ion of singing.
Through long continued listening to voices, the precepts come to have a
very real meaning. It is inevitable therefore that the teacher should
try to impart to the pupil this intimate feeling for the voice. True,
this acquaintance with the voice is purely empirical; as has just been
remarked, no mechanical analysis of this empirical knowledge has ever
been successfully made. The modern teacher's apprehension of the meaning
of the precepts is only very vaguely connected with a supposed insight
into the mechanical processes of tone-production.

Yet there is nothing vague about the impression made on the teacher in
listening to his pupils. On the contrary, every faulty tone impresses
the teacher very keenly and definitely as being too far back, or as
caught in the throat, or as falling back for lack of support, etc. How
could it be expected then, that the teacher should refrain from telling
the pupil to correct the faulty production, in the manner so clearly and
directly indicated by the tones?

But this direct application of the precepts is of absolutely no value in
instruction, because of the teacher's ignorance of the mechanical
processes supposedly involved. There is after all some justification for
Guetta's criticism of empirical instruction. It is all very well for the
teacher to feel that the pupil's voice is gripped in the throat, and to
bid him "open your throat." The pupil may strive ever so earnestly to
open his throat, but he does not know how, and the teacher is utterly
unable to tell him.

All instruction based on the empirical precepts is thus seen to be
extremely unsatisfactory. While the precepts convey a very valuable
meaning to the teacher, no way has ever been found for translating this
meaning into rules for the mechanical management of the vocal organs.
Recourse is had, to some extent, to a description of the singer's
sensations; exercises on special vowels and consonants are also much
used, for imparting the ideas embodied in the precepts. Both of these
topics are now to be considered.

_The Singer's Sensations_

The correct use of the voice awakens in the singer a variety of
sensations generally held to be different from those accompanying any
incorrect vocal action.

One important fact must first be noted regarding the manner in which the
singer's sensations are described by various authorities. The use of the
voice awakens a wide variety of local sensations, which bear no
ne