The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1911-04-09
DO YOU BELIEVE
YOU CAN SING?
Something About the Vocal Chords
and Some Timely Tips for Those
With Ambition.

l6aCQeT OF music. one WHO Has ever
had experience in that most soothing
and delightful of occupation, running
a church choir, will testify that it is a
matter of the utmost difficulty to Sc
cure proper material for, say five quar-
tets in town of less than five thous
and population, and that such COM
munity has to be raked with a fine
toothed comb to yield even that many
unobiectionable voices This would
make about one individual in two hun.
bred and fifty, of all ages, musical
enough to sing in choir; and even
accept some of the vocal offerings
that are sent up to it.
To approach the problem from the
other end of the scale, we hardly real
ize, until we endeavor to express it in
figures no matter how crude, how ex-
traordinarily rare a really graf voice
is-or even voice great enough to
serve as an adequate source of in
come. 1t is estimated among musical
experts that there now are living and
singing not more than ten truly great
artists of American birth. This, in 80
million persons, would give the chance
of your child possessing a really first
rate voice as about one in 6 million.
likely to live to be elected president |
of the United States than to become
a great operate tenor.
Downward from the church choir
grade, the next rank might be de-
scribed as that of the college glee
club 1t is a remarkable musical col
lege or acadamy class of one hundred
members that contains enough
material for fair quartet. 1t is an
unusually good college of thousand
students that can furnish double
quartet capable of attracting any at
tention on the road, except from alum
nj or doting relatives.
In other words, the proportion t,f
young men of the more cultured
classes who are capable of going
through that cheerful form of bellows
practice which we term college SONGS.
is perhaps one in a hundred. Tns
main reason why a good natured pub
liC dIUSHuo SlSS Siup COuSCilS ID
because they bring back memories OF
younger days, and because the per,
formers are SO young, and throughly
enjoy what they are doing, that VIC
forgive the resulting discords.
incidentally it may be remarked
that we are not one whit more musl-
cal when we are sweet 16, or lS or 20
than we are at 45 or So Only we feel
like singing, and we have the nerve
to let everybody within ear shot know
the fact. AS soon as we reach the
age of discretion we usually stop.
How many of the boys or girls in
! our schools, of the men in our club, Of
the women in our social circle, of the
pew-holders who sit about us in
church, can stand up and sing sim
pie melody, such as folk song or a
familiar hymn in correct time, tune
and key, without assistance from in
y strument, leader or choir?
Yet, in the face of all these discour-
aging facts, almost every girl of social
station, or aspiring to social station, is
! expected to acquire the power of do
: ing stunts" upon the piano, or with
. her much tortured voice. If she fails,
Y the blame is placed either upon her
= llaziness or upon the incompetency OF
u her teacher. As matter of cold bio
. logical fact, while real singing voice
= lis a most seductive lure to the oppo-
. site sex, and splendid endowment
? for the courtship period, the average
parlor imitation thereof has anything
X except such an effect upon the crude
masculine ear In fact, most mer
:, would only marry the average cir
y who sings in the hope that when she
y gets married, and has something elst
- to occupy her mind she will quit. II
~ the great matrimonial handicap thu
III peacock will leave the nightingale, IL
~ the vernacular of the day, chained t.
q the post" Beauty of face is at leas
~ ten times as potent as beauty Of voice
II One of the blessings to a sufferinl
% world that have been brought dow
Al from heaven in the last half centur
10 is the pianola Like mercy, lit bless
/" eth him that gives and him that takes
~ ~ her who is expected to sing, an
him who is expected to listen and loo
= as IL he liked it. If we can only ge
70 the graphophone sufficiently perfecte
so that our parlor songsters can d
- their warbling all by proxy, as we
: as their Battles OF Prague" and thei
n "Maiden's Prayer" we shall have a
Z tanned to the first seven heavens {
j music Then the proud mamma, il
4 stead of whispering delightedly ho'
8 many hundreds of dollars have bee
q spent upon her daughters voice in le
sons under Professor Punkovitchsk
and Nine. Parcheesi, can simply ca
N attention to the grace and delicac
with which she works the expressio
lever of the pianola, or the temp
6 mechanism of the new graphophone.
DIR. Woods Hutchinson in Munsey's.
= The Sound Sleep of Good Health.
y Can not be over estimated and an
d ailment that prevents it is a menac