ly. This can often be
accomplished by a look in the direction of the singer who is causing
the trouble; but if this does not suffice, then a private admonition
may be necessary--and here we have a situation in which the diplomacy
and the good humor of the conductor must be exercised to the utmost,
especially if the offending voice belongs to a prominent member of,
and perhaps a liberal contributor to, the church. In such a case, one
may sometimes, without unduly compromising one's reputation for
veracity, inform the offending member that his method of singing is
very bad indeed for his voice, and if persisted in will surely ruin
that organ!

Needless to say, the conductor must exercise the utmost tactfulness in
dealing with such matters as these, but it is our belief that if he
insists strongly enough in the rehearsal upon a unified body of tone
from each part, and backs this up by private conversations with
individual members, with perhaps a free lesson or two in correct voice
placement, or even the elimination of one or two utterly hopeless
voices, a fine quality of voice blending will eventually result. It
might be remarked at this point that such desirable homogeneity of
tone will only eventuate if each individual member of the choir
becomes willing to submerge his own voice in the total effect of his
part; and that learning to give way in this fashion for the sake of
the larger good of the entire group is one of the most valuable social
lessons to be learned by the young men and women of today. It is the
business of the choir leader to drive home this lesson whenever
necessary. It is also his task to see to it that no member of his
choir by his actions causes any interference with the worship of the
congregation. In plain speech, it is his duty to see to it that choir
members conduct themselves in a manner appropriate to their position,
and that they do not by whispering, laughing, note writing, and other
similar frivolities, hinder in any way the development of a spirit of
reverent devotion on the part of the congregation.

[Sidenote: SOLO SINGING IN THE CHURCH SERVICE]

Another type of undesirable individualism is to be found in the case
of the church solo singer. We have no quarrel with the sacred solo
when sung in such a way as to move the hearts of the congregation to a
more sincere attitude of devotion; and we are entirely willing to
grant that the sacred solo has the inherent possibility of becoming as
p