o
use his voice by imitating the voice of the master. Second, that the
initial work of "voice placing" was merely an incident in the training
in sight singing and the rudiments of music. Third, that "voice placing"
was considered of too little importance to claim the attention of
masters of the first rank. This feature of instruction, so important now
as to overshadow all else, was at that time left to masters of a lower
rank.

This passage is followed by a short discourse on the rudiments of _Sol
Fa_, a subject of only academic interest to the modern student. We are
so thoroughly accustomed nowadays to the diatonic scale that it is
almost impossible for us to understand the old system of _Muance_ or
_Solmisation_. Suffice it to say that only four keys were known, and
that each note was called by its full Sol-Fa name. Thus D was called
_D-la-sol-re_, C was _C-sol-fa-ut_, etc. In studying sight singing, the
student pronounced the full name of each note in every exercise.
Instruction in singing began with this study of sight reading. In the
course of this practice the student somehow learned to produce his voice
correctly.

Tosi does not leave us in doubt what was to be done in order to lead
the pupil to adopt a correct manner of tone-production. "Let the master
do his utmost to make the scholar hit and sound the notes perfectly in
tune in _Sol-Fa-ing_.... Let the master attend with great care to the
voice of the scholar, which should always come forth neat and clear,
without passing through the nose or being choaked in the throat." To
sing in tune and to produce tones of good quality,--this summed up for
Tosi the whole matter of tone-production.

Many teachers in the old days composed _Sol-Fa_ exercises and vocalises
for their own use. Tosi did not think this indispensable. But he points
out the need of the teacher having an extensive repertoire of graded
exercises and vocalises. To his mind these should always be melodious
and singable. "If the master does not understand composition let him
provide himself with good examples of _Sol-Fa-ing_ in divers stiles,
which insensibly lead from the most easy to the most difficult,
according as he finds the scholar improves; with this caution, that
however difficult, they may be always natural and agreeable, to induce
the scholar to study with pleasure."

How many months of study were supposed to be required for this
preliminary course we have no means of judging from Tosi's