every pupil in this way and cured many of the tremolo habit
by showing them how to breathe properly and then use this art
intelligently. The art of breathing is not alone the thing to
understand. There are many other points of importance to remember,
but the art of breathing is the fundamental stone that has to be well
grounded to secure the lasting success of the conscientious and
intelligent student. Each person must feel the action of the different
parts that go to make up the vocal instrument, which strengthens my
assertion that each individual must have his own separate instruction
as he possesses the charm of his own personality and musical
temperament. Many students may have complete knowledge of how it
should be done, and yet in the performance they do just the opposite,
from a feeling of self-consciousness and the fear of being ridiculed
in their efforts to sing. The mind must first recognize, then control,
until automatic action is established and there is no danger of
self-consciousness. One must learn the elements of singing--no amount
of intelligence will enable a person rightly to interpret a song if he
has not first learned that department thoroughly. For in order to
offer an interpretation to an audience, the singer must have a
complete command of the technique of his art. The singers of today are
not so skillful as they were in the eighteenth century, because they
are not patient enough to study the essential tone production which
must be produced to make tones that are satisfying to themselves and
also to the sensitive and cultivated ears of the listeners. A singer
must reject any unmusical sound and, above all things, rule out any
departure from the pitch. Singing out of tune is not singing at all.
They can never be relied upon and are therefore unsatisfactory for any
use at all. It seems simple enough to sing, yet to get the correct,
pure tone one must work daily to accomplish perfection. There are many
singers who attain a certain amount of distinction on the operatic
stage that cannot produce a full, round, sympathetic tone. They may
have powerful tones and astonish the public, yet in a short season the
tones become dull or heavy or sharp, ear-splitting and their
victorious career is finished and oblivion mercifully covers them.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

TREMOLO

In writing about one of the greatest faults in the teaching of vocal
music I wish to put my most emphatic criticism upon the Tremol