculiarly constituted. one must be possessed of the pedagogical faculty to a marked degree. one must have within oneself those qualities for observing and detecting the right means leading to an artistic end which every good teacher possesses. in other words, one must be both teacher and pupil. this is a rare combination, since the power to teach, to impart instruction, is one that is given to very few. it is far better to study alone or not at all than with a poor teacher. the teacher's responsibility, particularly in the case of vocal students, is very great. so very much depends upon it. a poor teacher can do incalculable damage. by poor teachers i refer particularly to those who are carried away by idiotic theories and quack methods. we learn to sing by singing and not by carrying bricks upon our chest or other idiotic antics. consequently i say that it is better to go all through life with a natural or "green" voice than to undergo the vocal torture that is sometimes palmed off upon the public as voice teaching. at best, all the greatest living teacher can do is to put the artist upon the right track and this in itself is responsibility enough for one man or one woman to assume. singers make their own methods as i have already said, most every singer makes a method unto himself. it is all the same in the end. the chinese may, for instance, have one name for god, the persians another, the mohammedans another, and the people of christian lands another. but the god principle and the worship principle are the same with all. it is very similar in singing. the means that apply to my own case may apparently be different from those of another, but we are all seeking to produce beautiful tones and interpret the meaning of the composer properly. one thing, however, the student should seek to possess above all things, and this is a thorough foundation training in music itself. this can not begin too early. in my own home we have always had music. my children have always heard singing and playing and consequently they become critical at a very early age. i can not help repeating my advice to students who hope to find a vocal education in books or by the even more ridiculous correspondence method. books may set one's mental machinery in motion and incite one to observe singers more closely, but teach they can not and never can. the sound-reproducing machines are of assistance in helping the student to understand the breathing, phrasing, etc., but there is nothing really to take the place of the living singer who can illustrate with his voice the niceties of placing and _timbre_. my advice to the voice students of america is to hear great singers. hear them as many times as possible and consider the money invested as well placed as any you might spend in vocal instruction. the golden magnet, as well as the opportunities in other ways offered artists in america, has attracted the greatest singers of our time to this country. it is no longer necessary to go abroad to listen to great singers. in no country of the world is opera given with more lavish expenditure of money than in america. the great singers are now by no means confining their efforts to the large eastern cities. many of them make regular tours of the country, and students in all parts of this land are offered splendid opportunities for self-help through the means of concerts and musical festivals. after all, the most important thing for any singer is the development of the critical sense. blind imitation is, of course, bad, but how is the student to progress unless he has had an opportunity to hear the best singers of the day? in my youth i heard continually such artists as la salle, gayarre, patti, de reszke and others. how could i help profiting by such excellent experiences? great voices are rare one may be sure that in these days few, if any, great voices go undiscovered. a remarkable natural voice is so rare that some one is sure to notice it and bring it to the attention of musicians. the trouble is that so many people are so painfully deluded regarding their voices. i have had them come to me with voices that are obviously execrable and still remain unconvinced when i have told them what seemed to me the truth. this business of hearing would-be singers is an unprofitable and an uncomfortable one; and most artists try to avoid the ordeal, although they are always very glad to encourage real talent. most young singers, however, have little more than the bare ambition to sing, coupled with what can only be described by the american term, "a swelled head." someone has told them that they are wonderfully gifted, and persons of this kind are most always ready to swallow flattery indiscriminately. almost everyone, apparently, wants to go into opera nowadays. to singers who have not any chance whatever i have only to say that the sooner this is discovered the better. far better put your money in bank and let compound interest do what your voice can not. enrico caruso biographical enrico caruso was born at naples, february 25th, 1873. his fondness for music dates from his earliest childhood; and he spent much of his spare money in attending the opera at san carlo and hearing the foremost singers of his time in many of the rôles in which he appeared later on. his actual study, however, did not start until he was eighteen, when he came under the tuition of guglielmo vergine. in 1895 he made his début at the teatro cimarosa in _caserta_. his first appearances drew comparatively little attention to his work and his future greatness was hardly suspected by many of those who heard him. however, by dint of long application to his art he gained more and more recognition. in 1902 he made his début in london. the following year he came to new york, where the world's greatest singers had found an el dorado for nearly a quarter of a century. there he was at once proclaimed the greatest of all tenors and from that time his success was undeviating. indeed his voice was so wonderful and so individual that it is difficult to compare him with any of his great predecessors; tamagno, campanini, de reszke and others. in europe and in america he was welcomed with acclaim and the records of his voice are to be found in thousands of homes of music lovers who have never come in touch with him in any other way. signor caruso had a remarkable talent for drawing and for sculpture. his death, august 2d, 1921, ended the career of the greatest male singer of history. [illustration: enrico caruso.] italy, the home of song enrico caruso opera and the public in italy anyone who has traveled in italy must have noticed the interest that is manifested at the opening of the opera season. this does not apply only to the people with means and advanced culture but also to what might be called the general public. in addition to the upper classes, the same class of people in america who would show the wildest enthusiasm over your popular sport, base-ball, would be similarly eager to attend the leading operatic performances in italy. the opening of the opera is accompanied by an indescribable fervor. it is "in the air." the whole community seems to breathe opera. the children know the leading melodies, and often discuss the features of the performances as they hear their parents tell about them, just as the american small boy retails his father's opinions upon the political struggles of the day or upon the last ball game. it should not be thought that this does not mean a sacrifice to the masses, for opera is, in a sense, more expensive in italy than in america; that is, it is more expensive by comparison in most parts of the country. it should be remembered that monetary values in italy are entirely different from those in america. the average italian of moderate means looks upon a lira as a coin far more valuable than its equivalent of twenty cents in united states currency. his income is likely to be limited, and he must spend it with care and wisdom. again, in the great operatic centers, such as milan, naples or rome, the prices are invariably adjusted to the importance of the production. in first-class productions the prices are often very high from the italian standpoint. for instance, at la scala in milan, when an exceptionally fine performance is given with really great singers, the prices for orchestra chairs may run as high as thirty lira or six dollars a seat. even to the wealthy italian this amount seems the same as a much larger amount in america. to give opera in italy with the same spectacular effects, the same casts composed almost exclusively of very renowned artists, the same _mise en scene_, etc., would require a price of admission really higher than in america. as a matter of fact, there is no place in the world where such a great number of performances, with so many world-renowned singers, are given as at the metropolitan opera house in new york. there is no necessity for any one to make a special trip to europe to hear excellent performances in these days. of course such a trip would be interesting, as the performances given in many european centers are wonderfully fine, and they would be interesting to hear if only from the standpoint of comparing them with those given at the metropolitan. however, the most eminent singers of the world come here constantly, and the performances are directed by the ablest men obtainable, and i am at loss to see why america should not be extremely proud of her operatic advantages. in addition to this the public manifests a most intelligent appreciation of the best in music. it is very agreeable to sing in america, as one is sure that when he does well the public will respond at once. italian, the language of music perhaps the fact that in italy the audiences may understand the performances better because of their knowledge of their native language may add to the pleasure of opera-going. this, however, is a question, except in the case of some of the more modern works. the older opera librettos left much to be desired from the dramatic and poetic standpoints. italian after all is the language of music. in fact it is music in itself when properly spoken. note that i say "when properly spoken." american girls go to italy to study, and of course desire to acquire a knowledge of the language itself, for they have heard that it is beneficial in singing. they get a mere smattering, and do not make any attempt to secure a perfect accent. the result is about as funny as the efforts of the comedians who imitate german emigrants on the american stage. if you start the study of italian, persist until you have really mastered the language. in doing this your ear will get such a drill and such a series of exercises as it has never had before. you will have to listen to the vowel sounds as you have never listened. this is necessary because in order to understand the grammar of the language you must hear the final vowel in each word and you must hear the consonants distinctly. there is another peculiar thing about italian. if the student who has always studied and sung in english, german or french or russian, attempts to sing in italian, he is really turning a brilliant searchlight upon his own vocal ability. if he has any faults which have been concealed in his singing in his own language, they will be discovered at once the moment he commences to study in italian. i do not know whether this is because the italian of culture has a higher standard of diction in the enunciation of the vowel sounds, or whether the sounds themselves are so pure and smooth that they expose the deficiencies, but it is nevertheless the case. the american girl who studies italian for six months and then hopes to sing in that language in a manner not likely to disturb the sense of the ridiculous is deceiving herself. it takes years to acquire fluency in a language. audiences the same the world around audiences are as sensitive as individuals. italy is known as "the home of the opera"; but i find that, as far as manifesting enthusiasm goes, the world is getting pretty much the same. if the public is pleased, it applauds no matter whether it be in vienna, paris, rome, buenos aires, new york, or oshkosh. an artist feels his bond with his audience very quickly. he knows whether his auditors are delighted, whether they are merely interested or whether they are indifferent a few seconds after he has been upon the stage. i can judge my own work at once by the attitude of the audience. no artist sings exactly alike on two successive nights. that would be impossible. although every sincere artist tries to do his best at all times, there are, nevertheless, occasions when one sings better than at others. if i sing particularly well the audience is particularly enthusiastic; if i am not feeling well and my singing indicates it, the audience will let me know at once by not being quite so enthusiastic. it is a barometer which is almost unfailing. this is also an important thing for the young singer to consider. audiences judge by real worth and not by reputation. reputation may attract money to the box office, but once the people are inside the opera house the artist must really please them or suffer. young singers should not be led to think that anything but real worth is of any lasting value. if the audience does not respond, do not blame the audience. it would respond if you could sing so beautifully that you could compel a response that you know should follow real artistic achievement. don't blame your teacher or your lack of practice or anything or anybody but yourself. the verdict of the audience is better than the examination of a hundred so-called experts. there is something about an audience that makes it seem like a great human individual, whether in naples or in san francisco. if you touch the heart or please the sense of beauty, the appetite for lovely music--common to all mankind--the audience is yours, be it italian, french, german or american. operatic preparation in italy the american student with a really good voice and a really fine vocal and musical training, would have more opportunities for engagements in the smaller italian opera houses, for the simple reason that there are more of these opera houses and more of these opera companies. bear in mind, however, that opera in italy depends to a large extent upon the standing of the artists engaged to put on the opera. in some cities of the smaller size the municipality makes an appropriation, which serves as a guarantee or subsidy. an impresario is informed what operas the community desires and what singers. he tries to comply with the demand. often the city is very small and the demand very slightly indicated in real money. as a result the performances are comparatively mediocre. the american student sometimes fails to secure engagements with the big companies and tries to gain experience in these small companies. sometimes he succeeds, but he should remember before undertaking this work that many native italian singers with realty fine voices are looking for similar opportunities and that only a very few stand any chance of reaching really noteworthy success. opera will always be expensive he should, of course, endeavor to seek engagements with the big companies if his voice and ability will warrant it. where the most money is, there will be the salaried artists and the finest operatic spectacle. that is axiomatic. opera is expensive and will always be expensive. the supply of unusual voices has always been limited and the services of their possessors have always commanded a high reward. this is based upon an economic law which applies to all things in life. the young singer should realize that, unless he can rise to the very top of his profession, he will be compelled to enlist in a veritable army of singers with little talent and less opportunity. one thing exists in italy which is very greatly missed in america. even in small companies in italy a great deal of time is spent in rehearsals. in america rehearsals are tremendously expensive and sometimes first performances have suffered thereby. in fact, i doubt whether the public realizes what a very expensive thing opera is. the public has little opportunity to look behind the scenes. it sees only the finished performance, which runs smoothly only when a tremendous amount of mental, physical and financial oil has been poured upon the machinery. i often hear men say here in new york, "i had to pay fifty dollars for my seat to-night." that is absurd--the money is going to speculators instead of into the rightful channels. this money is simply lost as far as doing any service whatever to art is concerned. it does not go into the opera house treasury to make for better performances, but simply into the hands of some fellow who had been clever enough to deprive the public of its just opportunity to purchase seats. the public seems to have money enough to pay an outrageous amount for seats when necessary. would it not be better to do away with the speculator at the door and pay say $10.00 for a seat that now costs $7.00? this would mean more rehearsals and better opera and no money donated to the undeserving horde at the portals of the temple. the student's preparation i am told that many people in america have the impression that my vocal ability is kind of a "god-given" gift; that is, something that has come to me without effort. this is so very absurd that i can hardly believe that sensible people would give it a moment's credence. every voice is in a sense the result of a development, and this is particularly so in my own case. the marble that comes from the quarries of carrara may be very beautiful and white and flawless, but it does not shape itself into a work of art without the hand, the heart, and the intellect of the sculptor. just to show how utterly ridiculous this popular opinion really is, let me cite the fact that at the age of fifteen everybody who heard me sing pronounced me a bass. when i went to vergine i studied hard for four years. during the first three years the work was for the most part moulding and shaping the voice. then i studied repertoire for one year and made my début. even with the experience i had had at that time it was unreasonable to expect great success at once. i kept working hard and worked for at least seven years more before any really mentionable success came to me. all the time i had one thing on my mind and that was never to let a day pass without seeing some improvement in my voice. the discouragements were frequent and bitter; but i kept on working and waiting until my long awaited opportunities came in london and in new york. the great thing is, not to stop. do not think that, because these great cities gave me a flattering reception, my work ceased. quite on the contrary, i kept on working and am working still. every time i go upon the stage i am endeavoring to discover something that will make my art more worthy of public acceptance. every act of each opera is a new lesson. different rôles it is difficult to invest a rôle with individuality. i have no favorite rôles. i have avoided this, because the moment one adopts a favorite rôle he becomes a specialist and ceases to be an artist. the artist does all rôles equally well. i have had the unique experience of creating many rôles in operas such as _fedora_, _adrienne_, _germania_, _girl of the golden west_, _maschera_. this is a splendid experience, as it always taxes the inventive faculties of the singing actor. this is particularly the case in the italian opera of the newer composers, or rather the composers who have worked in italy since the reformation of wagner. whatever may be said, the greatest influence in modern italian opera is wagner. even the great verdi was induced to change his methods in _aïda_, _otello_, and _falstaff_--all representing a much higher art than his earlier operas. however, wagner did nothing to rob italy of its natural gift of melody, even though he did institute a reform. he also did not influence such modern composers as puccini, mascagni, and leoncavallo to the extent of marring their native originality and fertility. [illustration: mme. julia claussen.] mme. julia claussen biographical mme. julia claussen was born at stockholm, sweden, the land of jenny lind and nilsson. her voice is a rich, flexible mezzo-soprano, with a range that has enabled her to assume some contralto rôles with more success than the average so-called contralto. in her childhood she studied piano, but did not undertake the serious study of voice until she was eighteen, when she became a student at the royal academy of music, under professor lejdstrom (studying harmony and theory under the famous swedish composer sjogren). her début was made at the royal opera, at the age of twenty-two, in _la favorita_, singing the rôle in swedish. later she went to berlin, where she was coached in german opera by professor friedrich at the royal high school of music. her american début was made in 1912, in chicago, where she made an immediate success in such rôles as _ortrud_, _brünnhilde_ and _carmen_. she was then engaged at covent garden and later sang at the champs elysée theatre, under nikisch, in paris. for two years she appeared at the metropolitan. she has received the rare distinction of being awarded the jenny lind medal from her own government and also of being admitted to the royal academy of sweden, the youngest member ever elected to that august scientific and artistic body. she has also been decorated by king gustavus v of sweden with literis et artibus. in america she has made an immense success as a concert singer. modern roads to vocal success mme. julia claussen why sweden produces so many singers the question, "why does sweden produce so many singers?" is often asked me. first it is a matter of climate, then a matter of physique, and lastly, because the swedish children do far more singing than any one finds in many other countries. the air in sweden is very rarefied, clear and exhilarating. owing to frugal living and abundant systematic exercise, the people become very robust. this is not a matter of one generation or so, but goes back for centuries. the swedes are a strong, energetic, thorough race; and the same attributes of industry and precision which have made them famous in science are applied to the study of music. the swedish child is made to understand that singing is a needful, serious part of his life. his musical training begins very early in the schools, with a definite scheme. all schools have competent, experienced teachers of singing. in my childhood another factor played a very important part. there was never the endless round of attractions, toys, parties, theatres and pastimes (to say nothing of the all-consuming movies). life was more tranquil and therefore the pursuit of good music was far more enjoyable. american life moves at aeroplane speed. the poor little children hardly have time to breathe, let alone time to study music. ragtime is the musical symptom of this american craving for speed and incessant excitement. in a blare and confusion of noises, like bedlam broken loose, what chance has a child to develop good taste? it is admittedly fascinating at times; but is without rhyme, reason or order. i never permit my children to pollute my piano with it. they may have it on the talking machine, but they must not be accomplices in making it. of course, things have changed in sweden, too; and american ragtime, always contagious, has now infected all europe. this makes the music teacher's task in this day far more difficult than formerly. i hear my daughters practicing, and now and then they seem to be putting a dash of ragtime into bach. if i stop them i find that "bach is too slow, i don't like bach!" this is almost like saying, "i don't like rubens, van dyke or millet; please, teacher, give me mutt and jeff or the katzenjammer kids!" american children need to be constantly taught to reverence the great creators of the land. why, jenny lind is looked upon as a great national heroine in sweden, much as one might regard george washington in america. before america can go about musical educational work properly, the teachers must inculcate this spirit, a proper appreciation of what is really beautiful, instead of a kind of wild, mob-like orgy of blare, bang, smash and shriek which so many have come to know as ragtime and jazz. self-criticism if one should ask me what is the first consideration in becoming a success as a singer, i should say the ability to criticise one's self. in my own case i had a very competent musician as a teacher. he told me that my voice was naturally placed and did very little to help place it according to his own ideas. perhaps that was well for me, because i knew myself what i was about. he used to say, "that sounds beautiful," but all the time i knew that it sounded terrible. it was then that i learned that my ear must be my best teacher. my teacher, for instance, told me that i would never be able to trill. this was very disheartening; but he really believed, according to his conservative knowledge, that i should never succeed in getting the necessary flexibility. by chance i happened to meet a celebrated swedish singer, mme. östberg, of the old school. i communicated to her the discouraging news that i could never hope to trill. "nonsense, my dear," she said, "someone told me that too, but i determined that i was going to learn. i did not know how to go about it exactly, but i knew that with the proper patience and will-power i would succeed. therefore i worked up to three o'clock one morning, and before i went to bed i was able to trill." i decided to take mme. östberg's advice, and i practiced for several days until i knew that i could trill, and then i went back to my teacher and showed him what i could do. he had to admit it was a good trill, and he couldn't understand how i had so successfully disproved his theories by accomplishing it. it was then that i learned that the singer can do almost anything within the limits of the voice, if one will only work hard enough. work is the great producer, and there is no substitute for it. do not think that i am ungrateful to my teacher. he gave me a splendid musical drilling in all the standard solfeggios, in which he was most precise; and in later years i said to him, "i am not grateful to you for making my voice, but because you did not spoil it." after having sung a great deal and thought introspectively a great deal about the voice, one naturally begins to form a kind of philosophy regarding it. of course, breathing exercises are the basis of all good singing methods, but it seems to me that singing teachers ask many of their pupils to do many queer impractical things in breathing, things that "don't work" when the singer is obliged to stand up before a big audience and make everyone hear without straining. if i were to teach a young girl right at this moment i would simply ask her to take a deep breath and note the expansion at the waist just above the diaphragm. then i would ask her to say as many words as possible upon that breath, at the same time having the muscles adjacent to the diaphragm to support the breath; that is, to sustain it and not collapse or try to push it up. the trick is to get the most tone, not with the most breath but with the least breath, and especially the very least possible strain at the throat, which must be kept in a floating, gossamer-like condition all the time. i see girls, who have been to expensive teachers, doing all sorts of wonderful calisthenics with the diaphragm, things that god certainly did not intend us to do in learning to speak and to sing. any attempt to draw in the front walls of the abdomen or the intercostal muscles during singing must put a kind of pneumatic pressure upon the breath stream, which is sure to constrict the throat. therefore, in my own singing, i note the opposite effect. that is, there is rather a sensation of expansion instead of contraction during the process of expiration. this soon becomes very comfortable, relieves the throat of strain, relieves the tones of breathiness or all idea of forcing. there is none of the ugly heaving of the chest or shoulders; the body is in repose, and the singer has a firm grip upon the tone in the right way. the muscles of the front wall of the abdomen and the muscles between the lower ribs become very strong and equal to any strain, while the throat is free. in the emission of the actual tone itself i would advise the sensation of inhaling at first. the beginner should blow out the tone. usually instead of having a lovely floating character, with the impression of control, the tone starts with being forced, and it always remains so. the singer oversings and has nothing in reserve. when i am singing i feel as though the farther away from the throat, the deeper down i can control the breath stream, the better and freer the tone becomes. furthermore, i can sing the long, difficult wagnerian rôles, with their tremendous demands upon the vocal organs, without the least sensation of fatigue. some singers, after such performances, are "all in." no wonder they lose their voices when they should be in their prime. for me the most difficult vowel is "ah." the throat then is most open and the breath stream most difficult to control properly. therefore i make it a habit to begin my practice with "oo, oh, ah, ay, ee" in succession. i never start with sustained tones. this would give my throat time to stiffen. i employ quick, soft scales, always remembering the basic principle of breath control i have mentioned, and always as though inhaling. this is an example of what i mean. to avoid shrillness on the upper tone i take the highest note with oo and descend with oo. [illustration: musical notation: ex. 1] the same thought applied to an arpeggio would be: [illustration: musical notation: ex. 2] these i take within comfortable limits of my voice, always remembering that the least strain is a backward step. these exercises are taken through all possible keys. there can never be too much practice of a scale or arpeggio exercise. many singers, i know, who wonder why they do not succeed, cannot do a good scale, the very first thing they should be able to do. every one should be like perfect pearls on a thread. america's fatal ambition one of the great troubles in america is the irrepressible ambition of both teachers and pupils. europe is also not untinged with this. teachers want to show results. some teachers, i am told, start in with songs at the first or second lesson, with the sad knowledge that if they do not do this they may lose the pupil to some teacher who will peddle out songs. after four or five months i was given an operatic aria; and, of course, i sang it. a year of scales, exercises and solfeggios would have been far more time-saving. the pupils have too much to say about their education in this way. the teacher should be competent and then decide all such questions. american girls do not want this. they expect to step from vocal ignorance to a repertoire over night. when you study voice, you should study not for two years, but realize you will never stop studying, if you wish to keep your voice. like any others, without exercise, the singing muscles grow weak and inefficient. there are so many, many things to learn. of course, my whole training was that of the opera singer, and i was schooled principally in the wagnerian rôles. with the coming of the war the prejudice against the greatest anti-imperialist (with the possible exception of beethoven) which music ever has known--the immortal wagner--became so strong that not until now has the demand for his operas become so great that they are being resumed with wonderful success. therefore, with the exception of a few italian and french rôles, my operatic repertoire went begging. it was necessary for me to enter the concert field, as the management of the opera company with which i had contracts secured such engagements for me. it was like starting life anew. there is very little opportunity to show one's individuality in opera. one must play the rôle. therefore i had to learn a repertoire of songs, every one of which required different treatment and different individuality. with eighteen members on the program, the singer has a musical, mental and vocal task which devolves entirely upon herself without the aid of chorus, co-singers, orchestra, costumes, scenery and the glamour of the footlights. it was with the greatest delight that i could fulfill the demands of the concert platform. american musical taste is very exacting. the audiences use their imagination all the time, and like romantic songs with an atmospheric background, which accounts for my great success with songs of such type as lieurance's _by the waters of minnetonka_. one of the greatest tasks i ever have had is that of singing my rôles in many different languages. i learned some of them first in swedish, then in italian, then in french, then in german, then in english; as i am obliged to re-learn my wagnerian rôles now. the road to success in voice study, like the road to success in everything else, has one compass which should be a consistent guide, and that is common sense. avoid extremes; hold fast to your ideals; have faith in your possibilities, and work! work!! work!!! [illustration: charles dalmores in massenet's herodiade. © mishkin.] charles dalmores biographical m. charles dalmores was born at nancy, france, december 31st, 1871. his musical education was received at the nancy conservatoire under professor dauphin, and it was his intention to become a specialist in french horn. he also played the 'cello. when he applied to the paris conservatoire he was refused admission to the singing course because "he was too good a musician to waste his time with singing." he became professor of french horn at the lyons conservatory; but his love for opera led him to study by himself until he made his début at rouen in 1899. he then sang at the theatre de la monnaie in brussels, covent garden, bayreuth, new york, and chicago, with ever-increasing success. dalmores is a dramatic tenor, and his musicianship has enabled him to take extremely difficult rôles of the modern type and achieve real artistic triumphs. he is one of the finest examples of the self-trained vocalist. self-help in voice study charles dalmores it is always a pleasure to talk upon self-help and not self-study, because i believe most implicitly in the former and very much doubt the efficacy of the latter in actual voice study. the voice, of all things, demands the assistance of a good teacher, although in the end the results all come from within and not from without. that is, the voice is an organ of expression; and what we make of it depends upon our own thought a thousand times more than what we take in from the outside. it is the teacher who stimulates the right kind of thinking who is the best teacher. the teacher who seeks to make his pupils parrots rarely meets with success. my whole career is an illustration of this, and when i think of the apparently insurmountable obstacles over which i have been compelled to climb i cannot help feeling that the relation of a few of my own experiences in the way of self-help could not fail to be beneficial. at the paris conservatory i was born at nancy on the 31st of december, 1871. i gave evidences of having musical talent and my musical instruction commenced at the age of six years. i studied first at the conservatory at nancy, intending to make a specialty of the violin. then i had the misfortune of breaking my arm. it was decided thereafter that i had better study the french horn. this i did with much success and attribute my control of the breath at this day very largely to my elementary struggles with that most difficult of instruments. at the age of fourteen i played the second horn at nancy. finally, i went, with a purse made up by some citizens of my home town, to enter the great conservatory at paris. there i studied very hard and succeeded in winning my goal in the way of receiving the first prize for playing the french horn. for a time i played under colonne, and between the ages of seventeen and twenty-three in paris i played with the lamoureaux orchestra. all this time i had my heart set upon becoming a singer and paid particular attention to all of the wonderful orchestral works we rehearsed. the very mention of the fact that i desired to become a singer was met with huge ridicule by my friends, who evidently thought that it was a form of fanaticism. for a time i studied the 'cello and managed to acquire a very creditable technic upon that instrument. a discouraging prospect notwithstanding the success i had with the two instruments, i was confronted with the fact that i had before me the life of a poor musician. my salary was low, and there were few, if any, opportunities to increase it outside of my regular work with the orchestra. i was told that i had great talent, but this never had the effect of swelling my pocketbook. in my military service i played in the band of an infantry regiment; and when i told my companions that i aspired to be a great singer some day they greeted my declaration with howls of laughter, and pointed out the fact that i was already along in years and had an established profession. at the sedate age of twenty-three i was surprised to find myself appointed professor of french horn at the conservatory of lyons. lyons is the second city of france from the standpoint of population. it is a busy manufacturing center, but is rich in architectural, natural and historical interest; and the position had its advantages, although it was away from the great french center, paris. the opera at nancy was exceedingly good, and i had an opportunity to go often. singing and the opera were my life. my father had been manager at nancy and i had made my first acquaintance with the stage as one of the boys in _carmen_. a test that failed i have omitted to say that at paris i tried to enter the classes for singing. my voice was apparently liked, but i was refused admission upon the basis that i was too good a musician to waste my time in becoming an inferior singer. goodness gracious! where is musicianship needed more than in the case of the singer? this amused me, and i resolved to bide my time. i played in opera orchestras whenever i had a chance, and thus became acquainted with the famous rôles. one eye was on the