Seed Thoughts for Singers Part 1

Seed Thoughts for Singers.

by Frank Herbert Tubbs.

PREFACE.

There are times when one feels that he must turn from himself and receive suggestion, if not direct instruction, from some one else.

Originating thought is more difficult than is the taking of other thought. By delving below the thought received we learn to originate. It is not necessarily an admission of weakness, that we turn to another, for busy life uses up our mental energy and throws us into mental inactivity. It is at such times that we turn to books and teachers.

Thought is a substance which, as such, is only in our day being fully investigated. It is the expression of an idea and is the direct cause of all action. The slightest movement is made possible only through thought on perceived or unconscious mental activity. The more thoroughly directed actions are the expression of considered thought. Habit and movement by intuition are expressions of undirected thought. Changing from the latter condition to that of planned or considered action makes all action stronger and more definite. The thinking man becomes the leader of men.

"Seed-thoughts" are such as produce other thoughts. Hardly have we reached the realm of ideas. It is a step--not long, yet well-defined--from thought to idea. This little volume does not propose to take that step. It is content to stop, in all modesty, at that place.

Its suggestions are sent out to busy teachers and students to lodge in mind as plantings in good mental soil. That they will take root, spring up and bear fruit, is fondly hoped. What the harvest of thought in others may be is idle to speculate upon, but the hope exists that there may be two or three times the amount used in planting when all shall have been gathered in. In this hope the "Seed-thought" is sent on its mission.

121 West 42d Street, New York.

SEED-THOUGHTS FOR SINGERS.

I.

SUCCESS.

A few decades ago a clumsy, lank, raw-boned boy roamed over the hills of the State of Ohio. He was not marked with the talent of many, nor was he noted for anything in particular except, perhaps, an aptness in "doing sums." Bare-footed, and with scanty clothing, he appeared at a school in a village near his home and begged admission. At first he was refused.

Persistence overcame the opposition and he entered, becoming in a short time by his application, the leading spirit in the school. The course of study there being completed, he went to an office across in Delaware as a clerk. That year, the Representative to Congress from Delaware, when about to appoint a youth to enter the Naval Academy at Annapolis, announced a compet.i.tive examination. The country lad competed and secured the prize. Friends whom he had made raised funds for the necessary uniforms. At the end of his course a good appointment in the navy followed. Visits to various countries gave him command of three languages. A change to sh.o.r.e duty permitted him to study law. At a recent courtmartial trial at Brooklyn he served as advocate for the Government so acceptably that he has been offered and has accepted, members.h.i.+p in one of the largest law firms in New York. The change from the rough lad to the cultured advocate indicates success.

On a bench in an old-fas.h.i.+oned shoe shop sat a young man working at his trade. A singing teacher, pa.s.sing along, noticed the rich voice of the young man, singing as he worked. The teacher inquired where he sang in church and if he sang in public. Learning that the young man sang no-where, had had no instruction or education, and lacked even the clothes necessary to a respectable appearance, he interested himself in the youth and lived to see him become the leading oratorio ba.s.so of America. Success! You will say these two had great natural gifts, all their faculties, and had friends. Another case: A boy at six, was left as a result of scarlet fever, stone blind. Nor has he since seen a ray of light. A necessary faculty to success gone, is it? To-day that young man is one of the best musicians and singers; getting $1,500 for his choir singing. Success.

There is within each and every one _that ability_ and _prime element_, which, properly commanded and developed, COMPELS success. But few understand themselves or realize the power within them. Without comprehension of what is within, no start toward success can be made. A reason for absence of comprehension lies in the fact that but one side of self is ever seen, and that side is the grosser one. The body--a head, a trunk, arms and legs. These we see with our physical eyes and call the object, man. We incline to think if these parts are comely, well shapen, strong, beautiful, the possessor may march on to success.

"Trust not to appearance." Were the body the root of all things, or of especial worth, the race would be to the swift, the fight to the strong.

