The term mordent (indicated by the sign 4i) is taken from the French word mordre meaning to bite. It was applied probably because the ornament is really a part of the trill. It consists usually of three tones: first, the one represented by the printed note; second, the one below it; and third, the printed [...]

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The_ appoggiatura (also called grace note) comes from an Italian word meaning "to lean upon.- It consists of an accented ornamental tone introduced before a principal note of the melody. Time to perform it is taken from the note against which it is printed. No rule as to exact rendition is [...]

 
In music, there often occur intermediate tones or chromatics to give greater variety and interest to the composition. Sometimes they are used purely as passing or ornamental tones; at other times they serve to take the music from one key or mode into another.
When a succession of chromatics or twelve half-tones are found within the [...]

 
A phrase in song may be defined as a unit of musical and verbal thought. As a rule, the composer sees that they coincide. As in sentences, phrases in music vary in length, — some are short, others are long. If a phrase in a song is broken in the wrong place, its musical and [...]

 
In order that your voice may respond quickly to change of pitch and words, it must have considerable flexibility. The development of a technique which permits you to make vocal adjustments rapidly and precisely gives lightness to tone which is desirable and necessary either in singing a slow, sustained song or a fast, staccato one. [...]

 
During the usual span of life the voice changes from time to time. The first change occurs when one passes from infancy into childhood. The next takes place when the boy and girl move into adolescence. Still another comes when the youth approaches adult life, and the final transpires in old age. These changes are [...]

Many’ people do not know what causes differences in vocal quality; yet they probably would have no difficulty in describing a voice according to its tonal characteristics. For instance, we often hear a voice called guttural, throaty, nasal, musical, vibrant, loud, penetrating, soft, and subdued. We think of a voice as pleasant when it is [...]

 
Your voice is an individual possession. No one else has an instrument just like it. This is so because of its physical make-up and the way you use it. It is true also because it reflects your state of health and of mind. If you are ill and lacking in vitality, or if you have [...]

 
Diction is the way or style of pronouncing words. It embraces the manner of utterance of component parts as vowels, consonants, and syllables, and the relation of one word to another. Good diction in singing means correct pronunciation, distinct and quick articulation, and right tone production. It requires that the breath be [...]

A song is a combination of words and melody. Devoid of either element it loses its identity. In truth, a purpose of singing is to interpret or translate words so as to strengthen ideas set forth in the text in an artistic way. All too seldom does one find a vocalist who [...]