escaping, and the more rigid he
becomes the less control he has. A large number of examples of this kind
of breath management have come under my observation. They all show the
evil results of over working an idea.

But the followers of "the-breath-is-the-whole-thing" idea say "You can't
sing without breath control." Solomon never said a truer thing, but the
plan just mentioned is the worst possible way to secure it.

Every one should know that not a single one of the processes of voice
production is right until it is working automatically, and automatic
action is the result of indirect, never of direct control.

The profession has become pretty thoroughly imbued with the idea that
deep breathing, known as abdominal, or diaphragmatic is the best for
purposes of singing. But how deep? The answer is, the deeper the better.
Here again it is easy to overstep the bounds. I have in mind numerous
instances where the singer, under the impression that he was practicing
deep breathing tried to control the breath with the lower abdominal
muscles, but no matter how great the effort made there was little tonal
response, for the reason that the pressure exerted was not against the
lungs but against the contents of the abdomen. The diaphragm is the
point of control. The lungs lie above it, not below it. To concentrate
the thought on the lower abdominal muscles means to lose control of the
diaphragm, the most important thing involved in breath management.

The process of breathing is simple. The lungs are enclosed in an air
tight box of which the diaphragm is the bottom. It rests under the lungs
like an inverted saucer. In the act of contracting it flattens toward a
plane and in so doing it moves downward and forward, away from the
lungs. The ribs move outward, forward and upward. The lungs which occupy
this box like a half compressed sponge follow the receding walls, and a
vacuum is created which air rushes in to fill. In exhalation the action
is reversed. The ribs press against the lungs and the diaphragm slowly
returns to its original position and the breath is forced out like
squeezing water out of a sponge.

The one important thing in breath management is the diaphragm. If the
student has the right action of the diaphragm he will have no further
trouble with breath control. In my Systematic Voice Training will be
found a list of exercises which thoroughly cover the subject of breath
control and if properly used will correct al