adjustment without
discomfort. The solution of this problem lies in gaining such freedom
from tension in the vocal instrument that it automatically readjusts
itself for each tone. The tension is then evenly distributed throughout
the scale and the sudden changes disappear. This is precisely what
happens when the singer has learned to produce an even scale throughout
his compass; his voice production is not right until he can do this.

The statement is frequently made in public print that there are no
registers in the trained voice. This order of wisdom is equally
scintillating with that profound intellectual effort which avers that a
bald headed man has no hair on the top of his head, or that hot weather
is due to a rise in the temperature. These statements may be heavy-laden
with truth, but to the voice teacher they are irrelevant. His work is at
least seven-eighths with untrained voices. By the time he has worked out
an even scale with all of the other problems that go hand in hand with
it, for a great deal of the art of singing will naturally accompany it,
a large majority of his pupils are ready to move on. Only a small per
cent prepare for a musical career. Most of his work is with voices that
still need to be perfected. It is for voices of this kind that the
teacher lives. It is for such voices that vocal methods are evolved and
books written.

A lighthearted, easy going assurance is not sufficient alone to compass
the problems that present themselves in the studio. If the teacher is
conscientious there will be times when he will feel deeply the need of
something more than human wisdom. The work in the studio has more to do
with the future than with the immediate present. The singing lesson is a
small part of what the student carries with him. The atmosphere of the
studio, which is the real personality of the teacher, his ideals, aims,
the depth of his sincerity, in short, his concept of the meaning of
life, goes with the student and will be remembered when the lesson is
forgotten.

V

THE NATURE AND MEANING OF ART

One function, then, of art is to feed and mature the imagination
and the spirit, and thereby enhance and invigorate the whole of
human life.

_Ancient Art and Ritual_. Jane Ellen Harrison.

A large percentage of the population of the civilized world has more or
less to do with what is called art. In its various forms art touches in
some degree practic