fourth without displeasing; yet for ease of execution it may be advantageous to practise through the whole octave, and this cannot be done too often, if you wish to obtain a volubility of voice in running divisions and cadenzas. It is to be remarked, that the slur ascending is more difficult and requires more practice than the descending; and this more particularly in what' may be called the slow or protracted slur, which is always made ascending, by bearing a little on the first note, then gliding smoothly and quickly up to the third above. The singer may avail himself of the slur in either grave, tender, or brilliant passages, the superior or inferior third or fourth, as the occasion may admit or taste may dictate.

THE TURN.

The turn, or more correctly the return, is a movement of the voice as it were round a note, executed as smoothly as the glide or slur, but more smartly; with the swiftness, we may say, of the twinkling of the eye. It requires, for the most part, to be performed with a sottovoce, and is employed to give smoothness and connection to passages; or, when the voice is raised rather than subdued, to increase the fire and spirit of passionate expression. It is, in fact, a sort' of double appogiatura, which is sometimes com

menced from the note above, and sometimes from that below. It is used with the greatest effect in giving variety to a succession of the same

notes.

THE SHAKE, OR TRILL.

This is both the finest of the vocal graces, and the most difficult of acquisition. Tosi says, there is no infallible rule discovered of teaching it. Grassineau describes it to be a quick beat upon two notes in conjoint degrees, as A, G, alternately one after another, beginning with the higher note and ending with the lower. Tosi again says, it is a violent motion of two contiguous sounds at the distance of a tone, of which the lower is called the principal, because it keeps with greater force the place of the note which requires it. The upper is called the auxiliary. He justly thinks it is of such consequence, that whoever wants it, or can execute it only imperfectly, can never be a great singer.

The best method of acquiring it, is to proceed slowly from the auxiliary note to the principal, and accelerate the motion, gradually, as is done with the finger on the harpsichord, to the utmost quickness. The difficulty, however, lies in pro-, ceeding from the slow and open motion to the quick and close, without fluttering, huddling,

jerking, gurgling, or shaking the jaw, and other intolerable defects. The learner may have some idea of the shake, and come to acquire it more exactly, if we describe it as a pulsation, vibration, or rebound, of the principal note to the auxiliary, after the manner of the rolling of a drum, by beginning slow, and beating gradually closer till it end directly on the principal note. It will be proper at first to practise plain, without attempting any stop, turn, or other flourish.

The shake should be seldom made with force di petto by any voice excepting a bass, which cannot easily form any other shake than the open and full from the breast. According as it corresponds with the harmony, which must, as Mr. Lanza remarks, be always attended to, the shake may either be from the note above the cadence or from the note below. A shake and turn is the moderately quick shake, ending with a slow turn, made by resting on the principal note after the shake, then returning to the auxiliary with an aspiration, and ending on the principal. most cadences, especially of grave airs, you must fall upon the shake with an appogiatura and aspiration. The singer, till he has acquired a good shake, had better not attempt any, but save appearances by ending with an aspirated ap pogiatura or short turn.

In

The following is Tosi's description of eight different species of shake, which are well worthy of notice, though not all adapted to our immediate object. The first is the shake major, from the rapid movement of two contiguous sounds at the distance of a tone, as we have before remarked.— From this major shake all the others are derived.

The shake minor consists of a sound and its contiguous semi-tone major. Where the one or the other of these two shakes is proper, good taste and the nature of the compositions will point out; but the first or major shake is always excluded from the inferior or lower cadences. If the difference in the two shakes be not easily discovered in the singer, whenever it is with a semi-tone, one may attribute the cause to the want of force of the auxiliary to make itself heard distinctly. Besides, this shake being more difficult to be beat than the other, every body does not know how to make it as it should be, and negligence becomes a habit. If you cannot distinguish this shake in instruments, the fault is in the ear.

The third species is the short shake, or mezzotrillo, whose character will appear from its name. One who is master of the first and second, with the art of beating a little closer, will easily learn it, ending it as soon as heard, and adding a little bril

liancy. For this reason, it pleases more in brisk and lively airs than in the pathetic.

The fourth is the rising shake, which is performed by making the voice ascend imperceptibly, shaking from comma to comma, without discovering the rise.

The fifth is the descending shake, which is done by making the voice decline insensibly from comma to comma, shaking in such a manner, that the descent be not distinguished. These two shakes, ever since true taste has prevailed, are no more in vogue, and ought rather to be forgotten than learned. nice ear equally abhors the antient dry stuffs and the modern abuses.

A

The sixth is the slow shake, whose quality is also denoted by its name. He who does not study this, ought not therefore to lose the name of a good singer; for it being only an affected waving, that at least unites with the first and second shake, it can seldom please more than once.

The seventh is the redoubled shake, which is learned by mixing a few notes between the major and minor shake; which interposition suffices to make several shakes of one. This is beautiful, when those few notes, so intermixed, are sung with force. If, then, it be gently formed on the high notes of a superior voice perfect in this rare quality, and