But that seen, felt, heard, is not the real self. Within the body, as a dweller and a motive power, is the ego, the real self. It is that and that only which can be developed and which possesses those attributes, compelling, bye and bye, success. It is that which must, to some degree, be understood. _Be the body what it may_, the real self has the power of expression and improvement. That real self will be spoken of as the ego, and its power considered.

There enters into existence at birth or early in life an indefinable something. We term it soul, spirit, mind. When we meet or a.s.sociate with a person, in a short time we recognise that mind. At first we may notice the body or even the dress and be influenced by it. In time we see back of that outward covering and see the mind behind it. After, we forget the body in the acquaintance with the mind. A homely person becomes illumined with new life. A beauty loses attraction. We have learned to know the ego in our acquaintance. That ego we come to know as all there is of the acquaintance. A dozen bodies in the dissecting room of the medical college are almost exactly alike. More alike than are the suits of clothes cast off last year by a dozen men. The ego from a dozen men will have small point of resemblance. The ego has so many characteristic elements that it makes possibility of development, throughout the years allotted to man while pa.s.sing over the earth's crust, _into_ ANYTHING. The body is the home of the ego and the tool for its development and action. Train the body to ability to respond to the demands of the ego, and keep it healthful, and no more can be done with it. For now nothing more need be said of the body. In speaking of the cause of non-success, limited success or disaster, reference to it will be made.

Attributes of mind lead always in the direction of progress. Ego, mind, real self, is G.o.d within us. "He breathed in his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul." That "breath of life" is G.o.d. That cannot tend downward. The attributes of G.o.d are the attributes of the ego. Love, thought, sympathy, ambition, helpfulness, desire for refinement, culture, expansion--these are such attributes. Is any mind lacking these? If we say yes, look within ourselves and see if they are lacking in us. Accord the same faculties or attributes of mind to each of our fellow men. These attributes cultivated will cause growth of the ego as surely as it is that G.o.d liveth and we are in Him. But this growth makes the ego greater and by its reaching out after the things of the world and taking them to itself, produces that which we term success. Understand, then, the ego. Grow it. Reach and possess. These attributes are the forces within each and these forces are the elements of success.

But, asks one, what is the bearing of this on our study and on our singing. It has been plain to me as a teacher, and it grows stronger every year, that all success in singing arises from a comprehension of the ego within us, and the cultivation of these attributes bearing directly upon singing and music. Three only of those attributes may be considered now.

First,--ambition. What would you become? Yes, a musician and singer.

Consult one who knows your body better than you and enough of your mind to judge well, and if he says you may become one, plan your life work to making your ambition gratified. Aim high. But few persons lack the capacity of singing well. The goal of most is that, to sing well. At home only, it may be. For friends, and for self-pleasure. Others would become professional artists. Aim at the highest and best. No ambition is too high and, provided we will cultivate the ego, no ambition will remain ungratified. Do not be modest in expectancy. Nothing is too good or too high, too great or too n.o.ble for the G.o.d within us. Therefore plan large things.

_Second_--thought. Having planned a broad campaign and having resolved on faithfulness, bend the thought toward the result. Now, thought is not the subtle nonent.i.ty we let ourselves consider it. The text of a book recently examined is, "Thoughts are things." Thought is an emanation of the ego; a messenger of the mind. We shoot thoughts out by the thousands and millions. Generally we fly them at random. If they strike a mark we gain a result. Stop shooting them at random, aim correctly, hit the mark each time and each thought brings a result. Pure thought, the thought from the ambitious ego, is upward, and when centered, concentrated on the plan which ambition has prompted, it carries that plan onward--upward--to the end, _success_. Concentration of thought, say you? Do we not have it? Let me ask you to fix the thought on one object five seconds. Tear this paper slowly from end to end and think of nothing else while doing it. Probably the thought during the five seconds will embrace a dozen things besides the act of tearing. Of what paper is made, how far apart the lines are, be the texture fine, how much does it cost, some other paper bought last week, where you bought it, the salesman who served you, what a frightful rainy day that was, how you caught cold and what a scolding you got at home for being out--a long way from the act of tearing. The first thought is lost.

