Seed Thoughts for Singers

by Frank Herbert Tubbs

STUDY POETRY.

Every singer should be an earnest student of poetry. There are minds to which poetry does not appeal as does the practical prose. But in all minds there is enough of latent love of poetry which can be developed until poetry appeals with even stronger force than does prose. Can your heart glow with the beautiful sunset? Do you joy over the song of the bird? Has the spring blossom a message of delicacy to you? Then have you that love of nature which can give you understanding of the poet. A faculty of mind exercised grows with its use. A singer must have imagination. Without it, the best vocalization lacks the spark of true life. Without it, coldness displaces warmth, and darkness, light. The very essence of poetry is imagination. One word in poetry often suggests that which practical prose uses ten words to express. The study of poetry, that is, making poetry a study so that one knows what is in it, helps make good singers. He who has not yet thus used poetry may well plan something new for his winter evenings.

MANNERISMS SHOW CHARACTER.

Mannerisms give knowledge to the observing person of our character and intellectuality, and, on that account, are to be studied and used to our advantage. Such as would prepossess our hearers in our favor should be retained and such as would be unpleasant to the majority of people should be trained out of our unconscious use. But few think long enough about a singer to be able to tell their reason for liking or disliking him. The voice and art may be good and yet the audience may not like him. On the other hand, the voice may be meagre and the music faulty, yet there will be personal charm which is captivating. The manners which express the better side of our individuality will be those retained. Certain it is, that manners are the expression of individuality and there are no two persons whose action is just the same, any more than that there are two faces or two voices alike.

It is doubtful whether one can judge the good and bad in mannerisms in himself. We are so liable to accept our intention for actual performance that we deceive ourselves. Then, too, mannerisms which would be permitted in one place are not admissible in another. The ways of a German dialect comedian would not serve the Shakesperian comedian nor would the physical accompaniment of the songs of the London Music Hall be proper for the lieder of Schubert. The teacher enters at this place and by judicious physical drill, based upon the knowledge of what is wanted in true art, shows the singer what to cure and eradicate and what to make more prominent, wisely retaining those mannerisms which show the higher, nobler and more pleasing part of the singer's individuality.

PROVIDE FOR THE YOUNG.

Parents see the necessity of providing the means for their children to learn to take care of themselves. A fortune left to a son frequently, if not generally, proves a curse. A "good match" may turn out badly for a daughter. A few hundred, or even one or two thousand, dollars invested in musical education is sure to permit the son or daughter to earn a comfortable living. It will be more than a generation before the field for musical activity is supplied. More than that, in music, every further elevation of the public increases their desire for better and more expensive things in music. There is no prospect that the musical field will be over supplied with artists and teachers. Happily, the profession is open to women as well as to men. Our daughters can, then, receive preparation for independence in it. The necessity for marriage for mere living has gone by. Daughters are as independent of marriage as are sons. The time was when boys were held in greater esteem and value than were girls because they could take business positions and acquire wealth. The new openings for women have changed this. Woman is making a place for herself, not through the ballot and because of political influence, but because she is taking position in the business and professional world. Everyone, man or woman, should be prepared to take some position which permits a living income to be made. Parents are using music as the means of independence to their children. It is better to spend the hundreds of dollars in education in music than to invest that sum in any way to provide a fortune for the children. The life-income from the investment is better for the children.

THERE ARE NO MISTAKES.

How often does every one of us make the "mistake of a lifetime?" Probably everyone has made that remark many times regarding himself. The circumstances of life have seemed to point out a certain path. We have followed it. Later we felt it to be wrong. It was a mistake. Did it do us any good? No. Did we learn any lesson? No. Will we not make another "mistake of a lifetime" to-morrow, if we have the chance? Yes. Such is human nature. So we go on. But there is another side to the shield. There are no "mistakes of a lifetime," if we sum up the whole life. None of us can do that yet, but we can put a number of years together and see a result in them. How about that mistake over which you have been mourning? Was it a mistake? Is it not possible that if you had what you think would have been yours had you taken a different course, you would be worse off than you are now? A young man who is making his mark recently said, "I am glad my father lost his property. Had I been supplied with a lot of money while at college, I would have been a profligate." When the father lost his money he probably thought he had made the "mistake of a lifetime." Which would any father prefer, poverty or a wrecked family?

Many pupils rue a supposed mistake in the selection of a teacher. There is no mistake. Every teacher who can attract pupils can teach something and every pupil can learn something of him. The mistake, if one was made, was by the pupil, in not learning what that teacher could teach, and when he had gotten that, in remaining longer with him.