l--the clavicle plays so
small a part, that the method may be termed mixed costal and
diaphragmatic.

The breath having been taken in, it should be held for a brief space
of time.

In expiration, allow the breath to escape very slowly. Maintain the
chest firm and expanded, and add, as occasion requires, to the natural
inward and upward pressure of the abdominal muscles. Avoid all throat
effect. After expiration the chest and abdominal pressure is relaxed
and the next inspiration prepared for.

Take in breath through the nostrils, emit it through the mouth. This
latter instruction may seem superfluous, but it is not. In the so-called
"backward production" of voice, considerable air escapes through the
nasal passages and the tone-quality is nasal and disagreeable.

It is of the highest importance to acquire a correct method of breathing,
and to acquire it so thoroughly that it becomes second nature. In the
beginning it may be necessary to bear each successive step in mind and
make sure that it is not omitted. But very soon artistic breathing to
sustain song becomes as much a habit as is breathing to sustain life. We
breathe, or we cannot live; we breathe artistically, or we cannot sing.
But to breathe artistically really is no great problem. It is a simple
matter, yet fraught with great and invaluable results to the singer; and
it is a simple matter because it becomes so easily a matter of habit. The
nerves of the breathing-muscles send and receive messages to and from the
nerve-centre, but after incredibly little practice this interchange of
messages over the nervous system becomes so swift that it may be said to
take place by anticipation, and the person who benefits by it is unaware
that it takes place at all. Correct breathing has then become a habit.
This habit, this smooth working, automatic cooperation of nerves with
breathing-muscles, may be thrown out of gear by something unusual, such
as the excitement attending a debut.

The singer faces an audience or a strange audience for the first time,
and the first unfavorable and disconcertive effect travels over the
nerves to the respiratory organs. Regular breathing is at such times one
of the best ways to allay the undue excitement caused by the unusual
surroundings. Before beginning to sing the artist should, and on such
occasions with conscious artistry, immediately reestablish control of
respiration by taking a few deep breaths. I have said before that the
bo