melody is absolutely steady tone combined with a perfect
_legato_, and neither of these desirable things can be achieved
without perfect breath control, this matter applying to choral singing
as forcefully as it does to solo work.

[Sidenote: RESONANCE]

The next point to be noted is that the carrying power and quality of a
voice depend far more upon the use made of the resonance cavities than
upon the violence with which the vocal cords vibrate. Every musical
instrument involves, in its production of tone, a combination of three
elements:

1. The vibrating body.

2. The force which sets the body in vibration.

3. The reinforcing medium (the sound board of a piano, the
body of a violin, _et cetera_.)

In the case of the human voice, the vocal cords (or, as they might
more properly be termed, the vocal _bands_) constitute the vibrating
body; the air expelled from the lungs is the force which sets the
cords in vibration; and the cavities of the mouth, nose, and to a
lesser extent, of the remainder of the head and even of the chest, are
the reinforcing medium--the resonator. A small voice cannot of course
be made into a large one; but by improving its placement, and
particularly by reinforcing it with as much resonance power as
possible, it may be caused to fill even a large auditorium. This
involves such details as keeping the tongue down, allowing part of the
air to pass through the nose, focusing the tone against the roof of
the mouth just back of the teeth, opening the mouth exactly the right
distance, forming the lips in just the right way, _et cetera_. The
result is that instead of sounding as though it came from the throat,
the tone apparently comes from the upper part of the mouth just back
of the teeth; and instead of seeming to be forced out, it appears to
flow or float out without the slightest effort on the part of the
singer. A forced or squeezed-out tone is always bad--bad for the voice
and bad for the ear of the listener!

[Sidenote: THE VOWEL IN SINGING]

Another point to be noted by the conductor is that one sings upon
vowels and not upon consonants; that most of the consonants are in
fact merely devices for interrupting the vowel sounds in various
ways; and that good tone depends largely upon the ability of the
singer to select the best of several different sounds of the vowel and
to hold this sound without any change in quality during the entire
time that the tone is prolon