erent 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 aesthetic studies of Style and Repertoire. 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 a