Desultory Voice Practice

European schools and teachers stand aghast at what American pupils

demand and at their expectations. Accustomed to the years of attention

to detail and to seeing their own students willing to wait long years

before good results are achieved, they naturally think the American

students wild. These Americans want to do in one year what Europeans are

willing to use three or four years for. Those teachers say it cannot be

d ne and set down American students as conceited fools. While at first

glance the teachers appear right, may they not be wrong? America to-day

has more inventions in use, more quick ways of working in all lines of

life, and can show quicker results in all lines of activity than any

other nation. Methods and ways have been devised and adapted to American

speed in all branches. May such not apply to study? So this item is

prepared in the interest of American students, living under American

conditions. It is useless to say, "we live too fast." Take facts as

they are and adjust our custom to the day, place and situation.



Until within comparatively few years the plan for cultivation of the

voice and preparation for song singing was to sing a few sustained tones

for warming up the voice, as the saying was, and then to sing vocalizes.

In the earlier stages of practice solfeggii and vocalizes of easy range

and light character were employed. As these were acquired, similar ones

of greater difficulty were used and as the singer gained confidence in

himself and ability to sing better, the exercises were still increased

in difficulty. The time employed in study extended over several years

and with the result that those who had patience and perseverance became

able to sing. Not one, however, in a thousand, who studied ever arrived

at a point which allowed him comfort in his singing or pleasure to his

hearers. That is, to the idea of a practical mind, desultory voice

study. It may be adapted to the contented plodding of an old world

civilization, but is not in keeping with the age of electricity or of

gigantic schemes. It must be kept in mind by every one that "old things

have passed away and all things have become new." The very association

about us makes mind keen to rapidity of action, speaking from incisive

thought. A plodder stands back while the brilliant man moves to the

front. By the plodder is meant he who is willing to go slowly. By the

brilliant man, he, though he may not have more native talent than the

other, has by calling to his aid those commanding elements of success,

moved surely and therefore swiftly, through the perplexities of every

existence, to the front. Every thing which cuts off wastefulness of time

becomes a weapon with which to fight perplexities. In such an active

life, he who would cultivate the voice and become a musician must map

out for himself a course of study which will give him the best results

in the quickest possible time.



It is patent to every one who intelligently teaches that the road

followed during the last few generations lacks these short roads to

success. One asks, and with justice, if we have now found the royal road

to learning which it has ever been said does not exist. If that means

the road by which, at one bound, we reach perfection, the answer must be

that no royal road has been found. There have been planned, however,

ways of procedure which must shorten the trip. I know not when man first

practised dentistry but this I do know, that the doctor of dental

science who works on lines of even one generation back is valueless.

To-day the terrors of the dentist's chair are reduced to a minimum, if

not entirely removed. Photography, a science of our day, has swiftly

grown to an art. I recall a photographer who in 1870 was noted for

perfect work. He was so satisfied with himself and his work that he

neglected to use the new ways which were being discovered. In 1880 his

work was considered so bad as to be condemned by all and his studio was

forsaken. Printing by the sun had not been discarded but how to use the

science had been carefully advanced--wasteful and slow method discarded,

and surer and better results obtained. Is a musician less keen of

perception and adjustment to circumstances than the dentist and

photographer? Pride rebels against an affirmative answer. Then the

natural deduction is that he has learned to apply new ways and methods,

by and through which he can produce surer and more beautiful results

than could his predecessor in his profession. As a first step toward

progress he recognised the faults of the old way and sought a change

from them. The chief of the faults lay in seeking to cultivate a sound.

He said in substance, then, that "since cultivating a sound is wrong I

consider that no such thing as sound exists. It cannot be perceived by

any of the senses. It cannot be seen, tasted, smelt, felt, or even

heard." (Parenthetically, it may be said if one takes exception to the

latter statement, that proof is given of the truth if one sings into a

phonograph. The singer cannot recognise what the instrument sounds back

as his voice. Others may recognise it but he cannot. The hearing of

my voice by another, no matter how much he may tell me about it, does

not show me how it sounds, and I must conclude that I cannot hear it.)

Since none of the five senses can bear upon sound, for cultivating it,

sound, or tone if you wish to call it so, is worthless. This then which

the old teachers watched for years, was intangible, and to watch it

to-day and to try to form singers by manipulating so subtle a thing,

produces wastefulness, and desultory practice. Go to the foundation.

What produces voice? Vibration of air reservoirs. What governs the air

and gives the vibration? Muscle. What are muscles, where are they, how

can they be managed? They are contained within the portion of the body

between the waist and the eyes, and form, while used in voice

production, about all of that portion of the body, and they can be

managed by the understanding and command of the mind. The general

understanding of vocal anatomy, and the positive control of that anatomy

that it may do just what the will demands is the foundation of voice

practice. Such positiveness makes possible the rapidity of vocal

development akin to the surety of the dentist's art and the certainty of

the photographer. The prime fault of old methods is, at one stroke, cut

away. A new growth on the foundation appears.



