uction the more readily it is heard and the
more easily it can be imitated.

Let us imagine the case of a vocal teacher who undertakes to teach a
gifted pupil by having the pupil imitate tones of faulty production, and
gradually correcting the faults in the tones sung as a model for the
pupil. The master is of course understood to have perfect command of his
own voice. Suppose this master to begin the course of instruction by
singing for the pupil tones of exaggerated throaty quality, and bidding
the pupil to imitate these tones. Naturally, the pupil would have no
difficulty in doing so. At the next lesson the master would very
slightly improve the quality of the tones sung as a model for the
pupil's imitation. The student would listen to these tones and model his
daily practice accordingly. Just so soon as the student had succeeded in
correctly reproducing this slightly less throaty tone the master would
again set a slightly improved model.

With each successive step the master might eliminate, one by one, the
faults of his own tone-production. Following the same course, the pupil
would also gradually approach a correct model of tone. Finally, all the
faults of tone-production having been corrected, both of master and
pupil, the latter would be called upon to imitate perfect vocal tones.
It would necessarily follow either that the student would successfully
imitate the master's perfect tones or that at some point in this
progress the student's imitative faculty would be found lacking.

Could any point be located at which the student would be unable to
imitate the teacher's voice? This could certainly not be in the early
stages of the course. Any one can imitate a very bad throaty or nasal
tone. This being done, the imitation of a slightly less faulty tone
would also present no difficulty. A second improvement in the master's
model tone would again be readily imitated, and so on, with each
succeeding correction of the faults of production. When the last trace
of faulty production in the student's voice had been eliminated, he
would be singing perfect tones. It is utterly impossible to define a
point in this progress at which the pupil would be unable to imitate the
teacher's voice. If a bad fault of production can be imitated, so can a
comparatively slight fault. Further, if the pupil can correct his
pronounced faulty production by imitating a tone not quite so faulty, so
can he improve upon this tone by imitating a s