Lillie Lehmann says: "I expended ten years in perfecting the trill which every voice must master," and yet some pupils become discouraged because they can not master the art of singing in a few months! Many singers complain of a contraction (hardness under the chin). This is frequently found where they have been taught to place the tip of the tongue against the back of the lower teeth to keep the tongue down. Leave the tongue limp and speak your vowels and consonants perfect and distinct, and the tongue will take care of itself. Those who are working to produce low tones will find that in the morning, immediately after rising, the lower tones respond most readily and may help you to find a way of increasing the lower range. Don't neglect the scales. Many years ago Madame Patti, while on a concert tour, was awakened from her early morning sleep by the sound of a piano in a room close to hers. It was slow scale practicing and was maddening to the singer. She rang the bell, and demanded that the practice be at once discontinued. What was her astonishment to learn that the player was not some beginner as she had supposed, but the great artist, Hans Von Bulow. Why is the so-called Italian method supposed to be the correct method of singing? Partly because the Italian "a" (as you would pronounce "ä") is the most natural sound that can be sung, and as the "ä" is the sound used in two-thirds of the words in the song you sing, it plays an important part in singing. Very few beginners realize that it is not only the words "law," "raw," "saw," "tall," "hall," etc., that contain the Italian "ä," but also the words "light," "bright," "might." In the word "night," the beginner usually dwells on the "ee," making it "na-=ee=t," while it =should be= pronounced "n=aw=-eet," dwelling on the "ä." The Italian vowels cover the sound, tone color and pronunciation of the Latin, English, Italian and German, with the exception of the German "o" and "ü." With the French it is quite different. The sound and production stands by itself. A French singer does not so readily sing the other languages, neither does an American in the same length of time master the French as well as the other languages. The French insist on =perfect diction=, and one of our grand opera singers who delights the New York opera goers by her singing of "Faust," "Carmen," etc., in the French, would not be tolerated at the opera in Paris on account of her diction. As the French is the diplomatic language of the world, it would be well to take up this language first. Then study your Italian for your singing and you will find the Spanish, Latin and German can be easily mastered. Study only those songs which have merit. "After the Ball" was composed within the past twenty years, and over 3,000,000 copies have been sold, yet this song is both dead and buried, while the "Earl King," by Schubert, composed in 1798, is today found upon practically all the programs of our noted singers.