ore difficult to discern, and a
young man studying has often been at great disadvantage by imagining,
for instance, that he had a tenor voice and trying constantly to sing
music too high for him, since he in reality had only a high baritone.

In the course of development a voice very often increases its range and
changes its quality sufficiently to pass from a baritone to a tenor, and
it is sometimes a problem to place it during the transition process.
Perhaps the surest way to determine the real character of a voice is to
see on what notes words can be most easily pronounced. For the average
tenor the notes up to A above middle C, for the baritone, D above middle
C, and for the bass up to middle C itself, can be pronounced on the
best.

One should never try to change the tessitura, or natural character of
the voice. A voice will become higher just when it should by the
development due to rational work and never by forcing it. Nothing is
easier than to force a voice upward or downward, but to cause it to
"recede," as it were, in either direction, is another matter. A
baritone who tries to increase his upper range by main strength will
surely in time lose his best lower notes, and a light tenor who attempts
to force out notes lower than his range will never be able to sing
legitimate tenor roles, and after two or three years may not be able to
sing at all.

It may be well to speak now of a very important point in singing--what
is called the "attack" of the tone. In general this may be described as
the relative position of the throat and tongue and the quality of voice
as the tone is begun. The most serious fault of many singers is that
they attack the tone either from the chest or the throat. Even with
robust health the finest voice cannot resist this. This is the reason
one sees so many artists who have made a brilliant debut disappear from
sight very soon or wind up later on a mediocre career. Singers who use
their voices properly should be at the height of their talents at
forty-five and keep their voices in full strength and virility up to at
least fifty. At this latter age, or close after it, it would seem well
to have earned the right to close one's career.

A great artist ought to have the dignity to say farewell to his public
when still in full possession of his powers and never let the world
apprise him of his falling off.

To have the attack true and pure one must consciously try to open the
throat not on