Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 36.djvu/262

250 in the smallest degree diminishes the vital capacity seriously handicaps the singer.

Although the abdominal mode of breathing may be the natural method of inspiration, there can, I think, be no doubt that in singing it is not the most effective. On this point the empirical traditions of singing-masters were abandoned some years ago in favor of what was supposed to be the teaching of science, and now singers are often taught to breathe by pushing down the diaphragm and protruding the stomach. Anatomists are, however, beginning to see that the Italian masters were right in insisting that the diaphragm should be fixed, and the abdomen flat in inspiration; in this method there is great expansion of the lower ribs, and the increase in the capacity of the chest takes place chiefly in this direction. In this form of breathing there is far more control over expiration than when the diaphragm is displaced; the act can be regulated absolutely by the will to suit the requirements of the vocalist. Abdominal inspiration is apt, on the other hand, to be followed by jerky expiration, a defect which is fatal to artistic delivery and most fatiguing to the singer.

The training of the other parts of the vocal machinery, the vibrating element and the resonant apparatus, lies altogether outside my province. What I may call the "fingering" of the vocal cords and the "tuning" of the resonators can be acquired only by constant practice under a good teacher. There is no such thing as a self-taught singer. Constant imitation of the best models and the watchful discipline of an experienced instructor constitute the real secret of the old Italian schools of singing, which gave such splendid results. Tosi insisted that the pupil should never sing at all except in the presence of a master. It is important that the very best teacher that can be found should be chosen; it is a false economy to trust a young voice to an inferior man on the ground of cheapness. To masters I venture to hint that they should strive to train their pupils according to the traditions of the golden age of song before the laryngoscope was invented.

I have only to add that the ear should be not less carefully trained than the vocal organs. An old Scotch minister used to tell his flock that the conscience should be kept "as white as the breest o' a clean sark." The ear is the conscience of the voice, and its purity should be not less jealously guarded. Many singers of the finest vocal endowment fail from a defect of ear; their condition is like that of a color-blind painter. Passing indisposition may sometimes vitiate the ear as well as the temper; the artist should on no account attempt to sing under such circumstances.

Two questions in connection with the training of the voice still remain to be discussed—viz., when it should be commenced, and whether it should be interrupted during the so-called "cracking"