,oxford ,university ,press  ,london     
,edinburgh ,glasgow ,new ,york ,toronto 
,melbourne ,bombay  ,humphrey ,milford  
,m4,a4 ,publisher to the ,university    
,,music ,,as ,a ,,language  ,,lectures  
,,to ,,music ,,students  ,,by  ,,ethel  
,,home ,,head ,,mistress ,,of ,,the     
,,kensington ,,high ,,school            
,g4,p4,d4,s4,t4  ,,oxford ,,at ,,the    
,,clarendon ,,press #aiaf     ,,preface 
,the following lectures were delivered  
to music students between the years     
#aijg and #aiae4 ,they have been partly 
rewritten so as to be intelligible to a 
different audience1 for in all cases the
 lectures were followed by a discussion 
in which various points not dealt with  
in the lectures were elucidated4  ,an   
experience of eight years in organizing 
a training course for students who wish 
to teach ear-training on modern lines to
 classes of average children in the     
ordinary curriculum of a school has     
shown me that the great need for such   
students is to realize the problems1 not

 only of musical education1 but of      
general education4  ,owing to the nature
 of all art work the artist is too often
 inclined to see life in reference to   
his art alone4 ,it is for this reason   
that he sometimes finds it difficult to 
fit in with the requirements of school  
life4 ,he feels vaguely that his art    
matters so much more to the world than  
such things as grammar and geography2   
but when asked to give a reason for his 
faith1 he is not always able to convince
 his hearers4  ,he feels with ,ruskin   
that3  ',the end of ,art is as serious  
as that of other beautiful things--of   
the blue sky1 and the green grass1 and  
the clouds1 and the dew4 ,they are      
either useless1 or they are of much     
deeper function than giving amusement4' 
,but he has not always the gift of words
 by means of which he can describe this 
function4  ,we want our artists1 and    
their visions1 and those of them who can
 realize a perspective in which their   
art takes its place with other educative

 forces are among the most valuable     
educators of the rising generation4     
,,ethel ,,home4 ,,kensington1 ,january1 
#aiaf4     ,,contents   ,,chap4         
,,page     ,i4 ,,the ,,training ,,of    
,,the ,,music ,,teacher                 
#i    ,,ii4 ,,the ,,organization ,,of   
,,musical ,,work ,,in ,,schools         
#ae   ,,iii4 ,,the ,,teaching ,,of      
,,voice ,,production ,,and ,,songs      
#bj    ,,iv4 ,,the ,,sol-,,fa ,,method  
#bf     ,v4 ,,first ,,lessons ,,to      
,,beginners ,,in ,,ear-,,training       
#ca    ,,vi4 ,,the ,,teaching ,,of      
,,sight-,,singing                       
#ce   ,,vii4 ,,the ,,teaching ,,of      
,,time ,,and ,,rhythm                   
#dj  ,,viii4 ,,the ,,teaching ,,of      
,,dictation                             
#dc    ,,ix4 ,,the ,,teaching ,,of      
,,extemporization ,,and ,,harmony       
#dh     ,x4 ,,the ,,teaching ,,of       
,,elementary ,,composition              
#ee    ,,xi4 ,,the ,,teaching ,,of      
,,transposition                         

#fj   ,,xii4 ,,general ,,hints ,,on     
,,taking ,a ,,lesson ,,in               
,,ear-,,training      #fe  ,,xiii4 ,,the
 ,,teaching ,,of ,,the ,,piano          
#gj   ,,xiv4 ,,suggestions ,,to         
,,students ,,on ,,leaving ,a ,,training 
,,department                            
#gi     ,,chapter ,i  ,,the ,,training  
,,of ,,the ,,music ,,teacher   ,let us  
consider the case of a young girl who   
has finished her school education1 and  
has supplemented this by a special      
course of technical work in music1 which
 has ended in her taking a musical      
diploma4 ,she now wishes to teach4 ,what
 are the chief problems which she will  
have to face8 ,she must first of all    
make up her mind whether she wishes to  
confine her work to the teaching of a   
solo instrument1 together with some work
 in harmony or counterpoint1 along      
orthodox lines1 or whether she wishes to
 be in touch with modern methods of     
guiding the general musical education of
 children1 as taken in some schools in  

