Many seem surprised when I tell them that my vocal training did not
begin until I was twenty years of age. It seems to me that it is a very
great mistake for any girl to begin the serious study of singing before
that age, as the feminine voice, in most instances, is hardly settled
until then. Vocal study before that time is likely to be injurious,
though some survive it in the hands of very careful and understanding
teachers.
The first kind of a repertoire that the student should acquire is a
repertoire of solfeggios. I am a great believer in the solfeggio. Using
that for a basis, one is assured of acquiring facility and musical
accuracy. The experienced listener can tell at once the voice that has
had such training. Always remember that musicianship carries one much
further than a good natural voice. The voice, even more than the hands,
needs a kind of exhaustive technical drill. This is because in this
training you are really building the instrument itself. In the piano,
one has the instrument complete before he begins; but in the case of the
voice, the instrument has to be developed and sometimes _made_ by study.
When the pupil is practicing, tones grow in volume, richness and
fluency.
There are exercises by Bordogni, Concone, Vaccai, Lamperti, Marchesi,
Panofka, Panserson and many others with which I am not familiar, which
are marvelously beneficial when intelligently studied. These I sang on
the syllable "Ah," and not with the customary syllable names. It has
been said that the syllables Do, Re, Mi, Fa, etc., aid one in reading.
To my mind, they are often confusing.