ingers
who seem to have two or three different _voices_. They are growling in
the one, moaning in the second, and shrieking in the third; while it
should have been their aim so to blend and to unite the registers as to
make it difficult even for a practised ear to distinguish the one from
the other. Such singing is outrageous, and I protest against the opinion
expressed in some quarters that it is the natural outcome of the
teachings of the laryngoscope.

In developing and strengthening the registers I base my first exercises
upon the fact that the "Vowel Scale" goes from low to high in this
order; _oo_, _oh_, _ah_, _ai_, _ee_, so that consequently the highest
tones will be produced most readily when singing the vowels in the order
just given.

[Illustration: musical notation

_o_ _ah_ _ai_ _ee_ _ai_ _ah_ _o_
_oo_ _o_ _ah_ _ai_ _ah_ _o_ _oo_

Sing this exercise quite softly, strike each tone clearly and
distinctly, and take a _slight_ inspiration after every tone. Be careful
to take a full inflation only at the beginning, and afterwards to inhale
_less_ air than has been consumed in every preceding tone, or you will
after a while overcrowd the lungs, and experience a sensation of being
choked. This is a thing to be avoided in any case; but under present
circumstances it should be remembered that the short inspirations are
not taken for the purpose of re-filling the lungs, but simply to compel
the "opening and closing muscles" to do their work. By so doing we give
them six times more exercise than by breathing only once at the
beginning; and, what is more important still with regard to our
immediate object, we greatly facilitate the task of the vocal ligaments
to arrange themselves in different ways according to the registers they
are to produce.

It is self-evident that the danger of carrying the mechanism of a
register beyond its proper limit is greater if the vocal ligaments are
kept together, than it would be if they were made to separate, thereby
being enabled to close again under different conditions. It will be
seen, therefore, that the slight inspirations after every tone are an
essential part of the exercise, and must on no account be omitted. The
exercise is to be taken at a convenient pitch, and then to be raised
semitone by semitone in accordance with the requirements of individual
voices. It may, after some time, be taken right through upon the vowel
_ah_, and finally _lega