sition of the larynx
will suffice to show how great is the confusion on this topic:

"The larynx should be held low in the throat for all tones." "It should
be held in a fixed position high in the throat." "It should be high for
low tones, and should descend as the pitch rises." "It should be in a
low position for the lowest note of each register, and should rise as
the pitch rises; when the highest note of the register is reached, it
should at once descend for the lowest note of the next register."
Prominent teachers and writers could be cited as authority for each of
these rules, and indeed for several others. A similar diversity of
opinion is found regarding the rules given for the position of the
tongue and the soft palate.

Practices vary greatly as to the amount of time and attention devoted to
muscular drills of the parts under consideration, and also as to the
importance attached to the positions of these parts. Some teachers make
this a prominent feature of their methods. The majority, however, treat
the subject much more lightly. They now and then devote a part of the
lesson time to the muscular drills and exercises; for the rest, an
occasional hint or correction regarding the positions of the parts is
deemed sufficient.

All the movements of the tongue, lips, and jaw are directly under
voluntary control. Exercises for these parts are therefore given only
for acquiring suppleness and agility. The muscular movements of the
larynx and soft palate are readily brought under control. Each can
simply be raised and lowered. A few minutes' daily practice, extended
over three or four weeks, is generally sufficient for the student to
acquire satisfactory command of these actions. But to hold the tongue,
palate, and larynx in any prescribed position, while singing a tone, is
an extremely troublesome matter. Those teachers who adhere to precise
systems for the positions of these parts, frequently impose much arduous
practice on their pupils. As to the merits of any special system of the
kind, this question is reserved for future discussion.

_Attack_

It would be hard to determine when the term "attack" was first used to
describe the starting of a vocal tone. Nor is it easy to define the
precise position assigned to the subject of attack by vocal theorists.
No satisfactory statement of the theory of attack can be cited from any
published treatise on Vocal Science. It is commonly asserted, rather
loosely indeed, that