manifest his refinement of soul by 
coming forth from his hole at the 
sound of a piano and to sit with the 
air of a connoisseur criticising the 
selections with which he was being 
favored. 
Not only is the ability to hear dif- 
ferent in different persons, but the 
thoroughness with which they hear 
varies largely. Few sounds consist of 
simple waves of air. As the waves of 
the sea are noticed to bear smaller 
waves upon them and these in turn to 
carry wavelets, so the waves of sound 
are rarely smooth, simple waves. 
There are many more waves upon 
waves in sound production than can 
be observed on the surface of the sea. 
A note from the piano not only sounds 
the note which the key struck repre- 
sents, but also a great many tones that 
chord with this tone higher up the 
scale. These overtones are not so loud 
as the fundamental tone and cannot 
readily be detected by the uncultivated 
ear. But they give character to the 
tone. The overtones make the note 
of the violin and the cornet differ. 
No two voices have the same over- 
tones, and while we are unable to hear 
these overtones by themselves, yet we 
are able to distinguish the voices of 
our friends instantlv by means of them. 
As voices differ in the overtones 
they carry, so do ears differ in the 
number of overtones they are able to 
receive. Some people enjoy hearing 
high voices only. For them the 
soprano or tenor is always in demand. 
Others prefer deep voices and admire 
altos and basses. I have stood beside 
a friend at a concert where a first class 
artist was pouring forth a baritone 
song with the most delicate and ar- 
tistic tone and finish, and had my friend 
turn to me and say : " What on earth 
do people find in that man's voice to 
pay money to hear?" The singer's 
voice was full of rich overtones which 
made it valuable to the average cul- 
tured listener, but in the ear of my 
friend they produced a jarring that 
was decidedly unpleasant to him, al- 
though he was fond of the singing of 
the untrained voices of the members 
of the choir where he attended church. 
A large part of the business of the 
voice culture expert is the adjustment 
of the vocal organs in singing so as to 
produce the right sets of overtones to 
give the voice a carrying quality and 
the richness we enjoy in the finished 
artist. One notable example of the 
production of too much of a good thing 
was instanced in the fate of a soprano 
who came to America a few years ago 
with an extensive operatic repertoire 
and a voice that could not be drowned 
by a full orchestra as it soared to the 
greatest heights and displayed a flex- 
ibility most remarkable. But she 
failed to please us. A neighbor of 
mine said to her friend: "Just wait till 
you hear Madame Blank begin. She 
has a voice that will cut you like a 
knife." 
Both the inner and outer ear forma- 
tions are responsible for the differences 
in hearing in different people. Culti- 
vation does much for any sense, but 
for him that has no ear for music 
cultivation will not construct an ear. 
It is easy to see what a difference in 
hearing will be produced by a slight 
change in the position of the outer ear. 
While listening to a steady sound, 
draw the ear forward with one finger, 
relax it to its normal position, then 
push it back against the head. The 
quality of the sound heard and its 
intensity will be varied in each 
instance. 
So we may be lenient with our 
friends who do not enjoy the same sort 
of music with ourselves. And the 
same music will not always be the 
very same. A pistol shot upon a 
mountain top sounds much like a fire 
cracker in a valley, and the condition 
of the atmosphere frequently modifies 
music almost as much as the shape of 
the room in which it is produced. 
