to cause the sound to strike against the roof of the mouth above the
upper row of teeth; to improve the pronunciation; to adjust the
registers,--these, with many other things, may seem very easy; but to
teach them all in the shortest time, without wearing out the voice and
without falling into errors; to persevere in teaching to the end, even
if the pupil already sings correctly; to know what is still wanting and
how it is to be attained,--all these one must acquire by long and
constant experience.

When Schröder-Devrient came from Vienna to Dresden, a young but already
celebrated singer, though at that time wanting in the proper foundation
for singing, she was not a little surprised when Miksch called her
attention to this deficiency. She devoted herself thoroughly to the
primary formation of the tone under the instruction of Miksch, and must
still remember the old master, and his extraordinary practice in this
particular. Miksch learned it from Caselli, a pupil of Bernacchi. He had
just sung as a young tenor, with great applause, in a concert, and
introduced himself to Caselli, who was present, expecting to receive
his approbation; but the latter, instead of commending, assured him
frankly that his mode of singing was false, and that with such misuse
his voice would succumb within a year, unless he adopted a correct
culture of tone. After much hard struggle, the young Miksch renounced
all further public applause, and studied the formation of tone
assiduously and perseveringly with Caselli, after having previously
allowed his over-strained voice a time for rest.

If a singing-teacher has, by chance, met with a docile pupil, possessed
of a voice of unusual beauty, it frequently happens that the studies are
not pursued with sufficient perseverance; and, perhaps, are continued
only for a few weeks or months, instead of allowing a year or more,