When taking up a new song read the words over carefully and get an idea what you are going to sing about before you try to sing it. Never breathe in the middle of a word, or break a sentence by taking a breath. THE BREATH. The foundation upon which you have to build your voice is the =breath=, and like all other foundations, it must be properly laid, or the structure will be a failure. It is imperative that you have absolute and perfect =control= of the breath. An athlete once said to me, "If breath is the foundation of good singing, I certainly should make a fine singer, as I have the largest chest expansion and can hold my breath the longest time of anyone in the college." The truth is, a small girl, weighing ninety-six pounds, who had less than one-fifth of his chest expansion, had twice the volume of sound-carrying power in tone, and could sustain a tone three times as long as he. To practice breathing is not practicing singing, and the teacher who keeps a pupil indefinitely on "breathing lessons" is either "killing time" or is not a proficient instructor of voice culture. It should be taken for granted that all healthy persons breathe properly. It is not the breathing, but the power of control, which is of vital importance. It may be that after taking "breathing lessons" for a period of six months that you will still be far from able to control the breath =on the tone=. It is the way you practice, rather than the length of time which brings proficient results. You will find by referring to the chapter on "Practical Exercises" that I demonstrate the matter thoroughly. A good tone should have =resonance=, or what we call "vibration," but not "tremolo." Many young singers confuse these two. Undoubtedly it is just as bad to sing with a straight, cold, unmusical tone as it is to produce an exaggerated "vibrato" or "tremolo." If you are unable to make the distinction between these two, do not fail to consult someone who can do so, that you may not enter the pitfalls, which it takes months to overcome. You cannot realize =how little breath= is necessary =on the tone=; we sing with a great amount of =pressure=, but with =very little breath=. Have you ever taken a covered head tone without scarcely taking any breath, and found that you could sustain it for a practically unlimited period? I found one of my pupils who had elsewhere taken a course in =breathing=, in taking a tone, would push her breath out so hard that you heard more =breath= than =tone=. In singing a tone or short sentence, her chest would collapse and she would become, as she termed it, "All out of breath." She would give me all kinds of wonderful breath demonstrations, but could not connect the =breath= and =tone=.