the morning curriculum4 ,if the latter1 
she must enter on a course of special   
training4  ,there is also a practical   
reason why many who wish to teach music 
at the present time are entering a      
training department4 ,in a paper        
recently issued by the ,teachers'       
,registration ,council we find the      
following paragraph dealing with        
',conditions of ,registration'3  ',the  
applicant must produce evidence         
satisfactory to the ,council of having  
completed successfully a course of      
training in the principles and methods  
of teaching1 accompanied by practice    
under supervision4 ,the course must     
extend over a period of at least one    
academic year or its equivalent4'  ,now1
 those who have studied the question of 
the teaching of music in accordance with
 modern methods have realized that music
 provides a language1 which should be   
used primarily for self-expression and  
intercourse with others4 ,the whole of  
life depends on the expression of       

ourselves in relation to the community4 
',self-expression is a universal        
instinct1 which can only be crushed by a
 course of systematic ill treatment1    
either self-inflicted or inflicted by   
others4 ,it is self-inflicted if we     
conform to false standards of           
convention1 or create for ourselves a   
standard of life which is out of touch  
with humanity as a whole4 ,it is        
inflicted by others if they force us    
when young into a wrong educational     
atmosphere1 and paralyse our faculties  
instead of developing them4  ,to the    
favoured few real creative power comes  
by instinct1 but to a great many a small
 degree of this power can be given by   
education1 and in this way an extra     
outlet is possible for self-expression4 
,the child should be trained when quite 
young to think in terms of music1 in the
 same way in which it is trained to     
think in its mother-tongue4 ,the        
fundamental work should be taken in     
class1 not at an individual lesson1 and 

should be compulsory for all children4  
,we do not inquire whether a child is   
gifted in languages before we teach him 
,french1 and we must not ask whether he 
is gifted in the language of music      
before placing him in the music class4  
,again1 short frequent lessons are more 
beneficial to the young beginner than   
longer lessons at greater intervals1    
for1 as a new 'sense' is being opened to
 the pupil1 a long lesson produces an   
unhealthy strain4  ,the scheme of work  
to be followed in such a class will be  
dealt with later1 but we may note here  
that training given in accordance with  
the above-mentioned aim will produce a  
marked increase in the vitality and     
general intelligence of a child4 ,the   
reflex actions of intense concentration 
for a short time1 followed by the giving
 out of creative work1 will send a child
 back to its other lessons with an alert
 mind and with increased vigour4  ,a    
large number of schools and private     
families are offering posts to teachers 

who are able to teach along such lines4 
,every year the number of such posts    
steadily increases1 and it will not be  
too much to predict that in the near    
future few schools in the first rank    
will be without teaching of this kind4  
,the salaries offered are naturally     
higher than those obtained by the       
old-fashioned 'orthodox' teacher1 as    
more has to be done1 and classes have to
 be managed instead of individual       
pupils4  ,it is impossible to           
over-estimate the importance of securing
 plenty of experience in teaching       
classes of average pupils of all ages1  
under expert supervision4 ,many an      
apparently promising teacher has come to
 grief in the first post taken1 because 
the knowledge gained has been too       
theoretical1 and has not been checked by
 class experience with really average   
pupils4 ,the question of discipline is  
an easy one with an individual pupil1   
but in class work it assumes a different
 proportion4  ,for the purpose of       

teaching ear-training1 without          
instrumental work1 a high degree of     
musical gift is not necessary4 ,any one 
who is fond of music1 sympathetic with  
children1 and willing to work1 can      
manage the course of work necessary     
before being able to teach classes up to
 a fair standard4  ,the work1 which     
often appears bewilderingly difficult to
 one who sees it for the first time1    
becomes quite simple when approached    
step by step1 and in company with fellow
 students4 ,it is also interesting to   
know that some of the most satisfactory 
results obtained in certain schools     
during the last few years have been     
arrived at by teachers possessing only  
an average knowledge of an instrument1  
but who have thrown themselves with     
enthusiasm into the study of music as a 
living language4 ,such teachers are     
bound to succeed1 because they are      
attacking the subject in a genuinely    
educational spirit4  ,a word now on     
another aspect of the question of       

