And so on, descending the scale by semitones.
Practise No. 8 slowly and steadily, with perfectly even tone throughout, without any crescendo or diminuendo.
Let all the above exercises be taken successively, forte, a mezzo-voce, and piano, preserving exactly the same amount of tone throughout each passage, and holding the notes with the same force with which you attack them steadily to the end, not letting them die away. The trick of letting notes die away is easily learnt afterwards, but at present you have to master the far greater difficulty of holding notes firmly with unvarying tone. Practise these exercises on all the vowel-sounds already given. All such exercises are of course only variations of the diatonic and chromatic scales, so arranged as to prepare the voice for executing those scales evenly and perfectly, with equality of tone on every note; for till you can sing scales, you are not fit to sing songs of any kind.
Duration of Practice.—Always guard against over-straining and over-working the voice. Do not sing or practise for a longer time than half an hour without allowing the voice rest for some time. If you have three hours at your disposal daily to devote to singing, the most economical use of the time is to divide it equally between the morning, afternoon, and evening.
Singing in Tune.—Correct intonation is of the greatest possible importance in singing. Every singer should pay especial attention to this point. The heavier the voice, the more necessary becomes such attention, and therefore contralti and basses are strongly advised to lose no time in facing this (to them) considerable difficulty. Deep basses, indeed, are rarely perfectly in tune for any long time together, and some of the most famous bass singers have left behind them recollections of this painful defect. Therefore, whatever be your voice, do not take for granted that even the possession of a good ear will always ensure your singing in tune. Sometimes excellent singers, and good musicians too, will sing out of tune, perfectly aware that they are doing so, but, for a time, unable to prevent it from physical causes—relaxation of the throat, fatigue, indisposition, &c., under which conditions the muscles are unable to obey the will as usual. Do not, then, make too light of this matter, because you may think yourself quite incapable of singing out of tune; it is at all events wiser to be on the safe side. Therefore, never practise (nor sing, if you can help it) with a pianoforte which is not well in tune and well "up to pitch." And be very constant in practising intervals, such as major and minor sixths and sevenths, so as to be able to strike them as perfectly in tune and as unvarying in quality as the notes of an organ diapason.