is
place and ready to begin, your score open, and until you know exactly
what you are going to do first. Then let just a slight tap or two
suffice to notify everyone that the rehearsal is to begin at once.

[Sidenote: LEARNING DIFFICULT PASSAGES]

In drilling on a difficult passage, it is usually better to stop at
the actual spot where the mistake occurs than to go on to the end and
then turn back. Find the exact spot that is causing trouble and
"reduce the area of correction to its narrowest limits," as one
writer[38] states it. It is to be noted that merely one repetition of
such a passage is usually of little avail. _It must be gone over
enough times to fix the correct method of rendition in mind and muscle
as a habit._ If a section sings a certain passage incorrectly twice
and then correctly only once, the chances are that the fourth time
will be like the first two rather than like the third. The purpose of
drilling on such a passage is to eradicate the wrong impression
entirely and substitute for it an entirely new habit at that point.
After learning a difficult tonal or rhythmic phrase in this way, be
sure to fit it into its environment before assuming that it has been
finally mastered. The difficulty in such passages often consists not
in performing the intervals or rhythms in isolation, but in doing them
while the other parts are going on.

[Footnote 38: Richardson, _The Choir-trainer's Art_, p. 156.]

[Sidenote: LOCATE DIFFICULT SPOTS QUICKLY]

In directing attention to some particular place in the score about
which you wish to speak, give the details of your direction always in
the same order, _viz._: (1) page, (2) score (or _brace_ if you
prefer), (3) measure, (4) beat. Thus _e.g._, "Page 47, second score,
fourth measure, beginning with the second beat." Give the direction
slowly and very distinctly, and then do not repeat it; _i.e._, get
your musicians into the habit of listening to you the first time you
say a thing instead of the second or third. Carrying out this plan may
result in confusing unpreparedness on the part of your singers or
players for a time or two, but if the plan is adhered to consistently
they will very soon learn to listen to your first announcement--and
you will save a large amount of both time and energy.

[Sidenote: REHEARSAL LETTERS AND NUMBERS]

Ensemble music is frequently supplied with _rehearsal letters_ or
_numbers_, these enabling the performers to locate a passage very