training4 ,there is going to be an      
enormous difference in the young girl's 
outlook on life4 ,for perhaps the first 
time she has to adopt the attitude of   
the one who gives1 not of the one who   
receives4 ,hitherto she has been        
receiving food1 clothes1 money1         
education1 help in her difficulties1 c41
 and now1 ,fate waves a wand1 and the   
child who has been the centre of        
interest in her home and in her school  
has to learn to give--and to give       
generously--as others gave to her4  ,for
 the real teacher is never paid for all 
she does4 ,her salary is not augmented  
in proportion to all the extra help she 
gives to the backward or delicate       
pupil--to the hours of drudgery1 outside
 school hours1 willingly given in order 
to be prepared for every eventuality of 
school life4 ,such things are never paid
 for in money1 the only reward is in the
 partial realization of the standard    
attempted4  ,another point4 ,the ideal  
teacher must have real personality1 and 

this is a thing of slow growth1 but     
which can be developed under expert     
guidance4 ,there must be sympathy1 tact1
 and humour4 ,in adopting the attitude  
of the giver instead of the receiver the
 young teacher is too apt to put away   
the remembrance of childish             
difficulties1 and to forget the restless
 vitality which made her1 as a child1   
long to fidget1 and do anything but     
learn4  ,there is another thing to bear 
in mind4 ,the majority of amateurs are  
never subject to the same criticism as  
the professional4 ,everything is        
'watered down'4 ',very good' has often  
been the verdict of the critic1 but an  
unspoken addition has been--'for an     
amateur'4  ,now in a training department
 one of the most valuable points of the 
training consists in the outspoken      
comments4 ,and this does not only refer 
to musical work1 but to personal faults4
 ,we all know that if a mannerism does  
not interfere with the unity of a strong
 personality1 it may be left alone4 ,but

 there are some mannerisms which merely 
express the weaknesses of those who     
possess them1 and which spoil the       
expression of the personality4 ,these   
must be cured1 and will be faithfully   
dealt with in the training department4  
,lastly1 if the course of training be   
taken in connexion with a school1       
opportunities will be afforded of       
getting an insight into general         
organization and schemes of work for    
children of all ages4  ,an accusation   
often levelled at the musical members of
 a staff is that they keep to           
themselves1 and do not identify         
themselves with the general school life4
 ,in some cases this may be due to lack 
of willingness1 but in the large        
majority it is due to lack of training  
in1 and realization of1 the unity of    
such life4  ,a student who takes every  
opportunity given to her during her year
 of training will not only learn how to 
organize the general musical life of a  
school1 through the medium of           

ear-training and song classes1 recitals1
 music clubs1 c41 but will be ready and 
proud to show initiative in other       
directions4  ,we cannot do without the  
visions of our artists1 and a country or
 a school1 is the poorer when full use  
is not made of the driving force of     
artistic inspiration4     ,,chapter ,,ii
  ,,the ,,organization ,,of ,,musical   
,,work ,,in ,,schools   ,the musical    
work in a school falls roughly into four
 divisions3  #a4 ,ear-training1 leading 
on in later stages to harmony1          
counterpoint1 c4  #b4 ,voice production 
and songs4  #c4 ,instrumental work4  #d4
 ,concerts1 music clubs1 c4  ,to take   
these in order3   #a4 ,ear-training4    
,when the necessity for this work has   
been realized the next step is to       
consider how the time can be found for  
it in the school curriculum4 ,those who 
have seen some of the results in schools
 which have taken the work for some     
years are sometimes inclined to think   
that a large expenditure of time has    

