tis; the vocal
bands should never strike together violently, or, indeed, strike
together at all, in the ordinary sense of the term. They should,
however, be approximated with considerable rapidity and with a perfect
adjustment to the breath-stream, and this must be associated with a
like perfect adaptation of the breath-stream to them through the
harmonious working of the many muscles (neuro-muscular mechanisms)
which constitute the most important part of the respiratory mechanism.
In brief, the adjustment of the breathing and laryngeal mechanisms
resulting in the adequate and suitable approximation of the vocal
bands for tone-production constitutes the _coup de glotte_, or, as the
author prefers to term it, the "attack."

To get this perfect should be one of the aims of teachers and one of
the ambitions of students. Without a good attack the singer or speaker
fails to do himself justice, and the listener is left unsatisfied. The
good attack suggests physiological and technical perfection, so far as
it goes; artistically, it implies power and sureness, and for the
listener satisfaction, a feeling that what has been attempted has been
accomplished; and the best of it is that the auditor at the end of a
large hall experiences this sense of satisfaction quite as fully as
the persons sitting in the first row of seats. Without good attacks
there can be no intellectual singing or speaking, no broad phrasing,
and much more that all should aim at who come before the public, and
which listeners have, indeed, a right to expect. But just because many
persons feel this to be true, they make serious errors in attempting
to attain the result; they substitute main force for the correct
method. Impatience and eagerness may defeat the voice-user's purpose.
In this and all other cases the action should be performed with but
moderate force, or even, at first, softly, and with gradual increase
in vigor, and always in relation to the quality of the sound produced;
quality must always be the first if not also the last consideration.

If the method be correct, power can be attained with patience; if
wrong, the throat and voice may be absolutely ruined. This point will
be considered later, but we must at once express the opinion that a
bungling attack in which main force is substituted for the proper
method is one of the most dangerous, as it is one of the most serious
errors in the technique of modern singing, and the same may often be
char