music and the other was on the stage. during the rests i dreamt of the time when i might become a singer like those over the footlights. where there is a will there is usually a way. i taught solfeggio as well as french horn in the lyons conservatory. i devised all sorts of "home-made" exercises to improve my voice as i thought best. some may have done me good, others probably were injurious. i listened to singers and tried to get points from them. gradually i was unconsciously paving the way for the great opportunity of my life. it came in the form of an experienced teacher, dauphin, who had been a basso for ten years at the leading theatre of belgium, fourteen years in london, and later director at geneva and lyons. he also received the appointment of professor at the lyons conservatory. a famous opportunity one day dauphin heard me singing and inquired who i was. then he came in the room and said to me, "how much do you get here for teaching and playing?" i replied, proudly, "six thousand francs a year." he said, "you shall study with me and some day you shall earn as much as six thousand francs a month." dauphin, bless his soul, was wrong. i now earn six thousand francs every night i sing instead of every month. i could hardly believe that the opportunity i had waited for so long had come. dauphin had me come to his house and there he told me that my success in singing would depend quite as much upon my own industry as upon his instruction. thus one professor in the conservatory taught another in the art he had long sought to master. notwithstanding dauphin's confidence in me, all of the other professors thought that i was doing a perfectly insane thing, and did all in their power to prevent me from going to what they thought was my ruin. discouraging advice nevertheless, i determined to show them that they were all mistaken. during the first winter i studied no less than six operas, at the same time taking various exercises to improve my voice. during the second winter i mastered one opera every month, and at the same time did all my regular work--studying in my spare hours. at the end of my course i passed the customary examination, receiving the least possible distinction from my colleagues who were still convinced that i was pursuing a course that would end in complete failure. this brought home the truth that if i was to get ahead at all i would have to depend entirely upon myself. the outlook was certainly not propitious. nevertheless i studied by myself incessantly and disregarded the remarks of my pessimistic advisers. i sang in a church and also in a big synagogue to keep up my income. all the time i had to put up with the sarcasm of my colleagues who seemed to think, like many others, that the calling of the singer was one demanding little musicianship, and tried to make me see that in giving up the french horn and my conservatory professorship i would be abandoning a dignified career for that of a species of musician who at that time was not supposed to demand any special musical training. could not a shoemaker or a blacksmith take a few lessons and become a great singer? i, however, determined to become a different kind of a singer. i believed that there was a place for the singer with a thorough musical training, and while i kept up my vocal work amid the rain of irony and derogatory remarks from my mistaken colleagues, i did not fail to keep up my interest in the deeper musical studies. i had a feeling that the more good music i knew the better would be my work in opera. i wish that all singers could see this. many singers live in a little world all of their own. they know the music of the footlights, but there their experience ends. every symphony i have played has been molded into my life experience in such a way that it cannot help being reflected in my work. a critical moment finally the time came for my début in 1899. it was a most serious occasion for me; for the rest of my career as a singer depended upon it. it was in rouen, and my fee was to be fifteen hundred francs a month. i thought that that would make me the richest man in the world. it was the custom of the town for the captain of the police to come before the audience at the end and inquire whether the audience approved of the artist's singing or whether their vocal efforts were unsatisfactory. this was to be determined by a public demonstration. when the captain held up the sign "approved," i felt as though the greatest moment in my life had arrived. i had worked so long and so hard for success and had been obliged to laugh down so much scorn that you can imagine my feelings. suddenly a great volume of applause came from the house and i knew in a second what my future should be. then it was that i realized that i was only a little way along my journey. i wanted to be the foremost french tenor of my time. i knew that success in france alone, while gratifying, would be limited, so i set out to conquer new worlds. wagner, up to that time, had never been sung by any french tenor, so i determined to master german and become a wagner singer. this i did, and it fell to me to receive that most coveted of wagnerian distinctions, "soloist at beyreuth," the citadel of the highest in german operatic art. in after years i sang in all parts of germany with as much success as in france. later i went to london and then to america, where i sang for many seasons. it has been no small pleasure for me to return to paris, where i once lived in penury, and to receive the highest fee ever paid to a french singer in the french capital. the need for great care i don't know what more i can say upon the subject of self-help for the singer. i have simply told my own story and have related some of the obstacles that i have overcome. i trust that no one who has not a voice really worth while will be misled by what i have had to say. the voice is one of the most intricate and wonderful of the human organs. properly exercised and cared for, it may be developed to a remarkable degree; but there are cases, of course, where there is not enough voice at the start to warrant the aspirant making the sacrifices that i have made to reach my goal. this is a very serious matter and one which should be determined by responsible judges. at the same time, the singers may see how possible it is for even experienced musicians, like my colleagues in lyons, to be mistaken. if i had depended upon them and not fought my own way out, i would probably be an obscure teacher in the same old city earning the munificent salary of one hundred dollars a month. fighting your own way the student who has to fight his own way has a much harder battle of it; but he has a satisfaction which certainly does not come to the one who has all his instruction fees and living expenses paid for him. he feels that he has earned his success; and, by the processes of exploration through which the self-help student must invariably pass, he becomes invested with a confidence and "i know" feeling which is a great asset to him. the main thing is for him to keep busy all the time. he has not a minute to spare upon dreaming. he has no one to carry his burden but himself; and the exercise of carrying it himself is the thing which will do most to make him strong and successful. the artists who leap into success are very rare. hundreds who have held mediocre positions come to the front, while those who appear most favored stay in the background. do not seek to gain eminence by any influence but that of real earnest work; and if you do not intend to work and to work hard, drop all of your aspirations for operatic laurels. [illustration: andreas dippel. © dupont.] andreas dippel biographical andreas dippel was born at cassel, 1866. his father was a manufacturer who had the boy educated at the local gymnasium, with the view to making him a banker. after five years in a banking house he decided to become a singer and studied with mme. zottmayr. later he went to berlin, milan and vienna, where he studied with julius hey, alberto leoni and johann ress. in 1887 he made his début at bremen, in _the flying dutchman_. he remained with that company until 1892. in the meantime, however, he had appeared at the metropolitan in new york, with such success that he toured america as a concert singer with anton seidl, arthur nikisch, and theodore thomas. from 1893 to 1898 he was a member of the imperial court opera at vienna. in 1898 he returned to america to the metropolitan. in 1908 he was appointed administrative manager of the metropolitan company, later becoming the manager of the philadelphia-chicago opera company. mr. dippel is a fine dramatic tenor with the enormous repertoire of 150 works in four different languages. he is a fine actor and has been equally successful in new york, london, and beyreuth. he also has a repertoire of 60 oratorios. if my daughter should study for grand opera andreas dippel the training of the girl designed to become a great prima donna is one of the most complex problems imaginable. you ask me to consider the case of an imaginary daughter designed for the career in order to make my opinions seem more pertinent. very well. if my daughter were studying for grand opera, and if she were a very little girl, i should first watch her very carefully to see whether she manifested any uncontrollable desire or ambition to become a great singer. without such a desire she will never become great. usually this ambition becomes evident at a very early age. then i should realize that the mere desire to become a great singer is only an infinitesimal part of the actual requirements. she must have, first of all, fine health, abundant vitality and an artistic temperament. she must show signs of being industrious. she should have the patience to wait until real results can be accomplished. in fact, there are so many attributes that it is difficult to enumerate them all. but they are all worth considering seriously. why? simply because, if they are not considered, she may be obliged to spend years of labor for which she will receive no return except the most bitter disappointment conceivable. of the thousands of girls who study to become prima donnas only a very few can succeed, from the nature of things. the others either abandon their ambitions or assume lesser rôles from little parts down to the chorus. you will notice that i have said but little about her voice. during her childhood there is very little means of judging of the voice. some girls' voices that seem very promising when they are children turn out in a most disappointing manner. so you see i would be obliged to consider the other qualifications before i even thought of the voice. of course, if the child showed no inclination for music or did not have the ability to "hold a tune," i should assume that she was one of those frequent freaks of nature which no amount of musical training can save. above all things i should not attempt to force her to take up a career against her own natural inclinations or gifts. the designing mother who desires to have her own ambitions realized in her daughter is the bane of every impresario. with a will power worthy of a bismarck she maps out a career for the young lady and then attempts to force the child through what she believes to be the proper channels leading to operatic success. she realizes that great singers achieve fame and wealth and she longs to taste of these. it is this, rather than any particular love for her child, that prompts her to fight all obstacles. no amount of advice or persuasion can make her believe that her child cannot become another tetrazzini, or garden, or schumann-heink, if only the impresario will give her a chance. in nine cases out of ten fate and nature have a conspiracy to keep the particular young lady in the rôle of a stenographer or a dressmaker; and in the battle with fate and nature even the most ambitious mother must be defeated. her very early training once determined that she stood a fair chance of success in the operatic field i should take the greatest possible care of her health, both physically and intellectually. note that i lay particular stress upon her physical training. it is most important, as no one but the experienced singer can form any idea of what demands are made upon the endurance and strength of the opera singer. her general education should be conducted upon the most approved lines. anything which will develop and expand the mind will be useful to her in later life. the later operatic rôles make far greater demands upon the mentality of the singer than those of other days. the singer is no longer a parrot with little or nothing to do but come before the footlights and sing a few beautiful tones to a few gesticulations. she is expected to act and to understand what she is acting. i would lay great stress upon history--the history of all nations--she should study the manners, the dress, the customs, the traditions, and the thought of different epochs. in order to be at home in _pelleas and melisande_, or _tristan und isolde_, or _la bohême_ she must have acquainted her mind with the historical conditions of the time indicated by the composer and librettist. her first musical training her first musical training should be musical. that is, she should be taught how to listen to beautiful music before she ever hears the word technic. she should be taught sight reading, and she ought to be able to read any melody as easily as she would read a book. the earlier this study is commenced with the really musical child, the better. before it is of any real value to the singer her sight reading should become second nature. she should have lost all idea of the technic of the art and read with ease and naturalness. this is of immense assistance. then she should study the piano thoroughly. the piano is the door to the music of the opera. the singer who is dependent upon some assistant to play over the piano scores is unfortunate. it is not really necessary for her to learn any of the other instruments; but she should be able to play readily and correctly. it will help her in learning scores, more than anything else. it will also open the door to much other beautiful music which will elevate her taste and ennoble her ideals. she should go to the opera as frequently as possible in order that she may become acquainted with the great rôles intuitively. if she cannot attend the opera itself she can at least gain an idea of the great operatic music through the talking machines. the "repertory" of records is now very large, but of course does not include all of the music of all of the scenes. she should be taught the musical traditions of the different historical musical epochs and the different so-called music schools. first she should study musical history itself and then become acquainted with the music of the different periods. the study of the violin is also an advantage in training the ear to listen for correct intonation; but the violin is by no means absolutely necessary. languages all educators recognize the fact that languages are attained best in childhood. the child's power of mimicry is so wonderful that it acquires a foreign language quite without any suggestion of accent, in a time which will always put their elders to shame. foreign children, who come to america before the age of ten, speak both then-native tongue and english with equal fluency. the first new language to be taken up should be italian. properly spoken, there is no language so mellifluous as italian. the beautiful quantitative value given to the vowels--the natural quest for euphony and the necessity for accurate pronunciation of the last syllable of a word in order to make the grammatical sense understandable--is a training for both the ear and the voice. italy is the land of song; and most of the conductors give their directions in italian. not only the usual musical terms, but also the other directions are denoted in italian by the orchestral conductors; and if the singer does not understand she must suffer accordingly. after the study of italian i would recommend, in order, french and german. if my daughter were studying for opera, i should certainly leave nothing undone until she had mastered italian, french, german and english. although she would not have many opportunities to sing in english, under present operatic conditions, the english-speaking people in america, great britain, canada, south africa, and australia are great patrons of musical art; and the artist must of course travel in some of these countries. the study of the voice itself her actual voice study should not commence before she is seventeen or eighteen years of age. in the hands of a very skilled and experienced teacher it might commence a little earlier; but it is better to wait until her health becomes more settled and her mature strength develops. at first the greatest care must be taken. the teacher has at best a delicate flower which a little neglect or a little over training may deform or even kill. i can not discuss methods, as that is not pertinent to this conference. there is no one absolutely right way; and many famous singers have traveled what seem quite different roads to reach the same end. however, it is a historic fact that few great singers have ever acquired voices which have had beautiful quality, perfect flexibility and reliability, who have not sung for some years in the old italian style. mind you, i am not referring to an old italian school of singing here, but more to that class of music adopted by the old italian composers--a style which permitted few vocal blemishes to go by unnoticed. most of the great wagnerian singers have been proficient in coloratura rôles before they undertook the more complicated parts of the great master at beyreuth. it is better to leave the study of repertoire until later years; that is, until the study of voice has been pursued for a sufficient time to insure regular progress in the study of repertoire. personally, i am opposed to those methods which take the student directly to the study of repertoire without any previous vocal drill. the voice, to be valuable to the singer, must be able to stand the wear and tear of many seasons. it is often some years before the young singer is able to achieve real success and the profits come with the later years. a voice that is not carefully drilled and trained, so that the singer knows how to get the most out of it, with the least strain and the least expenditure of effort, will not stand the wear and tear of many years of opera life. after all, the study of repertoire is the easiest thing. getting the voice properly trained is the difficult thing. in the study of repertoire the singer often makes the mistake of leaping right into the more difficult rôles. she should start with the simpler rôles; such as those of some of the lesser parts in the old italian operas. then, she may essay the leading rôles of, let us say, _traviata_, _barber of seville_, _norma_, _faust_, _romeo and juliet_, and _carmen_. instead of simple rôles, she seems inclined to spend her time upon _isolde_, _mimi_, _elsa_ or _butterfly_. it has become so, that now, when a new singer comes to me and wants to sing _tosca_ or some rôle that (sic) the so-called new or _verissimo_ italian school, i almost invariably refuse to listen. i ask them to sing something from _norma_ or _puritani_ or _dinorah_ or _lucia_ in which it is impossible for them to conceal their vocal faults. but no, they want to sing the big aria from the second act of _madama butterfly_, which is hardly to be called an aria at all but rather a collection of dramatic phrases. when they are done, i ask them to sing some of the opening phrases from the same rôle, and ere long they discover that they really have nothing which an impresario can purchase. they are without the voice and without the complete knowledge of the parts which they desire to sing. then they discover that the impresario knows that the tell-tale pieces are the old arias from old italian operas. they reveal the voice in its entirety. if the breath control is not right, it becomes evident at once. if the quality is not right, it becomes as plain as the features of the young lady's face. there is no dramatic--emotional--curtain under which to hide these shortcomings. consequently, knowing what i do, i would insist upon my daughter having a thorough training in the old italian arias. her training in acting her training in acting would depend largely upon her natural talent. some children are born actors--natural mimics. they act from their childhood right up to old age. they can learn more in five minutes than others can learn in years. some seem to require little or no training in the art of acting. as a rule they become the most forceful acting singers. others improve wonderfully under the direction of a clever teacher. the new school of opera demands higher histrionic ability from the singer. in fact, we have come to a time when opera is a real drama set to music which is largely recitative and which does not distract from the action of the drama. the librettos of other days were, to say the least, ridiculous. if the music had not had a marvelous hold upon the people they could not have remained in popular favor. to my mind it is an indication of the wonderful power of music that these operas retain their favor. there is something about the melodies which seems to preserve them for all time; and the public is just as anxious to hear them to-day as it was twenty-five and fifty years ago. richard wagner turned the tide of acting in opera by his music dramas. gluck and von weber had already made an effort in the right direction; but it remained for the mighty power of wagner to accomplish the final work. now we are witnessing the rise of a school of musical dramatic actors such as garden, maurel, renaud, and others which promises to raise the public taste in this matter and which will add vastly to the pleasure of opera going, as it will make the illusion appear more real. this also imposes upon the impresario a new contingency which threatens to make opera more and more expensive. costumes, scenery and all the settings nowadays must be both historically authentic and costly. the collection of wigs, robes, and armor, together with a few sets of scenery, often with the chairs and other furniture actually painted on the scenes, which a few years ago were thought adequate for the equipment of an opera company, have now given way to equipment more elaborate than that of a belasco or a henry irving. nothing is left undone to make the picture real and beautiful. in fact operatic productions, as now given in america, are as complete and luxurious as any performances given anywhere in the world. mme. emma eames biographical mme. emma eames was born at shanghai, china. her father, a graduate of harvard law school, had been a sea-captain and had been in business in the chinese city. at the age of five she was brought back to the home of her parents at bath, maine. her mother was an accomplished amateur singer who supervised her early musical training. at sixteen she went to boston to study with miss munger. at nineteen she became a pupil of marchesi in paris and remained with the celebrated teacher for two years. at twenty-one she made her début at the grand opera in paris in _romeo et juliette_. two years later she appeared at covent garden, london, with such success that she was immediately engaged for the metropolitan opera house in new york. few singers ever gained such a strong hold upon the american and english public. her voice is a fine flexible soprano, capable of doing _marguerite_ or _elisabeth_ equally well. her husband, emilio de gogorza, with whom it is our privilege to present a conference later in this book, is one of the foremost baritones of our time. [illustration: mme. emma eames.] how a great master coached opera singers mme. emma eames gounod an idealist one does not need to review the works of charles gounod to any great extent before discovering that above all things he was an idealist. his whole aspect of life and art was that of a man imbued with a sense of the beautiful and a longing to actualize some noble art purpose. he was of an age of idealists. coming at the artificial period of the second empire, he was influenced by that artistic atmosphere, as were such masters of the brush as jean august ingres and eugène delacroix. this, however, was unconscious, and in no way affected his perfect sincerity in all he did. first meeting with gounod i was taken to gounod by my master, mme. mathilde marchesi, who, perhaps, had some reason to regret her kindness in introducing me, since gounod did not favor what he conceived as the italian method of singing. he had a feeling that the italian school, as he regarded it, was too obvious, and that french taste demanded more sincerity, more subtlety, better balance and a certain finesse which the purely vocal italian style slightly obscured. mme. marchesi was very irate over gounod's attitude, which she considered highly insulting; whereas, as a matter of fact, gounod was doing the only thing that a man of his convictions could do, and that was to tell what he conceived as the truth. gounod's study was a room which fitted his character perfectly. his very pronounced religious tendencies were marked by the stained glass windows which cast a delicate golden tint over the little piano he occasionally used when composing. on one side was a pipe organ upon which he was very fond of playing. in fact, the whole atmosphere was that of a chapel, which, together with the beautiful and dignified appearance of the master himself, made an impression that one could not forget. his great sincerity, his lofty aims, his wonderful earnestness, his dramatic intensity, were apparent at once. many composers are hopelessly disappointing in their appearance, but when one saw gounod, it was easy to realize whence come the beautiful musical colors which make _romeo et juliette_, _faust_ and _the redemption_ so rich and individual. his whole artistic character is revealed in a splendid word of advice he gave to me when i first went to him: "anyone who is called to any form of musical expression must reveal himself only in the language that god has given him to speak with. find this language yourself and try, above all things, to be sincere--never singing down to your public." gounod had a wonderful power of compelling attention. while one was with him his personality was so great that it seemed to envelop you, obliterating everything else. this can be attributed not only to magnetism or hypnotism, but also to his own intense, all-burning interest in whatever he was engaged upon. naturally the relationship of teacher and pupil is different from that of comradeship, but i was impressed that gounod, even in moments of apparent repose, never seemed to lose that wonderful force which virtually consumed the entire attention of all those who were in his presence. he had remarkable gifts in painting word-pictures. his imagination was so vigorous that he could make one feel that which he saw in his mind's eye as actually present. i attribute this to the fact that he himself was possessed by the subject at hand and spoke from the fountains of his deepest conviction. first he made you see and then he made you express. he taught one that to convince others one must first be convinced. indeed, he allowed a great variety of interpretations in order that one might interpret through one's own power of conception rather than through following blindly his own. during my lessons with gounod he revealed not only his very pronounced histrionic ability, but also his charming talent as a singer. i had an accompanist who came with me to the lessons and when i was learning the various rôles, gounod always sang the duets with me. although he was well along in years, he had a small tenor voice, exquisitely sweet and sympathetic. he sang with delightful ease and with invariably perfect diction, and perfect vision. if some of our critics of musical performances were more familiar with the niceties of pronunciation and accentuation of different foreign languages, many of our present-day singers would be called upon to suffer some very severe criticisms. i speak of this because gounod was most insistent upon correct pronunciation and accent, so that the full meaning of the words might be conveyed to every member of the audience. a hearing at the opera when i went to the opera for my hearing or _audition_, gounod went with me and we sang the duets together. the director, m. gailhard, refused my application, claiming that i was a debutante and could not expect an initial performance at the grand opéra despite my ability and musical attainments. it may be interesting for aspiring vocal students to learn something of the various obstacles which still stand in the way of a singer, even after one has had a very thorough training and acquired proficiency which should compel a hearing. alas! in opera, as in many other lines of human endeavor, there is a political background that is often black with intrigue and machinations. i was determined to fight my way on the merit of my art, and accordingly i was obliged to wait for nearly two years before i was able to make my début. these were years filled with many exasperating circumstances. i went to brussels after two years' study with marchesi, having been promised my début there. i was kept for months awaiting it and was finally prevented from making an appearance by one who, pretending to be my friend and to be doing all in her power to further my career, was in reality threatening the directors with instant breaking of her contract should i be allowed to appear. i had this on the authority of mr. gevaërt, the then director of the conservatoire and my firm friend. the artist was a great success and her word was law. it was on my return that i was taken to gounod and i waited a year for a hearing. gounod's opera, _romeo et juliette_, had been given at the opéra comique many times but there was a demand for performances at the grand opéra. accordingly gounod added a ballet, which fitted it for performance at the opéra. apropos of this ballet, gounod said to me, with no little touch of cynicism, "now you shall see what kind of music a _ga ga_ can write" (ga ga is the french term for a very old man, that is, a man in his dotage). he was determined that i should be heard at the grand opera as juliette, but even his influence could not prevent the director from signing an agreement with one he personally preferred, which required that she should have the honor of making her début at the grand opéra in the part. then it was that i became aware that it was not only because i was a debutante that i had been denied. gounod would not consent to this arrangement, insisting on her making her début previously in _faust_, and fortunate it was, since the singer in question never attained more than mediocre success. gounod still demanded as a compromise that the first six performances of the opera should be given to adelina patti, and that they should send for me for the subsequent ones. in the meantime i was engaged at the opéra comique. there massenet looked with disfavor upon my début before that of sybil sanderson. massenet had brought fortunes to the opéra comique through his immensely popular and theatrically effective operas. consequently his word was law. i waited for some months and no suggestion of an opportunity for a performance presented itself. all the time i was engaged in extending my repertoire and becoming more and more indignant at the treatment i was receiving in not being allowed to sing the operas thus acquired. my year's contract had still three months to run when i received an offer from st. petersburg. shortly thereafter i received a note from m. gailhard announcing that he wished to see me. i went and he informed me that gounod was still insistent upon my appearance in the rôle of _juliette_. i was irritated by the whole long train of aggravating circumstances, but said, "give me the contract, i'll sign it." then i went directly to the opéra comique and asked to see the director. i was towering with indignation--indeed, i felt myself at least seven feet tall and perhaps quite as wide. i demanded my contract. to his "mais, mademoiselle--" i commanded, "send for it." he brought the contract and tore it up in my presence, only to learn next morning to his probable chagrin that i was engaged and announced for an important rôle at the grand opéra. the first performance of a debutante at the grand opéra is a great ordeal, and it is easy to imagine that the strain upon a young singer might deprive her of her natural powers of expression. the outcome of mine was most fortuitous and with success behind me i found my road very different indeed. however, if i had not had a friend at court, in the splendid person of charles gounod, i might have been obliged to wait years longer, and perhaps never have had an opportunity to appear in paris, where only a few foreigners in a generation get such a privilege. it is a great one, i consider, as there is no school of good taste and restraint like the french, which is also one where one may acquire the more intellectual qualities in one's work and a sense of proportion and line. gounod as a modernist i have continually called attention to gounod's idealism. there are some to-day who might find the works of gounod artificial in comparison with the works of some very modern writers. to them i can only say that the works of the great master gave a great deal of joy to audiences fully as competent to judge of their artistic and æsthetic beauty as any of the present day. indeed, their flavor is so delicate and sublimated that the subsequent attempts at interpreting them with more realistic methods only succeeds in destroying their charm. it may be difficult for some who are saturated with the ultra-modern tendencies in music to look upon gounod as a modernist, but thus he was regarded by his own friends. one of my most amusing recollections of gounod was his telling me--himself much amused thereby--of the first performance of _faust_. his friends had attended in large numbers to assist at the expected "success," only to be witnesses of a huge failure. gounod told me that the only numbers to have any success whatsoever were the "soldiers' chorus," and that of the old men in the second part of the first act. he said that all his friends avoided him and disappeared or went on the other side of the street. some of the more intimate told him that he must change his manner of writing as it was so "unmelodious" and "advanced." this seems to me a most interesting recollection, in view of the "cubist" music of stravinsky and co. of to-day. in thinking of gounod we must not forget his period and his public. we must realize that his operatic heroes and heroines must be approached from an altogether idealistic attitude--never a materialistic one. see the manner in which gounod has taken shakespeare's _juliette_ and translated her into an atmosphere of poetry. nevertheless he constantly intensifies his dramatic situations as the dramatic nature of the composition demands. his _juliette_, though consistent with his idea of her throughout, is not the _juliet_ of shakespeare. as also his _marguerite_ is that of kaulbach and not the gretchen of goethe. of course, a great deal depends upon the training and school of the artist interpreting the rôle. in my own interpretations i am governed by certain art principles which seem very vital indeed to me. the figure of the mediæval princess _elsa_ has to be represented with a restraint quite opposed to that of the panting savage _aïda_. also, the palpitating, elemental _tosca_ calls for another type of character painting than, for instance, the modest, gestureless, timid and womanly japanese girl in mascagni's _iris_. these things are not taught in schools by teachers. they come only after the prolonged study which every conscientious artist must give to her rôles. gounod felt this very strongly and impressed it upon me. all music had a meaning to him--an inner meaning which the great mind invariably divines through a kind of artistic intuition difficult to define. i remember his playing to me the last act of _don giovanni_, which in his hands gained the grandeur and depth of greek tragedy. he had in his hands the power to thrill one to the very utmost. again he was keenly delighted with the most joyous passages in music. he was exceptionally fond of mozart. _le nozze di figaro_ was especially appreciated. he used to say, after accompanying himself in the aria of cherubino the page, from the 1st act, "isn't that spring? isn't that youth? isn't that the joy of life? how marvelously mozart has crystallized this wonderful exuberant spirit in his music!" one reason for gounod's eminence one reason for gounod's eminence lay in his great reverence for his art. he believed in the cultivation of reverence for one's art, as the religious devotee has reverence for his cult. to gounod his art was a religion. to use a very expressive colloquialism, "he never felt himself above his job." time and again we meet men and women who make it a habit to look down upon their work as though they were superior to it. they are continually apologizing to their friends and depreciating their occupation. such people seem foreordained for failure. if one can not regard the work one is engaged upon with the greatest earnestness and respect--if one can not feel that the work is worthy of one's deepest _reverence_, one can accomplish little. i have seen so much of this with students and aspiring musicians that i feel that i would be missing a big opportunity if i did not emphasize this fine trait in gounod's character. i know of one man in particular who has been going down and down every year largely because he has never considered anything he has had to do as worthy of his best efforts. he has always been "above his job." if you are dissatisfied with your work, seek out something that you think is really deserving of your labor, something commensurate with your idea of a serious dignified occupation in which you feel that you may do your best work. in most cases, however, it is not a matter of occupation but an attitude of mind--the difference between an earnest dignified worker and one who finds it more comfortable to evade work. this is