continued long enough, and will enable the singer to overcome nervous or
mental depression as well.

The different sensations in producing the tone vary according to the
comparative height and depth. Beginning from the medium tones, the
singer will feel as if each tone of the descending scale were being sung
farther outside of the mouth, the vibration hitting the upper teeth as
it goes out, whereas with the ascending scale the vibrations pass
through the nasal cavities, through the cavity in the forehead and up
back into the head, until one feels as if the tone were being formed
high over the head at the back.

I want to say right here that whenever a young singer feels
uncomfortable when singing he or she is singing incorrectly.

In attacking the note on the breath, particularly in the high notes, it
is quite possible that at first the voice will not respond. For a long
time merely an emission or breath or perhaps a little squeak on the high
note is all that can be hoped for. If, however, this is continued,
eventually the head voice will be joined to the breath, and a faint note
will find utterance which with practice will develop until it becomes an
easy and brilliant tone.

The reason that the tone has not been able to come forth is because the
vocal apparatus cannot adjust itself to the needs of the vocal chords or
because they themselves have not accustomed themselves to respond to the
will of the singer and are too stiff to perform their duty.

The scale is the greatest test of voice production. No opera singer, no
concert singer, who cannot sing a perfect scale can be said to be a
technician or to have achieved results in her art. Whether the voice be
soprano, mezzo or contralto, each note should be perfect of its kind,
and the note of each register should partake sufficiently of the quality
of the next register above or below it in order not to make the
transition noticeable when the voice ascends or descends the scale. This
blending of the registers is obtained by the intelligence of the singer
in mixing the different tone qualities of the registers, using as aids
the various formations of the lips, mouth and throat and the ever
present apoggio without which no perfect scale can be sung.

Facial Expression and Mirror Practice

In studying a new role I am in the habit of practicing in front of a
mirror in order to get an idea of the effect of a facial expression and
to see that it does not take a