everything to me--it is my life. As a child and young girl, I was
the despair of my playmates because I would not join their games; I did
not care to skate, play croquet or tennis, or such things. I never
wanted to exercise violently, and, to me, unnecessarily, because it
interfered with my singing; took energy which I thought might be better
applied. As I grew older I did not care to keep late hours and be in an
atmosphere where people smoked and perhaps drank, for these things were
bad for my voice and I could not do my work next day. My time is always
regularly laid out. I rise at half past seven, and am ready to work at
nine. I do not care to sit up late at night, either, for I think late
hours react on the voice. Occasionally, if we have a few guests for
dinner, I ask them, when ten thirty arrives, to stay as long as they
wish and enjoy themselves, but I retire.

TECHNICAL STUDY

"There are gifted people who may be called natural born singers. Melba
is one of these. Such singers do not require much technical practice, or
if they need a little of it, half an hour a day is sufficient. I am not
one of those who do not need to practice. I give between one and two
hours daily to vocalizes, scales and tone study. But I love it! A scale
is beautiful to me, if it is rightly sung. In fact it is not merely a
succession of notes; it represents color. I always translate sound into
color. It is a fascinating study to make different qualities of tonal
color in the voice. Certain roles require an entirely different range of
colors from others. One night I must sing a part with thick, heavy,
rich tones; the next night my tones must be thinned out in quite another
timbre of the voice, to fit an opposite character."

Asked if she can hear herself, Miss Farrar answered:

"No, I do not actually hear my voice, except in a general way; but we
learn to know the sensations produced in muscles of throat, head, face,
lips and other parts of the anatomy, which vibrate in a certain manner
to correct tone production. We learn the _feeling_ of the tone.
Therefore every one, no matter how advanced, requires expert advice as
to the results.

WITH LEHMANN

"I have studied for a long time with Lilli Lehmann in Berlin; in fact I
might say she is almost my only teacher, though I did have some
instruction before going to her, both in America and Paris. You see, I
always sang, even as a very little girl. My mother has excellent taste
and kno