ose connections between the hearing and the
motor processes we term singing or playing should be made early in
life, if they are to reach that degree of facility and general
excellence essential to success. We think there is good reason to
begin voice-production early, as well as the practice of an
instrument, though we do not maintain that the argument is as strong
in the one case as in the other.

That the "ear for music" may be well developed, in the sense that one
may know perfectly what is correct in time and tune, without the power
to execute well, there can be no doubt, as witness the case of many
composers, but the reverse does not hold. There can be no doubt that
_the nervous impulses that pass from the ear to the brain are of all
sensory messages the most important guides for the outgoing ones that
determine the necessary movements_.

The author would advise every serious student of music to believe in
the unlimited capacity of his own ear for improvement. The lack of
"ear" of many people is due largely, if not solely, to inattention.
Indeed, an excess of temperament may be a positive hindrance to
musical development, both as regards appreciation and execution, for
it may be accompanied by inattentive listening and consequent
inadequate hearing. On the other hand, no one should, because he has a
good faculty for time and tune and the memorizing of airs, conclude
that he is an artist. The one faculty may exist altogether apart from
the capacity for the highest art. It is a matter of history that
several vocalists now before the public, and who rank in the highest
class of musical artists, displayed at one period of their career a
lack of perception as to pitch or rhythm that was, to say the least,
very discouraging, and which, but for their force of character, would
have kept them from ever being eminent.

If one have neither ear, temperament, nor artistic perception, he
should not waste his energies on musical study--at least, not extended
efforts; but if he have the two last, and but a moderate ear, he will
do well to try to improve the lower for the sake of the higher
qualities.

In children the difficulty often is due wholly to inattention.

Those who would cultivate the speaking voice are frequently
discouraged from lack of "ear," and when urged to follow such
exercises as have been recommended in this work, complain that they
have not the "ear" to do so. To such the author would say, "Persevere;
be