In the infant school the teacher can take hold of the good that is innate, and mould it; in the higher school he has to spend hours and hours eradicating the bad habits which shouting and untamed license have allowed to grow. By all means begin with the infants, and let their songs and nursery rhymes be written so as to "give them a chance."
But I am asked to say something that may be helpful to the choirmaster having to train the vocal organs of boys who are beyond infantile methods. I will therefore suppose myself for the first time before an ordinary country group of lads with all the vocal faults that now appear indigenous to the locality. I should first get them to find the Upper Thin Register, and my plan is to confine the work to this region [Illustration: musical notation] and get the boys to sing "koo" to D, E, or F, making my own "Exercises," which are suggested by present circumstances:--
[Illustration: Koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo koo
As at this stage the boys know nothing of the diatonic scale, I let them imitate. The exercises _may_ be played on a pianoforte, if the teacher cannot sing them, though in the latter case it is preferable that he should adopt the plan of selecting his best pupils for the models.
I once had to commence with some uncultured boys, and knowing the difficulty of getting them to make a start, took with me a few of my own trained lads, who sang the exercises first, after which I added one or two of the beginners to them, and sympathetically they soon sang in the proper register with the others. By continuing the process of addition gradually I soon got the whole class to sing as I wished.
At this first lesson the proper production of "oo" (vowel) should be obtained. I deal with the vowels as they arise, never observing a lack of clearness and purity without endeavouring to correct it. The foregoing exercises can next be used for teaching the intervals of the diatonic scale, for instance:--
[Illustration: KEY F. { |d1:--| s:--|| s:--| d1:--||]
calling the notes by their names, doh soh. Here, again, the proper vowel production must be sought for, and obtained. The difficulties will be varied in this respect with the locality. Often I have met with doh-_oo_. This, as well as ray-_ee_, and other faults that need not be specified, can be corrected at once. The beautiful intonation we had at Swanley I attribute in a large measure to the care bestowed on the production of vowel sounds. There must be no division of opinion among the singers as to how any particular vowel sound should be emitted. If there be not unity in this respect the intonation suffers.