been involved4 ,but1 provided the       
children have begun the training when   
quite young1 it is neither necessary nor
 desirable for them to have more than   
one forty-minute lesson a week after    
they have reached the age of twelve     
years4 ,we must remember that in all    
'language' work the ideal plan is to    
begin with very short and fairly        
frequent lessons4 ,ear-training which is
 to be treated on the lines suggested   
will be opening up a new 'sense' to the 
pupil1 and the concentration necessary  
is such that the children cannot stand  
the strain of a long lesson4  ,the      
following lengths of lessons are        
therefore advisable3  ,for children from
 four to seven years of age1 a quarter  
of an hour four days a week4  ,from     
eight to twelve years of age1 twenty    
minutes three days a week4  ,from       
thirteen years of age upwards1 forty    
minutes once a week4  ,now as to schemes
 of work4  ,for those between the ages  
of four and seven the time should be    

spent in singing at sight easy melodies 
in major keys1 and in ear tests of two  
or three notes at a time4  ,for those   
between eight and twelve sight-singing  
in minor keys and in two parts should be
 added1 also the dictation of melodies  
and of two-part tunes4 ,when this work  
is securely grasped the treatment of    
chords can begin1 also extemporizing of 
melodies with the voice1 together with  
transposition and harmonizing of easy   
phrases at the piano4  ,for children of 
thirteen years and upwards the above can
 be continued1 together with            
sight-singing in three parts1 dictation 
in three and four parts1 extemporizing  
at the piano1 and more definite work in 
harmony1 counterpoint1 and elementary   
composition4  ,after the age of fourteen
 it is well to make the work voluntary4 
,by this time it is possible to         
distinguish between children who are    
sufficiently interested in music to make
 it worth while for them to continue the
 work and those who will be more        

profitably employed in other directions4
 ,the latter will have learnt how to    
take an intelligent interest in music1  
and how to 'listen' when music is being 
performed4 ,the classes will now become 
smaller1 an advantage for the more      
detailed work4  ,it is important to note
 that the best results in ear-training  
will only be obtained if the classes do 
not exceed twenty-five pupils in number4
   #b4 ,voice ,production and ,songs4   
,these classes can be larger without    
prejudice to the work1 but the above    
classification as to age is desirable4  
,children between four and seven years  
of age will probably learn songs        
connected with their kindergarten work1 
so it is difficult to say exactly the   
amount of time to be spent in song      
lessons1 as the work will overlap4      
,those between eight and twelve should  
have one song and voice production      
lesson a week1 of not less than twenty  
minutes4 ,those over thirteen will      
probably be working at more difficult   

songs1 and will need not less than      
thirty minutes once a week4   #c4       
,instrumental ,work4  ,it is very       
desirable that all children up to the   
age of eight who are learning an        
instrument should do so in a class for  
the first year1 rather than in          
individual lessons4 ,much of the        
fundamental work at an instrument can   
become wearisome to a young child unless
 taken in company with others of the    
same age4  ,a practical consideration   
involved is that this makes it possible 
to charge a smaller fee for each pupil1 
and this fact may influence a parent to 
let a child begin an instrument earlier 
than would otherwise be the case4  ,it  
has been found that children started in 
this way develop much more rapidly than 
if they had individual lessons4 ,the    
stimulus of class work for the average  
child cannot be over-estimated4  ,when  
this preliminary year's work is over1   
the child can go on either to three     
twenty-minute lessons a week by itself1 

or two half-hours4 ,if ear-training is  
being done at the same time1 it is      
possible to shorten the amount of       
instrumental practice each day4 ,in few 
cases should it be allowed to exceed    
half an hour up to the age of thirteen1 
and in many cases twenty minutes is     
found sufficient4  ,after the age of    
thirteen it is again possible1 as was   
the case with the ear-training work1 to 
distinguish between the musical children
 and the others4 ,the former should     
increase the amount of practising each  
day2 the latter1 if they continue to    
learn1 should not exceed half an hour4  
,the piano lessons will in most cases   
consist of two half-hours a week4   #d4 
,concerts1 ,music ,clubs1 c4  ,it is a  
good plan to arrange for a short recital
 to be given every term1 at which not   
only the more advanced pupils will play1
 but children at all stages of          
development4 ,it is wise to insist on   
all music being played by heart1 as in  
this way an invaluable training will be 

