he sociability of two or more
musical strains. Melody denotes the pleasing combustion of musical and
measured sounds, as they succeed each other in transit. The elements
of vocal music consist of seven original tones which constitute the
diatonic scale, together with its steps and half steps, the whole being
compromised in ascending notes and half notes, thus:

Do re mi fa sol la si do--
Do si la sol fa mi re do.

Now, the diapason is the ad interium, or interval betwixt and between
the extremes of an octave, according to the diatonic scale. The turns
of music consist of the appoggiatura which is the principal note, or
that on which the turn is made, together with the note above and the
semi-tone below, the note above being sounded first, the principal note
next and the semi-tone below, last, the three being performed sticatoly,
or very quickly. Now, if you will keep these simple propersitions clear
in your physical mind, there is no power under the broad canister of
heaven which can prevent you from becoming succinctly contaminated with
the primary and elementary rudiments of music. With these few sanguinary
remarks we will now proceed to diagnosticate the exercises of the
mornin' hour. Please turn to page thirty-four of the Southern harmony."
And we turned. "You will discover that this beautiful piece of music is
written in four-four time, beginning on the downward beat. Now, take the
sound--sol mi do--All in unison--one, two, three, _sing_:

[Illustration: (Sheet Music)]

Sol sol, mi fa sol, la sol fa, re re re, re mi fa
Re mi fa, sol fa mi, do do do--
Si do re, re re re, mi do si do, re do si la sol,
Si do re, re mi fa sol la, sol fa mi, do do do."

[Illustration: BEATING TIME.]

THE GRAND OPERA.

[Illustration: THE GRAND OPERA SINGER.]

I heard a great Italian Tenor sing in the Grand Opera, and Oh! how like
the dew on the flowers is the memory of his song! He was playing the
role of a broken-hearted lover in the opera of the "Bohemian Girl."
I can only repeat it as it impressed me--an humble young man from the
mountains who never before had heard the _Grand Opera_:

[Illustration: (Sheet Music)]

"When ethaer-r-r leeps and ethaer-r-r hairts,
Their-r-r tales auf luff sholl tell,
In longwidge whose ex-cess impair-r-r-ts.
The power-r-r-r they feel so well,
There-r-r-e may per-haps in-a such a s-c-e-n-e
Some r-r-re-co-lec-tion be,
Auf days thot haive as hop-py