of this world's approval and applause afforded by
the "great horseshoe."

The Voice and Tone Production

The question, "How is it done?" as applied to the art of singing brings
up so many different points that it is difficult to know where to begin
or how to give the layman in any kind of limited space a concise idea of
the principles controlling the production of the voice and their
application to vocal art.

Every singer or singing master is popularly supposed to have a method by
following out which he has come to fame. Yet if asked to describe this
method many an artist would be at a loss to do so, or else deny that he
had any specific method at all, such a subtle and peculiarly individual
matter it is that constitutes the technical part of singing. Most
singers--in fact, all of them--do many things in singing habitually, yet
so inconspicuously that they could not describe how or why they did
them. Yet this little set of "artistic" habits all arise from most
logical causes and have become habits from their fitness to the
personality of their owner and their special value in enabling that
singer to do his best work by their aid. For instance, a singer will
know from trials and experience just the proper position of the tongue
and larynx to produce most effectively a certain note on the scale, yet
he will have come by this knowledge not by theory and reasoning, but
simply oft repeated attempts, and the knowledge he has come by will be
valuable to him only, for somebody else would produce the same note
equally well, but in quite a different way.

So one may see that there are actually as many methods as there are
singers, and any particular method, even if accurately set forth, might
be useless to the person who tried it. This is what I really would reply
to anyone putting this question to me--that my own particular way of
singing, if I have any, is, after all, peculiarly suited to me only, as
I have above described.

However, there are many interesting and valuable things to be said about
the voice in a general way.

Speaking first of the classification of voices, many young singers are
put much in doubt and dilemma because they are unable to determine what
sort of voice they really possess, whether soprano, mezzo or contralto.
Of course, it is easy enough to distinguish between the extremes of
these, between a "real" tenor and a low bass, but the difference between
a high baritone and tenor is rather m