340 



THE POPULAR EDUCATOR 



it a quarter of an aliquot ; the dot and comma, three quarters. 

 Be careful in singing this correctly. Exercise yourself in singing 

 the two notes, first with a dot only, and then with a dot and 

 comma between them. The tune is Mr. Burnet's copyright. 

 It may be found harmonised for four voices in "People's Service 

 of Song." All the early exercises in this course are given in 

 two-part harmony, because we are persuaded that, by two-part 

 harmony, the ear is best taught to understand that which is 

 more complex. These exercises should be sung by " equal 

 voices ; " that is, by two male voices, or by two female or 

 children's voices. It will not sound quite so well if the air (or 

 upper part) being sung by a female voice, the lower part is sung 

 by a male, for the male and female voice are naturally an octave 

 apart, and the intervals cannot be so " close" and sweet. 



When you have traced and sol-faed this tune from the modulator 

 perfectly, your next step will be to " figure " it ; that is, sing 



it to the words "one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight; one, 

 two, three, four, five, six, seven," etc. As you know these words 

 very familiarly, your attention will not bp distracted by them 

 (as it might be by other words), while you try to strike the 

 intervals correctly, without that help to the memory which the 

 sol-fa syllables give. You may afterwards sing the words ; but 

 remember that this tune must be sung with spirit (abrupt deci- 

 sion), or not at all. A curve over or under two or more notes, 

 indicates a slur. In previous exercises we have had a black 

 note (crotchet) to correspond with an aliquot or pulse of the 

 measure. In this tune we have used an open note (a minim) 

 for the aliquot. We prefer using the crotchet as the standard 

 aliquot; but, as it is not always so used, we have made this 

 change to indicate that fact. It makes no difference to the 

 music. There are still four pulses to the measure, and they 

 move at the rate indicated by the metronome. 



EXERCISE 15. GRIFFIN. KEY F. METRONOME, Minim = 58. 

 (Music by H. Burnet, Esq., of Manchester. Words by Longfellow.) 



Uust thou art, 



i . \! : ti . d | r . d : r . m 



1., S : 1_.J I d 1 :t . 1 



dust re - turn - est, 



f.,m:f. r |d :d 



s : d 1 | s . m : d . r 



Was not spo - ken 



d. i i ,A f 



li | mi . ii 



:nzz: 



-o- 



Si :ti Id: 

 of the soul. 



2 Not enjoyment and not sorrow 



Is our destined end or way, 

 But to act that each to-morrow 

 Finds us further than to-day, 



3 Art is long, and time is fleeting, 



And our hearts, though stout and brave, 

 StiH, like muffled, drums, are beating 

 Funeral marches to the grave. 



The proper management of the voice in singing is of great im- 

 portance, and will ipquire a few suggestions from us. First, 

 notice that a sound of the voice in singing is distinctly held and 

 continues the same from the beginning to the end. It is thus 

 distinguished from the speaking voice, each sound of which has 

 a change in it called an " inflection." A sound of the singing 

 voice is common!* called a "note" though the word note is 

 more properly limited to the mark upon paper the sign of a 

 sound. With a violin you can produce either a " note" or an 

 "inflection." Press your finger steadily on the upper part of a 

 string, while you draw the bow, and that will give you a clear 

 and beautiful note. But if, instead of that, you move your 

 finder up or down the string, while you draw the bow, that will 

 give you an inflection. You perceive, therefore, that a note 

 ought to have nothing of the inflection about it no "scraping" 

 up or down as some sing but it should be clear, steady, and 

 distinct. 



To produce a good note, the singer should be in an easy 

 posture, with his head upright and his shoulders back, so as to 

 allow the muscles of the chest and the larynx (that little box in 

 the throat which we can feel with our fingers) to have free 

 movement. His mouth should be moderately open. His 

 tongue should lie down, just touching the roots of the lower 



4 Trust no future, howe'er pleasant ; 



Let the dead past bury its dead ; 

 ACT, act in the IIVINO PRESENT, 

 Heart within, and Gcd o'er head. 



5 Let us, then, be up and doing, 



With a heart for any fate ; 

 Still achieving, still pursuing, 

 Ler.cn to labour and to wait. 



teeth ; and his lips should have the position most easily ex- 

 plained by referring to that of a gentle smile, but really express- 

 ing no smile, and giving no emotional expression. Some 

 teachers require a small cork of tho thickness of a little finger, 

 or the little finger itself, to be placed between the back teeth 

 during the earlier exercises. We have a friend who, to improve 

 his voice for speaking, used to read aloud for half an hour before 

 breakfast every morning with a large cork between his front 

 teeth. Of course this did not cultivate his enunciation his 

 words were curiously pronounced but it strengthened the 

 larynx and lungs, and prevented his over-exertion of the throat, 

 so that he could speak in public with the greatest ease, and 

 without the slightest fatigue of voice, as we have had ample 

 proof, nearly a whole day long. 



The pupil who would learn to sing without fatigue, shoulJ 



practise, for a few minutes every day, the taking a full inspira 



tion into the lungs, and then giving out the air very slowly 



j and steadily. This will give him command of the muscles of 



j the chest. He will be surprised, at first, to discover the diffi- 



| culty of a slow and steady expiration. But let him persevere, 



! making this the first of his exercises for the improvement of his 



j voice, every morning. The next of his morning exercises should 



! be in singing the chord and scale, holding the notes as long and 