true in music as in everything else. if you can make your musical work a cult as gounod did, if you have talent--vision--ah! how few have vision, how few can really and truly see--if you have the understanding which comes through vision, there is no artistic height which you may not climb. one can not hope to give a portrait of gounod in so short an interview. one can only point out a few of his most distinguishing features. one who enjoyed his magnificent friendship can only look upon it as a hallowed memory. after all, gounod has written himself into his own music and it is to that we must go if we would know his real nature. mme. florence easton biographical mme. florence easton was born at middleborough, yorkshire, england, oct. 25, 1887. at a very early age she was taken to toronto, canada, by her parents, who were both accomplished singers. she was given a musical training in youth with the view of making her a concert pianist. her teacher was j. a. d. tripp, and at the age of eleven she appeared in concert. her vocal talents were discovered and she was sent to the royal academy at london, england, where her teachers were reddy and mme. agnes larkom, a pupil of garcia. she then went to paris and studied under eliot haslam, an english teacher resident in the french metropolis. she then took small parts in the well-known english opera organization, the moody-manners company, acquiring a large repertoire in english. with her husband, francis maclennen, she came to america to take the leading rôles in the savage production of _parsifal_, remaining to sing the next season in _madama butterfly_. the couple were then engaged to sing for six years at the berlin royal opera and became wonderfully successful. after three years at hamburg and two years with the chicago opera company she was engaged for dramatic rôles at the metropolitan, and has become a great favorite. [illustration: mme. florence easton. © mishkin.] the open door to opera mme. florence easton what is the open door to opera in america? is there an open door, and if not, how can one be made? who may go through that door and what are the terms of admission? these are questions which thousands of young american opera aspirants are asking just now. the prospect of singing at a great opera house is so alluring and the reward in money is often so great that students center their attentions upon the grand prize and are willing to take a chance of winning, even though they know that only one in a very few may succeed and then often at bitter sacrifice. the question is a most interesting one to me, as i think that i know what the open door to opera in this country might be--what it may be if enough patriotic americans could be found to cut through the hard walls of materialism, conventionalism and indifference. it lies through the small opera company--the only real and great school which the opera singer of the future can have. the school of prime donne in european countries there are innumerable small companies capable of giving good opera which the people enjoy quite as thoroughly as the metropolitan audiences of the world enjoy the opera which commands the best singers of the times. for years these small opera companies have been the training schools of the great singers. not to have gone through such a school was as damaging an admission as that of not having gone through a college would be to a college professor applying for a new position. lilli lehmann, schumann-heink, ruffo, campanini, jenny lind, patti, all are graduates of these schools of practice. in america there seems to have existed for years a kind of prejudice, bred of ignorance, against all opera companies except those employing all-star casts in the biggest theatres in the biggest cities. this existed, despite the fact that these secondary opera companies often put on opera that was superior to the best that was to be heard in some italian, german and french cities which possessed opera companies that stood very high in the estimation of americans who had never heard them. it was once actually the case that the fact that a singer had once sung in a smaller opera company prevented her from aspiring to sing in a great opera company. america, however, has become very much better informed and much more independent in such matters, and our opera goers are beginning to resemble european audiences in that they let their ears and their common sense determine what is best rather than their prejudices and their conventions regarding reputation. it was actually the case at one time in america that a singer with a great reputation could command a large audience, whereas a singer of far greater ability and infinitely better voice might be shut out because she had once sung in an opera company not as pretentious as those in the big cities. this seemed very comic indeed to many european singers, who laughed in their coat sleeves over the real situation. in the first place, the small companies in many cities would provide more singers with opportunities for training and public appearances. the united states now has two or three major opera companies. count up on your fingers the greatest number of singers who could be accommodated with parts: only once or twice in a decade does the young singer, at the age when the best formative work must be done, have a chance to attain the leading rôles. if we had in america ten or twenty smaller opera companies of real merit, the chances would be greatly multiplied. the first thing that the singer has to fight is stage fright. no matter how well you may know a rôle in a studio, unless you are a very extraordinary person you are likely to take months in acquiring the stage freedom and ease in working before an audience. there is only one cure for stage fright, and that is to appear continually until it wears off. many deserving singers have lost their great chances because they have depended upon what they have learned in the studio, only to find that when they went before a great and critical audience their ability was suddenly reduced to 10 per cent., if not to zero. even after years of practice and experience in great european opera houses where i appeared repeatedly before royalty, the reputation of the metropolitan opera house in new york was so great that at the time i made my début there i was so afflicted by stage fright that my voice was actually reduced to one-half of its force and my other abilities accordingly. this is the truth, and i am glad to have young singers know it as it emphasizes my point. imagine what the effect would have been upon a young singer who had never before sung in public on the stage. footlight paralysis is one of the most terrifying of all acute diseases and there is no cure for it but experience. the best beginning in the moody manners company in england, the directors wisely understood this situation and prepared for it. all the singers scheduled to take leading rôles (and they were for the most part very young singers, since when the singer became experienced enough she was immediately stolen by companies paying higher salaries) were expected to go for a certain time in the chorus (not to sing, just to walk off and on the stage) until familiar with the situation. accordingly, my first appearance with the moody manners company was when i walked out with the chorus. i have never heard of this being done deliberately by any other managers, but think how sensible it is! again, it is far more advantageous for the young singer to appear in the smaller opera house at first, so that if any errors are made the opera goers will not be unforgiving. there is no tragedy greater than throwing a young girl into an operatic situation far greater than her experience and ability can meet, and then condemning her for years because she did not rise to the occasion. this has happened many times in recent years. ambition is a beautiful thing; but when ambition induces one to walk upon a tight rope over niagara, without having first learned to walk properly on earth, ambition should be restrained. i can recollect several singers who were widely heralded at their first performances by enthusiastic admirers, who are now no longer known. what has become of them? is it not better to learn the profession of opera singing in its one great school, and learn it so thoroughly that one can advance in the profession, just as one may advance in every other profession? the singer in the small opera company who, night after night, says to herself, "to-morrow it must be better," is the one who will be the lilli lehmann, the galli-curci, or the schumann-heink of to-morrow; not the important person who insists upon postponing her début until she can appear at the metropolitan or at covent garden. colonel henry w. savage did america an immense service, as did the aborn brothers and fortune gallo, in helping to create a popular taste for opera presented in a less pretentious form. america needs such companies and needs them badly, not merely to educate the public up to an appreciation of the fact that the finest operatic performances in the world are now being given at the metropolitan opera house, but to help provide us with well-schooled singers for the future. necessity of routine nothing can take the place of routine in learning operas. many, many opera singers i have known seem to be woefully lacking in it. in learning a new opera, i learn all the parts that have anything to do with the part i am expected to sing. in other words, i find it very inadvisable to depend upon cues. there are so many disturbing things constantly occurring on the stage to throw one off one's track. for instance, when i made my first appearance in mascagni's _lodoletta_ i was obliged to go on with only twenty-four hours' notice, without rehearsal, in an opera i had seen produced only once. i had studied the rôle only two weeks. while on the stage i was so entranced with the wonderful singing of mr. caruso that i forgot to come in at the right time. he said to me quickly _sotto voce_- "_canta! canta! canta!_" and my routine drill of the part enabled me to come in without letting the audience know of my error. the mere matter of getting the voice to go with the orchestra, as well as that of identifying cues heard in the unusual quality of the orchestral instruments (so different from the tone quality of the piano), is most confusing, and only routine can accustom one to being ready to meet all of these strange conditions. one is supposed to keep an eye on the conductor practically all of the time while singing. the best singers are those who never forget this, but do it so artfully that the audience never suspects. many singers follow the conductor's baton so conspicuously that they give the appearance of monkeys on a string. this, of course, is highly ludicrous. i don't know of any way of overcoming it but experience. yes, there is another great help, and that is musicianship. the conductor who knows that an artist is a musician in fact, is immensely relieved and always very appreciative. singers should learn as much about the technical side of music as possible. learning to play the violin or the piano, and learning to play it well is invaluable. watching for opportunities the singer must be ever on the alert for opportunities to advance. this is largely a matter of preparation. if one is capable, the opportunities usually come. i wonder if i may relate a little incident which occurred to me in germany long before the war. i had been singing in berlin, when the impresario of the royal opera approached me and asked me if i could sing _aïda_ on a following monday. i realized that if i admitted that i had never sung _aïda_ before, the thoroughgoing, matter-of-fact german intendant would never even let me have a chance. emmy destinn was then the prima donna at the royal opera, and had been taken ill. the post was one of the operatic plums of all europe. before i knew it, i had said "yes, i can sing _aïda_." it was a white lie, and once told, i had to live up to it. i had never sung _aïda_, and only knew part of it. running home i worked all night long to learn the last act. over and over the rôle hundreds and hundreds of times i went, until it seemed as though my eyes would drop out of my head. monday night came, and thanks to my routine experience in smaller companies, i had learned _aïda_ so that i was perfectly confident of it. imagine the strain, however, when i learned that the kaiser and the court were to be present. at the end i was called before the kaiser, who, after warmly complimenting me, gave me the greatly coveted post in his opera house. i do not believe that he ever found out that the little toronto girl had actually fibbed her way into an opportunity. tales of strauss strauss was one of the leading conductors while i was at the royal opera and i sang under his baton many, many times. he was a real genius,--in that once his art work was completed, his interest immediately centered upon the next. once while we were performing _rosenkavalier_ he came behind the scenes and said: "will this awfully _long_ opera never end? i want to go home." i said to him, "but doctor, you composed it yourself," and he said, "yes, but i never meant to conduct it." let it be explained that strauss was an inveterate player of the german card game, scat, and would far rather seek a quiet corner with a few choice companions than go through one of his own works night after night. however, whenever the creative instinct was at work he let nothing impede it. i remember seeing him write upon his cuffs (no doubt some passing theme) during a performance of _meistersinger_ he was conducting. the singer's greatest need the singer's greatest need, or his greatest asset if he has one, is an honest critic. my husband and i have made it a point never to miss hearing one another sing, no matter how many times we have heard each other sing in a rôle. sometimes, after a big performance, it is very hard to have to be told about all the things that one did not do well, but that is the only way to improve. there are always many people to tell one the good things, but i feel that the biggest help that i have had through my career has been the help of my husband, because he has always told me the places where i could improve, so that every performance i had something new to think about. an artist never stands still. he either goes forward or backward and, of course, the only way to get to the top is by going forward. the difficulty in america is in giving the young singers a chance after their voices are placed. if only we could have a number of excellent stock opera companies, even though there had to be a few traveling stars after the manner of the old dramatic companies, where everybody had to start at the bottom and work his way up, because with a lovely voice, talent and perseverance anyone can get to the top if one has a chance to work. by "work" i mean singing as many new rôles as possible and as often as possible and not starting at a big opera house singing perhaps two or three times during a season. just think of it,--the singer at a small opera house has more chance to learn in two months than the beginner at a big opera house might have in five years. after all, the thing that is most valuable to a singer is time, as with time the voice will diminish in beauty. getting to the top via the big opera house is the work of a lifetime, and the golden tones are gone before one really has an opportunity to do one's best work. [illustration: geraldine farrar.] geraldine farrar biographical although one of the youngest of the noted american singers, none has achieved such an extensive international reputation as miss farrar. born february 28, 1882, in melrose, mass., she was educated at the public schools in that city. at the school age she became the pupil of mrs. j. h. long, in boston. after studying with several teachers, including emma thursby, in new york, and trabadello, in paris, she went to lilli lehmann in berlin, and under this, the greatest of dramatic singers of her time, miss farrar received a most thorough and careful training in all the elements of her art. she made her début as marguerite in _faust_ at the royal opera in berlin, october 15th, 1901. later, after touring european cities with ever increasing successes, she was engaged at the opera comique and grand opera, paris, and then at the metropolitan opera house in new york, where she has been the leading soprano for many seasons. the many enticing offers made for appearances in moving pictures led to a new phase of her career. in many pictures she has appeared with her husband, m. lou tellegen, one of the most distinguished actors of the french school, who at one time was the leading man for sarah bernhardt. the following conference is rich in advice to any young woman who desires to know what she must do in order to become a prima donna. what must i go through to become a prima donna? mme. geraldine farrar what must i do to become a prima donna? let us reverse the usual method of discussing the question and begin with the artist upon the stage in a great opera house like the metropolitan in new york, on a gala night, every seat sold and hundreds standing. it is a modern opera with a "heavy" score. what is the first consideration of the singer? primarily, an artist in grand opera must _sing_ in some fashion to insure the proper projection of her rôle across the large spaces of the all-too-large auditoriums. those admirable requisites of clear diction, facial expression and emotional appeal will be sadly hampered unless the medium of sound carries their message. it is only from sad experience that one among many rises superior to some of the disadvantages of our modern opera repertoire. gone are the days when the facile vocalist was supported by a small group of musicians intent upon a discreet accompaniment for the benefit of the singer's vocal exertions. voices trained for the older repertoire were not at the mercy of an enlarged orchestra pit, wherein the over-zealous gentlemen now fight--_furioso ad libitum_--for the supremacy of operatic effects. an amiable musical observer once asked me why we all shouted so in opera. i replied by a question, asking if he had ever made an after-dinner speech. he acquiesced. i asked him how many times he rapped on the table for attention and silence. he admitted it was rather often. i asked him why. he said, so that he might be heard. he answered his own question by conceding that the carrying timbre of a voice cannot compete successfully against even banquet hall festivities unless properly focused out of a normal speaking tone. the difference between a small room and one seating several hundred is far greater than the average auditor realizes. if the mere rattling of silver and china will eclipse this vocal effort in speech i leave to your imagination what must transpire when the singer is called upon to dominate with one thread of song the tremendous onslaught of an orchestra and to rise triumphant above it in a theater so large that the faithful gatherers in the gallery tell me we all look like pigmies, and half the time are barely heard. since the recesses where we must perform are so exaggerated everything must be in like proportion, hence we are very often too noisy, but how can it be otherwise if we are to influence the eager taxpayer in row x? after all, he has not come to hear us _whisper_, and his point of vantage is not so admirable as if he were sitting at a musical comedy in a small theater. for this condition the size of the theater and the instrumentation imposed by the composer are to be censured, and less blame placed upon the overburdened shoulders of the vocal competitor against these odds. little shading in operatic tone color is possible unless an accompanying phrase permits it or the trumpeter swallows a pin! lucia or zaza if your repertoire is _the barber_, _lucia_, _somnambula_ and all such italian dainties, well and good. nothing need disturb the complete enjoyment of this lace-work. but if your auditors weep at _butterfly_ and _zaza_ or thrill to _pagliacci_, they demand you use a quite different technic, which comes to the point of my story. i believe it was jean de reszke who advocated the voice "in the mask" united to breath support from the diaphragm. from personal observation i should say our coloratura charmers lay small emphasis on that highly important factor and use their head voices with a freedom more or less god given. but the power and life-giving quality of this fundamental cannot be too highly estimated for us who must color our phrases to suit modern dramatics and evolve a carrying quality that will not only eliminate the difficulty of vocal demands, but at the same time insure immunity from harmful after-effects. this indispensable twin of the head voice is the dynamo which alone must endure all the necessary fatigue, leaving the actual voice phrases free to float unrestricted with no ignoble distortions or possible signs of distress. alas! it is not easy to write of this, but the experience of years proves how vital a point is its saving grace and how, unfortunately, it remains an unknown factor to many. to note two of our finest examples of greatness in this marvelous profession, lilli lehmann and jean de reszke, neither of whom had phenomenal vocal gifts, i would point out their remarkable mental equipment, unceasing and passionate desire for perfection, paired with an unerring instinct for the noble and distinguished such as has not been found in other exponents of purely vocal virtuosity, with a few rare exceptions, as melba and galli-curci, for instance, to mention two beautiful instruments of our generation. the singing art is not a casual inspiration and it should never be treated as such. the real artist will have an organized mental strategy just as minute and reliable as any intricate machinery, and will under all circumstances (save complete physical disability) be able to control and dominate her gifts to their fullest extent. this is not learned in a few years within the four walls of a studio, but is the result of a lifetime of painstaking care and devotion. there was a time when ambition and overwork so told upon me that mistakenly i allowed myself to minimize my vocal practice. how wrong that was i found out in short time and i have returned long since to my earlier precepts as taught me by lilli lehmann. keep the voice strong and flexible in her book, _how to sing_, there is much for the student to digest with profit, though possible reservations are advisable, dependent upon one's individual health and vocal resistance. her strong conviction was, and is, that a voice requires daily and conscientious exercise to keep it strong and flexible. having successfully mastered the older italian rôles as a young singer, her incursion into the later-day dramatic and classic repertoire in no wise became an excuse to let languish the fundamental idea of beautiful sound. how vitally important and admirably _bel canto_ sustained by the breath support has served her is readily understood when one remembers that she has outdistanced all the colleagues of her earlier career and now well over sixty, she is as indefatigable in her daily practice as we younger singers should be. this brief extract about patti (again quoting lilli lehmann) will furnish an interesting comparison: in adelina patti everything was united--the splendid voice paired with great talent for singing, and the long oversight of her studies by her distinguished teacher, strakosch. she never sang rôles that did not suit her voice; in her earlier years she sang only arias and duets or single solos, never taking part in ensembles. she never sang even her limited repertory when she was indisposed. she never attended rehearsals, but came to the theater in the evening and sang triumphantly, without ever having seen the persons who sang or acted with her. she spared herself rehearsals, which, on the day of the performance or the day before, exhaust all singers because of the excitement of all kinds attending them, and which contribute neither to the freshness of the voice nor to the joy of the profession. although she was a spaniard by birth and an american by early adoption, she was, so to speak, the greatest italian singer of my time. all was absolutely good, correct and flawless, the voice like a bell that you seemed to hear long after its singing had ceased. yet she could give no explanation of her art, and answered all her colleagues' questions concerning it with "ah, je n'en sais rien!" she possessed unconsciously, as a gift of nature, a union of all those qualities that other singers must attain and possess consciously. her vocal organs stood in the most favorable relations to each other. her talent and her remarkably trained ear maintained control over the beauty of her singing and her voice. fortunate circumstances of her life preserved her from all injury. the purity and flawlessness of her tone, the beautiful equalization of her whole voice constituted the magic by which she held her listeners entranced. moreover, she was beautiful and gracious in appearance. the accent of great dramatic power she did not possess, yet i ascribe this more to her intellectual indolence than to her lack of ability. but how few of us would ever make a career if we waited for such favors from nature! lessons must be adequate bearing in mind the absolute necessity and real joy in vocal work, it confounds and amazes me that teachers of this art feel their duty has been accomplished when they donate twenty minutes or half an hour to a pupil! i do not honestly believe this is a fair exchange, and it is certainly not within reason to believe that within so short a time a pupil can actually benefit by the concentration and instruction so hastily conferred upon her. if this be very plain speaking, it is said with the object to benefit the pupil only, for it is, after all, _they_ who must pay the ultimate in success or failure. an hour devoted to the minute needs of one pupil is not too much time to devote to so delicate a subject. an intelligent taskmaster will let his pupil demonstrate ten or fifteen minutes and during the same period of rest will discuss and awaken the pupil's interest from an intelligent point of view, that some degree of individuality may color even the drudgery of the classroom. a word of counsel from such a mistress of song as lehmann or sembrich is priceless, but the sums that pour into greedy pockets of vocal mechanics, not to say a harsher word, is a regretable proceeding. too many mediocrities are making sounds. too many of the same class are trying to instruct, but, as in politics, the real culprit is the people. as long as the public forbear an intelligent protest in this direction, just so long will the studios be crowded with pathetic seekers for fame. what employment these infatuated individuals enjoyed before the advent of grand opera and the movies became a possible exhaust pipe for their vanity is not clear, but they certainly should be discouraged. new york alone is crowded with aspirants for the stage, and their little bag of tricks is of very slender proportions. let us do everything in our power to help the really worthy talent; but it is a mistaken charity, and not patriotic, to shove singers and composers so called, of american birth, upon a weary public which perceives nothing except the fact that they are of native birth and have no talent to warrant such assumption. i do not think the musical observers are doing the cause of art in this country a favor when columns are written about the inferior works of the non-gifted. an ambitious effort is all right in its way, but that is no reason to connect the ill-advised production with american hopes. on the contrary, it does us a bad turn. i shall still contend that the english language is not a pretty one for our vocal exploitations, and within my experience of the past ten years i have heard but one american work which i can sincerely say would have given me pleasure to create, that same being mr. henry hadley's recently produced _cleopatra's night_. his score is rich and deserving of the highest praise. in closing i should like to quote again from mme. lehmann's book an exercise that would seem to fulfill a long-felt want: "the great scale is the most necessary exercise for all kinds of voices. it was taught me by my mother. she taught it to all her pupils and to us." here is the scale as lehmann taught it to me. [illustration: musical notation: breath breath breath breath] it was sung upon all the principal vowels. it was extended stepwise through different keys over the entire range of the two octaves of the voice. it was not her advice to practice it too softly, but it was done with all the resonating organs well supported by the diaphragm, the tone in a very supple and elastic "watery" state. she would think nothing of devoting from forty minutes to sixty minutes a day to the slow practice of this exercise. of course, she would treat what one might call a heavy brunette voice quite differently from a bright blonde voice. these terms of blonde and brunette, of course, have nothing to do with the complexion of the individual, but to the color of the voice. the only cure lehmann said of this scale: "it is the only cure for all injuries, and at the same time the most excellent means of fortification against all over-exertion. i sing it every day, often twice, even if i have to sing one of the heaviest rôles in the evening. i can rely absolutely upon its assistance. i often take fifty minutes to go through it once, for i let no tone pass that is lacking in any degree in pitch, power, duration or in single vibration of the propagation form." personally i supplement this great scale often with various florid legato phrases of arias selected from the older italians or mozart, whereby i can more easily achieve the vocal facility demanded by the tessitura of _manon_ or _faust_ and change to the darker-hued phrases demanded in _carmen_ or _butterfly_. but the open secret of all success is patient, never-ending, conscientious _work_, with a forceful emphasis on the _work_. [illustration: johanna gadski.] mme. johanna gadski biographical mme. gadski was born at anclam, prussia, june 15, 1872. her studies in singing were principally with mme. schroeder-chaloupha. when she was ten years old she sang successfully in concert at stettin. her operatic début was made in berlin, in 1889, in weber's _der freischütz_. she then appeared in the opera houses of bremen and mayence. in 1894 dr. walter damrosch organized his opera company in new york and engaged mme. gadski for leading rôles. in 1898 she became high dramatic soprano with the metropolitan opera company in new york, and the following year appeared at covent garden. she was constantly developing as a singer of wagner rôles, notably _brunhilde_ and _isolde_. her repertoire included forty rôles in all, and the demand for her appearance at festivals here and abroad became more and more insistent. she sang at the metropolitan opera house in new york until 1917, when the notoriety caused by the activities of her husband, captain hans tauscher, american agent for large german weapon manufacturers, forced her to resign. mme. gadski made a close study of the schumann songs for years; and the following can not fail to be of artistic assistance to the singer. the master songs of robert schumann mme. johanna gadski robert schumann's lyric gift one cannot delve very far into the works of schumann without discovering that his gifts are peculiarly lyric. his melodic fecundity is all the more remarkable because of his strong originality. even in many of his piano pieces, such as _warum?_, _träumerei_ or the famous _slumber song_, the lyric character is evident. beautiful melodies which seem to lend themselves to the peculiar requirements of vocal music crop up every now and then in all his works. this is by no means the case with many of the other great masters. in some of beethoven's songs, for instance, one can never lose sight of the fact that they are instrumental pieces. it was schumann's particular privilege to be gifted with the acute sense of proportion which enabled him to estimate just what kind of an accompaniment a melody should have. naturally some of his songs stand out far above others; and in these the music lover and vocal student will notice that there is usually a beautiful artistic balance between the accompaniment and the melody. another characteristic is the sense of propriety with which schumann connected his melodies with the thought of the poems he employed. this is doubtless due to the extensive literary training he himself enjoyed. it was impossible for a man of schumann's life experience to apply an inappropriate melody to any given poem. with some song writers, this is by no means the case. the music of one song would fit almost any other set of words having the same poetic metre. schumann was continually seeking after a distinctive atmosphere, and this it is which gives many of his works their lasting charm. the intimate and delicate character of schumann songs most of the greater schumann songs are of a deliciously ultimate and delicate character. by this no one should infer that they are weak or spineless. schumann was a deep student of psychology and of human life. in the majority of cases he eschewed the melodramatic. it is true that we have at least one song, _the two grenadiers_, which is melodramatic in the extreme; but this, according to the greatest judges, is not schumann at his best. it was the particular delight of schumann to take some intense little poem and apply to it a musical setting crowded full of deep poetical meaning. again, he liked to paint musical pastels such as _im wunderschönen monat mai_, _frühlingsnacht_ and _der nussbaum_. these songs are redolent with the fragrance of out-of-doors. there is not one jarring note. the indefinable beauty and inspiration of the fields and forests have been caught by the master and imprisoned forever in this wonderful music. _im wunderschönen monat mai_, which comes from the _dichterliebe_ cycle, is indescribably delicate. it should be sung with great lightness and simplicity. any effort toward a striving for effect would ruin this exquisite gem. _frühlingsnacht_ with its wonderful accompaniment, which franz liszt thought so remarkable that he combined the melody and the accompaniment, with but slight alterations, and made a piano piece of the whole--is a difficult song to sing properly. if the singer does not catch the effervescent character of the song as a whole, the effect is lost. any "dragging" of the tones destroys the wonderful exuberance which schumann strove to connote. the balance between the singer and the accompanist must be perfect, and woe be to the singer who tries to sing _frühlingsnacht_ with a lumbering accompanist. _der nussbaum_ is one of the most effective and "thankful" of all the schumann songs. experienced public singers almost invariably win popular appreciation with this song. it is probably my favorite of all the schumann songs. here again delicacy and simplicity reign supreme. in fact simplicity in interpretation is the great requirement of all the art songs. the amateur singer seems to be continually trying to secure "effect" with these songs and the only result of this is affectation. if amateurs could only realize how hard the really great masters tried to avoid results that were to be secured by the cheap methods of "affectation" and "show," they would make their singing more simple. success in singing art songs comes through the ability of the artist to bring out the psychic, poetical and musical meaning of the song. there is no room for cheap vocal virtuosity. the great songs bear the sacred message of the best and finest in art. they represent the conscientious devotion of their composers to their loftiest ideals. i have mentioned three songs which are representative, but there are numberless other songs which reveal the intimate and personal character of schumann's works. one popular mistake regarding these songs which is quite prevalent is that of thinking that they can only be sung in tiny rooms and never in large auditoriums. time and again i have achieved some of the best results i have ever secured on the concert stage with delicate intimate works sung before audiences of thousands of people. the size of the auditorium has practically nothing to do with the song. the method of delivery is everything. if the song is properly and thoughtfully delivered, the audience, though it be one of thousands, will sit "quiet as mice" and listen reverently to the end. however, if one of these songs were to be sung in a flamboyant, bombastic manner, by some singer infected with the idea that in order to impress a multitude of people an exaggerated style is necessary, the results would be ruinous. if overdone, they are never appreciated. art is art. rembrandt in one of his master paintings exhibits just the right artistic balance. a copy of the same painting might become a mere daub, with a few twists of some bungling amateur's brush. let the young singer remember that the results that are the most difficult to get in singing the art song are not those by which she may hope to make a sensational impression by means of show, but those which depend first and always upon sincerity, simplicity and a deep study of the real meaning of the masterpiece. the love interest in the schumann songs up to the time schumann was thirty years of age (1840), his compositions were confined to works for the piano. these piano works include some of the very greatest and most inspired of his compositions for the instrument. in 1840 schumann married clara wieck, daughter of his former pianoforte teacher. this marriage was accomplished only after the most severe opposition imaginable upon the part of the irate father-in-law, who was loath to see his daughter, whom he had trained to be one of the foremost pianists of her sex, marry an obscure composer. the effect of this opposition was to raise schumann's affection to the condition of a kind of fanaticism. all this made a pronounced impression upon his art and seemed to make him long for expression through the medium of his love songs. he wrote to a friend at this time, "i am now writing nothing but songs great and small. i can hardly tell you