ertainty is eliminated. These principles are few in
number, in fact they may all be brought under two general heads. The
first is =KNOW WHAT YOU WANT=. The second is =HAVE THE CONDITIONS
RIGHT=. The meaning of these statements can never be learned from a
study of vocal physiology; nevertheless they contain all of the law and
the prophets on this subject. Any musician may be a successful teacher
of singing if he will master them. I use the word _musician_ advisedly,
because musical sense is of such vital importance that no amount of
mechanical knowledge can take its place. To undertake the training of
voices with only a mechanical knowledge of the subject is a handicap
which no one can overcome.

It is universally true that the less one knows of the art of singing the
more he concerns himself with the mechanism; and it is also true that
the more one is filled with the spirit of song the less he concerns
himself with the construction of the vocal instrument. People with
little or no musicianship have been known to wrangle ceaselessly on
whether or not the thyroid cartilage should tip forward on high tones.
It is such crude mechanics masquerading under the name of science that
has brought voice training into general disrepute. The voice teacher is
primarily concerned with learning to play upon the vocal instrument
rather than upon its mechanical construction, two things which some find
difficulty in separating.

KNOW WHAT YOU WANT

This means much. In voice production it means the perfect tone concept.
It means far more than knowing what one likes. What one likes and what
he ought to like are usually quite different things. What one likes is
the measure of his taste at that particular time and may or may not be
an argument in its favor. I have never seen a beginner whose taste was
perfectly formed, but the great majority of them know what they like,
and because they like a certain kind of tone, or a certain way of
singing, they take it for granted that it is right until they are shown
something better. This error is by no means confined to beginners.

If your pupil does not produce good tone one of two things is
responsible for it. Either he does not know a good tone or else the
conditions are not right. In the beginning it is usually both. Your
pupil must create his tone mentally before he sings it. He must create
its quality no less than its pitch. In other words _he must hear his
tone before he sings it and then s