"When the pupil comes to me, we at once establish natural, easy
conditions of body and an understanding of the causes which produce good
tone. We then begin to work on the vowels. They are the backbone of good
singing. When they become controlled, they are then preceded by
consonants. Take the first vowel, A; it can be preceded by all the
consonants of the alphabet one after another, then each vowel in turn
can be treated in the same way. We now have syllables; the next step is
to use words. Here is where difficulties sometimes arise for the
student. The word becomes perfectly easy to sing if vowels and
consonants are properly produced. When they are not, words become
obstacles. Correct understanding will quickly obviate this.