clature here, as the limits of
the registers as given by Dr. Bates differ considerably from those which
are usual. I am glad to learn that Dr. Bates is writing a book on "The
Voices of Boys," which will no doubt clear up the subject. In the paper
before me he recommends practice of the scales to such syllables as La,
Fa, Ta, Pa, in order to bring the tone well to the front of the mouth,
and reinforce it by means of the soft upper palate. He recommends the
teacher to train the boys to use the upper register by making them sing
over and over again, _very softly_, the following notes:--

[Illustration: Chest Head Ah....]

Here again the transition seems to me to be taken much too high.

Mr. Frank Sharp, of Dundee, trainer of the celebrated children's choir,
which has sung the treble and alto parts, both solos and choruses, of
_Messiah, St. Paul_, and many cantatas, writes to me:--

"In part-singing where there are boy trebles, the adult male alto voice
has its charms. The contrast in quality between the open tone of the
boys' voices and the condensed, sometimes squeaky sweetness of the man
alto does not affect the blending, and helps the distinctness of parts.
Considering the growing scarcity of this latter voice, why not use boy
altos? They can be made as effective as ordinary women altos, but they
are as short-lived and need more attention than the boy trebles. Their
chief drawback is a tendency to produce tone without the least attention
to quality or effect save that of noise. Nevertheless, there is nothing
to hinder boy altos doing all that is necessary, or, indeed, all that
can be done by the adult male alto. I have trained boys to sing alto in
_Messiah_, _St. Paul_, and equally trying music, during the past twenty
years, and anyone else who keeps the girl's alto voice before him as a
model can do the same. The boy alto voice may be said to have a husk and
a kernel: the one strident, harsh, and overpowering; the other sweet,
and, with use, rich and round. The average healthy boy, with his
exuberant love of noise, will naturally give the husk, but the skilful
voice-trainer will only accept the kernel, evolved from right register,
good _timbre_, and proper production. Seeing and hearing a process in
voice-training is, however, more satisfactory than much writing and the
reading thereof."

* * * * *

Mr. W. W. Pearson, master of a village school in Norfolk, who is
well-known by his e