how delightful it is to write for the voice, as compared with instrumental composition; and what a tumult and strife i feel within me as i sit down to it. i have brought forth quite new things in this line." in letters to his wife he is quite as impassioned over his song writing as the following quotations indicate: "since yesterday morning, i have written twenty-seven pages of music (something new of which i can tell you nothing more than that i have laughed and wept for joy in composing them). when i composed them my soul was within yours. without such a bride, indeed no one could write such music; once more i have composed so much that it seems almost uncanny. alas! i cannot help it: i could sing myself to death like a nightingale." during the first year of his marriage schumann wrote one hundred of the two hundred and forty-five songs that are attributed to him. in the published collections of his works, there are three songs attributed to schumann which are known to be from the pen of his talented wife. as in his piano compositions schumann avoided long pieces and preferred collections of comparatively short pieces, such as those in the _carnaval_, _kreisleriana_, _papillons_, so in his early works for the voice schumann chose to write short songs which were grouped in the form of cycles. seven of these cycles are particularly well known. they are here given together with the best known songs from each group. cycle songs _liederkreis_ {_ich wandelte unter den bäumen._ {_mit myrthen und rosen._ {_die lotusblume._ _myrthen_ {_lass mich ihm am busen hangen._ {_du bist wie eine blume._ {_der nussbaum._ _eichendorff liederkreis_ {_waldesgespräch._ {_frühlingsnacht._ {_wanderlust._ _kerner cycle_ {_frage._ {_stille thränen._ {_o, ring an meinem finger._ _frauenliebe und leben_ {_er, der herrlichste von allen._ {_ich grolle nicht._ _dichterliebe_ {_im wunderschönen mai._ {_ich hab' im traum geweinet._ {_three of the songs in this_ _liebesfrühling_ {_cycle are attributed to_ {_clara schumann._ critics seem to be agreed that schumann's talent gradually deteriorated as his mental disease increased. consequently, with but few exceptions his best song works are to be found among his early vocal compositions. i have tried repeatedly to bring forth some of the lesser known songs of schumann and have time and again devoted long periods to their study, but apparently the public, by an unmistakable indication of lack of approval, will have none of them. evidently, the songs by which schumann is now best known are his best works from the standpoint of popular appreciation. popular approval taken in the aggregate is a mighty determining factor. the survival of the fittest applies to songs as well as to other things in life. this is particularly so in the case of the four famous songs, _die beiden grenadiere_, _widmung_, _der nussbaum_ and _ich grolle nicht_, which never seem to diminish in popularity. schumann's love for the romantic schumann's fervid imagination readily led to a love for the romantic. his early fondness for the works of jean paul developed into a kind of life tendency, which resulted in winning him the title of the "tone-poet of romanticism." few of his songs, however, are really dramatic. _waldesgespräch_, which robert franz called a pianoforte piece with a voice part added, is probably the best of schumann's dramatic-romantic songs. i have always found that audiences are very partial to this song; and it may be sung by a female voice as well as the male voice. the _two grenadiers_ is strictly a man's song. _ich grolle nicht_, while sung mostly by men, may, like the _erl-king_ of schubert, be sung quite as successfully by women singers possessing the qualities of depth and dramatic intensity. peculiar difficulties in interpreting schumann songs i have already mentioned the necessity for simplicity in connection with the interpretation of the schumann songs. i need not tell the readers of these pages that the proper interpretation of these songs requires a much more extensive and difficult kind of preparatory work than the more showy coloratura works which to the novice often seem vastly more difficult. the very simplicity of the schubert and schumann songs makes them more difficult to sing properly than the works of writers who adopted a somewhat more complicated style. the smallest vocal discrepancies become apparent at once and it is only by the most intense application and great attention to detail that it is possible for the singer to bring her art to a standard that will stand the test of these simple, but very difficult works. too much coloratura singing is liable to rob the voice of its fullness and is not to be recommended as a preparation for the singer who would become a singer of the modern art songs. this does not mean that scales and arpeggios are to be avoided. in fact the flexibility and control demanded of the singers of art songs are quite as great as that required of the coloratura singer. the student must have her full quota of vocal exercises before she should think of attempting the schumann lieder. schumann's popularity in america americans seem to be particularly fond of schumann. when artists are engaged for concert performances it is the custom in this country to present optional programs to the managers of the local concert enterprises. these managers represent all possible kinds of taste. it is the experience of most concert artists that the schumann selections are almost invariably chosen. this is true of the west as well as of the south and east. one section of the program is without exception devoted to what they call classical songs and by this they mean the best songs rather than the songs whose chief claim is that they are from the old italian schools of carissimi, scarlatti, etc. i make it a special point to present as many songs as possible with english words. the english language is not a difficult language in which to sing; and when the translation coincides with the original i can see no reason why american readers who may not be familiar with a foreign tongue should be denied the privilege of understanding what the song is about. if they do not understand, why sing words at all? why not vocalize the melodies upon some vowel? songs, however, were meant to combine poetry and music; and unless the audience has the benefit of understanding both, it has been defrauded of one of its chief delights. some german poems, however, are almost untranslatable. it is for this reason that many of the works of löwe, for instance, have never attained wide popularity. the legends which löwe employed are often delightful, but the difficulties of translation are such that the original meaning is either marred or destroyed. the songs or ballads of löwe, without the words, do not seem to grasp american audiences and singers find it a thankless task to try to force them upon the public. i have been so long in america that i feel it my duty to share in popularizing the works of the many talented american composers. i frequently place macdowell's beautiful songs on my programs; and the works of many other american composers, including mrs. h. h. a. beach, sidney homer, frank le forge and others make fine concert numbers. it has seemed to me that america has a large future in the field of lyric composition. american poets have long since won their place in the international hall of fame. the lyrical spirit which they have expressed verbally will surely be imbued in the music of american composers. the opportunity is already here. americans demand the best the world can produce. it makes no difference what the nationality of the composer. however, americans are first of all patriotic; and the composer who produces real lyric masterpieces is not likely to be asked to wait for fame and competence, as did schubert and schumann. [illustration: mme. amelita galli-curci. © victor georg.] mme. amelita galli-curci biographical mme. galli-curci was born at milan, november 18th, 1889, of a family distinguished in the arts and in the professions. she entered the milan conservatory, winning the first prize and diploma in piano playing in 1903. for a time after her graduation she toured as a pianist and then resolved to become a singer. she is practically self-taught in the vocal art. her début was made in rome at the teatro constanzi, in the rôle of _gilda_ in _rigoletto_. she was pronouncedly successful from the very start. during the next six years she sang principally in italy, south america (three tours), and in spain, her success increasing with every appearance. in 1916 she appeared at chicago with the chicago opera company, creating a furore. the exceptionally beautiful records of her interpretations created an immense demand to hear her in concert, and her successes everywhere have been historic. not since patti has there been a singer upon whom such wide-spread critical comment has been made in praise of her exquisite velvety quality of tone, vocal technic and interpretative intelligence. hailed as "patti's only successor," she has met with greater popular success in opera and concert than any of the singers of recent years. in 1921 she married the gifted american composer, homer samuels, who for many years had been the pianist upon her tours. teaching yourself to sing mme. amelita galli-curci just what influence heredity may have upon the musical art and upon musicians has, of course, been a much discussed question. in my own case, i was fortunate in having a father who, although engaged in another vocation, was a fine amateur musician. my grandfather was a conductor and my grandmother was an opera singer of distinction in italy. like myself, she was a coloratura soprano, and i can recollect with joy her voice and her method of singing. even at the age of seventy-five her voice was wonderfully well preserved, because she always sang with the greatest ease and with none of the forced throat restrictions which make the work of so many singers insufferable. my own musical education began at the age of five, when i commenced to play the piano. meanwhile i sang around the house, and my grandmother used to say in good humor: "keep it up, my dear; perhaps some day you may be a better singer than i am." my father, however, was more seriously interested in instrumental music, and desired that i should become a pianist. how fortunate for me! otherwise, i should never have had that thorough musical drill which gave me an acquaintance with the art which i cannot believe could come in any other way. mascagni was a very good friend of our family and took a great interest in my playing. he came to our house very frequently, and his advice and inspiration naturally meant much to a young, impressionable girl. general education my general education was very carefully guarded by my father, who sent me to the best schools in milan, one of which was under the management of germans, and it was there that i acquired my acquaintance with the german language. i was then sent to the conservatorio, and graduated with a gold medal as a pianist. this won me some distinction in italy and enabled me to tour as a pianist. i did not pretend to play the big, exhaustive works, but my programs were made up of such pieces as the _abeg_ of schumann, studies by scharwenka, impromptus of chopin, the four scherzos of chopin, the first ballade, the nocturnes (the fifth in the book was my favorite) and works of bach. (of course, i had been through the wohltemperiertes clavier.) in those days i was very frail, and i had aspired to develop my repertoire so that later i could include the great works for the piano requiring a more or less exhaustive technic of the bravura type. once i went to hear busoni, and after the concert, came to me like a revelation, "you can never be such a pianist as he. your hand and your physical strength will not permit it." i went home in more or less sadness, knowing that despite the success i had had in my piano playing, my decision was a wise one. figuratively, i closed the lid of my piano upon my career as a pianist and decided to learn how to sing. the memory of my grandmother's voice singing bellini's _qui la voce_ was still ringing in my ears with the lovely purity of tone that she possessed. mascagni called upon us at that time, and i asked him to hear me sing. he did so, and threw up his hands, saying, "why in the world have you been wasting your time with piano playing when you have a natural voice like that? such voices are born. start to work at once to develop your voice." meanwhile, of course, i had heard a great deal of singing and a great deal of so-called voice teaching. i went to two teachers in milan, but was so dissatisfied with what i heard from them and from their pupils that i was determined that it would be necessary for me to develop my own voice. please do not take this as an inference that all vocal teachers are bad or are dispensable. my own case was peculiar. i had been saturated with musical traditions since my babyhood. i had had, in addition, a very fine musical training. of course, without this i could not have attempted to do what i did in the way of self-training. nevertheless, it is my firm conviction that unless the student of singing has in his brain and in his soul those powers of judging for himself whether the quality of a tone, the intonation (pitch), the shading, the purity and the resonance are what they should be to insure the highest artistic results, it will be next to impossible for him to secure these. this is what is meant by the phrase--"singers are born and not made." the power of discrimination, the judgment, etc., must be inherent. no teacher can possibly give them to a pupil, except in an artificial way. that, possibly, is the reason why so many students sing like parrots: because they have the power of mimicry, but nothing comes from within. the fine teacher can, of course, take a fine sense of tonal values, etc., and, provided the student has a really good natural voice, lead him to reveal to himself the ways in which he can use his voice to the best advantage. add to this a fine musical training, and we have a singer. but no teacher can give to a voice that velvety smoothness, that liquid fluency, that bell-like clarity which the ear of the educated musician expects, and which the public at large demands, unless the student has the power of determining for himself what is good and what is bad. four years of hard training it was no easy matter to give up the gratifying success which attended my pianistic appearances to begin a long term of self-study, self-development. yet i realized that it would hardly be possible for me to accomplish what i desired in less than four years. therefore, i worked daily for four years, drilling myself with the greatest care in scales, arpeggios and sustained tones. the colorature facility i seemed to possess naturally, to a certain extent; but i realized that only by hard and patient work would it be possible to have all my runs, trills, etc., so that they always would be smooth, articulate and free--that is, unrestricted--at any time. i studied the rôles in which i aspired to appear, and attended the opera faithfully to hear fine singing, as well as bad singing. as the work went on it became more and more enjoyable. i felt that i was upon the right path, and that meant everything. if i had continued as a pianist i could never have been more than a mediocrity, and that i could not have tolerated. about this time came a crisis in my father's business; it became necessary for me to teach. accordingly, i took a number of piano pupils and enjoyed that phase of my work very much indeed. i gave lessons for four years, and in my spare time worked with my voice, all by myself, with my friend, the piano. my guiding principles were: _there must be as little consciousness of effort in the throat as possible._ _there must always be the joy of singing._ _success is based upon sensation, whether it feels right to me in my mouth, in my throat, that i know, and nobody else can tell me._ i remember that my grandmother, who sang _una voce poco fa_ at seventy-five, always cautioned me to never force a single tone. i did not study exercises like those of concone, panofka, bordogni, etc., because they seemed to me a waste of time in my case. i did not require musical knowledge, but needed special drill. i knew where my weak spots were. what was the use of vocal studies which required me to do a lot of work and only occasionally touched those portions of my voice which needed special attention? learning a repertoire was a great task in itself, and there was no time to waste upon anything i did not actually need. because of the natural fluency i have mentioned, i devoted most of my time to slower exercises at first. what could be simpler than this? [illustration: musical notation: ex. 1] these, of course, were sung in the most convenient range in my voice. the more rapid exercises i took from c to f above the treble staff. [illustration: musical notation: ex. 2] even to this day i sing up to high f every day, in order that i may be sure that i have the tones to e below in public work. another exercise which i used very frequently was this, in the form of a trill. great care was taken to have the intonation (pitch) absolutely accurate in the rapid passages, as well as in the slow passages. [illustration: musical notation: ex. 3] when i had reached a certain point, i determined that it might be possible for me to get an engagement. i was then twenty, and my dear mother was horrified at the idea of my going on the stage so young. she was afraid of evil influences. in my own mind i realized that evil was everywhere, in business, society, everywhere, and that if one was to keep out of dirt and come out dean, one must make one's art the object first of all. art is so great, so all-consuming, that any one with a deep reverence for its beauties, its grandeur, can have but little time for the lower things of life. all that an artist calls for in his soul is to be permitted to work at his best in his art. then, and then only, is he happiest. because of my mother's opposition, and because i felt i was strong enough to resist the temptations which she knew i might encounter, i virtually eloped with a copy of _rigoletto_ under my arm and made my way for the teatro constanzi, the leading opera house of rome. i might readily have secured letters from influential musical friends, such as mascagni and others, but i determined that it would be best to secure an engagement upon my own merits, if i could, and then i would know whether or not i was really prepared to make my début, or whether i had better study more. i went to the manager's office and, appealing to his business sense, told him that, as i was a young unknown singer, he could secure my services for little money, and begged for permission to sing for him. i knew he was beset by such requests, but he immediately gave me a hearing, and i was engaged for one performance of _rigoletto_. the night of the début came, and i was obliged to sing _caro nome_ again in response to a vociferous encore. this was followed by other successes, and i was engaged for two years for a south american tour, under the direction of my good friend and adviser, the great operatic director, mugnone. in south america there was enthusiasm everywhere, but all the time i kept working constantly with my voice, striving to perfect details. at the end of the south american tour i desired to visit new york and find out what america was like. because of the war europe was operatically impossible (it was 1916), but i had not the slightest idea of singing in the united states just then. by merest accident i ran into an american friend (mr. thorner) on broadway. he had heard me sing in italy, and immediately took me to maestro campanini, who was looking then for a coloratura soprano to sing for only two performances in chicago, as the remainder of his program was filled for the year. this was in the springtime, and it meant that i was to remain in new york until october and november. the opportunity seemed like an unusual accident of fate, and i resolved to stay, studying my own voice all the while to improve it more and more. october and the début in _rigoletto_ came. the applause astounded me; it was electric, like a thunderstorm. no one was more astonished than i. engagements and offers came from everywhere, but not enough, i hope, to ever induce me not to believe that in the vocal art one must continually strive for higher and higher goals. laziness, indifference and lassitude which come with success are the ruin of art and the artist. the normal healthy artist with the right ideals never reaches his zenith. if he did, or if he thought he did, his career would come to a sudden end. [illustration: mary garden. © mishkin.] mary garden biographical mary garden was born february 20th, 1877, in aberdeen, scotland. she came to america with her parents when she was eight years of age and was brought up in chicopee, massachusetts, hartford, connecticut, and chicago, illinois. she studied the violin when she was six and the piano when she was twelve. it was the ambition of her parents to make her an instrumental performer. she studied voice with mrs. s. r. duff, who in time took her to paris and placed her under the instruction of trabadello and lucien fugére. her operatic début was made in charpentier's _louise_ at the opera comique in 1900. her success was immediate both as an actress and as a singer. she was chosen by debussy and others for especially intricate rôles. she created the rôle of _melisande_; also, _fiammette_ in laroux's _la reine fiammette_. in 1907 she made her american début in _thaïs_ at the manhattan opera house in new york city. later she accepted leading rôles with the philadelphia-chicago opera co. she is considered by many the finest singing actress living--her histrionic gifts being in every way equal to her vocal gifts. in 1921 she was made the manager of the chicago opera company. the know how in the art of singing mary garden the modern opera singer cannot content herself merely with the "know how" of singing. that is, she must be able to know so much more than the mere elemental facts of voice production that it would take volumes to give an intimation of the real requirements. the girl who wants to sing in opera must have one thought and one thought only--"what will contribute to my musical, histrionic and artistic success?" unless the "career" comes first there is not likely to be any "career." i wonder if the public ever realizes what this sacrifice means to an artiste--to a woman. of course, there are great recompenses--the thrill that comes with artistic triumphs--the sensations that accompany achievement--who but the artist can know what this means--the joy of bringing to life some great masterpiece? music manifests itself in children at a very early age. it is very rare indeed that it comes to the surface later in life. i was always musical. only the media changed--one time it was violin, then piano, then voice. the dolls of my sisters only annoyed me because i could not tolerate dolls. they seemed a waste of time to me, and when they had paper dolls, i would go into the room when nobody was looking and cut the dolls' heads off. i have never been able to account for my delight in doing this. my father was musical. he wanted me to be a musician, but he had little thought at first of my being a singer. accordingly, at eight i was possessed of a fiddle. this meant more to me than all the dolls in the world. oh, how i loved that violin, which i could make speak just by drawing a bow over it! there was something worth while. i was only as big as a minute, and, of course, as soon as i could play the routine things of de beriot, variations and the like, i was considered one of those abominable things, "an infant prodigy." i was brought out to play for friends and any musical person who could stand it. then i gave a concert, and my father saw the finger of destiny pointing to my career as a great violinist. to me the finger of destiny pointed the other way; because i immediately sickened of the violin and dropped it forever. yes, i could play now if i had to, but you probably wouldn't want to hear me. ah, but i do play. i play every time i sing. the violin taught me the need for perfect intonation, fluency in execution, ever so many things. then came the piano. here was a new artistic toy. i worked very hard with it. my sister and i went back to aberdeen for a season of private school, and i kept up my piano until i could play acceptably many of the best-known compositions, grieg, chopin, etc., being my favorites. i was never a very fine pianist, understand me, but the piano unlocked the doors to thousands of musical treasure houses--admitted me to musical literature through the main gate, and has been of invaluable aid to me in my career. see my fingers, how long and thin they are--of course, i was a capable pianist--long, supple fingers, combined with my musical experience gained in violin playing, made that certain. then i dropped the piano. dropped it at once. its possibilities stood revealed before me, and they were not to be the limit of my ambitions. for the girl who hopes to be an operatic "star" there could be nothing better than a good drilling in violin or piano. the girl has no business to sing while she is yet a child--and she is that until she is sixteen or over. better let her work hard getting a good general education and a good musical education. the voice will keep, and it will be sweeter and fresher if it is not overused in childhood. once, with my heart set upon becoming a singer, my father fortunately took me to mrs. robinson duff, of chicago. to her, my mentor to this day, i owe much of my vocal success. i was very young and very emotional, with a long pigtail down my back. at first the work did not enrapture me, for i could not see the use of spending so much time upon breathing. now i realize what it did for me. what should the girl starting singing avoid? first, let her avoid an incompetent teacher. there are teachers, for instance, who deliberately teach the "stroke of the glottis" (coup de glotte). what is the stroke of the glottis? the lips of the vocal cords in the larynx are pressed together so that the air becomes compressed behind them and instead of coming out in a steady, unimpeded stream, it causes a kind of explosion. say the word "up" in the throat very forcibly and you will get the right idea. this is a most pernicious habit. somehow, it crept into some phases of vocal teaching, and has remained. it leads to a constant irritation of the throat and ruin to the vocal organs. when i went to paris, mrs. duff took me to many of the leading vocal teachers of the city, and said, "now, mary, i want you to use your own judgment in picking out a teacher, because if you don't like the teacher you will not succeed." thus we went around from studio to studio. one asked me to do this--to hum--to make funny, unnatural noises, anything but sing. finally, trabadello, now retired to his country home, really asked me to sing in a normal, natural way, not as a freak. i said to myself, "this is the teacher for me." i could not have had a better one. look out for teachers with freak methods--ten to one they are making you one of their experiments. there is nothing that any voice teacher has ever found superior to giving simple scales and exercises sung upon the syllables lah (ah, as in harbor), leh (eh, as in they), lee (ee, as in me). with a good teacher to keep watch over the breathing and the quality, "what more can one have?" i have always believed in a great many scales and in a great deal of singing florid rôles in italian. italian is inimitable for the singer. the dulcet, velvet-like character of the language gives something which nothing else can impart. it does not make any difference whether you purpose singing in french, german, english, russian or soudanese, you will gain much from exercising in italian. staccato practice is valuable. here is an exercise which i take nearly every day of my life: [illustration: musical notation] the staccato must be controlled from the diaphragm, however, and this comes only after a great deal of work. three-quarters of an hour a day practice suffices me. i find it injurious to practice too long. but i study for hours. such a rôle as _aphrodite_ i take quietly and sing it over mentally time and time again without making a sound. i study the harmonies, the nuances, the phrasing, the breathing, so that when the time for singing it comes i know it and do not waste my voice by going over it time and again, as some singers do. in the end i find that i know it better for this kind of study. the study of acting has been a very personal matter with me. i have never been through any courses of study, such as that given in dramatic schools. this may do for some people, but it would have been impossible for me. there must be technic in all forms of art, but it has always seemed to me that acting was one of the arts in which the individual must make his own technic. i have seen many representatives of the schools of acting here and abroad. sometimes their performances, based upon technical studies of the art, result in superb acting. again, their work is altogether indifferent. technic in acting is more likely to suppress than to inspire. if acting is not inspired, it is nothing. i study the human emotions that would naturally underlie the scene in which i am placed--then i think what one would be most likely to do under such conditions. when the actual time of appearance on the stage arrives, i forget all about this and make myself the person of the rôle. this is the italian method rather than the french. there are, to my mind, no greater actors living than duse and zacchona, and they are both exponents of the natural method that i employ. great acting has always impressed me wonderfully. i went from paris to london repeatedly to see beerbohm tree in his best rôles. sir herbert was not always uniformly fine, but he was a great actor and i learned much from watching him. once i induced debussy to make the trip to see him act. debussy was delighted. debussy! ah, what a rare genius--my greatest friend in art! everything he wrote we went over together. he was a terribly exacting master. few people in america realize what a transcendent pianist he was. the piano seemed to be thinking, feeling, vibrating while he was at the keyboard. time and again we went over his principal works, note for note. now and then he would stop and clasp his hands over his face in sudden silence, repeating, "it is all wrong--it is all wrong." but he was too good a teacher to let it go at that. he could tell me exactly what was wrong and how to remedy it. when i first sang for him, at the time when they were about to produce _pelleas and melisande_ at the opera comique, i thought that i had not pleased him. but i learned later that he had said to m. carré, the director: "don't look for anyone else." from that time he and his family became my close friends. the fatalistic side of our meeting seemed to interest him very much. "to think," he used to say, "that you were born in aberdeen, scotland, lived in america all those years and should come to paris to create my _melisande_!" as i have said, debussy was a gorgeous pianist. he could play with the greatest delicacy and could play in the leonine fashion of rubinstein. he was familiar with beethoven, bach, handel and the classics, and was devoted to them. wagner he could not abide. he called him a "griffe papier"--a scribbler. he thought that he had no importance in the world of music, and to mention wagner to him was like waving a red flag before a bull. it is difficult to account for such an opinion. wagner, to me, is the great tone colorist, the master of orchestral wealth and dramatic intensity. sometimes i have been so wagner-hungry that i have not known what to do. for years i went every year to munich to see the wonderful performances at the prinzregenten theater. in closing let me say that it seems to me a great deal of the failure among young singers is that they are too impatient to acquire the "know how." they want to blossom out on the first night as great prima donnas, without any previous experience. how ridiculous this is! i worked for a whole year at the opera comique, at $100 a month, singing such a trying opera as _louise_ two and three times a week. when they raised me to $175 a month i thought that i was rich, and when $400 a month came, my fortune had surely been made! all this time i was gaining precious experience. it could not have come to me in any other way. as i have said, the natural school--the natural school, like that of the italians--stuffed as it is with glorious red blood instead of the white bones of technic in the misunderstood sense, was the only possible school for me. if our girls would only stop hoping to make a début at $1,000 a night and get down to real hard work, the results would come much quicker and there would be fewer broken hearts. mme. alma gluck biographical mme. alma gluck was born at jassy, roumania. her father played the violin, but was not a professional musician. at the age of six she was brought to america. she was taught the piano and sang naturally, but had no idea of becoming a singer. her vocal training was not begun until she was twenty years of age. her teacher, at that time, was signor buzzi-peccia, with whom she remained for three years, going directly from his studio to the metropolitan opera house of new york. she remained there for three years, when the immense success of her concert work drew her away from opera. she then studied with jean de reszke, and later with mme. sembrich for four or five years. since then she has appeared in all parts of the united states with unvarying success. her records have been among the most popular of any ever issued. together with her husband, efrem zimbalist, the distinguished violinist, she has appeared before immense audiences in joint recitals. [illustration: mme. alma gluck. © mishkin.] building a vocal repertoire alma gluck many seem surprised when i tell them that my vocal training did not begin until i was twenty years of age. it seems to me that it is a very great mistake for any girl to begin the serious study of singing before that age, as the feminine voice, in most instances, is hardly settled until then. vocal study before that time is likely to be injurious, though some survive it in the hands of very careful and understanding teachers. the first kind of a repertoire that the student should acquire is a repertoire of solfeggios. i am a great believer in the solfeggio. using that for a basis, one is assured of acquiring facility and musical accuracy. the experienced listener can tell at once the voice that has had such training. always remember that musicianship carries one much further than a good natural voice. the voice, even more than the hands, needs a kind of exhaustive technical drill. this is because in this training you are really building the instrument itself. in the piano, one has the instrument complete before he begins; but in the case of the voice, the instrument has to be developed and sometimes _made_ by study. when the pupil is practicing, tones grow in volume, richness and fluency. there are exercises by bordogni, concone, vaccai, lamperti, marchesi, panofka, panserson and many others with which i am not familiar, which are marvelously beneficial when intelligently studied. these i sang on the syllable "ah," and not with the customary syllable names. it has been said that the syllables do, re, mi, fa, etc., aid one in reading. to my mind, they are often confusing. go to the classics after a thorough drilling in solfeggios and technical exercises, i would have the student work on the operatic arias of bellini, rossini, donizetti, verdi, and others. these men knew how to write for the human voice! their arias are so vocal that the voice develops under them and the student gains vocal assurance. they were written before modern philosophy entered into music--when music was intended for the ear rather than for the mind. i cannot lay too much stress on the importance of using these arias. they are a tonic for the voice, and bring back the elasticity which the more subdued singing of songs taxes. when one is painting pictures through words, and trying to create atmosphere in songs, so much repression is brought into play that the voice must have a safety-valve, and that one finds in the bravura arias. here one sings for about fifty bars, "the sky is clouded for me," "i have been betrayed," or "joy abounds"--the words being simply a vehicle for the ever-moving melody. when hearing an artist like john mccormack sing a popular ballad it all seems so easy, but in reality songs of that type are the very hardest to sing and must have back of them years of hard training or they fall to banality. they are far more difficult than the limpid operatic arias, and are actually dangerous for the insufficiently trained voice. the lyric song repertoire then when the student has her voice under complete control, it is safe to take up the lyric repertoire of mendelssohn, old english songs, etc. how simple and charming they are! the works of the lighter french composers, hahn, massenet, chaminade, gounod, and others. then handel, haydn, mozart, löwe, schubert, schumann and brahms. later the student will continue with strauss, wolf, reger, rimsky-korsakoff, mousorgsky, borodin and rachmaninoff. then the modern french composers, ravel, debussy, georges, köchlin, hue, chausson, and others. i leave french for the last because it is, in many ways, more difficult for an english-speaking person to sing. it is so full of complex and trying vowels that it requires the utmost subtlety to overcome these difficulties and still retain clarity in diction. for that reason the student should have the advice of a native french coach. when one has traveled this long road, then he is qualified to sing english songs and ballads. american songs in this country we are rich in the quantity of songs rather than in the quality. the singer has to go through hundreds of compositions before he finds one that really says something. commercialism overwhelms our composers. they approach their work with the question, "will this go?" the spirit