syllable
"Do." In trying candidates for admission to the choir, we constantly
find that they have been accustomed to a scale of 13 notes only (one
octave) up and down. The scales should begin on all or any of the
notes--D[#], B[Symbol: natural], G[b], &c., and the peculiarities of the
intervals should be familiarly explained.

A pamphlet might be written. But there is no "Royal road."

J. M. W. YOUNG, Esq., Organist of Lincoln.

The precentor has forwarded your note to me. In answer to your question
asking how to prevent the trebles in country choirs from forcing the
upper notes, I would suggest that when practising the choir, care should
be taken that the trebles are never allowed to sing even the _middle_
notes _loud_, only _mf_, and they should be frequently practised to sing
_piano_. If this be attended to, it will, in a great measure, prevent
the forcing of the voice on the higher notes, which should never be
practised otherwise than softly.

Country choirs nearly always sing twice as loud as they ought to do,
consequently the tone becomes harsh and grating, and they invariably
sing the upper notes out of tune.

I never allow the Cathedral choristers to practise in a loud tone of
voice, yet their voices are rich and mellow, and there is never any want
of power when it is required. Any tendency to force the voice is checked
at once. It will be found very useful to practise the trebles with the
diatonic scale at a moderately quick pace, taking care to sing it
_smoothly_ and _piano throughout_, first to "OO," next to "Oh," and
finally to "Ah."

[Illustration: Decoration]

CHAPTER VI.

PRONUNCIATION IN SINGING.

It is impossible to emphasise too strongly the importance of clear
pronunciation in singing. The English, as a rule, pronounce
indistinctly. "We carry on our talk," says Mr. H. Deacon, "in mere
_smudges_ of sound," a graphic and true way of putting things. The
Scotch, Welsh, and Americans pronounce better than we do. Indistinctness
and bad dialect arise, roughly speaking, from two sources--impure vowels
and omitted consonants. The impure vowels are generally due to local
habits of speech, such as the London dialect, which makes a colourless
mixture of all the vowels. In some parts of Scotland also the vowels are
very impure. The voice-training exercises given elsewhere are several of
them directed towards the production of good vowel tone, but the danger
is lest the power gained in these