d bring forth a tone
with no vitality to it, distressing to hear, simply for lack of breath
control.

This art of respiration once acquired, the student has gone a
considerable step on the road to Parnassus.

To practice deep breathing effectively it is an excellent plan to
breathe through the nose, which aids in keeping the confined breath from
escaping too soon. The nose also warms and filters the air, making it
much more agreeable to the lungs than if taken directly through the
mouth. In the practice of slow breathing make sure that the lungs are as
nearly emptied as possible on the expulsion of the breath before
beginning a new inspiration, as this gives extra impetus to the fresh
supply of air and strengthens all the breathing muscles.

If this is not done, moreover, the effect is like two people trying to
get in and out of the same narrow door at the same time.

The voice is naturally divided into three registers--the chest, medium
and head. In a man's voice of lower quality this last is known as
"falsetto," but in the case of a tenor he may use a tone which in sound
is almost falsetto, but is really a mezza voce, or half voice. This
latter legitimately belongs to a man's compass; a falsetto does not. The
most important register is the medium, particularly of tenors, for this
includes the greater part of the tenor's voice and can be utilized even
to the top of his range if rightly produced.

In the matter of taking high notes one should remember that their purity
and ease of production depend very much on the way the preceding notes
leading up to them are sung. Beginning in the lower register and
attacking the ascending notes well back, a balance must be maintained
all the way up, so that the highest note receives the benefit and
support of the original position of the throat, and there is no danger,
consequently, of the throat closing and pinching the quality of the top
notes.

Singers, especially tenors, are very apt to throw the head forward in
producing the high notes, and consequently get that throaty, strained
voice which is so disagreeable. To avoid this one should try to keep the
supply of breath down as far toward the abdomen as possible, thus
maintaining the upper passages to the head quite free for the emission
of the voice. Remember also to sing within yourself, as it were--to feel
the tones all through your being; otherwise your singing will possess no
sentiment, emotion or authority. It is the