The Glenwood post., 1912-07-13
Leaning to
Sing

DO yOu kuOWp "uB00 tn0 Blt1 ~
the. piano. that singing isn't an art,
nor q talsnti It's Just . record. OF 20
many dollArs and cents, And the
more dollars and cents you've spsnt
on your voice the better your voice ID.
THAT doesn't mean. either" shs
went on, 'rhat its all . matter of
training. n should take hundred
lessons At u q, ,lesson I'd be considsrsd
Just about ope.third assadyanps4 and
proficient h yocafistnG as I ,shpald b
II I'd take q hundred lessons at y q
lesson."
why thAs pessimistio moodf" in.
quired the man who was sitting near.
I'm not ,pessimistic." replied. tbs
girl. calmly. I've just discovered an
other truth. You try 1t and you'll see,
With the piano or the violin its differ.
ent. While 1 grant that with them
dollars and cents count 4 lot, still. II
you can play the keys and the notes
the same, people will listen to you,
and. perhaps, enjoy the playing-but
with vocal music everything depends
on the money cost. There seems to
be quality in the tone, or something
that tells people just who your teacher
is and what you pay for your lessons
and you get complimented accord
ingly"
YES" Tho mans voice invited
further explanation.
We'll" the girl proceeded, even II
one practices alone on the plano one
can accomplish something, can't one!
But when a poor soul tries to practice
singing alone the neighbors shut the
windows and the members Of her own
family beg for mercy. and even the
children make fun Of her. But let
that same person announce that her
vocal lessons are figuring In the high
numbers-that Professor Somebody
devotes q whole precious half hour to
her voice every once In a while-and
he neighbors sit out on their porches
evenings to listen to her scales. Her
'amily is impressed.
Nov, I've been singing OF and on
'or my own pleasure. since was q
baby. I've always had q modest de
gree Of respect for my own voice-but
I have generally seemed to be alone
IN my opinion. II sang 1t was usually
an accompaniment-and when I was
younger 1t used to hurt my feelings"
why, I've always told you that
like your voice." The man took on q
tone of reproach, but 1t didn't seem to
work we'll
'You!" she laughed. why, Of course
you-but mean people who count, in
music!" %
That seems to dispose of me effec
lively" conceded the man. -.
But as was saying" proceeded tbe
girl, "it's absolutely no earthly use tc
have nice voice. You may sing Ike
bird. but II your voice has been
trained outside of a first-class studio,
you simply can't sing. no matter how
we'll you sing. That's all there is tc
1t! Why. II Melba herself hadn't had
hrst-class voice teachers no one would
have ever realized what = voice she
had. People would still be telling hei
to sing something instead Of forever
practicing scales, whereas they gladly
pay - or 90 for q seat. to hear thoss
very scales put into some handy
song!"
From all of which," commented the
man. summing the matter up, ut ap
pears that you are sick Of IT all and
are going to leave the vocal field &c .
the moneyed classes and stick to ths
piano. l really think you are wise,
myself. Singing isn't such a greaal
stunt after all. unless one has a fiss
selection Of songs-and even then the
same things can't please every one
On the other hand, If you play you
can play to please the whole bunch
and"
You are entirely mistaken" inter
rupted the girl. deeply offended. 'Ti
you think that after all this work I'm
going to give up Just because my
teacher didn't give me decent sole
in that recital, so that my voice would
show of we'll beside the others, you're
badly deceived.
I'm going to spend some real
money on good teacher, that's what
I'm going to do! I'll show them thai
they were all good and mistaken!'
Then she pounded the plano keys.