There is nothing so disquieting to the singer as the feeling that his
voice, upon which his artistic hopes, to say nothing of his livelihood,
depend, is not a reliable organ, but a fickle thing which to-day may be
in splendid condition but to-morrow may be gone. Time and again I have
been driven to the verge of desperation by my own voice. While I am
grateful to all of my excellent teachers for the many valuable things
they taught me, I had a strong feeling that there was something which I
must know and which only I myself could find out for myself. After a
very wide experience here and in England I found myself with so little
confidence in my ability to produce uniformly excellent results when on
the concert stage, that I retired to Akron, Ohio, resolving to spend the
rest of my life in teaching. There I remained for four years, thinking
out the great problem that confronted me. It is only during the last
year that I have become convinced that I have solved it. My musical work
has made me well-to-do and I want now to give my ideas to the world so
that others may profit if they find them valuable. I have nothing to
sell--but I trust that I can put into words, without inventing a new and
bewildering nomenclature, something that will prove of practical
assistance to young singers as it has been to me.