Concentrate. Acquire the habit of concentration. In nothing more than in thinking should we say, "Do one thing at a time." Concentration of thought makes steady growth of the plan of ambition's suggestion and moves it on to success.

_Third_--expression. Every growth produces another. Emerson says in substance that the end of every act is but the beginning of another. It used to be said that if a man made $5,000 he was sure to become rich--meaning that the money invested and reinvested, and added to by constant earning, would surely bring wealth. Every growth of attribute of mind, be it of those mentioned or of others, develops possibilities of further growth. Love, a powerful attribute of the ego, first circles in the home, then expands into the circle of friends, then reaches the business, society, the world. One begins by caring for the want of a hurt bird or other pet. He ends by raising and healing mankind. One quietly slips a few pennies into the hand of an unfortunate. He ends by being a philanthropist. One speaks a kind word. He ends by raising the fallen. These, you see, touch upon sympathy, helpfulness. Each attribute expands. Have you followed? Isn't this true? How, then, about desire for refinement? If the others expand, will not that? A n.o.ble thought, an a.s.sociation with the pure in art, and beauty in poem, story, song, sky, flower, but leads us to another even more beautiful. Each touch of beauty, of docility, of refinement, expands that line of our ego, and we feel ourselves raised, drawing nearer and nearer that great Mind, and keeping us more and more in that grace which pa.s.seth all understanding.

The end _must_ be success in our plan. Mental growth means more power to grasp and wrest from circ.u.mstances and the world itself, successful prosecution of the plan which ambition framed. Successful prosecution means ultimate success.

In mind I hear some one say, this is good theory and a beautiful picture. What of it is practical enough for my mind. Let us turn for a few minutes to a darker side and then again to the brighter, and see if a practical word does not exist for each. What prevents success, and is there false success?

A few minutes ago I spoke of the bodies which the ego inhabits. Those bodies possess attributes and faculties. St. Paul said once that he would be out of the body and be in the spirit; meaning, as I believe, that he would rather live in the ego, and not be hindered by the body.

The body must be fed and clothed. It has appet.i.tes. Appet.i.te grows, requiring more delicacies, higher spiced and richer food, and perhaps more food. Clothing takes much attention, and develops pride and vanity.

Has not each said many a time, "If I but had time to attend to study and did not have to attend to my clothes, my food, and take the time to earn money for them, I could do so much"? True, but the body is here and if these things are not done, the ego would have no home in which to stay.

The care of the body is necessary. Cannot, however, even these necessary demands be somewhat reduced for the sake of attending to the ego within, more fully? If not, cannot the appet.i.te and the pride, which, after all, give no satisfaction when all is done, be so held in check by care and reasonableness that the demands of body will not grow upon us? After all, those necessary demands of body, grown abnormal, or into the unnecessary, are not so bad as other attributes of body. Laziness! Light gossip! Fretting! Uncleanness! Disease! These things _can't_ be part of the ego, for the real man is the "breath of life"--G.o.d. They must be of body. They are the things which play havoc with our time, our energy, our thought. It is a commonly accepted belief that man must be now and then on the sick bed. That commonly-accepted belief is slowly but surely disappearing before the fact that the body only becomes diseased as it is neglected, overfed or attacked by bacillae. If a plant dies we look for the worm at its root, or the insect on the leaf. If it has had good soil, earth and sun, we expect it to flourish. The body is the same material--dust. Attend it, not abuse it, and except from contagion it will serve us without disease. Solomon said, "Know thyself." Maybe he meant know to care for the body. When this is done the ego is allowed its chance to go to success. Without it, the body, full of appet.i.te, pride, hatred, laziness, envy, fretfulness and disease, weighs with compelling force, the ego down to earth. Instead of success follows failure. Emanc.i.p.ate the ego from the body before even planning. This body and this alone can cause failure. A success arising from a pretty face, a good figure, graceful dancing, agile singing and trifling speech is false success and is worse than failure. How about circ.u.mstances and their influences? Surroundings. They surely effect us. Yes, but just so surely as the ego throws off the lower self, within the body, and resolves to rise, just so quick will the circ.u.mstances and surroundings begin to change. Just so fast as the ego develops its attributes just so fast will appropriate circ.u.mstances and surroundings for its further growth open. Like begets like. Water seeks its level. Seek low things on bodily planes and low friends will surround you. Like is with like.

