or to six years of age are very, very weak. Speaking of
infant voices, Mr. W. M. Miller, in Browne and Behnke's afore-mentioned
work, "The Child-Voice," is quoted as saying; "Voice-_training_ cannot
be attempted, but voice-_destruction_ may be prevented. Soft singing is
the cure for all the ills of the vocal organs." It would be hard to find
a more terse or truthful statement than the first sentence of the above
as regards the voices of little children from five to seven or eight
years of age. It is unmitigated foolishness to talk about vocal training
as applied to children of that age. The voice-culture which is suited to
little children is that sort of culture which promotes growth-- food and
sleep and play. As well train a six months' old colt for the race track,
as attempt to develop the voice of a child of six or seven years with
exercises on _o_, and _ah_, _pianissimo_ and _fortissimo_, _crescendo_,
_diminuendo_ and _swell_. Their voices must be used in singing as
_lightly as possible_. This answers the question, how softly should they
sing?

Children during the first two or three years of school-life may be
permitted to sing from

[Music: e' e'']

or if the new pitch is used from

[Music: f' f'']

Two or three practical difficulties will at once occur to the teacher
with reference to songs and exercises which range lower than E first
line, and with reference to the customary teaching of the scale of C as
the initial step in singing.

The subject of compass of children's voices will be discussed at some
length in a following chapter, but for the present it may be said that
the difficulty with songs and exercises ranging below the pitch
indicated may be overcome easily by pitching the songs, etc., a tone or
two higher. If they then range too high, don't sing them, sing something
else. In teaching the scale, take E or F as the keynote, and sing either
one or the other of those scales first. The children must sing as softly
as possible in all their singing exercises, whether songs or note drill.
They should be taught to open their mouths well, to sit or stand erect
as the case may be, and under no circumstances should the instructor
sing with them. Too much importance can hardly be given to this last
statement. If teachers persist in leading the songs with their own
voices and in singing exercises with the children, they can and most
probably will defeat all efforts to secure the right tone in either t