h Bach, Haydn and Mozart
demand,--a _bel canto_ that cultivates the musical taste, disciplines
the voice and trains the singer technically to do great things. Please
understand that I am not disparaging the good and beautiful in Italian
masterpieces. The musician will know what I mean. The singer can gain
little, however, from music that intellectually and vocally is better
suited to a parrot than a human being.

Some of the older singers made _bel canto_ such an art that people came
to hear them for their voices alone, and not for their intellectual or
emotional interpretations of a role. Perhaps you never heard Patti in
her prime. Ah! Patti--the wonderful Adelina with the glorious golden
voice. It was she who made me ambitious to study breathing until it
became an art. To hear her as she trippingly left the stage in Verdi's
_Traviata_ singing runs with ease and finish that other singers slur or
stumble over,--ah! that was an art!

[Illustration: musical notation: Ex. 1

il mio pen sier, il mio pen-sier___

il mio pen-sier.
]

Volumes have been written on breathing and volumes more could be
written. This is not the place to discuss the singer's great fundamental
need. Need I say more than that I practice deep breathing every day of
my life?

THE AGE FOR STARTING

It is my opinion that no girl who wishes to keep her voice in the prime
of condition all the time in after years should start to study much
earlier than seventeen or eighteen years of age. In the case of a man I
do not believe that he should start until he is past twenty or even
twenty-two. I know that this is contrary to what many singers think, but
the period of mutation in both sexes is a much slower process than most
teachers realize, and I have given this matter a great deal of serious
thought.

LET EVERYBODY SING!

Can I digress long enough to say that I think that everybody should
sing? That is, they should learn to sing under a good singing
instructor. This does not mean that they should look forward toward a
professional career. God forbid! There are enough half-baked singers in
the world now who are striving to become professionals. But the public
should know that singing is the healthiest kind of exercise imaginable.
When one sings properly one exercises nearly all of the important
muscles of the torso. The circulation of the blood is improved, the
digestion bettered, the heart promoted to healthy action--in fact,
everythin