filled 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 o