. Hibberd, of Bemerton, Salisbury, writes:--

"To prevent flattening I give great attention to the posture, seeing
that the boys do not stand carelessly. A careless posture, I think,
betokens a careless mind. I am careful not to overtire the children.
They sit immediately one piece is finished, and stand immediately I
sound the first chord of the next piece. I always start the practice
with a few simple voice exercises. When training the choir of a place
far away in the country, I spent more time than usual in giving ear
exercises (dictation), as well as voice-training exercises. I pay great
attention to 'mental effect,' and endeavour to let each boy or girl have
a Tonic Sol-fa copy of the music. The syllables recall the mental effect
to the mind. There should be no uncertainty as to either time or tune,
and both words and notes should be attacked or struck with confidence. I
always practise scales downwards, and have as little to do with the
harmonium as possible at practice. Boy altos I rarely come across. I
tried them once, but found they aided in flattening. We have two men
altos here, who sing in a falsetto voice. The boys here have a name for
singing well in tune, and they are very willing to do anything to keep
up their character."

Mr. Walter Brooks, in a paper in the _Monthly Musical Record_, expresses
the opinion that the 3rd and 7th of the major scale are often sung
flat. To cure this, each boy must tune up separately, then all should be
tried together. Minor passages are often sung flat. Loss of pitch during
service may, he says, be remedied, not by loud organ stops, but by
playing the boys' part an octave higher. Sharp singing, which often
arises from naturally defective or badly-trained ears, is cured best by
checking those who can only sing loudly, and by insisting on _piano_
singing. To put on more organ power makes the loud sharp singing worse.

Herr Eglinger, of Basel, whose qualifications I have referred to
elsewhere, considers that flattening is generally due to fatigue. The
membranes which produce the voice are not yet strong, and they relax,
producing flattening. He works on the principle that children are
quickly tired, and quickly rested, and gives the singing in small doses.
Unfortunately, in church work the length of the dose is not a matter of
choice. He notices, what others have noticed, that when the voices are
divided into three parts, it is the middle part that flattens most; this
is bec