Raise yourself a peg and you will find those with whom you can follow.

Your old a.s.sociates will not go with you, and some will call you mean and cry, "Come back," and try to pull you back. Bid them adieu and go higher. _New_ surroundings are there and will make a place for you in them. The past becomes a stepping stone and if you have cleared the ego of your own body, you will rise again. Like draws like. The new friends, the new town, the new music, the new activity will lend you their aid to go higher. Clear yourself at each step of the weight brought on by body and circ.u.mstances will seem different. "G.o.d helps him who helps himself." Those who would pull back are by our very inertia cast off. We rise to success.

The thousand things which might be well said in connection with the subject must be left. Recapitulation and application to the individual singing student show these:

1st. Plan, and concentrate thought on its execution.

2d. Cultivate the real self and not permit the sh.e.l.l or body to dominate.

3d. By that command of the self, win friends and compel success. That which conduces most toward success is even disposition and geniality.

These grow into kindly independence which develops for us experience.

How long, ask you, will it take to become an artist? No one knows. Two minds differ--in fact, no two are alike. A few months suffice to make the crudest student an adept singer; or rather, is time enough to make him sing as well as his mind wishes. From that time on the voice grows better only as the mind grows and comprehends how to further use the voice. So, then, as soon as one can sing so as to acceptably please friends, it is a duty which the pupil owes himself to sing for those whom he pleases. The effort gives him experience and prepares him to meet the next circle. As the ability grows, seek to sing before greater artists, and with the best singers. The time will come--it may be one year, two years, three years, or even more--when it is best to go before the best artists of the world and secure their commendation and their co-operation (silently it may be) to further for you the prosecution and completion of your pre-arranged plan regarding your music. What matters it how long this takes. Life is, if you are using it aright, a perfection of a plan of existence which will end only when we pa.s.s over the River. A portion, more or less long, used in making a musician and an artist, is but a part of the whole, and a development of the talent lent us by the good Father, and which we, by our effort, eventually return to Him, added to, and made beautiful because of the Heavenborn Art--music--which we have absorbed to ourselves. Nor is this all, for in the development of our own talent we have carried the whole world unconsciously upward nearest the pure, the beautiful and the true.

CHAPTER II.

DESULTORY VOICE PRACTICE.

"_Nothing should be done without a purpose._"

=Aurelius.=

"_Music is never stationary; successive forms and styles are only like so many resting-places--like tents pitched and taken down again on the road to the Ideal._"

=Liszt.=

II.

DESULTORY VOICE PRACTICE.

European schools and teachers stand aghast at what American pupils demand and at their expectations. Accustomed to the years of attention to detail and to seeing their own students willing to wait long years before good results are achieved, they naturally think the American students wild. These Americans want to do in one year what Europeans are willing to use three or four years for. Those teachers say it cannot be done and set down American students as conceited fools. While at first glance the teachers appear right, may they not be wrong? America to-day has more inventions in use, more quick ways of working in all lines of life, and can show quicker results in all lines of activity than any other nation. Methods and ways have been devised and adapted to American speed in all branches. May such not apply to study? So this item is prepared in the interest of American students, living under American conditions. It is useless to say, "we live too fast." Take facts as they are and adjust our custom to the day, place and situation.