in which a work is conceived is that in which it will be executed. inspired by the purse rather than the soul, the mercenary side fairly screams in many of the works put out by every-day american publishers. this does not mean that a song should be queer or ugly to be novel or immortal. it means that the sincerity of the art worker must permeate it as naturally as the green leaves break through the dead branches in springtime. of the vast number of new american composers, there are hardly more than a dozen who seem to approach their work in the proper spirit of artistic reverence. art for art's sake, a farce nothing annoys me quite so much as the hysterical hypocrites who are forever prating about "art for art's sake." what nonsense! the student who deceives himself into thinking that he is giving his life like an ascetic in the spirit of sacrifice for art is the victim of a deplorable species of egotism. art for art's sake is just as iniquitous an attitude in its way as art for money's sake. the real artist has no idea that he is sacrificing himself for art. he does what he does for one reason and one reason only--he can't help doing it. just as the bird sings or the butterfly soars, because it is his natural characteristic, so the artist works. time and again a student will send me an urgent appeal to hear her, saying she is poor and wants my advice as to whether it is worth while to continue her studies. i invariably refuse such requests, saying that if the student could give up her work on my advice she had better give it up without it. one does not study for a goal. one sings because one can't help it! the "goal" nine times out of ten is a mere accident. art for art's sake is the mask of studio idlers. the task of acquiring a repertoire in these days, when the vocal literature is so immense, is so overwhelming, that the student with sense will devote all his energies to work, and not imagine himself a martyr to art. emilio de gogorza biographical emilio edoardo de gogorza was born in brooklyn, new york, may 29th, 1874, of spanish parents. his boyhood was spent in spain, france and england. in the last named country he became a boy soprano and sang with much success. part of his education was received at oxford. he returned to america, where his vocal teachers were c. moderati and e. agramonte. his début was made in 1897 in a concert with mme. marcella sembrich. his rich fluent baritone voice made him a great favorite at musical festivals in america. he has sung with nearly all of the leading american orchestras. the peculiar quality of his voice is especially adapted to record making and his records have been immensely popular. he married emma eames, july 13th, 1911. [illustration: emilio de gogorza. © dupont] opportunities for young concert singers emilio de gogorza there has never been a time or a country presenting more inviting opportunities to the concert and the oratorio singer than the america of to-day. as a corollary to this statement there is the obvious fact that the american public, taken as a whole, is now the most discriminating public to be found anywhere in the world. every concert is adequately reviewed by able writers; and singers are continually on their mettle. it therefore follows that while there are opportunities for concert and oratorio singers, there is no room for the inefficient, the talentless, brainless aspirants who imagine that a great vocal career awaits them simply because they have a few good tones and a pleasing stage presence. this is the age of the brain. in singing, the voice is only a detail. it is the mentality, the artistic feeling, the skill in interpretation that counts. some of the greatest artists are vocally inferior to singers of lesser reputation. why? because they read, because they study, because they broaden their intellects and extend their culture until their appreciation of the beautiful is so comprehensive that every degree of human emotion may be effectively portrayed. in a word they become artists. take the case of victor maurel, for instance. if he were ninety years old and had only the shred of a voice but still retained his artistic grasp, i would rather hear him than any living singer. i have learned more from hearing him sing than from any other singer. verdi chose him to sing in _otello_ against the advice of several friends, saying: "he has more brain than any five singers i know." some people imagine that when an artist is embarked upon his professional work study ceases. it is a great mistake. no one works harder than i do to broaden my culture and interpretative skill. i am constantly studying and trust that i may never cease. the greater the artist the more incessant the study. it is one of the secrets of large success. special study required for concert singing people imagine that the opera requires a higher kind of vocal preparation than the concert or oratorio stage. this is also a great misconception. the operatic singers who have been successful as concert singers at once admit that concert singing is much more difficult. comparatively few opera singers succeed as concert singers. why? because in opera the voice needs to be concentrated and more or less uniform. an opera house is really two buildings, the auditorium and the stage. the stage with its tall scene-loft is frequently as large from the standpoint of cubic feet as the auditorium. sometimes it is larger. to fill these two immense buildings the voice must be strong and continually concentrated, _dans le masque_. the delicate little effects that the concert singer is obliged to produce would not be heard over the footlights. in order to retain interest without the assistance of scenery and action the concert singer's interpretative work must be marked by an attention to details that the opera singer rarely considers. the voice, therefore, requires a different treatment. it must be so finely trained that it becomes susceptible to the most delicate change of thought in the singer's mind. this demands a really enormous amount of work. the successful concert singer must also have an endurance that enables her to undergo strains that the opera singer rarely knows. the grand opera singer in the great opera houses of the world rarely sings more than two or three times a week. the concert singer is often obliged to sing every night for weeks. they must learn how to relax and save the voice at all times, otherwise they will lose elasticity and sweetness. a young woman vocal student, with talent, a good natural voice, intelligence, industry, sufficient practice time, a high school education, and a knowledge of the rudiments of music, might complete a course of study leading to a successful concert début in three years. more frequently four or five years may be required. with a bungling teacher she may spend six or seven. the cost of her instruction, with a good teacher in a great metropolis, will be more per year than if she went to almost any one of the leading universities admitting women. she will have to work harder than if she took a regular college course. progress depends upon the individual. one girl will accomplish more in two years than another will accomplish in five years. again, the rate of progress depends upon personal development. sometimes a course of study with a good teacher will awaken a latent energy and mental condition that will enable the student to make great strides. my most important work has been done by self-study with the assistance and advice of many singers and teachers who have been my friends. no pupil who depends entirely upon a teacher will succeed. she must work out her own salvation. it is the private thought, incessant effort and individual attitude that lead to success. study in your home country i honestly believe that the young vocal student can do far better by studying in america than by studying abroad. european residence and travel are very desirable, but the study may be done to better advantage right here in our own country. americans want the best and they get it. in europe they have no conception whatever of the extent of musical culture in america. it is a continual source of amazement to me. in the west and northwest i find audiences just as intelligent and as appreciative as in boston. there is the greatest imaginable catholicity of taste. just at present the tendency is away from the old german classics and is leading to the modern works of french, german and american composers. still i find that i can sing a song like schumann's "widmung" in western cities that only a few years ago were mere collections of frontier huts and shacks, and discover that the genius of schumann is just as potent there as in new york city. i have recently been all over europe, and i have seen no such condition anywhere as that i have just described. it is especially gratifying to note in america a tremendous demand for the best vocal works of the american composers. the young concert singer must have a very comprehensive repertoire. every new work properly mastered is an asset. in oratorio she should first of all learn those works that are most in demand, like the _messiah_, the _elijah_, the _creation_ and the _redemption_. then attention may be given to the modern works and works more rarely performed, like those of elgar, perosi and others. after the young singer has proven her worth with the public she may expect an income of from $10,000.00 to $15,000.00 a year. that is what our first-class singers have received for high-class concert work. some european prima donnas like schumann-heink and others have commanded much higher figures. you ask me what influence the sound reproducing machines have had upon the demand for good vocal music in america. they have unquestionably increased the demand very greatly. they have even been known to make reputations for singers entirely without any other road to publicity. take the case of madame michaelowa, a russian prima donna who has never visited america. thousands of records of her voice have been sold in america, and now the demand for her appearance in this country has been so great that she has been offered huge sums for an american tour. i believe that if used intelligently the sound reproducing machine may become a great help to the teacher and student. it is used in many of the great opera houses of the world as an aid in determining the engagement of new singers who cannot be personally heard. some of the records of my own voice have been so excellent that they seem positively uncanny to me when i hear them reproduced. i have no patent exercises to offer to singing students. there are a thousand ways of learning to breathe properly and they all lead to one end. breathing may best be studied when it is made coincident with the requirements of singing. i have no fantastic technical studies to offer. my daily work simply consists of scales, arpeggios and the simplest kind of exercises, the simpler the better. i always make it a point to commence practicing very softly, slowly and surely. i never sing notes outside my most comfortable range at the start. taking notes too high or too low is an extremely bad plan at first. many young students make this fault. they also sing much too loud. the voice should be exercised for some considerable time on soft exercises before loud notes are even attempted. it is precisely the same as with physical exercises. the athlete who exerts himself to his fullest extent at first is working toward ultimate exhaustion. i have known students who sang "at the top of their lungs" and called it practice. the next day they grew hoarse and wondered why the hoarseness came. never sing when tired never sing when out of sorts, tired or when the throat is sore. it is all very well to try to throw such a condition off as if it were a state of mind. my advice is, don't. i have known singers to try to sing off a sore throat and secure as a result a loss of voice for several days. our american climate is very bad for singers. the dust of our manufacturing cities gets in the throat and irritates it badly. the noise is very nerve racking, and i have a theory that the electricity in the air is injurious. as i have said, the chances in the concert and operatic field are unlimited for those who deserve to be there. don't be misled. thousands of people are trying to become concert and oratorio singers who have not talent, temperament, magnetism, the right kind of intelligence nor the true musical feeling. it is pitiful to watch them. they are often deluded by teachers who are biased by pecuniary necessity. it is safe to say that at the end of a year's good instruction the teacher may safely tell what the pupil's chances are. some teachers are brutally frank. their opinions are worth those of a thousand teachers who consider their own interests first. secure the opinions of as many artists as possible before you determine upon a professional career. the artist is not biased. he does not want you for a pupil and has nothing to gain in praising you. if he gives you an unfavorable report, thank him, because he is probably thinking of your best interests. as i have said, progress depends upon the individual. one man can go into a steel foundry and learn more in two years than another can in five. if you do not become conscious of audible results at the end of one or two years' study do some serious thinking. you are either on the wrong track or you have not the natural qualifications which lead to success on the concert and oratorio stage. [illustration: mme. frieda hempel. © mitzi] frieda hempel biographical frieda hempel was born at leipzig, june 26, 1885. she studied piano for a considerable time at the leipzig conservatory and the stern conservatory. later she studied singing with mme. nicklass kempner, to whom she is indebted for her entire vocal education up to the time of her début in opera. her first appearance was in the _merry wives of windsor_, at the royal opera in berlin. after many very successful appearances in leading european opera houses she was engaged for the metropolitan opera house in new york where she immediately became very popular in stellar rôles. her repertoire runs from the _marriage of figaro_ to _die meistersinger_. her voice is a clear, pure, sweet soprano; and, like mme. sembrich and mme. galli-curci, she clearly shows the value of her instrumental training in the accuracy, precision and clarity of her coloratura work. she has made many successful concert tours of the united states. in addition to being a brilliant singer she is an excellent actress. she is now an american citizen and the wife of an american business man. thoroughness in vocal preparation mme. frieda hempel why some succeed and some fail in every thousand girls who aspire to grand opera probably not more than one ever succeeds. this is by no means because of lack of good voices. there are great numbers of good voices; although many girls who want to be opera singers either deceive themselves or are deceived by others (often charlatan teachers) into believing that they have fine natural voices when they have not. there is nothing more glorious than a beautiful human voice--a voice strong, resonant, if necessary, but velvety and luscious if needs be. there are many girls with really beautiful natural voices who have lost their chances in grand opera largely because they have either not had the personal persistence necessary to carry them to the point where their services are in demand by the public or they have had the misfortune not to have the right kind of a vocal or musical drill master--a really good teacher. teachers in these days waste a fearful amount of time in what they consider to be their methods. they tell you to sing in the back, or on the side or through the mask or what not, instead of getting right down to the real work. my teacher in berlin, at the conservatory, insisted first of all upon having me sing tones and scales--mostly long sustained tones--for at least one entire year. these were sung very softly, very evenly, until i could employ every tone in my voice with sureness and certainty. i don't see how it could possibly have been accomplished in less time. try that on the american girl and she will think that she is being cheated out of something. why should she wait a whole year with silly tones when she knows that she can sing a great aria with only a little more difficulty? the basis of all fine singing, whether in the opera house or on the concert stage, is a good legato. my teacher (nicklass kempner) was very insistent upon this. in working with such studies as those of concone, bordogni, lütgen, marchesi or garcia--the best part of the attention of the teacher was given to the simple yet difficult matter of a beautiful legato. after one has been through a mass of such material, the matter of legato singing becomes more or less automatic. the tendency to slide from one tone to another is done away with. the connection between one tone and another in good legato is so clean, so free from blurs that there is nothing to compare it with. one tone takes the place of another just as though one coin or disk were placed directly on top of another without any of the edges showing. the change is instantaneous and imperceptible. if one were to gradually slide one coin over another coin you would have a graphic illustration of what most people think is legato. the result is that they sound like steam sirens, never quite definitely upon any tone of the scale. a good legato a good legato can only be acquired after an enormous amount of thorough training. the tendency to be careless is human. habits of carefulness come only after much drill. the object of the student and the teacher should be to make a singer--not to acquire a scanty repertoire of a few arias. very few of the operas i now sing were learned in my student days. that was not the object of my teacher. the object was to prepare me to take up anything from _martha_ to _rosenkavalier_ and know how to study it myself in the quickest and most thorough manner. woe be to the pupil of the teacher who spends most of the time in teaching songs, arias, etc., before the pupil is really ready to study such things. good foundations everything is in a good foundation. if you expect a building to last only a few weeks you might put up a foundation in a day or so--but if you watch the builders of the great edifices here in american cities you will find that more time is often spent upon the foundation than upon the building itself. they dig right down to the bed rock and pile on so much stone, concrete and steel that even great earthquakes are often withstood. a large repertoire with such a thorough foundation as i had it has not been difficult to acquire a repertoire of some seventy-five operas. that is, by learning one at a time and working continually over a number of years the operas come easily. in learning a new work i first read the work through as a whole several times to get the character well fixed in my mind. then i play the music through several times until i am very familiar with it. then i learn the voice part, never studying it as a voice part by itself, but always in relation to the orchestra and the other rôles. finally, i learn the interpretation--the dramatic presentation. one gets so little help from the orchestra in modern works that many rehearsals are necessary. in some passages it is just like walking in a dark night. only a true ear and thorough training can serve to keep one on the key or anywhere near the key. it is therefore highly necessary that vocal students should have a good musical training in addition to the vocal training. in most european conservatories the study of piano and harmony are compulsory for all vocal students. not to have had this musical training that the study of the piano brings about, not to have had a good course in theory or in training for sight-singing (ear training) is to leave out important pillars in a thorough musical foundation. more opera for america it would be a great gratification for all who are interested in opera to see more fine opera houses erected in america with more opportunities for the people. the performances at the metropolitan are exceedingly fine, but only a comparatively few people can possibly hear them and there is little opportunity for the performance of a wide variety of operas. the opera singer naturally gets tired of singing a few rôles over and over again. the american people should develop a taste for more and more different operas. there is such a wonderful field that it should not be confined to the performance of a very few works that happen to be in fashion. this is not at all the case in europe--there the repertoires are very much more extensive--more interesting for the public and the artists alike. strong educational value of opera opera has always seemed to me a very necessary thing in the state. it has a strong educational value in that it develops the musical taste of the public as well as teaching lessons in history and the humanities in a very forceful manner. children should be taken to opera as a regular part of their education. opera makes a wonderful impression upon the child's imagination--the romance, the color, the music, the action are rarely forgotten. many of the operas are beautiful big fairy stories and the little folks glory in them. parents who desire to develop the taste of their children and at the same time stimulate their minds along broader lines can do no better than to take them to opera. little towns in europe often have fine opera houses, while many american cities several times their size have to put up with moving picture theatre houses. why does not some enthusiastic american leader take up a campaign for more opera in america? with the taste of the public educated through countless talking machine records, it should not prove a bad business venture if it is gone about in a sensible manner. dame nellie melba biographical dame nellie melba (stage name for mrs. nellie porter armstrong, née mitchell) is described in grove's dictionary as "the first singer of british birth to attain such an exalted position upon the lyric stage as well as upon the concert platform." dame melba was born at burnley near melbourne, may 19, 1861, of scotch ancestry. she sang at the town hall at richmond when she was six years of age. she studied piano, harmony, composition and violin very thoroughly. at one time she was considered the finest amateur pianist in melbourne. she also played the church organ in the local church with much success. in 1882 she married captain charles armstrong, son of sir andrew armstrong, baronet (of kings county, ireland). in 1886 she sang at queens hall in london. after studying with mme. marchesi for twelve months she made her début as gilda (_rigoletto_) at the théâtre de la monnaie in brussels. her success was instantaneous. her london début was made in _lucia_ in 1888. one year later she made her parisian début in thomas' _hamlet_. in 1894 she created the rôle of nedda in _i pagliacci_. petrograd "went wild" over her in 1892. in 1892 she repeated her successes and in 1893 she began her long series of american triumphs. the fact that her voice, like that of patti, has remained astonishingly fresh and silvery despite the enormous amount of singing she has done attests better than anything else to the excellence of her method of singing. in the following conference she gives the secret of preserving the voice. [illustration: dame nellie melba.] common sense in training and preserving the voice dame nellie melba how can a good voice be detected? the young singer's first anxiety is usually to learn whether her voice is sufficiently good to make it worth while to go through the enormous work of preparing herself for the operatic stage. how is she to determine this? surely not upon the advice of her immediate friends, nor upon that of those to whom she would naturally turn for spiritual advice, medical advice or legal advice. but this is usually just what she does. because of the honored positions held by her rector, her physician, or her family lawyer, their services are all brought to bear upon her, and after an examination of her musical ability their unskilled opinion is given a weight it obviously does not deserve. the only one to judge is a skilled musician, with good artistic taste and some experience in voice matters. it is sometimes difficult to approach a singing teacher for this advice, as even the most honest could not fail to be somewhat influenced where there is a prospect of a pupil. i do not mean to malign the thousands of worthy teachers, but such a position is a delicate one, and the pupil should avoid consulting with any adviser except one who is absolutely disinterested. in any event the mere possession of a voice that is sweet and strong by no means indicates that the owner has the additional equipment which the singer must possess. musical intelligence is quite as great an asset as the possession of a fine voice. by musical intelligence i mean something quite different from general intelligence. people seem to expect that the young person who desires to become a fine pianist or a fine violinist, or a fine composer, should possess certain musical talents. that is, they should experience a certain quickness in grasping musical problems and executing them. the singer, however, by some peculiar popular ruling seems to be exempted from this. no greater mistake could possibly be made. very few people are musically gifted. when one of these people happens to possess a good voice, great industry, a love for vocal art, physical strength, patience, good sense, good taste and abundant faith in her possibilities, the chances of making a good singer are excellent. i lay great stress upon great determination and good health. i am often obliged to sing one night, then travel a thousand miles to sing the next night. notwithstanding such journeys, the singer is expected to be in prime condition, look nice, and please a veritable multitude of comparative strangers all expecting wonderful things from her. do you wonder that i lay stress upon good health? the youthful training of the singer should be confined quite strictly to that of obtaining a good general and musical education. that is, the vocal training may be safely postponed until the singer is seventeen or eighteen years of age. of course there have been cases of famous singers who have sung during their childhood, but they are exceptions to all rules. the study of singing demands the direction of an intelligent, well-ordered mind. it is by no means wholly a matter of imitation. in fact, without some cultivation of the taste, that is, the sense of discriminating between what is good and bad, one may imitate with disastrous results. what work should the girl under eighteen do? i remember well an incident in my own youth. i once went to a concert and heard a much lauded singer render an aria that was in turn vociferously applauded by the audience. this singer possessed a most wonderful tremolo. every tone went up and down like the teeth of a saw. it was impossible for her to sing a pure even tone without wobbling up and down. but the untrained audience, hungry to applaud anything musical, had cheered the singer despite the tremolo. consequently i went home and after a few minutes' work i found that it was possible for me to produce a very wonderful tremolo. i went proudly to my teacher and gave an exhibition of my new acquirement. "who on earth have you been listening to?" exclaimed my teacher. i confessed and was admonished not to imitate. the voice in childhood is a very delicate organ despite the wear and tear which children give it by unnecessary howling and screaming. more than this, the child-mind is so susceptible to impressions and these impressions become so firmly fixed that the best vocal training for the child should be that of taking the little one to hear great singers. all that the juvenile mind hears is not lost, although much will be forgotten. however, the better part will be unconsciously stowed away in the subconscious mind, to burst forth later in beautiful song through no different process than that by which the little birds store away the song of the older birds. dealers in singing birds place them in rooms with older and highly developed singing birds to train them. this is not exactly a process of imitation, but rather one of subconscious assimilation. the bird develops his own song later on, but has the advantage of the stored-up impressions of the trained birds. a general musical training i have known many singers to fail dismally because they were simply singers. the idea that all the singer needs to know is how to produce tones resonantly and sweetly, how to run scales, make gestures and smile prettily is a perfectly ridiculous one. success, particularly operatic success, depends upon a knowledge of a great many things. the general education of the singer should be as well rounded as possible. nothing the singer ever learns in the public schools, or the high schools, is ever lost. history and languages are most important. i studied italian and french in my childhood and this knowledge was of immense help to me in my later work. when i first went to paris i had to acquire a colloquial knowledge of the language, but in all cases i found that the drill in french verbs i had gone through virtually saved me years of work. the french pronunciation is extremely difficult to acquire and some are obliged to reside in france for years before a fluent pronunciation can be counted on. i cannot speak too emphatically upon the necessity for a thorough musical education. a smattering is only an aggravation. fortunately, my parents saw to it that i was taught the piano, the organ, the violin and thoroughbass. at first it was thought that i would become a professional pianist; and many were good enough to declare that i was the finest amateur pianist in melbourne. my scotch-presbyterian parents would have been horrified if they had had any idea that they were helping me to a career that was in any way related to the footlights. fortunately, my splendid father, who is now eighty-five years old, has long since recovered from his prejudices and is the proudest of all over my achievements. but i can not be too grateful to him for his great interest in seeing that my early musical training was comprehensive. aside from giving me a more musicianly insight into my work, it has proved an immense convenience. i can play any score through. i learn all my operas myself. this enables me to form my own conception, that is, to create it, instead of being unconsciously influenced by the tempos and expression of some other individual. the times that i have depended upon a _repititeur_ have been so few that i can hardly remember them. so there, little girl, when you get on your mother's long train and sing to an imaginary audience of thousands, you will do better to run to the keyboard and practice scales or study your études. the first vocal practice the first vocal practice should be very simple. there should be nothing in the way of an exercise that would encourage forcing of any kind. in fact the young singer should always avoid doing anything beyond the normal. remember that a sick body means a sick voice. again, don't forget your daily outdoor exercise. horseback riding, golf and tennis are my favorites. an hour's walk on a lovely country road is as good for a singer as an hour's practice. i mean that. in avoiding strain the pupil must above all things learn to sing the upper notes without effort or rather strain. while it is desirable that a pupil should practice all her notes every day, she should begin with the lower notes, then take the middle notes and then the so-called upper notes or head notes which are generally described as beginning with the f sharp on the top line of the treble staff. this line may be regarded as a danger line for singers young and old. it is imperative that when the soprano sings her head notes, beginning with f sharp and upward, they shall proceed very softly and entirely without strain as they ascend. i can not emphasize this too strongly. preserving the voice let me give you one of my greatest secrets. like all secrets, it is perfectly simple and entirely rational. _never give the public all you have._ that is, the singer owes it to herself never to go beyond the boundaries of her vocal possibilities. the singer who sings to the utmost every time is like the athlete who exhausts himself to the state of collapse. this is the only way in which i can account for what the critics term "the remarkable preservation" of my own voice. i have been singing for years in all parts of the musical world, growing richer in musical and human experience and yet my voice to-day feels as fresh and as dear as when i was in my teens. i have never strained, i have never continued rôles that proved unsuited to me, i have never sung when i have not been in good voice. this leads to another very important point. i have often had students ask me how they can determine whether their teachers are giving them the kind of method or instruction they should have. i have always replied, "if you feel tired after a lesson, if your throat is strained after a little singing, if you feel exhausted, your teacher is on the wrong track, no matter what he labels his method or how wonderful his credentials are." isn't that very simple? i have known young girls to go on practicing until they couldn't speak. let them go to a physician and have the doctor show them by means of a laryngoscope just how tender and delicate their vocal organs are. i call them my "little bits of cotton"; they seem so frail and so tiny. do you wonder that i guard them carefully? this practice consists of the simplest imaginable exercises--sustained scales, chromatic scales and trills. it is not so much _what_ one practices, but _how_ one practices. is the art of singing dying out? we continually hear critics complain that the art of singing is dying. it is easy enough to be a pessimist, and i do not want to class myself with the pessimists; but i can safely say that, unless more attention is paid to the real art of singing, there must be a decadence in a short time. by this i mean that the voice seems to demand a kind of exercise leading to flexibility and fluent tone production that is not found in the ultra-dramatic music of any of the modern composers. young singers begin with good voices and, after an altogether inadequate term of preparation, they essay the works of strauss and wagner. in two years the first sign of a breakup occurs. their voices become rough,--the velvet vanishes and note after note "breaks" disagreeably. the music of the older italian composers, from scarlatti or carissimi to donizetti and bellini, despite the absurd libretti of their operas, demanded first of all dulcet tones and limpid fluency. the singers who turned their noses up at the florid arabesques of old italy for the more rugged pageantry of modern germany are destined to suffer the consequences. let us have the masterpieces of the heroic teutons, by all means, but let them be sung by vocalists trained as vocalists and not merely by actors who have only taken a few steps in vocal art. the main point of all operatic work must be observed if opera is to continue successfully. delibes chose me to sing a performance of his _lakmé_ at brussels. it was to be my début in french. i had not then mastered the french pronunciation so that i could sing acceptably at the paris grand opera, the scene of my later triumphs. consequently i was permitted to sing in brussels. there the directors objected to my pronunciation, calling it "abominable." delibes replied, "_qu'elle chante en chinois, si elle veut, mais qu'elle chante mon opera_" ("even if she sang in chinese, i would be glad to have her sing my opera"). i am asked what has been my greatest incentive. i can think of nothing greater than opposition. the early opposition from my family made me more and more determined to prove to them that i would be successful. if i heard some singer who sang successfully the rôles i essayed, then i would immediately make up my mind to excel that singer. this is a human trait i know; but i always profited by it. never be afraid of competition or opposition. the more you overcome, the greater will be your ultimate triumph. mme. bernice de pasquali biographical mme. bernice de pasquali, who succeeded marcella sembrich as coloratura soprano at the metropolitan opera house in new york city, is not an italian, as her name suggests, but an american. she was born in boston and is a member of the daughters of the american revolution. practically all of her musical training was received in new york city where she became a pupil of oscar saenger. her successes, however, are not limited to america as she has appeared in mexico, cuba, south africa and europe, in many places receiving great ovations. her voice is a clear, high, flexible soprano, equally fine for concert or opera. her husband, signor pasquali, made a lifetime study of the principles of the "bel canto" school of singing, and the following conference is the result of long experiment and study in the esthetic, philosophical and physiological factors in the most significant of the so-called methods of voice training. [illustration: mme. bernice de pasquali.] secrets of bel canto mme. bernice de pasquali centuries of experimental experience in no land is song so much a part of the daily life of the individual as in italy. the italian peasant literally wakes up singing and goes to bed singing. naturally a kind of respect, honor and even reverence attaches to the art of beautiful voice production in the land of scarlatti, palestrina and verdi, that one does not find in other countries. when the italian singing teachers looked for a word to describe their vocal methods they very naturally selected the most appropriate, "bel canto," which means nothing more or less than "beautiful singing." probably no words have been more abused in music teaching than "bel canto," and probably no words have a more direct meaning or a wider significance. what then is "good singing" as the italians understand it? principally the production of a perfectly controlled and exquisitely beautiful tone. simple as this may seem and simple as it really is, the laws underlying the best way