If, because of maltreatment, a voice has suffered serious setbacks, it can be remedied, but not without long and arduous labor. It is much easier to train an unplaced, unschooled, unharmed voice than it is to redeem a voice which has been broken through years of incorrect singing. But the qualities of "point and focus" will do wonders, and bad habits can be broken!

If the voice is small, it is possible to train it so that its range and power can be increased greatly and the sweetness and purity of correctly placed tones will make up for lack of volume. A beautifully modulated and controlled small voice can be just as interesting, and possess even greater charm, than one of larger size. Another fault which I find very common is that of working exclusively on the weakest portion of the voice. The weak spots must be built up, of course, but once the voice is placed, and the student really understands and uses the correct singing method, with all tones being sung with "point," any troubles in range will disappear of themselves. The entire voice should be worked over all the time, and no portion should suffer from lack of practice and help because of another.

Recently there came to me a singer, a professional of established reputation, who complained that she was having great difficulty with her top tones. She could reach them only by forcing, and had consulted a noted New York voice teacher for help. He had assured her that her upper range could be restored by working exclusively on her middle tones and not touching the upper tones at all! (How an error could be rectified by ignoring it, he did not explain!) I found her voice one of fine natural quality but totally lacking in resonance and focus. Under such conditions no amount of work or practice could restore her upper voice. On the contrary, the incorrect method of singing which this man was trying to teach her would very shortly have destroyed her voice completely. As soon as a student understands and attains correct vocal technique, singing every tone with the correct sensation of the voice curving up and out and reaching the focal point at the junction of the nose and forehead, the ease thus gained will smooth out all other difficulties.

There is no doubt that the interpretation of a song is the primary consideration of the audience. But lack of beauty and purity of tone cannot be excused simply because the singer has spent so much effort on interpretation that voice technique has been neglected. It is imperative, therefore, that the singer should have sufficient technique to allow him to interpret any song or aria without sacrificing its vocal beauty.

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