In taking up your exercises use the instrument as little as possible. For illustration we will take the arpeggio.
Play the arpeggio until you are perfectly familiar with the construction, then sing it once with the piano, then play only the chord or keynote and sing the arpeggio without the piano; continue in this way in all the keys within your range, getting your pitch from the chord or keynote; this manner of practice is of the greatest value, as you can stand in a natural singing position and as you do not have to give part of your thought to the music or instrument, you pay more attention to the pitch and tone, so that when you come to arias with recitatives without accompaniment, you will not have as much difficulty staying on pitch as those who invariably depend on the support of the instrument.
In songs you should pursue the same course, play the most difficult passages, "memorize them" before you attempt to sing them; in this way you do not unnecessarily tire the voice. Memorize all your songs; it is only after you get away from the reading that you are capable of doing your best work. Always practice before a mirror and you will not be so liable to acquire facial contortions and would soon overcome the very bad habit of lifting the shoulders when you "see yourself as others see you."
Pupils frequently ask why it is so much easier to sing an exercise on "ah" than to sing a sentence. In the "ah" you only have one vowel, while in the sentence there are both vowels and consonants. By diligent practice you will soon find that the tone helps the word, and the words help the tone.
Another complaint frequently heard in the studio is this: "I sang this exercise perfectly at home, and can't see why I am unable to sing it now." How many times did you sing this exercise perfectly at home. Don't consider an exercise learned until you can sing it ten times in succession without an error.
Lillie Lehmann says: "I expended ten years in perfecting the trill which every voice must master," and yet some pupils become discouraged because they can not master the art of singing in a few months!
Many singers complain of a contraction (hardness under the chin). This is frequently found where they have been taught to place the tip of the tongue against the back of the lower teeth to keep the tongue down. Leave the tongue limp and speak your vowels and consonants perfect and distinct, and the tongue will take care of itself.
Those who are working to produce low tones will find that in the morning, immediately after rising, the lower tones respond most readily and may help you to find a way of increasing the lower range.
Don't neglect the scales. Many years ago Madame Patti, while on a concert tour, was awakened from her early morning sleep by the sound of a piano in a room close to hers. It was slow scale practicing and was maddening to the singer. She rang the bell, and demanded that the practice be at once discontinued. What was her astonishment to learn that the player was not some beginner as she had supposed, but the great artist, Hans Von Bulow.
Why is the so-called Italian method supposed to be the correct method of singing? Partly because the Italian "a" (as you would pronounce "ä") is the most natural sound that can be sung, and as the "ä" is the sound used in two-thirds of the words in the song you sing, it plays an important part in singing.