of teaching how to secure a beautiful tone are the evolution of empirical experiences coming down through the centuries. it is a significant fact that practically all of the great singers in wagner rôles have first been trained in what is so loosely termed "bel canto" methods. lilli lehmann, schumann-heink, nordica and others were capable of singing fine coloratura passages before they undertook the works of the great master of beyreuth. the secret of conserving the voice in the mass of traditions, suggestions and advice which go to make the "bel canto" style, probably nothing is so important to american students as that which pertains to conserving the voice. whether our girls are inordinately fond of display or whether they are unable to control their vocal organs i do not know, but one is continually treated to instances of the most ludicrous prodigality of voice. the whole idea of these young singers seems to be to make a "hit" by shouting or even screeching. there can be no milder terms for the straining of the tones so frequently heard. this prodigality has only one result--loss of voice. the great rubini once wrote to his friend, the tenor duprez, "you lost your voice because you always sang with your capital. i have kept mine because i have used only the interest." this historical epigram ought to be hung in all the vocal studios of america. our american voices are too beautiful, too rare to be wasted, practically thrown away by expending the capital before it has been able to earn any interest. moreover, the thing which has the most telling effect upon any audience is the beauty of tone quality. people will stop at any time to listen to the wonderful call of the nightingale. in some parts of europe it is the custom to make parties to go at nights to the woods to hear that wonderful singer of the forests. did you ever hear of any one forming a party for the express purpose of listening to the crowing of a rooster? one is a treat to the ear, the other is a shock. when our young singers learn that people do not attend concerts to have their ears shocked but to have them delighted with beautiful sound, they will be nearer the right idea in voice culture. the student's first effort, then, should be to preserve the voice. from the very first lesson he must strive to learn how to make the most with little. how is the student to know when he is straining the voice? this is simple enough to ascertain. at the very instant that the slightest constriction or effort is noticed strain is very likely to be present. much of this depends upon administering exactly the right amount of breath to the vocal cords at the moment of singing. too much breath or too little breath is bad. the student finds by patient experiment under the direction of the experienced teacher just how much breath to use. all sorts of devices are employed to test the breath, but it is probable that the best devices of all are those which all singers use as the ultimate test, the ear and the feeling of delightful relaxation surrounding the vocal organs during the process of singing. courage in singing much of the student's early work is marred by fear. he fears to do this and he fears to do that, until he feels himself walled in by a set of rules that make his singing stilted. from the very start the singer, particularly the one who aspires to become an operatic singer, should endeavor to discard fear entirely. think that if you fail in your efforts, thousands of singers have failed in a similar manner in their student days. success in singing is at the end of a tall ladder, the rungs of which are repeated failures. we climb up over our failures to success. learn to fear nothing, the public least of all. if the singer gives the audience the least suspicion that she is in fear of their verdict, the audience will detect it at once and the verdict will be bad. also do not fear the criticism of jealous rivals. affirm success. say to yourself, "i will surely succeed if i persevere." in this way you will acquire those habits of tranquillity which are so essential for the singer to possess. the reason for the lack of well-trained voices there are abundant opportunities just now for finely trained singers. in fact there is a real dearth of "well-equipped" voices. managers are scouring the world for singers with ability as well as the natural voice. why does this dearth exist? simply because the trend of modern musical work is far too rapid. results are expected in an impossible space of time. the pupil and the maestro work for a few months and, lo and behold! a prima donna! can any one who knows anything about the art of singing fail to realize how absurd this is? more voices are ruined by this haste than by anything else. it is like expecting the child to do the feats of the athlete without the athlete's training. there are singers in opera now who have barely passed the, what might be called, rudimentary stage. with the decline of the older operas, singers evidently came to the conclusion that it was not necessary to study for the perfection of tone-quality, evenness of execution and vocal agility. the modern writers did not write such fioratura passages, then why should it be necessary for the student to bother himself with years of study upon exercises and vocalises designed to prepare him for the operas of bellini, rossini, spontini, donizetti, scarlatti, carissimi or other masters of the florid school? what a fatuous reasoning. are we to obliterate the lessons of history which indicate that voices trained in such a school as that of patti, jenny lind, sembrich, lehmann, malibran, rubini and others, have phenomenal endurance, and are able to retain their freshness long after other voices have faded? no, if we would have the wonderful vitality and longevity of the voices of the past we must employ the methods of the past. the delicate nature of the human voice of all instruments the human voice is by far the most delicate and the most fragile. the wonder is that it will stand as much "punishment" as is constantly given to it. some novices seem to treat it with as little respect as though it were made out of brass like a tuba or a trombone. the voice is subject to physical and psychical influences. every singer knows how acutely all human emotions are reflected in the voice; at the same time all physical ailments are immediately active upon the voice of the singer. there is a certain freshness or "edge" which may be worn off the voice by ordinary conversation on the day of the concert or the opera. some singers find it necessary to preserve the voice by refraining from all unnecessary talking prior to singing. long-continued practice is also very bad. an hour is quite sufficient on the day of the concert. during the first years of study, half an hour a day is often enough practice. more practice should only be done under special conditions and with the direction of a thoroughly competent teacher. singing in the open air, when particles of dust are blowing about, is particularly bad. the throat seems to become irritated at once. in my mind tobacco smoke is also extremely injurious to the voice, notwithstanding the fact that some singers apparently resist its effects for years. i once suffered severely from the effects of being in a room filled with tobacco smoke and was unable to sing for at least two months. i also think that it is a bad plan to sing immediately after eating. the peristaltic action of the stomach during the process of digestion is a very pronounced function and anything which might tend to disturb it might affect the general health. the singer must lead an exceedingly regular life, but the exaggerated privations and excessive care which some singers take are quite unnecessary. the main thing is to determine what is a normal life and then to live as close to this as possible. if you find that some article of diet disagrees with you, remember to avoid that food; for an upset stomach usually results in complete demoralization of the entire vocal system. some practice suggestions no matter how great the artist, daily practice, if even not more than forty minutes a day, is absolutely necessary. there is a deep philosophical and physiological principle underlying this and it applies particularly to the vocal student. each minute spent in intelligent practice makes the voice better and the task easier. the power to do comes with doing. part of each day's practice should be devoted to singing the scale softly and slowly with perfect intonation. every tone should be heard with the greatest possible acuteness. the ears should analyze the tone quality with the same scrutiny with which a botanist would examine the petals of a newly discovered specimen. as the singer does this he will notice that his sense of tone color will develop; and this is a very vital part of every successful singer's equipment. he will become aware of beauties as well as defects in his voice which may never have been even suspected if he will only listen "microscopically" enough. much of the singer's progress depends upon the mental model he keeps before him. the singer who constantly hears the best of singing naturally progresses faster than one surrounded by inferior singing. this does not recommend that the student should imitate blindly but that he should hear as much fine singing as possible. those who have not the means to attend concerts and the opera may gain immensely from hearing fine records. little adelina patti, playing as a child on the stage of the old academy of music in new york, was really attending the finest kind of a conservatory unawares. the old italian teachers and writers upon voice, knowing the florid style in which their pupils would be expected to sing, did not have much to do with fanciful exercises. they gave their lives to the quest of the "bel canto"; and many of them had difficulty in convincing their pupils that the simplest exercises were often the hardest. take for instance this invaluable scale exercise sung with the marks of expression carefully observed. this exercise is one of the most difficult to sing properly. nevertheless, some student will rush on to florid exercises before he can master this exercise. to sing it right it must be regarded with almost devotional reverence. indeed, it may well be practiced diligently for years. every tone is a problem, a problem which must be solved in the brain and in the body of the singer and not in the mind of any teacher. the student must hold up every tone for comparison with his ideal tone. every note must ring sweet and clear, pure and free. every tone must be even more susceptible to the emotions than the expression upon the most mobile face. every tone must be made the means of conveying some human emotion. some singers practice their exercises in such a perfunctory manner that they get as a result voices so stiff and hard that they sound as though they came from metallic instruments which could only be altered in a factory instead of from throats lined with a velvet-like membrane. [illustration: musical notation: sing with great attention to intonation.] flexibility, mobility and susceptibility to expression are quite as important as mere sweetness. after the above exercise has been mastered the pupil may pass to the chromatic scale (scala semitonata sostenuto); and this scale should be sung in the same slow sustained manner as the foregoing illustration. mme. marcella sembrich biographical mme. marcella sembrich (praxede marcelline kochanska) was born in wisnewczyk, galicia, february 15, 1858. sembrich was her mother's name. her father was a music teacher and she tells with pleasure how she watched her father make a little violin for her to practice upon. at the age of seven she was taken to wilhelm stengel at lemberg for further instruction. later she went to study with the famous pedagogue, julius epstein, at vienna, who was amazed by the child's prodigious talent as a pianist and as a violinist. he asked, "is there anything else she can do?" "yes," replied stengel, "i think she can sing." sing she did; and epstein was not long in determining that she should follow the career of the singer. her other teachers were victor rokitansky, richard lewy and g. b. lamperti and a few months with the elder francesco lamperti. her début was made in athens in 1877, in _i puritani_. thereafter she toured all of the european art centers with invariable success. her first american appearance was in 1883. she came again in 1898 and for years sang with immense success in all parts of america. america has since become her home, where she has devoted much time to teaching. [illustration: mme. marcella sembrich. © dupont.] how fortunes are wasted in vocal education mme. marcella sembrich every one who can should learn to sing few accomplishments are more delight-giving than that of being able to sing. i would most enthusiastically advise anyone possessing a fair voice to have it trained by some reliable singing teacher. european peoples appreciate the great privilege of being able to sing for their own amusement, and the pleasure they get from their singing societies is inspiring. if americans took more time for the development of accomplishments of this kind their journey through life would be far more enjoyable and perhaps more profitable. i believe that all should understand the art of singing, if only to become amateurs. that music makes the soul more beautiful i have not the least doubt. because some musicians have led questionable lives does not prove the contrary. what might these men have been had they not been under the benign influence of music? one has only to watch people who are under the magic spell of beautiful music to understand what a power it has for the good. i believe that good vocal music should be a part of all progressive educational work. the more music we have, the more beautiful this world will be, the more kindly people will feel toward each other and the more life will be worth living. wrong to encourage voiceless aspirants but when i say that everyone who possesses a voice should learn to sing i do not by any means wish to convey the idea that anyone who desires may become a great singer. that is a privilege that is given to but a very few fortunate people. so many things go together to make a great singer that the one who gives advice should be very circumspect in encouraging young people to undertake a professional career--especially an operatic career. giving advice under any conditions is often thankless. i have been appealed to by hundreds of girls who have wanted me to hear them sing. i have always told them what seemed to me the truth, but i have been so dismayed at the manner in which this has been received that i hesitate greatly before hearing aspiring singers. it is the same way with the teachers. i know that some teachers are blamed for taking voiceless pupils, but the pupils are more often to blame than the teacher. i have known pupils who have been discouraged by several good teachers to persist until they finally found a teacher who would take them. most teachers are conscientious--often too conscientious for their pocketbooks. if a representative teacher or a prominent singer advises you not to attempt a public career you should thank him, as he is doubtless trying to save you from years of miserable failure. it is a very serious matter for the pupil, and one that should be given almost sacred consideration by those who have the pupil's welfare at heart. wise, indeed, is the young singer who can so estimate her talents that she will start along the right path. there are many positions which are desirable and laudable which can be ably filled by competent singers. if you have limitations which will prevent your ever reaching that "will-o'-the-wisp" known as "fame," do not waste money trying to achieve what is obviously out of your reach. if you can fill the position of soloist in a small choir creditably, do so and be contented. don't aspire for operatic heights if you are hopelessly shackled by a lack of natural qualifications. it is a serious error to start vocal instruction too early. i do not believe that the girl's musical education should commence earlier than at the age of sixteen. it is true that in the cases of some very healthy girls no very great damage may be done, but it is a risk i certainly would not advise. much money and time are wasted upon voice training of girls under the age of sixteen. if the girl is destined for a great career she will have the comprehension, the grasp, the insight that will lead her to learn very rapidly. some people can take in the whole meaning of a picture at a glance; others are obliged to regard the picture for hours to see the same points of artistic interest. quick comprehension is a great asset, and the girl who is of the right sort will lose nothing by waiting until she reaches the above age. piano or violin study advisable for all singers ambition, faithfulness to ideals and energy are the only hopes left open to the singer who is not gifted with a wonderfully beautiful natural voice. it is true that some singers of great intelligence and great energy have been able to achieve wide fame with natural voices that under other conditions would only attract local notice. these singers deserve great credit for their efforts. while the training of the voice may be deferred to the age of sixteen, the early years should by no means be wasted. the general education of the child, the fortification of the health and the study of music through the medium of some instrument are most important. the young girl who commences voice study with the ability to play either the violin or the piano has an enormous advantage over the young girl who has had no musical training. i found the piano training of my youth of greatest value, and through the study of the violin i learned certain secrets that i later applied to respiration and phrasing. although my voice was naturally flexible, i have no doubt that the study of these instruments assisted in intonation and execution in a manner that i cannot over-estimate. a beautiful voice is not so great a gift, unless its possessor knows how to employ it to advantage. the musical training that one receives from the study of an instrument is of greatest value. consequently, i advise parents who hope to make their children singers to give them the advantage of a thorough musical training in either violin study or the piano. much wasted money and many blasted ambitions can be spared by such a course. a good general education of vast importance the singer whose general education has been neglected is in a most unfortunate plight. and by general education i do not mean only those academic studies that people learn in schools. the imagination must be stimulated, the heartfelt love for the poetical must be cultivated, and above all things the love for nature and mankind must be developed. i can take the greatest joy in a walk through a great forest. it is an education to me to be with nature. unfortunately, only too many americans go rushing through life neglecting those things which make life worth living. musical advance in america there has been a most marvelous advance in this respect, however, in america. not only in nature love but in art it has been my pleasure to watch a wonderful growth. when i first came here in 1883 things were entirely different in many respects. now the great operatic novelties of europe are presented here in magnificent style, and often before they are heard in many european capitals. in this respect america to-day ranks with the best in the world. will you not kindly permit me to digress for a moment and say to the music lovers of america that i appreciate in the deepest manner the great kindnesses that have been shown to me everywhere? for this reason, i know that my criticisms, if they may be called such, will be received as they are intended. the singer should make a serious study of languages. french, german, english and italian are the most necessary ones. i include english as i am convinced that it is only a matter of a short time when a school of opera written by english-speaking composers will arise. the great educational and musical advance in america is an indication of this. as for voice exercises, i have always been of the opinion that it is better to leave that matter entirely to the discretion of the teacher. there can be no universal voice exercise that will apply to all cases. again, it is more a matter of how the exercise is sung than the exercise itself. the simplest exercise can become valuable in the hands of the great teacher. i have no faith in the teachers who make each and every pupil go through one and the same set of exercises in the same way. the voice teacher is like the physician. he must originate and prescribe certain remedies to suit certain cases. much money is wasted by trying to do without a good teacher. if the pupil really has a great voice and the requisite talent, it is economical to take her to the best teacher obtainable. american women have wonderful voices. moreover, they have great energy, talent and temperament. their accomplishments in the operatic world are matters of present musical history. with such splendid effort and such generosity, it is easy to prophesy a great future for musical america. this is the land of great accomplishments. with time americans will give more attention to the cultivation of details in art, they will acquire more repose perhaps, and then the tremendous energy which has done so much to make the country what it is will be a great factor in establishing a school of music in the new world which will rank with the greatest of all times. mme. ernestine schumann-heink biographical mme. ernestine schumann-heink (née roessler) was born near the city of prague, july 15, 1861. she relates that her father was a czech and her mother was of italian extraction. she was educated in ursuline convent and studied singing with mme. marietta von leclair in graz. her first appearance was at the age of 15, when she is reported to have taken a solo part in a performance of the beethoven ninth symphony, at an important concert in graz. her operatic début was made at the royal opera, dresden, in _trovatore_. there she studied under krebs and franz wüllner. it is impossible to detail mme. schumann-heink's operatic successes here, since her numerous appearances at the leading operatic houses of the world have been followed by such triumphs that she is admittedly the greatest contralto soloist of her time. at bayreuth, covent garden, and at the metropolitan her appearances have drawn multitudes. in concert she proved one of the greatest of all singers of art songs. in 1905 she became an american citizen, her enthusiasm for this country leading her to name one of her sons george washington. during the great war (in which four of her sons served with the american colors) she toured incessantly from camp to camp, giving her services for the entertainment of the soldiers and winning countless admirers in this way. her glorious voice extends from d on the third line of the bass clef to c on the second leger line above the treble clef. [illustration: mme. ernestine schumann-heink.] keeping the voice in prime condition mme. ernestine schumann-heink the artist's responsibility would you have me give the secret of my success at the very outstart? it is very simple and centers around this subject of the artist's responsibility to the audience. my secret is absolute devotion to the audience. i love my audiences. they are all my friends. i feel a bond with them the moment i step before them. whether i am singing in blasé new york or before an audience of farmer folk in some western chautauqua, my attitude toward my audience is quite the same. i take the same care and thought with every audience. this even extends to my dress. the singer, who wears an elaborate gown before a metropolitan audience and wears some worn-out old rag of a thing when singing at some rural festival, shows that she has not the proper respect in her mind. respect is everything. therefore it is necessary for me to have my voice in the best of condition every day of the year. it is my duty to my audience. the woman who comes to a country chautauqua and brings her baby with her and perchance nurses the little one during the concert gets a great deal closer to my heart than the stiff-backed aristocrat who has just left a pekingese spaniel outside of the opera house door in a $6000.00 limousine. that little country woman expects to hear the singer at her best. therefore, i practice just as carefully on the day of the chautauqua concert as i would if i were to sing _ortrud_ the same night at the metropolitan in new york. american audiences are becoming more and more discriminating. likewise they are more and more responsive. as an american citizen, i am devoted to all the ideals of the new world. they have accepted me in the most whole-souled manner and i am grateful to the land of my adoption. the advantage of an early training whether or not the voice keeps in prime condition to-day depends largely upon the early training of the singer. if that training is a good one, a sound one, a sensible one, the voice will, with regular practice, keep in good condition for a remarkably long time. the trouble is that the average student is too impatient in these days to take time for a sufficient training. the voice at the outstart must be trained lightly and carefully. there must not be the least strain. i believe that at the beginning two lessons a week should be sufficient. the lessons should not be longer than one-half an hour and the home practice should not exceed at the start fifty minutes a day. even then the practice should be divided into two periods. the young singer should practice _mezza voce_, which simply means nothing more or less than "half voice." never practice with full voice unless singing under the direction of a well-schooled teacher with years of practical singing experience. it is easy enough to shout. some of the singers in modern opera seem to employ a kind of megaphone method. they stand stock still on the stage and bawl out the phrases as though they were announcing trains in a railroad terminal. such singers disappear in a few years. their voices seem torn to shreds. the reason is that they have not given sufficient attention to _bel canto_ in their early training. they seem to forget that voice must first of all be beautiful. _bel canto_,--beautiful singing,--not the singing of meaningless italian phrases, as so many insist, but the glorious _bel canto_ which bach, haydn and mozart demand,--a _bel canto_ that cultivates the musical taste, disciplines the voice and trains the singer technically to do great things. please understand that i am not disparaging the good and beautiful in italian masterpieces. the musician will know what i mean. the singer can gain little, however, from music that intellectually and vocally is better suited to a parrot than a human being. some of the older singers made _bel canto_ such an art that people came to hear them for their voices alone, and not for their intellectual or emotional interpretations of a rôle. perhaps you never heard patti in her prime. ah! patti--the wonderful adelina with the glorious golden voice. it was she who made me ambitious to study breathing until it became an art. to hear her as she trippingly left the stage in verdi's _traviata_ singing runs with ease and finish that other singers slur or stumble over,--ah! that was an art! [illustration: musical notation: ex. 1 il mio pen sier, il mio pen-sier___ il mio pen-sier. ] volumes have been written on breathing and volumes more could be written. this is not the place to discuss the singer's great fundamental need. need i say more than that i practice deep breathing every day of my life? the age for starting it is my opinion that no girl who wishes to keep her voice in the prime of condition all the time in after years should start to study much earlier than seventeen or eighteen years of age. in the case of a man i do not believe that he should start until he is past twenty or even twenty-two. i know that this is contrary to what many singers think, but the period of mutation in both sexes is a much slower process than most teachers realize, and i have given this matter a great deal of serious thought. let everybody sing! can i digress long enough to say that i think that everybody should sing? that is, they should learn to sing under a good singing instructor. this does not mean that they should look forward toward a professional career. god forbid! there are enough half-baked singers in the world now who are striving to become professionals. but the public should know that singing is the healthiest kind of exercise imaginable. when one sings properly one exercises nearly all of the important muscles of the torso. the circulation of the blood is improved, the digestion bettered, the heart promoted to healthy action--in fact, everything is bettered. singers as a rule are notoriously healthy and often very long lived. the new movement for community singing in the open air is a magnificent one. let everybody sing! a great singing teacher with a reputation as big as napoleon's or george washington's is not needed. there are thousands and thousands of unknown teachers who are most excellent. often the advice or the instruction is very much the same. what difference does it make whether i buy castile soap in a huge broadway store or a little country store, if the soap is the same? many people hesitate to study because they can not study with a great teacher. nonsense! pick out some sensible, well-drilled teacher and then use your own good judgment to guide yourself. remember that schumann-heink did not study with a world-famed teacher. whoever hears of marietta von leclair in these days? yet i do not think that i could have done any more with my voice if i had had every famous teacher from niccolo antonio porpora down to the present day. the individual singer must have ideals, and then leave nothing undone to attain those ideals. one of my ideals was to be able to sing pianissimo with the kind of resonance that makes it carry up to the farthest gallery. that is one of the most difficult things i had to learn, and i attained it only after years of faithful practice. the singer's daily routine to keep the voice in prime condition the singer's first consideration is physical and mental health. if the body or the mind is over-taxed singing becomes an impossibility. it is amazing what the healthy body and the busy mind can really stand. i take but three weeks' vacation during the year and find that i am a great deal better for it. long terms of enforced indolence do not mean rest. the real artist is happiest when at work, and i want to work. fortunately i am never at loss for opportunity. the ambitious vocal student can benefit as much by studying a good book on hygiene or the conservation of the health as from a book on the art of singing. first of all comes diet. americans as a rule eat far too much. why do some of the good churchgoing people raise such an incessant row about over-drinking when they constantly injure themselves quite as much by over-eating? what difference does it make whether you ruin your stomach, liver or kidneys by too much alcohol or too much roast beef? one vice is as bad as another. the singer must live upon a light diet. a heavy diet is by no means necessary to keep up a robust physique. i am rarely ill, am exceedingly strong in every way, and yet eat very little indeed. i find that my voice is in the best of condition when i eat very moderately. my digestion is a serious matter with me, and i take every precaution to see that it is not congested in any way. this is most important to the singer. here is an average ménu for my days when i am on tour: _breakfast two or more glasses of cold water (not ice water) ham and eggs coffee toast._ _mid-day dinner soup some meat order a vegetable plenty of salad fruit._ _supper a sandwich fruit._ such a ménu i find ample for the heaviest kind of professional work. if i eat more, my work may deteriorate, and i know it. fresh air, sunshine, sufficient rest and daily baths in tepid water night and morning are a part of my regular routine. i lay special stress upon the baths. nothing invigorates the singer as much as this. avoid very cold baths, but see to it that you have a good reaction after each bath. there is nothing like such a routine as this to avoid colds. if you have a cold try the same remedies to try to get rid of it. to me, one day at atlantic city is better for a cold than all the medicine i can take. i call atlantic city my cold doctor. of course, there are many other shore resorts that may be just as helpful, but when i can do so i always make a bee line for atlantic city the moment i feel a serious cold on the way. sensible singers know now that they must avoid alcohol, even in limited quantities, if they desire to be in the prime of condition and keep the voice for a long, long time. champagne particularly is poison to the singer just before singing. it seems to irritate the throat and make good vocal work impossible. i am sorry for the singer who feels that some spur like champagne or a cup of strong coffee is desirable before going upon the stage. it amuses me to hear girls say, "i would give anything to be a great singer"; and then go and lace themselves until they look like jersey mosquitoes. the breath is the motive power of the voice. without it under intelligent control nothing can be accomplished. one might as well try to run an automobile without gasoline as sing without breath. how can a girl breathe when she has squeezed her lungs to one-half their normal size? preparation for heavy rôles the voice can never be kept in prime condition if it is obliged to carry a load that it has not been prepared to carry. most voices that wear out are voices that have been overburdened. either the singer does not know how to sing or the rôle is too heavy. i think that i may be forgiven for pointing out that i have repeatedly sung the heaviest and most exacting rôles in opera. my voice would have been shattered years ago if i had not prepared myself for these rôles and sung them properly. a man may be able to carry a load of fifty pounds for miles if he carries it on his back, but he will not be able to carry it a quarter of a mile if he holds it out at arm's length from the body, with one arm. does this not make the point clear? some rôles demand maturity. it is suicidal for the young singer to attempt them. the composer and the conductor naturally think only of the effect at the performance. the singer's welfare with them is a secondary consideration. i have sung under the great composers and conductors, from richard wagner to richard strauss. some of the strauss rôles are even more strenuous than those of wagner. they call for great energy as well as great vocal ability. young singers essay these heavy rôles and the voices go to pieces. why not wait a little while? why not be patient? the singer is haunted by the delusion that success can only come to her if she sings great rôles. if she can not ape melba in _traviata_, emma eames as elizabeth in _tannhäuser_ or geraldine farrar in _butterfly_, she pouts and refuses to do anything. offer her a small part and she sneers at it. ha! ha! all my earliest successes were made in the smallest kinds of parts. i realized that i had only a little to do and only very little time to do it in. consequently, i gave myself heart and soul to that part. it must be done so artistically, so intelligently, so beautifully that it would command success. imagine the rôles of erda and norna, and marie in _flying dutchman_. they are so small that they can hardly be seen. yet these rôles were my first door to success and fame. wagner did not think of them as little things. he was a real master and knew that in every art-work a small part is just as important as a great part. it is a part of a beautiful whole. don't turn up your nose at little things. take every opportunity, and treat it as though it were the greatest thing in your life. it pays. everything that amounts to anything in my entire career has come through struggle. at first a horrible struggle with poverty. no girl student in a hall bedroom to-day (and my heart goes out to them now) endures more than i went through. it was work, work, work, from morning to night, with domestic cares and worries enough all the time to drive a woman mad. keep up your spirits, girls. if you have the right kind of fight in you, success will surely come. never think of discouragement, no matter what happens. keep working every day and always hoping. it will come out all right if you have the gift and the perseverance. compulsion is the greatest element in the vocalist's success. poverty has a knout in its hand driving you on. well, let it,--and remember that under that knout you will travel twice as fast as the rich girl possibly can with her fifty-horse-power automobile. keep true to the best. _muss_--"i must," "i will," the mere necessity is a help not a hindrance, if you have the right stuff in you. learn to depend upon yourself, and know that when you have something that the public wants it will not be slow in running after you. don't ask for help. i never had any help. tell that to the aspiring geese who think that i have some magic power whereby i can help a mediocre singer to success by the mere twist of the hand. daily exercises of a prima donna [illustration: musical notation] daily vocal exercises are the daily bread of the singer. they should be practiced just as regularly as one sits down to the table to eat, or as one washes one's teeth or as one bathes. as a rule the average professional singer does not resort to complicated exercises and great care is taken to avoid strain. it is perfectly easy for me, a contralto, to sing c in alt but do you suppose i sing it in my daily exercises? it is one of the extreme notes in my range and it might be a strain. consequently i avoid it. i also sing most of my exercises _mezza voce_. there should always be periods of intermission between practice. i often go about my routine work while on tour, walking up and down the room, packing my trunk, etc., and practicing gently at the same time. i enjoy it and it makes my work lighter. of course i take great pains to practice carefully. my exercises are for the most part simple scales, arpeggios or trills. for instance, i will start with the following: [illustration: musical notation] this i sing in middle voice and very softly. thereby i do not become tired and i don't bother the neighborhood. if i sang this in the big, full lower tones and sang loud, my voice would be fatigued rather than benefited and the neighbors would hate me. this i continue up to _d_ or _e_ flat. [illustration: musical notation] above this i invariably use what is termed the head tone. female singers should always begin the head tone on this degree of the staff and not on _f_ and _f#_, as is sometimes recommended. i always use the italian vowel _ah_ in my exercises. it seems best to me. i know that _oo_ and _ue_ are recommended for contraltos, but i have long had the firm conviction that one should first perfect the natural vocal color through securing good tones by means of the most open vowel. after this is done the voice may be further colored by the judicious employment of other vowels. sopranos, for instance, can help their head tones by singing _ee_ (italian _i_). i know nothing better for acquiring a flexible tone than to sing trills like the following: [illustration: musical notation] and at the same time preserve a gentle, smiling expression. smile naturally, as though you were genuinely amused at something,--smile until your upper teeth are uncovered. then, try these exercises with the vowel _ah_. don't be afraid of getting a trivial, colorless tone. it is easy enough to make the tone sombre by willing it so, when the occasion demands. you will be amazed what this smiling, genial, _liebenswürdig_ expression will do to relieve stiffness and help you in placing your voice right. the old italians knew about it and advocated it strongly. there is nothing like it to keep the voice youthful, fresh and in the prime of condition. the singer must relax probably more voices are ruined by strain than through any other cause. the singer must relax all the time. this does not mean flabbiness. it does not mean that the singer should collapse before singing. relaxation in the singer's sense is a delicious condition of buoyancy, of lightness, of freedom, of ease and entire lack of tightening in any part. when i relax i feel as though every atom in my body were floating in space. there is not one single little nerve on tension. the singer must be particularly careful when approaching a climax in a great work of art. then the tendency to tighten up is at its greatest. this must be anticipated. take such a case as the following passage from the famous aria from saint-saëns' _samson et delila_, "_mon coeur s'ouvre à ta voix_." the climax is obviously on the words "ah!