No fixed compass can possibly be given to the different registers, as the older a boy becomes the lower the change occurs; the head register often being used as low down as A."
In a letter to me Dr. Bates says:—
"I quite think that, for ordinary parish church services, the effect of boy altos, if properly taught, is all that one can desire."
In reply to my remark that the break comes in so awkwardly for boy altos, Dr. Bates says:—
"I fail to understand the reason you quote for the non-usage of boy altos. There is no change whatever in a boy's voice, in its normal state, until
There is evidently some conflict of nomenclature here, as the limits of the registers as given by Dr. Bates differ considerably from those which are usual. I am glad to learn that Dr. Bates is writing a book on "The Voices of Boys," which will no doubt clear up the subject. In the paper before me he recommends practice of the scales to such syllables as La, Fa, Ta, Pa, in order to bring the tone well to the front of the mouth, and reinforce it by means of the soft upper palate. He recommends the teacher to train the boys to use the upper register by making them sing over and over again, very softly, the following notes:—
Here again the transition seems to me to be taken much too high.