al practice, that of the voice
included, and there never was a time in the history of the world,
unfortunately, when people believed in it less. The author would
especially warn the student against attempting to force progress by
violent or unduly long-continued practices, for if the vocal apparatus
be strained, it may remain impaired for months or even for life.
"Little and often" is a good maxim for vocal practice, all the more as
the discontinuation, for the time, of voice-production need not imply
that the mind must cease to act. An artist is not formed by
vocalization alone, but by processes of education that are many and
complicated, into which we might be tempted to enter did they not lie
beyond the range of the present work.

If the principles set forth in this chapter are scientifically
reliable, and we believe they will not be questioned, certain
practical considerations are well worthy of special attention. If
practice, repetition, leads to the formation of habits more or less
fixed, then there can be no surer way to ruin a speaker or vocalist
than to permit him to practise by a wrong method; the more he
practises, the more he stamps in what is bad. It follows that the most
hopeless cases eminent teachers have to deal with are to be found
among those vocalists who come to them after years of professional
life before the public. One must look on some of these people as on a
building spoiled by a bad architectural design. In some cases there is
nothing to do but to take the whole structure apart and put it
together afresh. It may be humiliating to the vocalist, and it is a
severe condemnation of certain methods of teaching, but there is often
no other course open, the only question being as to whether the
material is good enough to warrant such a radical proceeding. Every
eminent teacher can recall such cases, and might fill volumes with
their histories. If more of these were published as warnings to
students and teachers, a good purpose would be served. It is truly sad
to find that the prospects of one who might have been formed into a
fine artist have been hopelessly ruined by years of practice based on
principles that are radically unsound.

In the next chapter some specific applications of the principles
discussed in the foregoing pages will be considered.

SUMMARY.

All forms of artistic and other expression imply movements. For a
willed or voluntary movement there are required (1) an idea, (2) a
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