--verse moi." the climax is the note marked by a star (_f_ on the top line). [illustration: musical notation: reponds a ma ten-dres-se, re-ponds a ma ten-dress-s! ah!--ver-se-moi--ver-se-moi.. l-i-vres-se!] when i am singing the last notes of the previous phrase to the word "tendresse," anyone who has observed me closely will notice that i instinctively let my shoulders drop,--that the facial muscles become relaxed as when one is about to smile or about to yawn. i am then relaxing to meet the great melodic climax and meet it in such a manner that i will have abundant reserve force after it has been sung. when one has to sing before an audience of five or six thousand people such a climax is immensely important and it requires great balance to meet it and triumph in it. antonio scotti biographical antonio scotti was born at naples, jan. 25, 1866, and did much of his vocal study there with mme. trifari paganini. his début was made at the teatro reale, in the island of malta, in 1889. the opera was _martha_. after touring the italian opera houses he spent seven seasons in south america at a time when the interest in grand opera on that continent was developing tremendously. he then toured spain and russia with great success and made his début at covent garden, london, in 1899. his success was so great that he was immediately engaged for the metropolitan in new york, where he has sung every season since that time. his most successful rôles have been in _la tosca_, _la bohême_, _i pagliacci_, _carmen_, _falstaff_, _l'oracolo_ and _otello_. his voice is a rich and powerful baritone. he is considered one of the finest actors among the grand opera singers. during recent years he has toured with an opera company of his own, making many successful appearances in some of the smaller as well as the larger american cities. [illustration: portrait of antonio scotti in the costume of his most famous rôle, scarpia, in "la tosca," by puccini.] italian opera in america antonio scotti so closely identified is italy with all that pertains to opera, that the question of the future of italian opera in america is one that interests me immensely. it has been my privilege to devote a number of the best years of my life to singing in italian opera in this wonderful country, and one cannot help noticing, first of all, the almost indescribable advance that america has made along all lines. it is so marvelous that those who reside continually in this country do not stop to consider it. musicians of europe who have never visited america can form no conception of it, and when they once have had an opportunity to observe musical conditions in america, the great opera houses, the music schools, the theatres and the bustling, hustling activity, together with the extraordinary casts of world-famous operatic stars presented in our leading cities, they are amazed in the extreme. it is very gratifying for me to realize that the operatic compositions of my countrymen must play a very important part in the operatic future of america. it has always seemed to me that there is far more variety in the works of the modern italian composers than in those of other nations. almost all of the later german operas bear the unmistakable stamp of wagner. those which do not, show decided italian influences. the operas of mozart are largely founded on italian models, although they show a marvelous genius peculiar to the great master who created them. operatic tendencies the italian opera of the future will without doubt follow the lead of verdi, that is, the later works of verdi. to me _falstaff_ seems the most remarkable of all italian operas. the public is not well enough acquainted with this work to demand it with the same force that they demand some of the more popular works of verdi. verdi was always melodious. his compositions are a beautiful lace-work of melodies. it has seemed to me that some of the italian operatic composers who have been strongly influenced by wagner have made the mistake of supposing that wagner was not a master of melody. consequently they have sacrificed their italian birthright of melody for all kinds of cacophony. wagner was really wonderfully melodious. some of his melodies are among the most beautiful ever conceived. i do not refer only to the melodies such as "oh, thou sublime evening star" of _tannhäuser_ or the "bridal march" of _lohengrin_, but also to the inexhaustible fund of melodies that one may find in most every one of his astonishing works. true, these melodies are different in type from most melodies of italian origin, but they are none the less melodies, and beautiful ones. verdi's later operas contain such melodies and he is the model which the young composers of italy will doubtless follow. puccini, mascagni, leoncavallo, and others, have written works rich in melody and yet not wanting in dramatic charm, orchestral accompaniment and musicianly treatment. opera the natural genius of italy's composers when the italian student leaves the conservatory, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred his ambitions are solely along the line of operatic composition. this seems his natural bent or mould. of course he has written small fugues and perhaps even symphonies, but in the majority of instances these have been mere academic exercises. i regret that this is the case, and heartily wish that we had more bossis, martuccis and sgambattis, but, again, would it not be a great mistake to try to make a symphonist out of an operatic composer? in the case of perosi i often regret that he is a priest and therefore cannot write for the theatre, because i earnestly believe that notwithstanding his success as a composer of religious music, his natural bent is for the theatre or the opera. the composers of to-day of the great italian opera composers of to-day, i feel that puccini is, perhaps, the greatest because he has a deeper and more intimate appreciation of theatrical values. every note that puccini writes smells of the paint and canvas behind the proscenium arch. he seems to know just what kind of music will go best with a certain series of words in order to bring out the dramatic meaning. this is in no sense a depreciation of the fine things that mascagni, leoncavallo and others have done. it is simply my personal estimate of puccini's worth as an operatic composer. personally, i like _madama butterfly_ better than any other italian opera written in recent years. aside from _falstaff_, my own best rôle is probably in _la tosca_. the two most popular italian operas of to-day are without doubt _aïda_ and _madama butterfly_. that is, these operas draw the greatest audiences at present. it is gratifying to note a very much unified and catholic taste throughout the entire country. that is to say, in chicago, san francisco, boston and philadelphia one finds the public taste very similar. this indicates that the great musical advance in recent years in america has not been confined to one or two eastern cities. the influence of the star system it is often regretable that the reputation of the singer draws bigger audiences in america than the work to be performed. american people go to hear some particular singer and not to hear the work of the composer. in other countries this is not so invariably the rule. it is a condition that may be overcome in time in america. it often happens that remarkably good performances are missed by the public who are only drawn to the opera house when some great operatic celebrity sings. the intrinsic beauties of the opera itself should have much to do with controlling its presentation. in all cases at present the italian opera seems in preponderance, but this cannot be said to be a result of the engagement of casts composed exclusively of italian singers. in our american opera houses many singers of many different nationalities are engaged in singing in italian opera. personally, i am opposed to operas being sung in any tongue but that in which the opera was originally written. if i am not mistaken, the covent garden opera house and the metropolitan opera house are the only two opera houses in the world where this system is followed. no one can realize what i mean until he has heard a wagner opera presented in french, a tongue that seems absolutely unfitted for the music of wagner. the possible influence of strauss and debussy i do not feel that either strauss or debussy will have an influence upon the music of the coming italian composers similar to that which the music of wagner had upon verdi and his followers. personally, i admire them very much, but they seem unvocal, and italy is nothing if not vocal. to me _pelleas and melisande_ would be quite as interesting if it were acted in pantomime with the orchestral accompaniment. the voice parts, to my way of thinking, could almost be dispensed with. the piece is a beautiful dream, and the story so evident that it could almost be played as an "opera without words." but vocal it certainly is not, and the opportunities of the singer are decidedly limited. strauss, also, does not even treat the voice with the scant consideration bestowed upon it in some of the extreme passages of the wagner operas. occasionally the singer has an opportunity, but it cannot be denied that to the actor and the orchestra falls the lion's share of the work. operatic centers in italy americans seem to think that the only really great operatic center of italy is milan. this is doubtless due to the celebrity of the famous opera house, la scala, and to the fact that the great publishing house of ricordi is located there, but it is by no means indicative of the true condition. the fact is that the appreciation of opera is often greater outside of milan than in the city. in naples, rome and florence opera is given on a grand scale, and many other italian cities possess fine theaters and fine operatic companies. the san carlos company, at naples, is usually exceptionally good, and the opera house itself is a most excellent one. the greatest musical industry centers around milan owing, as we have said, to the publishing interests in that city. if an italian composer wants to produce one of his works he usually makes arrangements with his publisher. this, of course, brings him at once to milan in most cases. more new operas should be produced it is, of course, difficult to gain an audience for a new work, but this is largely the fault of the public. the managers are usually willing and glad to bring out novelties if the public can be found to appreciate them. _madama butterfly_ is a novelty, but it leaped into immediate and enormous appreciation. would that we could find a number like it! _madama butterfly's_ success has been largely due to the fact that the work bears the direct evidences of inspiration. i was with puccini in london when he saw for the first time john luther long's story, dramatized by a belasco, produced in the form of a one-act play. he had a number of librettos under consideration at that time, but he cast them all aside at once. i never knew puccini to be more excited. the story of the little japanese piece was on his mind all the time. he could not seem to get away from it. it was in this white heat of inspiration that the piece was moulded. operas do not come out of the "nowhere." they are born of the artistic enthusiasm and intellectual exuberance of the trained composer. america's musical future one of the marvelous conditions of music in this country is that the opera, the concert, the oratorio and the recital all seem to meet with equal appreciation. the fact that most students of music in this land play the piano has opened the avenues leading to an appreciation of orchestral scores. in the case of opera the condition was quite different. the appreciation of operatic music demands the voice of the trained artist and this could not be brought to the home until the sound reproducing machine had been perfected. the great increase in the interest in opera in recent years is doubtless due to the fact that thousands and thousands of those instruments are in use in as many homes and music studios. it is far past the "toy" stage, and is a genuine factor in the art development and musical education of america. at first the sound reproducing machine met with tremendous opposition owing to the fact that bad instruments and poorer records had prejudiced the public, but now they have reached a condition whereby the voice is reflected with astonishing veracity. the improvements i have observed during the past years have seemed altogether wonderful to me. the thought that half a century hence the voices of our great singers of to-day may be heard in the homes of all countries of the globe gives a sense of satisfaction to the singer, since it gives a permanence to his art which was inconceivable twenty-five years ago. [illustration: henri scott.] henri scott biographical henri scott was born at coatesville, pa., april 8, 1876. he was intended for a business career but became interested in music, at first in an amateur way, in philadelphia. encouraged by local successes he went to study voice with oscar saenger, remaining with him for upward of eleven years. he was fortunate in making appearances with the "philadelphia operatic society," a remarkable amateur organization giving performances of grand opera on a large scale. with this organization he made his first stage appearances as ramphis in _aïda_, in 1897. he had his passage booked for europe, where he was assured many fine appearances, when he accidentally met oscar hammerstein, who engaged him for five years. under this manager he made his professional début as ramphis at the manhattan opera house in new york, in 1909. hammerstein, a year thereafter, terminated his new york performances by selling out to the metropolitan opera company. mr. scott then went to rome, where he made his first appearance in _faust_, with great success. he was immediately engaged for the chicago opera company where, during three years, he sang some thirty-five different rôles. in 1911 he was engaged as a leading basso by the metropolitan, where he remained for many seasons. he has sung on tour with the thomas orchestra, with caruso and at many famous festivals. he has appeared with success in over one hundred cities in the united states and canada. in response to many offers he went into vaudeville, where he has sung to hundreds of thousands of americans, with immense success. mr. scott is therefore in a position to speak of this new and interesting phase of bringing musical masterpieces to "the masses." the singer's larger musical public henri scott like every american, i resent the epithet, "the masses," because i have always considered myself a part of that mysterious unbounded organization of people to which all democratic americans feel that they belong. one who is not a member of the masses in america is perforce a "snob" and a "prig." possibly one of the reasons why our republic has survived so many years is that all true americans are aristocratic, not in the attitude of "i am as good as everyone," but yet human enough to feel deep in their hearts, "any good citizen is as good as i." why grand opera is expensive music in america should be the property of everybody. the talking machines come near making it that, if one may judge from the sounds that come from half the homes at night. but the people want to hear the best music from living performers "in the flesh." at the same time, comparatively, very few can pay from two to twenty dollars a seat to hear great opera and great singers. the reason why grand opera costs so much is that the really fine voices, with trained operatic experience, are very, very few; and, since only a few performances are given a year, the price must be high. it is simply the law of supply and demand. there are, in america, two large grand opera companies and half a dozen traveling ones, some of them very excellent. there are probably twenty large symphony orchestras and at least one hundred oratorio societies of size. to say that these bodies and others purveying good music, reach more than five million auditors a year would possibly be a generous figure. but five million is not one-twentieth of the population of america. what about the nineteen-twentieths? on the other hand, there are in america between two and three thousand good vaudeville and moving picture houses where the best music in some form is heard not once or twice a week for a short season, but several times each day. some of the moving picture houses have orchestras of thirty-five to eighty men, selected from musicians of the finest ability, many of whom have played in some of the greatest orchestras of the world. these orchestras and the talking machines are doing more to bring good music to the public than all the larger organizations, if we consider the subject from a standpoint of numbers. a revolution in taste the whole character of the entertainments in moving picture and vaudeville theaters has been revolutionized. the buildings are veritable temples of art. the class of the entertainment is constantly improving in response to a demand which the business instincts of the managers cannot fail to recognize. the situation is simply this: the american people, with their wonderful thirst for self-betterment, which has brought about the prodigious success of the educational papers, the schools and the chautauquas, like to have the beautiful things in art served to them with inspiriting amusement. we, as a people, have been becoming more and more refined in our tastes. we want better and better things, not merely in music, but in everything. in my boyhood there were thousands of families in fair circumstances who would endure having the most awful chromos upon their walls. these have for the most part entirely disappeared except in the homes of the newest aliens. it is true that much of our music is pretty raw in the popular field; but even in this it is getting better slowly and surely. if in recent years there has been a revolution in the popular taste for vaudeville, b. f. keith was the "washington" of that revolution. he understood the human demand for clean entertainment, with plenty of healthy fun and an artistic background. he knew the public call for the best music and instilled his convictions in his able followers. mr. keith's attitude was responsible for the signs which one formerly saw in the dressing rooms of good vaudeville theaters, which read: +--------------------------------------------------+ |profanity of any kind, objectionable or suggestive| |remarks, are forbidden in this theater. | |offenders are liable to have the curtain rung | |down upon them during such an act. | +--------------------------------------------------+ fortunately these signs have now disappeared, as the actors have been so disciplined that they know that a coarse remark would injure them with the management. vaudeville is on a far higher basis than much so-called comic opera. some acts are paid exceedingly large sums. sarah bernhardt received $7000.00 a week; calve, bispham, kocian, carolina white and marguerite sylvia, accordingly. dorothy jordan, bessie abbott, rosa ponselle, orville harold and the recent indian sensation at the metropolitan, chief caupolican, actually had their beginnings in vaudeville. in other words, vaudeville was the stepping-stone to grand opera. singing for millions success in this new field depends upon personality as well as art. it also develops personality. it is no place for a "stick." the singer must at all times be in human touch with the audience. the lofty individuals who are thinking far more about themselves than about the songs they are singing have no place here. the task is infinitely more difficult than grand opera. it is far more difficult than recital or oratorio singing. there can be no sham, no pose. the songs must please or the audience will let one know it in a second. the wear and tear upon the voice is much less than in opera. during the week i sing in all three and one-half hours (not counting rehearsals). when i am singing mephistopheles in _faust_ i am in a theater at least six hours--the make-up alone requires at least one and one-half hours. then time is demanded for rehearsals with the company and with various coaches. the art of "putting it over" thus the vaudeville singer who is genuinely interested in the progress of his art has ample time to study new songs and new rôles. in the jargon of vaudeville, everything is based upon whether the singer is able "to put the number over." this is a far more serious matter than one thinks. the audience is made up of the great public--the common people, god bless them. there is not the select gathering of musically cultured people that one finds in carnegie hall or the auditorium. therefore, in singing music that is admittedly a musical masterpiece, one must select only those works which may be interpreted with a broad human appeal. one is far closer to his fellow-man in vaudeville than in grand opera, because the emotions of the auditors are more responsive. it is intensely gratifying to know that these people want real art. my greatest success has been in lieurance's indian songs and in excerpts from grand opera. upon one occasion my number was followed by that of a very popular comedienne whose performance was known to be of the farcical, rip-roaring type which vaudeville audiences were supposed to like above all things. it was my pleasure to be recalled, even after the curtain had ascended upon her performance, and to be compelled to give another song as an encore. the preference of the vaudeville audience for really good music has been indicated to me time and again. but it is not merely the good music that draws: the music must be interpreted properly. much excellent music is ruined in vaudeville by ridiculous renditions. how to get an engagement singers have asked me time and again how to get an engagement. the first thing is to be sure that you have something to sell that is really worth while. think of how many people are willing to pay to hear you sing! the more that they are willing to pay, the more valuable you are to the managers who buy your services. therefore reputation, of course, is an important point to the manager. an unknown singer can not hope to get the same fee as the celebrated singer no matter how fine the voice or the art. mr. e. falber and mr. martin beck, who have been responsible for a great many of the engagements of great artists in vaudeville and who are great believers in fine music in vaudeville, have, through their high position in business, helped hundreds. but they can not help anyone who has nothing to sell. the home office of the big vaudeville exchange is at forty-seventh and broadway, n.y., and it is one of the busiest places in the great city. even at that, it has always been a mystery to me just how the thousands of numbers are arranged so that there will be as little loss as possible for the performers; for it must be remembered that the vaudeville artists buy their own stage clothes and scenery, attend to their transportation and pay all their own expenses; unless they can afford the luxury of a personal manager who knows how to do these things just a little better. the singer looking for an engagement must in some way do something to gain some kind of recognition. perhaps it may come from the fact that the manager of the local theater in her town has heard her sing, or some well-known singer is interested in her and is willing to write a letter of introduction to someone influential in headquarters. with the enormous demands made upon the time of the "powers that be," it is hardly fair to expect them to hear anyone and everyone. with such a letter or such an introduction, arrange for an audition at the headquarters in new york. remember all the time that if you have anything really worth while to sell the managers are just as anxious to hear you as you are to be heard. there is no occasion for nervousness. excellent conditions sometimes the managers are badly mistaken. it is common gossip that a very celebrated opera singer sought a vaudeville engagement and was turned down because of the lack of the musical experience of the manager, and because she was unknown. if he wanted her to-day his figure would have to be several thousand dollars a week. the average vaudeville theater in america is far better for the singer, in many ways, than many of the opera houses. in fact the vaudeville theaters are new; while the opera houses are old, and often sadly run down and out of date. possibly the finest vaudeville theater in america is in providence, r. i., and was built by e. f. albee. it is palatial in every aspect, built as strong and substantial as a fort, and yet as elegant as a mansion. it is much easier to sing in these modern theaters made of stone and concrete than in many of the old-fashioned opera houses. indeed, some of the vaudeville audiences often hear a singer at far better advantage than in the opera house. the singer who realizes the wonderful artistic opportunities provided in reaching such immense numbers of people, who will understand that he must sing up to the larger humanity rather than thinking that he must sing down to a mob, who will work to do better vocal and interpretative thinking at every successive performance, will lose nothing by singing in vaudeville and may gain an army of friends and admirers he could not otherwise possibly acquire. emma thursby biographical emma thursby was born in brooklyn, n. y., and studied singing with julius meyers, achille errani, mme. rudersdorf, lamperti (elder), san giovanni and finally with maurice strakosch. she began her career as a church singer in new york and throngs went to different new york churches to hear her exquisitely mellow and beautiful voice. for many years she was the soprano of the famous plymouth church when henry ward beecher was the pastor. her voice became so famous that she went on a tour with maurice strakosch for seven years, in europe and america, everywhere meeting with sensational success. later she toured with the gilmore band and with the thomas orchestra. she became as popular in london and in paris as in new york. her fame became so great that she finally made a tour of the world, appearing with great success even in china and japan. [illustration: emma thursby.] singing in concert and what it means emma thursby although conditions have changed very greatly since i was last regularly engaged in making concert tours, the change has been rather one of advantage to young singers than one to their disadvantage. the enormous advance in musical taste can only be expressed by the word "startling." for while we have apparently a vast amount of worthless music being continually inoculated into our unsuspecting public, we have, nevertheless, a corresponding cultivation of the love for good music which contributes much to the support of the concert singer of the present day. the old time lyceum has almost disappeared, but the high-class song recital has taken its place and recitals that would have been barely possible years ago are now frequently given with greatest financial and artistic success. schumann, franz, strauss, grieg and macdowell have conquered the field formerly held by the vapid and meaningless compositions of brainless composers who wrote solely to amuse or to appeal to morbid sentimentality. the conditions of travel, also, have been greatly improved. it is now possible to go about in railroad cars and stop at hotels, and at the same time experience very little inconvenience and discomfort. this makes the career of the concert artist a far more desirable one than in former years. uninviting hotels, frigid cars, poorly prepared meals and the lack of privacy were scarcely the best things to stimulate a high degree of musical inspiration. health nevertheless, the girl who would be successful in concert must either possess or acquire good health as her first and all-essential asset. notwithstanding the marvelous improvement in traveling facilities and accommodations, the nervous strain of public performance is not lessened, and it not infrequently happens that these very facilities enable the avaricious manager to crowd in more concerts and recitals than in former years, with the consequent strain upon the vitality of the singer. of course, the singer must also possess the foundation for a good natural voice, a sense of hearing capable of being trained to the keenest perception of pitch, quality, rhythm and metre, an attractive personality, a bright mind, a good general education and an artistic temperament--a very extraordinary list, i grant you, but we must remember that the public pays out its money to hear extraordinary people and the would-be singer who does not possess qualifications of this description had better sincerely solicit the advice of some experienced, unbiased teacher or singer before putting forth upon the musical seas in a bark which must meet with certain destruction in weathering the first storm. the teacher who consciously advises a singer to undertake a public career and at the same time knows that such a career would very likely be a failure is beneath the recognition of any honest man or woman. the singer's early training the education of the singer should not commence too early, if we mean by education the training of the voice. if you discover that a child has a very remarkable voice, "ear" and musical intelligence you had better let the voice alone and give your attention to the general musical education of the child along the lines of that received by madame sembrich, who is a fine violinist and pianist. so few are the teachers who know anything whatever about the child-voice, or who can treat it with any degree of safety, that it is far better to leave it alone than to tamper with it. encourage the child to sing softly, sweetly and naturally, much as in free fluent conversation, telling him to form the habit of speaking his tones forward "on the lips" rather than in the throat. if you have among your acquaintances some musician or singer of indisputable ability and impeccable honor who can give you disinterested advice have the child go to this friend now and then to ascertain whether any bad and unnatural habits are being formed. of course we have the famous cases of patti and others, who seem to have sung from infancy. i have no recollection of the time when i first commenced to sing. i have always sung and gloried in my singing. see to it that your musical child has a good general education. this does not necessarily mean a college or university training. in fact, the amount of music study a singer has to accomplish in these days makes the higher academic training apparently impossible. however, with the great musical advance there has come a demand for higher and better ordered intellectual work among singers. this condition is becoming more and more imperative every day. at the same time you must remember also that nothing should be undertaken that might in any way be liable to undermine or impair the child's health. when to begin training the time to begin training depends upon the maturity of the voice and the individual, considered together with the physical condition of the pupil. some girls are ready to start voice work at sixteen, while others are not really in condition until a somewhat older age. here again comes the necessity for the teacher of judgment and experience. a teacher who might in any way be influenced by the necessity for securing a pupil or a fee should be avoided as one avoids the shyster lawyer. starting vocal instruction too early has been the precipice over which many a promising career has been dashed to early oblivion. in choosing a teacher i hardly know what to say, in these days of myriad methods and endless claims. the greatest teachers i have known have been men and women of great simplicity and directness. the perpetrator of the complicated system is normally the creator of vocal failures. the secret of singing is at once a marvelous mystery and again an open secret to those who have realized its simplicity. it cannot be altogether written, nor can it be imparted by words alone. imitation undoubtedly plays an important part, but it is not everything. the teacher must be one who has actually realized the great truths which underlie the best, simplest and most natural methods of securing results and who must possess the wonderful power of exactly communicating these principles to the pupil. a good teacher is far rarer than a good singer. singers are often poor teachers, as they destroy the individuality of the pupil by demanding arbitrary imitation. a teacher can only be judged by results, and the pupil should never permit herself to be deluded by advertisements and claims a teacher is unable to substantiate with successful pupils. habits of speech, poise and thinking one of the deep foundation piers of all educational effort is the inculcation of habits. the most successful voice teacher is the one who is most happy in developing habits of correct singing. these habits must be watched with the persistence, perseverance and affectionate care of the scientist. the teacher must realize that the single lapse or violation of a habit may mean the ruin of weeks or months of hard work. one of the most necessary habits a teacher should form is that of speaking with ease, naturalness and vocal charm. many of our american girls speak with indescribable harshness, slovenliness and shrillness. this is a severe tax upon the sensibilities of a musical person and i know of countless people who suffer acute annoyance from this source. vowels are emitted with a nasal twang or a throaty growl that seem at times most unpardonable noises when coming from a pretty face. consonants are juggled and mangled until the words are very difficult to comprehend. our girls are improving in this respect, but there is still cause for grievous complaint among voice teachers, who find in this one of their most formidable obstacles. another common natural fault, which is particularly offensive to me, is that of an objectionable bodily poise. i have found throughout my entire career that bodily poise in concert work is of paramount importance, but i seem to have great difficulty in sufficiently impressing this great truth upon young ladies who would be singers. the noted parisian teacher, sbriglia, is said to require one entire year to build up and fortify the chest. i have always felt that the best poise is that in which the shoulders are held well back, although not in a stiff or strained position, the upper part of the body leaning forward gently and naturally and the whole frame balanced by a sense of relaxation and ease. in this position the natural equilibrium is not taxed, and a peculiar sensation of non-constraint seems to be noticeable, particularly over the entire area of the front of the torso. this position suggests ease and an absence of that military rigidity which is so fatal to all good vocal effort. it also permits of a freer movement of the abdominal walls, as well as the intercostal muscles, and is thus conducive to the most natural breathing. too much anatomical explanation is liable to confuse the young singer, and if the matter of breathing can be assisted by poise, just so much is gained. another important habit that the teacher should see to at the start is that of correct thinking. most vocal beginners are poor thinkers and fail to realize the vast importance of the mind in all voice work. unless the teacher has the power of inspiring the pupil to a realization of the great fact that