fact is, the artistic is at present much better understood and
appreciated than the technical; were it not so, such erratic
literature on the subject of breathing could never have appeared.

On another aspect of the subject there is room for much greater
difference of opinion. Among even eminent singers and teachers there
is lack of agreement in regard to the part the diaphragm and abdomen
should play in the most vigorous (_fortissimo_) singing.

Singers of renown practise what may be termed a sort of "forced"
abdominal or diaphragmatic breathing. The breath is so taken that the
whole chest is filled, the diaphragm brought well down, and the
abdominal walls drawn in (retracted), which gives the singer, in all
parts above and below, a bellows with tense walls in all parts, with
the great advantage that such breathing permits of a firmness
otherwise unattainable, and he is enabled to exert his breath force
with great certainty and power, and, as some maintain, with all the
control necessary for even delicate effects.

[Illustration: FIG. 44. Intended to express to the eye the two views
of respiration discussed in the body of the work (p. 113-117). The
dotted lines indicate the form of the chest and abdomen advocated by
some as the best for the singing or speaking of long and vigorous
passages.]

Against this it has been urged that it is unnatural, not according to
what is found in man and other animals in nature. It is perhaps
forgotten that when we make a great effort, as in lifting, we put the
breathing apparatus into just this state; we gird up our loins--or the
equivalent of that process--so that this method cannot be said to be
contrary to nature. The only question seems to be as to whether it is
necessary and advantageous, or wasteful of energy. For ordinary
efforts it does not seem to be necessary, though the chest must in
singing and speaking always be _held_ more or less full, not by any
deliberate and painful effort, but in a quiet, unobtrusive way.

The diagram (Fig. 44) will make the difference in the theories
referred to clear.

Up to the present the student has been urged to fill his chest, after
days of less vigorous practice, to the fullest, retain the mechanism
in this condition for a short time, and then in the slowest and most
regular fashion relax it, the purpose being development and control.
In actual speaking and singing such breathing is not usually either
possible or desirable.

Nature