Even when the education is finished, and the _prima donna_ has made her successful debut, continued daily repetition of primary exercises is necessary to maintain excellence and insure the progress that every performer desires.

Our best singers to-day are as diligent students of the technique of the voice as are the tyros struggling with the first elements.
LIFE'S PERIODS Human life is divided into three periods: _first_, that of effort to get an education; _second_, of effort to maintain it; and _third_, of effort to resist the natural decline which comes with advancing years.
The singer and speaker must drill to develop the voice, must drill to keep it in condition, and must drill to resist the encroachments of senility.

Eternal vigilance is the price of vocal success.
APPLICATION OF ESSENTIALS The application of the principles here discussed will show that a musical voice is not the product of mysterious systems, but a matter of scientific certainty.

The essentials are good breathing, good focusing, good resonance, and good articulation.

These four elements are so interdependent that one cannot be perfected without the other.
With these attained, the intellect, the sentiment, and the emotion of the performer will culminate in artistic excellence.
REPOSE AS A PREPARATION FOR VOCAL EXERCISE The nervousness or fear which manifests itself in constraint and rigidity of the muscles and sometimes in stage fright is a serious hindrance to progress.