nothing is accomplished in the throat that has not been previously performed in the mind, the path will be a difficult one. during the process of singing the throat and the auxiliary vocal process of breathing are really a part of the brain, or, more specifically, the mind or soul. the body is never more than an instrument. without the performer it is as voiceless as the piano of richard wagner standing in all its solitary silence at wahnfried--a mute monument of the marvelous thoughts which once rang from its vibrating wires to all parts of the civilized world. we really sing with that which leaves the body after death. it is in the cultivation of this mystery of mysteries, the soul, that most singers fail. the mental ideal is, after all, that which makes the singer. patti possessed this ideal as a child, and with it the wonderful bodily qualifications which made her immortal. but it requires work to overcome vocal deficiencies, and patti as a child was known to have been a ceaseless worker and thinker, always trying to bring her little body up to the high æsthetic appreciation of the best artistic interpretation of a given passage. maurice strakosch's ten vocal commandments it was from maurice strakosch that i learned of the methods pursued by patti in her daily work, and although strakosch was not a teacher in the commercial sense of the word, as he had comparatively few pupils, he was nevertheless a very fine musician, and there is no doubt that patti owed a great deal to his careful and insistent régime and instruction. although our relation was that of impresario and artist, i cannot be grateful enough to him for the advice and instruction i received from him. the technical exercises he employed were exceedingly simple and he gave more attention to how they were sung than to the exercises themselves. i know of no more effective set of exercises than strakosch's ten daily exercises. they were sung to the different vowels, principally to the vowel "ah," as in "father." notwithstanding their great simplicity strakosch gave the greatest possible attention and time to them. patti used these exercises, which he called his "ten commandments for the singer," daily, and there can be little doubt that the extraordinary preservation of her voice is the result of these simple means. i have used them for years with exceptional results in all cases. however, if the singer has any idea that the mere practice of these exercises to the different vowel sounds will inevitably bring success she is greatly mistaken. these exercises are only valuable when used with vowels correctly and naturally "placed," and that means, in some cases, years of the most careful and painstaking work. following are the famous "ten vocal commandments," as used by adelina patti and several great singers in their daily work. note their simplicity and gradual increase in difficulty. they are to be transposed at the teacher's discretion to suit the range of the voice and are to be used with the different vowels. [illustration: i, musical notation] [illustration: ii, musical notation] [illustration: iii, musical notation] [illustration: iv, musical notation] [illustration: v, musical notation] [illustration: vi, musical notation] [illustration: vii, musical notation] [illustration: viii, musical notation] [illustration: ix, musical notation] [illustration: x, musical notation] the concert singer of the present day must have linguistic attainments far greater than those in demand some years ago. she is required to sing in english, french, german, italian and some singers are now attempting the interpretation of songs in slavic and other tongues. not only do we have to consider arias and passages from the great oratorios and operas as a part of the present-day repertoire, but the song of the "lied" type has come to have a valuable significance in all concert work. many songs intended for the chamber and the salon are now included in programs of concerts and recitals given in our largest auditoriums. only a very few numbers are in themselves songs written for the concert hall. most of the numbers now sung at song concerts are really transplanted from either the stage or the chamber. this makes the position of the concert singer an extremely difficult one. without the dramatic accessories of the opera house or the intimacy of the home circle, she is expected to achieve results varying from the cry of the valkyries, in _die walküre_, to the frail fragrance of franz' _es hat die rose sich beklagt_. i do not wonder that mme. schumann-heink and others have declared that there is nothing more difficult or exhausting than concert singing. the enormous fees paid to great concert singers are not surprising when we consider how very few must be the people who can ever hope to attain great heights in this work. [illustration: reinald werrenrath. © mishkin.] reinald werrenrath biographical reinald werrenrath was born in brooklyn, n. y., august 7, 1883. his father, george werrenrath, was a distinguished singer, and his mother (née aretta camp) is the daughter of henry camp, who was for many years musical director of plymouth church during the ministry there of henry ward beecher. george werrenrath was a dane, with an unusually rich tenor voice, trained by the best teachers of his time in germany, italy, france and england. during his engagement as leading tenor in the royal opera house in wiesbaden, he left germany by the advice of adelina patti, eventually going to england with maurice strakosch, who was then his coach. in london werrenrath had a fine career, and there was formed a warm and ultimate friendship with charles gounod, with whom he studied and toured in concerts through england and belgium. george werrenrath came to new york in 1876, by the influence of mme. antoinette sterling and of the well-known dane, general c. t. christensen. he immediately became well known by his appearance with the theodore thomas orchestra, as well as by his engagement at plymouth church, where he was soloist for seven years. he was probably the first artist to give song-recitals in the united states, while his performances in opera are still cherished in the memories of those people who can look back on some of the fine representations given under the baton of adolph neuendorf, at the old academy of music, which made the way for the later work at the metropolitan opera house. his interpretation of _lohengrin_ was adjudged most wonderfully poetical. reinald werrenrath studied first with his father. at the boys' high school and at new york university he was leader of musical affairs throughout the eight years spent in those schools. he studied violin with carl venth for four years, and had as his vocal teachers dr. carl dufft, frank king clark, dr. arthur mees, percy rector stephens and victor maurel, giving especial credit for his voice training to years of study with mr. stephens whose vocal teaching ideas he sketches in part in the following. he has appeared with immense success in concert and oratorio in all parts of the united states. his talking machine records have been in great demand for years, and his voice is known to thousands who have never seen him. his operatic début was in _pagliacci_, as _silvio_, in the metropolitan opera house, february 19, 1919, where he later had specially fine success as _valentine_ in _faust_ and as the _toreador_ in _carmen_. new aspects of the art of singing in america reinald werrenrath every now and then someone asks me whether america is really becoming musical. all i can say is that a year ago i, with my accompanist, traveled over 61,000 miles, touching every part of this country and, during that eight months, singing almost nightly when the transit facilities would permit, found everywhere the very greatest enthusiasm for the very best music. of course, americans want some numbers on the program with the so-called "human" element; but at the same time they court the best in vocal art and seem never to get enough of it. all of my instruction has been received in america. all of my teachers, with the exception of my father and victor maurel, were born in america; so i may be called very much of an american product. just why americans should ever have been obsessed with the idea that it was impossible to teach voice successfully on this side of the atlantic is hard to tell. i have a suspicion that many like the adventure of foreign travel far more than the labor of study. probably ninety-five per cent. of the pupils who went over did so for the fascinating experience of living in a european environment rather than for the downright purpose of coming back great artists. therefore, we should not blame the european teachers altogether for the countless failures that have floated back to us almost on every tide. i have recently heard a report that many of the highest-priced and most efficient voice teachers in italy are americans who have italianized their names. certainly the most successful voice teachers in berlin were george ferguson and frank king clark, who was at the top of the list also in paris when he was there. the american singer should remember in these days that, first of all, he must sing in america and in the english language more than in any other. i am not one of those who decry singing in foreign languages. certain songs, it is true, cannot be translated so that their meaning can be completely understood in english; yet, if the reader will think for a moment, how is the american auditor to understand a single thought of a poem in a language of which he knows nothing? the italian is a glorious language for the singer, and with it english cannot be compared, with its thirty-one vowel sounds and its many coughing, sputtering consonants. training in italian solfeggios is very fine for creating a free, flowing style. many of the italian teachers were obsessed with the idea of the big tone. the audiences fired back volleys of "bravos!" and "da capos" when the tenor took off his plumed hat, stood on his toes and howled a high c. that was part of his stock in trade. naturally, he forced his voice, and most of the men singers quit at the age of fifty. i hope to be in my prime at that time, as my voice seems to grow better each year. battistini, who was born in 1857, is an exception. his voice, i am told, is remarkably preserved. climatic conditions a serious handicap climatic conditions in many parts of america prove a serious handicap to the singer. at the same time, according to the law of the survival of the fittest, american singers must take care of themselves much better than the italians, for instance. the salubrious, balmy climate of most of italy is ideal for the throat. on our eastern seaboard i find that fifty per cent. of my audiences in winter seem to have colds and bronchitis. the singer who is obliged to tour must, of course, take every possible precaution against catching cold; and that means becoming infected from exposure to colds when the system is run down. i attempt to avoid colds by securing plenty of outdoor exercise. i always walk to my hotel and to the station when i have time; and i walk as much as i can during the day. when i am not singing i immediately start to play--to fish, swim or hunt in the woods if i can make an opportunity. operatic study in one respect europe is unquestionably superior to america for the vocal student. the student who wants to sing in opera will find in europe ten opportunities for gaining experience to one here. while we have a few more opera companies than twenty-five years ago, it is still a great task to secure even an opening. americans, outside of the great cities, do not seem to be especially inclined toward opera. they will accept a little of it when it is given to them by a superb company like the metropolitan. in new york we find a public more cosmopolitan than in any other city of the world, with the possible exception of london. in immediate ancestry it is more european than american, and naturally opera becomes a great public demand. seats sell at fabulous prices and the houses are crowded. next comes opera at popular prices; and we have one or two very good companies giving that with success. then there is the opera in america's other cosmopolitan center, chicago, where many world-famed artists appear. after that, opera in america is hardly worth mentioning. what chance has the student? only one who for years has been uniformed in a black dress suit and backed into the curve of the grand piano in a recital hall can know what it means to get out on the operatic stage, in those fantastic clothes, walk around, act, sing and at the same time watch the conductor with his ninety men. only he can know what the difference between singing in concert and on the operatic stage really is. yet old opera singers who enter the recital field invariably say that it is far harder to get up alone in a large hall and become the whole performance, aided and abetted only by an able accompanist, than it is to sing in opera. the recital has the effect of preserving the fineness of many operatic voices. modern opera has ruined dozens of fine vocal organs because of the tremendous strain made upon them and the tendency to neglect vocal art for dramatic impression. if there were more of the better _singing_ in opera, such as one hears from mr. caruso, there would be less comment upon opera as a bastard art. operatic work is very exhilarating. the difference between concert and opera for the singer is that between oatmeal porridge and an old vintage champagne. there is no time at the metropolitan for raw singers. the works in the repertoire must be known so well in the singing and the acting that they may be put on perfectly with the least possible rehearsals. therefore, the singer has no time for routine. the lack of a foreign name will keep no american singer out of the metropolitan; but the lack of the ability to save the company hundreds of dollars through needless waits at rehearsals will. natural methods of singing certainly no country in recent years has produced so many "corking" good singers as america. our voices are fresh, virile, pure and rich; when the teaching is right. our singers are for the most part finely educated and know how to interpret the texts intelligently. mr. w. j. henderson, the eminent new york critic, in his "art of singing," gave the following definition, which my former teacher, the late dr. carl dufft, endorsed very highly: "singing is the expression of a text by means of tones made by the human voice." more and more the truth of this comes to me. singing is not merely vocalizing but always a means of communication in which the artist must convey the message of the two great minds of the poet and the composer to his fellow man. in this the voice must be as natural as possible, as human as possible, and not merely a sugary tone. the german, the frenchman, the englishman and the american strive first for an intelligent interpretation of the text. the italian thinks of tone first and the text afterward, except in the modern italian school of realistic singing. for this one must consider the voice normally and sensibly. i owe my treatment of my voice largely to mr. stephens, with whom i have studied for the last eight years, taking a lesson every day i am in new york. this is advisable, i believe, because no matter how well one may think one sings, another trained mind with other ears may detect defects that might lead to serious difficulties later. his methods are difficult to describe; but a few main principles may be very interesting to vocalists. my daily work in practice is commenced by stretching exercises, in which i aim to free the muscles covering the upper part of the abdomen and the intercostal muscles at the side and back--all by stretching upward and writhing around, as it were, so that there cannot possibly be any constriction. then, with my elbows bent and my fists over my head, i stretch the muscles over my shoulders and shoulder blades. finally, i rotate my head upward and around, so that the muscles of the neck are freed and become very easy and flexible. while i am finishing with the last exercise i begin speaking in a fairly moderate tone such vowel combinations as "oh-ah," "oh-ah," "ee-ay," "ee-ay," "ee-ay-ee-ay-ee-ay," etc. while doing this i walk about the room so that there will not be any suggestion of stiltedness or vocal or muscular interference. at first this is done without the addition of any attempted nasal resonance. gradually nasal resonance is introduced with different spoken vowels, while at the same time every effort is made to preserve ease and flexibility of the entire body. then, when it seems as though the right vocal quality is coming, pitch is introduced at the most convenient range and exercises with pitch are taken through the range of the voice. the whole idea is to make the tones as natural and free and pure as possible with the least effort. i am opposed to the old idea of tone placing, in which the pupil toed a mark, set the throat at some prescribed angle, adjusted the tongue in some approved design, and then, gripped like the unfortunate victim in the old-fashioned photographer's irons, attempted to sing a sustained tone or a rapid scale. what was the result--consciousness and stiltedness and, as a rule, a tired throat and a ruined singer. these ideas may seem revolutionary to many. they are only a few of mr. stephens' very numerous devices; but for many years they have been of more benefit than anything else in keeping me vocally fit. we in the new world should be on the outlook for advance along all lines. our american composers have held far too close to european ideals and done too little real thinking for themselves. our vocal teachers and, for that matter, teachers in all branches of musical art in america have been most progressive in devising new ways and better methods. there will never be an american method of singing because we are too wise not to realize that every pupil needs different and special treatment. what is fine for one might be injurious to the next one. [illustration: evan williams.] evan williams biographical evan williams, as his name suggests, was of welsh ancestry, although born in trumbull county, ohio, sept. 7, 1867. as a boy his singing attracted the attention of his friends and neighbors. when a young man he went to mme. louise von fielitsen, in cleveland, and studied under her for four years. at the end of this time it became necessary for him to earn money immediately, as he had married at the age of twenty. accordingly he went with the "primrose and west" minstrels for one season. everywhere he appeared his voice attracted enthusiastic attention. this aroused his ambition and in 1894 he went to new york where he was engaged at all angels church at a yearly salary of $1000.00. six months later the marble collegiate church took him over at $1500.00 which was shortly raised to $2000.00. in 1896 he appeared at the worcester festival with great success and then went to new york to study with james sauvage for three years. notwithstanding his long terms of instruction with teachers of high reputation, mr. williams felt that he had still much to learn, as he would find himself singing finely one night and so badly on the next that he would resolve never to sing again. accordingly he studied with meehan for three years more. then he retired from the concert stage for three years in order to improve himself. deciding to appear in public again he went to london where he sang for three years with popular success. however, he was still dissatisfied with his voice. mr. williams' personal narrative tells how he got his voice back. his death, may 24, 1918, prevented him from carrying out his project to become a teacher and thus introduce his discoveries. the following, therefore, becomes of interesting historical significance. how i regained a lost voice evan williams there is nothing so disquieting to the singer as the feeling that his voice, upon which his artistic hopes, to say nothing of his livelihood, depend, is not a reliable organ, but a fickle thing which to-day may be in splendid condition but to-morrow may be gone. time and again i have been driven to the verge of desperation by my own voice. while i am grateful to all of my excellent teachers for the many valuable things they taught me, i had a strong feeling that there was something which i must know and which only i myself could find out for myself. after a very wide experience here and in england i found myself with so little confidence in my ability to produce uniformly excellent results when on the concert stage, that i retired to akron, ohio, resolving to spend the rest of my life in teaching. there i remained for four years, thinking out the great problem that confronted me. it is only during the last year that i have become convinced that i have solved it. my musical work has made me well-to-do and i want now to give my ideas to the world so that others may profit if they find them valuable. i have nothing to sell--but i trust that i can put into words, without inventing a new and bewildering nomenclature, something that will prove of practical assistance to young singers as it has been to me. an indisputable record in 1908 i left akron and resolved to try to reinstate myself in new york as a singer. i also made talking machine records, only to find that seldom could i make a record at the first attempt that was up to the very high standard maintained by the company in the case of all records placed upon the market for sale. this meant a great waste of my time and the company's material and services. it naturally set me thinking. if i could do it one time--why couldn't i do it all the time? there was no contradicting the talking machine record. the machine records the slightest blemish as well as the most perfect tone. there was no getting away from the fact that sometimes my singing was far from what i wished it to be. the strange thing about it all was that my singing did not seem to depend upon the physical condition or feeling of my throat. some days when my throat felt at its very best the records would come back in a way that i was ashamed of. it is a strange feeling to hear one's own voice from the talking machine. it sounds quite differently from the impression one gets while singing. i began to ponder, why were some of my records poor and others good? after deep thought for a very long period of time, i commenced to make certain postulates which i believe i have since proved (to my own satisfaction at least) to be reasonable and true. they not only resulted in an improvement in my voice, but they enabled me to do at command what i had previously been able to do only occasionally. they are: i. tone creates its own support. ii. much of the time spent in elaborate breathing exercises (while excellent for the health and valuable to the singer, in a way) do not produce the results that are expected. iii. the singer's first studies should be with his brain and ear, rather than through an attempt at muscular control of the breathing muscles. iv. vocal resonance can be developed through a proper understanding of tone color (vocal timbre), so that uniformly excellent production of tones will result. tone creates its own support the first two postulates can be discussed as one. tone creates its own support. how does a bird learn to sing? how does the animal learn to cry? how does the lion learn to roar? or the donkey learn to bray? by practicing breathing exercises? most certainly not. i have known many, many singers with splendid voices who have never heard of breathing exercises. go out into the welsh mining districts and listen to the voices. they learn to breathe by learning how to sing, and by singing. these men have lungs that the average vocal student would give a fortune to possess. by singing correctly they acquire all the lung control that any vocal composition could demand. as a matter of fact, one does not need such a huge amount of breath to sing. the average singer uses entirely too much. a goose has lungs ten times as large as a nightingale but that doesn't make the goose's song lovely to listen to. i have known men with lungs big enough to work a blast furnace who yet had little bits of voices, so small that they were ridiculous. it would be better for most vocal students to emit the breath for five seconds before attacking the tone. one of the reasons for much vocal forcing is too much breath. maybe i haven't thought about these things! i have spent hours in silence making up my mind. it is my firm conviction that the average person (entirely without instruction in breathing of a special kind) has enough breath to sing any phrase one might be called upon to sing. i think, without question, that teachers and singers have all been working their heads off to develop strength in the wrong direction. mind you--this is not a sermon against breathing. i believe in plenty of breathing exercises for the sake of one's health. a good position singers study breathing as though they were trying to learn how to push out the voice or pull it out by suction. by standing in a sensible position with the chest high (but not forced up) the lung capacity of the average individual is quite surprising. a good position can be secured through the old delsarte exercise which is as follows: i. stand on the balls of your feet, heels just touching the floor. ii. hold your arms at your side in a relaxed condition. iii. move your arms forward until they form an angle of forty-five degrees with the body. press the palms down until the chest is up comfortably. iv. now let your arms drop back without letting your chest fall. feel a sense of ease and freedom over the whole body. breathe naturally and deeply. in other words, to "poise" the breath, stand erect, at attention. most people when called to this "attention" posture stiffen themselves so that they are in a position of resistance. when i say _attention_,--i mean the position in which you have alertness but at the same time complete freedom,--when you can freely smile, sigh, scowl and sneer,--the attention that will permit expansion of the chest with every change of mood. then, open the mouth without inhaling. let the breath out for five seconds, close the mouth and inhale through the nostrils. i keep the fact that i breathe into the lungs through the nostrils before me all the time. again open the mouth without allowing the air to pass in. practice this until a comfortable stretch is felt in the flesh of the face, the top of the head, the back, the chest and the abdomen. if you stretch violently you will not experience this feeling. sensations i fully realize that much of what i have said will not be in accord with what is preached, practiced and taught by many vocal teachers and i cannot attempt to reply to any critics. i merely know what sensations and experiences i have had after a lifetime of practical work in a profession which has brought me a fortune. furthermore i know that anything anyone might say on the subject of the human voice would be at variance with the opinions of others. there is probably no subject in human ken in which there is such a marked difference of opinion. i can merely try to describe my own sensations and vocal experiences. in trying to represent the course of the sensation i experience in producing a good tone, i have employed the following illustration. imagine two pieces of whip cord. tie the ends together. place the knot immediately under the upper lip directly beneath the center bone of the nose, run the strings straight back for an inch, then up over the cheek bones, then down around the uvula, thence down the large cords inside the neck. at a point in the center between the shoulders the cords would split in order to let one set go down the back and the other toward the chest, meeting again under the arm-pits, thence down the short ribs, thence down and joining in another knot slightly back of the pelvic bone. laugh, if you will, but this is actually the sensation i have repeatedly felt in producing what the talking machine has shown to be a good tone. remember that there were plenty to laugh at columbus, gallileo and even darius green of the flying machine. stand in "attention" as directed, with the body responsive and the mind sensitive to physical impressions. when opening the mouth without taking in air a slight stretch will be experienced along the whole track i have described. the poise felt in this position is what permitted bob fitzsimmons to strike a deadly blow with a two-inch stroke. it is the responsive poise with which i sing both loud and soft tones. furthermore, i do not believe in an absolutely relaxed lower jaw as though it had been broken. who could sing with a broken jaw?--and a broken jaw would represent ideal relaxation. the jaw should be slightly stretched but never strained. i think that the word relaxation, as used by most teachers and as understood by most students, is responsible for more ruined voices than all other terms used in vocal teaching. i have talked this matter over with numberless great singers who are constantly before the public, and their very singing is the best contradiction of this. when you hold your hand out freely before you what is it that keeps it from falling at your side? that same condition controls the jaw. find it: it is not relaxation. if you would be a perfect singer find the juggler who is balancing a feather. imagine yourself poised on the top of that feather, and sing without falling off. contrasting timbres that lead to a beautiful tone when combined we shall now seek to illustrate two contrasting qualities of tones, between which lies that quality which i sought for so long. the desired quality is not a compromise, but seems to be located half way between two extremes, and may best be brought to the attention of the reader by describing the extremes. the first is a dark quality of tone. to get this, place the tips of the second fingers on the sides of the voice box (adam's apple) and make a dark almost breathy sound, using "u" as in the word hum. do this without any signs of strain. allow the sound to float up into the mouth and nose. to many there will also be a sensation as though the sound were also floating down into the lungs (into both lungs). do not make any conscious effort to force the sound or place it in any particular location. the sound will do it of its own accord if you do not strain. while the sound is being made, there will be a slight upward pulling of the voice box, a slight tugging at the voice box. this, of course, occurs automatically, and there should be no attempt to control it or promote it. it is nature at work. the tongue, while making this sound, should be limp, with the tip resting on the lower front teeth. all along it is necessary to caution the singer not to strive to do artificial things. therefore do not poke or stick the tip of your tongue against the front teeth. if your tongue is not strained it will rest there naturally. work at this exercise until you can fill the mouth and nose (and also seemingly the chest) with a rich, smooth, well-controlled, well-modulated dark sound and do it easily,--with slight effort. do not try to hold the sound in the throat. the second sound we shall experiment with is the extreme antithesis of the first sound. its resonance is high and it is bright in every sense. place the fingers on the joints just in front and above holes in the ears. open the mouth without inhaling and make the sound of "e" as in when. as the dark sound described before cannot be made too dark this sound cannot be made too strident. it is the extreme from the rumble of the drum to the piercing rasp of the file. i have called it the animal sound, and in calling it strident, please do not infer that the nose, or any part of the mouth or soft palate, should be pinched to make it nasal, in the restricted sense of that term. when i sing this tone it is accompanied with a sensation as though the tone were being reflected downward from the voice box over to each side of the chest just in front of the arm-pits and then downward into the abdomen. here the great danger arises that the unskilled student will try to produce this sensation, whereas the fact of the matter is that the sensation is the accompaniment of the properly produced tone and cannot be made artificially. don't work for the sensation, work for the tone that produces such a sensation. at the same time the tone has a sensation of upward reflection, as though it arose at the back of the voice box and separated there, passed up behind the jaws to the points where your fingers are resting, entering the mouth from above, as it were from a point just between the hard and soft palates, and becoming one sound in the mouth. the uvula and part of the soft palate should be associated with the dark sound. the hard palate and part of the soft palate should be associated with the strident tone. the tongue position in making the strident sound the tongue should rest in the same position as for the dark sound. the dark tone never changes and is the basic sound which gives fullness, foundation, depth to the ultimate tone. without it all voices are thin and unsubstantial. the nearer the singer gets to this the nearer he approaches the great vibrating base upon which the world is founded. remember that the dark tone never changes. it is the background, the canvas upon which the singer paints his infinite moods by means of different vowels, emotions, and the tone colors which are derived in numberless modifications from the strident tone. another simile may bring the subject nearer to the reader student. imagine the dark tone and all the sensations in different parts of the body as a kind of atmosphere or gas which requires to be set on fire by the electric spark of the strident tone. the dark tone is all necessary, but it is useless unless it is properly electrified by the strident tone. a practical step how shall we utilize what we have learned, so that the student may convince himself that herein ties the truth which, properly understood and sensibly applied, will lead to a means of improving his tone. if the foregoing has been carefully read and understood, the following exercise to get the tone which results from a combination of the dark and the strident is simple. i. stand erect as directed. ii. open the mouth _without inhaling_. iii. produce the dark tone ("u" as in hum). iv. close the mouth and allow the air to pass in and out of the nostrils for a few seconds. v. open the mouth without inhaling. vi. make the strident sound ("e" as in when). vii. close the mouth and let the air pass in and out of nostrils a few seconds. viii. open the mouth without inhaling. ix. sing the vowel "ah" as in _father_ in such a manner that it is a combination of the dark tone and the strident tone. x. do this in such a way that all of the breathy disagreeable features of the dark tone disappear but its foundation features remain to give it fullness and roundness, while all of the disagreeable features of the strident tone disappear although its color-giving, light-giving, life-giving characteristics are retained to give the combination-tone richness and sweetness. a beautiful result is inevitable, if the principle is properly understood. i have tried this with many people who have sung but little before in their lives and who were not conscious of having interesting voices. without a long course of vocal lessons or anything of the sort they have been able to produce in a short time--a very few minutes--a tone that would be admired by any critic. a comfortable pitch it is to be assumed that the student will, in these experiments, take the pitch in his voice which is most comfortable. having mastered the combination tone on "ah" at any pitch, it will be easy to try other pitches and other vowels. "ah" is the natural vowel, but having secured the "know how" through a correct production of "ah" the same results may be attained with any other vowel produced in a similar way. "e" as in _see_ has of course more of the strident quality, the high, bright quality and "oo" as in moon more of the dark, but even these extreme tones may be so placed that they become enriched through the employment of resonance of all those parts of the mouth, nose and body which may be brought naturally to reinforce them. "ping" i have never met a singer who was not looking for "ping" or what is called brightness. most voices are hopelessly dead, and therefore lack sweetness. the voices are filled with night--black hollow gloomy night or else they are as strident as the caterwauling of a tom cat. the happy mean between the extremes is the area in which the singer's greatest results are attained. think of your tone, always. the breath will then take care of itself. if the tone has a tremulo, or sounds stuffy or sounds weak, you have not apportioned the right amount of breath to it, but you are not going to gain this information by thinking of the breath but by thinking of the tone. let your own ears convince you now, that is all there is to it. i am not striving to found a method or anything of the sort; but i have seen students waste years on what is called "voice placing" and not come to anything like the same result that will come after the accomplishment of this simple matter. try it out with your own voice. you will see in a short time what it will do. your own ears will convince you, to say nothing of the ears of your friends. all i know is that after i discovered this, it was possible for me to employ it and make records with so small a percentage of discard that i have been surprised. it remains for the intelligent teachers to apply such knowledge to a systematic vocal course of exercises, studies and songs, which will help the pupil to progress most rapidly. don't think that i am pretending to tell all that there is to vocal culture in an hour. it is a great and important study upon which i have spent a lifetime. however, as i said before, i have nothing to sell and i am only too happy to give this information which has cost me so many hours of thought to crystallize. typographical errors corrected by the transcriber of this etext: talmadge=>talmage artious=>artibus citadal=>citadel wohltemperites=>wohltemperiertes liebenswurdig=>liebenswürdig délibes=>delibes words not changed: unforgetable, skilful, beyreuth, marvelous 