Many musical journals discuss methods, Italian, French, German. Even

wonder if we will ever have an American method. Such discussion is

waste. There is one method. All schools build on it. He who

understands it best and is surest in teaching it, gives best result and

is the best teacher. He, the best teacher, is such only when he applies

his mind to each and every act of his pupil and banishes for the time

being every other thought from mind. In a proper lesson every minute is

used thoroughly. No sixty seconds can be thrown away. The mind of the

teacher alert to the necessity of his charge makes every minute tell.

With this as a preamble, turn to the pupil who is by himself to avoid

desultory practice.



You have a voice. Every one has. Yours, you know, is a very good one.

You want (not, would like) in the quickest time to make it do just what

you conceive a fine singer should do. Then, know what is to be done,

understand how to do it, and do it. The boys say "One to make ready, two

to prepare, and three--." But you stand around making ready, preparing

so long. Why? Do you know what is to be done? Ask the teacher, and don't

let him evade positive instruction. Garcia, when asked the cause of

Jenny Lind's great success, replied "She never tried to do anything 'til

she knew how. More than once she has come to my house of an evening and

said 'I did not fully understand what you told me to-day. Will you

explain it again?' After that she never needed to be told again." At a

lesson understand what is taught. Don't pretend you do when you do not.

After going home from each lesson, write in a book kept for that purpose

what has been said at the lesson. Read that book often. This will fix in

mind, as well as preserve for reference, the instruction, and make sure

the understanding of it. Then it is for you to do it. Once the pianist

played scales by the hour to limber the hand; now he thinks only of the

muscle which causes each finger to strike, and makes that muscle work at

once. What formerly took months to do he now does in days. Desultory

practice is avoided. A teacher in a certain city complained that another

teacher got pupils by advertising quick method. Cut off desultory

practice, apply mind where brute force has formerly held sway, and quick

method is the result.



One reference to complaint brings others to mind. The most precious

commodity known is time. Twenty-four hours only in a day. How little and

how valuable. Yet if all is conserved, how much and how great. Masonic

instruction divides the day into three portions; one for our usual

avocations, one for good of self and family, and one for refreshment and

sleep. So much for instruction. Can some wasteful acts of life be

reduced or eliminated, that we may economize time, and what is better,

form habit of utilizing all of the precious commodity? What a lesson one

can draw on these elevated trains. Each morn, a man (one man, or how

many think you?) enters and finds a seat. Immediately he is into his

newspaper. A half hour later he gets out, having arrived at his station.

What has happened? He has read the newspaper. No, he hasn't read the

newspaper. Ask him what he has learned. He can't tell you. One item,

two, three, perhaps--and these of little value. That is not reading. It

is cursory glancing, desultory and wasteful. Stop it. Thirty precious

minutes gone. A glance at a paper (provided one knows the general

make-up of the paper he reads) tells him all in it of value. Six minutes

is enough, except when something of unusual moment is to be read, and

that doesn't happen once a month. The other twenty-four minutes should

go into some other purpose. A book, magazine, play, or even silent

thought will give value for the twenty-four. At night, on the way home,

the man skims through an evening paper. Almost one hour of the

twenty-four thrown away. Compute the amount of educational advancement

possible to this city were the hundreds of thousands of hours thrown

away daily to be used in progressive study or thought. You and I help to

waste, do we?



The command of the mind is the underlying need of the student. It has

come into thought that should one apply himself every minute to some

work that he would fatigue and wear out. He could not stand it. Wrong.

The mind cannot wear out, even if it can fatigue. Rest is the opposite

of unrest, and unrest is equivalent to fatigue. The superficial reading

or skimming, shifting of thought through the thousand objects which come

before the mind gives the unrest and through it, the fatigue. Stop the

unrest, and let rest abound. Rest comes through definite change of work.

The man who leaves his office, rushes to mountain and farm, sees new

scenes, faces, customs, eats new food, rides, fishes, swims, climbs and

dances, is the one who comes back rested. There has been no unrest, but

radical change. The first assistant engineer of the New York aqueduct

was to me at one time an object of astonishment. It was said of him,

"When he works, he works; when he plays, he plays; whatever he does it

is for the time all in the world to him." At that time he held an

important engineering position, was an officer in a military

organization, secretary of a yacht club, active in church society,

leader in literary circles in classic Boston and never was rushed. The

change of work was the secret of it all. Rest came by turning out of

mind what did not pertain to the act then in hand. Every act was new.

