ade an efficient voice trainer by reading books.
But so many choral conductors are failing to secure adequate results
from their choruses because of their ignorance of even the
fundamentals of singing, that it has been thought best to include a
brief presentation of a few of the most important matters with which
the conductor ought to be acquainted. In discussing these things it
will only be possible for us to present to the student of conducting
the problems involved, leaving their actual working out to each
individual. The chief difficulty in connection with the whole matter
arises from the fact that the conductor needs in his work certain
qualities of musicianship that are more apt to result from
instrumental than from vocal training, the education of the
instrumentalist usually emphasizing harmony, ear-training, form, and
in general, the intellectual aspect of music; while that of the
vocalist too often entirely leaves out this invaluable type of
training, dealing only with voice culture and in general the
interpretative side of music study. The vocalist who attempts to
conduct is therefore frequently criticized for his lack of what is
called "solid musical training"; but the instrumentalist-conductor as
often fails to get adequate results in working with singers because of
his utter ignorance of vocal procedure; and this latter type of
failure is probably as productive of poor choral singing as the
former. This chapter is, of course, written especially for the
instrumentalist, and our advice to him is not merely to read books
about singing, but to study singing itself, whether he is interested
in cultivating his own voice for solo purposes or not. It might be
remarked in this connection that aside from the considerations that we
have been naming, the conductor who can sing a phrase to his orchestra
or chorus and thus show by imitation exactly what shading, _et
cetera_, he wishes, has an enormous advantage over him who can only
convey his ideas by means of words.

[Sidenote: PROPER BREATHING]

Probably the first thing about singing to be learned by the student of
conducting is that good voice production depends upon using the full
capacity of the lungs instead of merely the upper portion. Hence the
necessity of holding the body easily erect as a matter of habit, with
chest up, and with the diaphragm alternately pushing the viscera away
in order to enable the lungs to expand downward, and then allowing the
parts t