Modern Singing Methods, Their Use and Abuse (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Modern Singing Methods, Their Use and Abuse

The most important word in the vocabulary of Modem singing teachers is the word "Method." Every teacher now-a-days has his own peculiar method. Any pupil who has enjoyed six months, or even six hours, of instruction, can talk about his "Method" with as much mysterious self-satisfaction as if he had discovered the Key which was bound to unlock every enigma of vocal training. It is an interesting and, perhaps, amusing fact, that these methods are innumerable. It is also to be noticed that each one is different from every other. True: - All teachers agree, that, out of this crowd of ways for reaching vocal salvation, only one is the true and Catholic path, and all the rest are heresies. When, however, they come to the question of which path is the true one, they differ most emphatically, each teacher going his own way and regarding all others with righteous scorn.

The beginner in the art of singing finds a difficulty in picking out the true faith when all the prophets are equally noisy and equally vituperative; so he often spends years seeking for the right teacher, staying with each master only long enough to upset what the previous one had taught him, and, too often, coming at last to the conclusion that his own unaided good sense is the best teacher, and all singing masters are either theorists or humbugs. This conclusion is a lame and impotent one.

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