Of a certain minister it is said "He can do more in ten minutes than

most men do in a day." His church has fifteen hundred members and his

Sunday school a larger number. Calls, sermons, the sick, weddings,

funerals, the poor (for he had four charity societies), his family,

young people's societies,--yet he has time for all and he sees callers,

more in one week than you and I do in a year. How does he do it? What

you and I waste time upon, he does not. No gossip, worry, standing

before a mirror, dozing over dinner, or unrest for him. Vary the

monotony a little and find rest. Don't fear doing too much. Wear out, if

need be, but don't rust. It is the busy man who has lots of time. Do you

want advice, a helping hand? Avoid the lazy man, for he has no time for

you. The busy man has. Why is it that the busy teacher draws the most

pupils? Were he to half teach ten pupils they would leave him and no

more would come. Because he can attend to forty, and that by making to

each a profitable half-hour, forty more come. The half supplied teacher

is less able to teach his small flock than the pushed teacher. He must

turn quickly from act to act and thus keep rested, by change of scene,

pupil, music and vivacity. "Can you jump immediately from a lesson to

the desk and write one of your magazine articles?" asks one. Nothing

easier. Fix the mind on what is to be done that minute, and do it. It

makes a heaven of earth.



Instruction which is not practical is little worth. You are interested

in improving yourselves vocally. To you let me plan a first step toward

preventing desultory voice practice. Under four headings. Practical

ones.



First.--Establish customs. The best one I know is to plan in advance

to accomplish certain things. Make up the mind what you would like to

do. Each night make out a little card of what is to be done next day.

Probably not half the things planned will be executed, at first. What of

it. Some have been done; but better, that unconscious growth which

carries custom into habit will be developed and the system which will

grow out of the custom of preparing the cards and attempting to work out

that which was planned, will cut off more wasteful minutes than you

admit are in your day. After a time it will come that all the items you

write on the card at evening will not be too much to do on the following

day. Compare the card of the thirtieth day with that of the first and

you will find you wrote quite as many (if not more) things to do and now

you can do them all, and feel no hurry and far less fatigue. Will you

try that?



Second.--Give certain times each day to certain things. You can't? You

can. I'll give proof you can. Having planned what is to be done the next

day and allowed that custom to become habit, will develop such

regularity that each hour will have its regular work and nothing will

crowd it out. The system produces it. Turn a kaleidoscope. Each jarring

makes new adjustment of figure. Your duty is a kaleidoscope. The proof

is that every one who tries such adjustment, succeeds. The school boy

knows the time of bell ringing, the hour for arithmetic, geography, etc.

The train man knows the minute to be at each station. The clerk or

workman is ready to stop work at a certain time. Certain theatres

announce what scenes will be on at every minute of the evening. You

think and would say, "But these admit of no interruption, and I may have

interruptions." To which I say "These permit no interruption, and if

you were as systematic, you would permit none." A friend calls at the

door to see you. You waste five minutes (only five?) talking to him.

Think it over. Was that necessary? Couldn't it have been said in

two--one, or less? Next time, kindly, but firmly excuse yourself. If the

friend thinks you snubbing, you can afford that, for the friend is a

wasteful one and better be dropped than allowed to spoil you. The fault

when we waste time is in us, not in the friend. A lady called recently.

"Your time is valuable. I'll say in one word what I want." 'Twas said,

and she went. Kind lady! To whom? Me? Not at all. She is one of the

busiest women in the city and couldn't afford to give much of her time

to the errand, but neatly complimented, in order to cover what some

might call selfishness. Be wise. That kindly habit comes from preventing

waste.



Third.--Banish every low or lowering thought. For now, for no reason

except to save time, and help form habit which prevents waste. Every

thought has its sure influence. Every thought of envy, hatred, jealousy,

of crimes, accidents, misfortunes, sorrows, our own or those of others,

is an evil. It takes time out of life and saps life-activity. Supplant

it with pure and good thought. Health, brightness, pleasure, art and

beauty are subjects which lift. Upward, upward, toward heaven! That must

be the student's mental attitude. Enough would drag down. Cast the down

view away. Look up and go up. You do not study for the purpose of going

downward. Upward again to the top--and you must do it by having your

thought good and pure.



Fourth.--Interest friends in your practice. Only one word about that.

No one can long go in any mental work alone. Progress is mental work.

Rising draws others to and with us. See a little whirlwind take up the

dust. It gathers more and more until a column twenty or thirty feet high

is before us. Tell father, mother, friends, those you can trust, what

you hope to do and what your efforts to accomplish that, are. Seeing

you in earnest they will help--with misgivings at first, may be, but

they will join the column and make one with you sure.



Summary, briefly. By systematic utility, every minute contributes to

progress, forming habits which prevent wasteful thought and fatigue. The

customs of former years need not be followed because direct result will

come from direct application of thought to study. Old world ways and

past generation ideas do not belong to-day in either teacher or pupil,

and, therefore, are to drop out. The wastefulness of uncertainty and

evil in mind may be overcome by directness of effort until good habit

crowds out the evil. The first and all important step is the plan of

action. Acknowledge no limitation to growth. Love soundness, careful

thought, steadfast purpose.