"I do not go through a routine of scales and exercises daily--at least
not in the season, for I have no time. If you are going to take your
automobile out for a spin you don't ride it around for half an hour in
the yard to see whether it will go. No, you first look after the
machinery, to see if all is in working order, and then you start out,
knowing it will go. I do a lot of gymnastics each day, to exercise the
voice and limber up the anatomy. These act as a massage for the voice;
they are in the nature of humming, mingled with grunts, calls,
exclamations, shouts, and many kinds of sounds--indeed so many and
various they cannot be enumerated. But they put the voice in condition,
so there is no need for all these other exercises which most singers
find so essential to their vocal well-being. I will say right here that
I am working with two masters; the first for the mechanics of the voice,
the second who helps me from quite an opposite angle--interpretation and
finish.