The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-04-01

IN MS mind the pltoh OF tho tonic OF the
scale. which should form the starting point
Of the exercise.
Then II the passage to DO used SOM
prisee five tones, ending with the dominant,
he should get the pitch Of the dominant
thoroughly established In his mind. He
might sing the interval several times from
tonic to dominant to get the relative pitch
firmly established, for 1t Is vital to clean
c~olorature execution that the intonation
be accurate. II the ~intonation IL imperfect,
the colorature will always be slovenly,
and wholly without brilliancy.
When the student has hiS ear perfectly
attuned to the interval Of the fifth from
tonic up to dominant, he should sing the
scale ascending through those FIVE tones.
Practice Of this sort should never be rapid
nor loud. The passage should be sung
piano and with q light touch, oare being
taken that each tone is clearly brought
out and neither smeared over into the
next, nor separated from IL by O noticeable
stroke Of the CLOTHS.
After the student can sing this ascending
passage with comparative fuency, he
should sing the same notes In inverse
order, descending. After he a execute
both passages oleanly, he may essay an
octave. In singing octave scales 1t Is essen
tial that the pupil should get the tonic,
the dominant and the leading tone very
firmly defined in his mental ear.
Lamperti gives an exercise In which
the scale is sung very slowly with long
holds on these tones. After singing the
scale this way Lampertis pupil is advised
to sing it with comparative rapidity, lightly
- @1-aNl,y A thA tar1NtnoftAn nj tho
scale the student should sing an arpeggio
Of the four tones Of the chord descending.
This will hold him TO the intervals Of the
chord. In praotiOing the scale Of an octave
descending the student should begin with
the lower tonic and take the interval OF an
octave upward and then sing down the scale
to the lowor tonic again.
Lablaohe, Manuel Garciaj PanseronI
Winter, Martini, Garaude, Manstein, Fees
and others recommend q systematio prog
ress from vooalises on two notes up TO
the octaves Garcia says: Those who
wish to sing scales or other passages with
out having begun on two, three or four
notes risk failing to execute roulades.'
He holds that It 10 easier to sing @ passage
Of two notes than one Of three and n Of
three than one Of four, and that, therefore,
the correct progress begins with two.
The exercise which he gives for two
notes is simple. The student is required
to sing, say, @ and D below the clef In alter
nation the first time in quarter notes, four
to the measure, then In eighth notes and
finally In sixteenth notes.
The exercise for three notes consists
Of the progression @, D, e, D, in quarter
notes, then In eighth notes and then in
sixteenth notes. Any teacher following
out this idea can construct q series OF pro-
gressive exercises for his pupils. These
exercises are recommended by Lemaire
and Lavoix as San excellent gymnastio
by which the voice will be rendered supple
and agile" The "ah" sound is the most
favorable for the majority Of voices, though
teachers will doubtless find cases in which
some other vowel sound will better bring
out the best qualities OF tone In running
pose Of the organs.
Lilli lehman believes In the practice OF
what she calls the great scale previous
to all exercises In agility. The great scale
Ia nothing more than the diatonio major
scale divided into groups OF long notes
with pauses for breath. Doubtless an
exercise Of this sort would aid In warm
ing up the voice and fixing the~i information.
After sufficient facility has been acquired
in the execution OF scale passages in fluent
style, the pupil will need to take up the de-
livery OF staccato passages. These are
best suited to the high tones OF the soprano
voice. because Of the delicate and neat
execution which they demand. Detached
or staccato tones are executed by attacking
each with q stroke Of the CLOTHS and quitting
IL Immediately after the attack.
Lemaire and Lavoix say: These sounds,
of very short duration, should be artcu-
lated with dryness and without length,
with a moderate opening OF the mouth,
and perfectly detached from one another.
The respiration is cut short after each
tone and Ia suspended; 1t is not correct 10
breathe, for a series of detached notes
should be executed always with the same
breath"
Cbromatic scales offer difficulties Of no
small kind to the teacher and the student.
On the method Of approaching them most
of the old masters are agreed. They found
from their extensive experience In INSTRUCT
ing that 1t was necessary to fix firmly in
the minds Of their pupils the information OF
chromatic intervals before they permitted
students to attack the chromatic scale.
They therefore devised a series OF exer-
cises constructed On the same principle as
Garcia's series Of two, three, four and
more tones in the diatonic scale. For
example, bne exercise begins with G, D, G
in the first measure. while the second con-
sists Of @, G sharp, D. These two measures
were written in quarter notes and were in
tended to be sung slowly and carefully in
order that the student should get the diff
ference between the whole interval and the
half interval clearly impressed on his men
tai ear.
Having sung c, C sharp D correctly,
the pupil next sings D, D fiat, G.. Finally
he exercises on the ascending and descend
ing series. This exercise, 1t will be noticed,
takes in the interval Of a second. Next the
pupil Is permitted to exercise on the interval
OF a major third, always singing the interval
itself before attacking the chromatio steps
of which 1t Is composed.
BY a series OF progressive exercises OF
this kind the student Is carried forward till
he sings q chromatic scale Of an octave,
Then comes the practice Of increasing rapid
ity, beginning again with the interval Of a
TIKI. L. The poathod NJ the Erenoh