or a mouth almost closed in front by the teeth, by excessive
movements of the lips.

Special tongue and lip practice should be carried out before a mirror.
The lips should be kept rather close to the gums, and moved away as
little as possible (_i.e._, the lips), as to do so serves no good
purpose, and is unpleasant to the eye of the observer. Teeth and lips
must be regarded, so far as musical sounds are concerned, as danger
regions--rocks on the shore, against which the singer or speaker may
shipwreck his tones. His object should be to use them adequately to
form vowels and consonants--in other words, in the formation, not the
spoiling, of words, as is so often the case.

We cannot too much insist on both speaker and singer attending to
forming a connection between his ear and his mouth cavity. He is to
hear, that he may produce good tones, and the tones cannot be
correctly formed if they be not well observed. To listen to one's self
carefully and constantly is a most valuable but little practised art.
The student should listen as an inexorable critic, accepting only the
best from himself.

This leads to the consideration of the question of the open mouth. The
expression "open mouth" means, no doubt, to most people, the open lips
rather than the open mouth cavity--_i.e._, open in front, the teeth
well separated. In voice-production, by "open mouth" both open cavity
and open lips must be understood.

There is a special tendency in many, perhaps in most persons, to close
the mouth cavity unduly in singing a descending scale. This is often
accompanied by a bad use of the breath, and a general relaxation of
the vocal apparatus, which is possibly more frequent in sopranos and
tenors, whose chief effects are often produced by their high tones.
But to-day, more than ever, when refined intellectual and emotional
effects are demanded, is it important that the lower tones, so
effective in producing emotional states, should not be neglected by
any singer of whatever voice; while for speakers high tones are really
comparatively little used.

Much more attention is paid by teachers and students to the open mouth
at the present time than formerly; in fact, like some other good
things, it is often overdone. The individuality of the singer and
speaker must always be borne in mind. If some are obliged to open the
mouth as much as others, the result will not be happy. Any one may
demonstrate to himself that the quality of a tone ma