But how does a trained singer learn to sing a song or to take part in an opera? He has to study the performances of two parts for the vocal instrument--the part written by the composer and the part written by the poet or dramatist--and in order to present an artistic rendering, the intellectual and emotional characters of each part must be blended in harmonious combination. A singer will first read the words and understand their meaning, then memorise them, so that the whole attention subsequently may be given to applying the musical part to them and employing with proper phrasing, which means more than knowing when to breathe; it means imparting expression and feeling. A clever actor or orator can, if he possess a high degree of intelligence and a fairly artistic temperament, so modulate his voice as to convey to his audience the passions and emotions while feeling none of them himself; so many great singers who are possessed of a good musical ear, a good memory, and natural intelligence, although lacking in supreme artistic temperament and conspicuous musical ability, are nevertheless able to interpret by intonation and articulation the passions and emotions which the composer has expressed in his music and the poet or dramatist in his words. The intelligent artist possessed of the musical ear, the sense of rhythm, and a well-formed vocal organ accomplishes this by the conscious control and management of his breathing muscles and the muscles of articulation, which by education and imitation he has brought under complete control of the will. With him visual symbols of musical notes are associated with the visual symbols of words in the mind, and the visual symbols whether of the words or of the musical notes will serve to revive in memory the sound of the one or the other, or of both. But he produces that sound by alteration of tension in co-ordinated groups of muscles necessary for vocalisation, viz. the muscles of phonation in the larynx, the muscles of articulation in the tongue, lips, jaw, and palate, and the muscles of costal respiration. _The mind_ of the orator, actor, and dramatic singer exercises a profound influence upon the respiratory system of nerves, and thereby produces the necessary variations in the force, continuance, and volume of air required for vocal expression.