given from the very first4  ,in the case
 of a prize-giving or large school      
function it is of course necessary to   
show only the best work4  ,a music club 
is a great stimulus to the musical life 
of a school4 ,a good plan is to arrange 
a series of short lectures on such      
subjects as the origins of harmony1     
acoustics1 the chief difference between 
music of different schools and periods1 
c41 and to follow these by accounts of  
the lives and works of the great        
composers4 ,children are delighted to   
come to such meetings1 especially if    
their aid be asked in illustrating the  
lectures by playing specimens of the    
music referred to4  ,in the organization
 of musical work in a school it is of   
the utmost importance that there should 
be a central musical authority1         
responsible for bringing all those      
engaged in the teaching into touch with 
each other4 ,if this be done1 not only  
will overlapping of work in the various 
classes and lessons be avoided1 but a   

driving force of musical comradeship    
will be initiated which will produce a  
genuine musical atmosphere4             
,,chapter ,,iii  ,,the ,,teaching ,,of  
,,voice ,,production ,,and ,,songs   ,it
 is perhaps more rare to find a         
successful teacher of songs than of any 
other subject in the school curriculum4 
,there are many reasons for this4 ,in   
many cases a visiting teacher takes the 
work1 who finds it difficult to learn   
the names of all the children in one    
lesson a week1 and who therefore starts 
at a disadvantage4 ,then the size of the
 class for songs is always larger than  
that of classes in other subjects1 and  
there is therefore more inducement to   
inattention on the part of the children4
  ,nothing is more pitiful than to see a
 young1 inexperienced mistress grappling
 with a large class of healthy1 restless
 children1 who know from experience that
 the weekly song lesson may be turned to
 good account for their own little      
games6  ,there is1 of course1 the born  

teacher1 who sends an electric shock    
through the room directly she enters it1
 and who1 without asking for it1 secures
 instant silence and eager attention4   
,such people are rare1 and it must be   
our task now to give a few practical    
suggestions to those less fortunate     
people who do not possess the innate    
gift1 but who are willing to learn4  ,to
 begin with1 the teacher of songs must  
have real personality2 and if she does  
not possess this by nature1 she must do 
her best to develop what she has4 ,she  
must be full of vitality1 she must      
understand children1 and1 above all1 she
 must be genuinely fond of music1 in    
such a way that she cannot do without   
it4 ,the last qualification often       
implies a certain sensitiveness1 which  
finds a difficulty in accommodating     
itself to a workaday world1 where people
 have little time1 or inclination1 to   
study the 'moods' of others4 ,very      
artistic people are a well-known        
difficulty to the authorities of        

schools4 ,in order to excel in their    
art1 they must not only have a 'capacity
 for taking pains'1 but a reserve store 
of emotional force1 on which they draw  
for self-expression through their art4  
,now the possession of such a reserve   
store does not always imply a power of  
keeping it in reserve6 ,during the      
course of training the attention of such
 people should be directed to the high  
ideals underlying all true educational  
work2 they should realize the real      
function of music in education--that it 
is not to be taken as a mere            
accomplishment1 or technical art1 but as
 a means of self-expression4  ,we will  
now consider a special case4 ,let us    
suppose that a new mistress is taking a 
song lesson with a large class of       
children1 who have the reputation of    
being troublesome to manage4 ,on        
entering the classroom it is a good plan
 to go straight to the platform1 without
 speaking a word to the children on the 
way1 whatever they may be doing4 ,from  

this vantage ground the teacher should  
look the class over for a few seconds1  
still without speaking4 ,there is       
nothing more impressive to a restless   
class than the sight of a mistress not  
in the least disturbed by their doings1 
yet taking everything in4 ,if the       
mistress has cultivated a sense of      
repose and self-confidence this action  
on her part will produce the feeling of 
a centre of force in the room--and the  
force will radiate from her4 ,the       
children1 without knowing exactly what  
has happened1 will feel different1 and  
will be pliant and easy to manage4      
,directly the mistress is conscious of  
this change of atmosphere she can start 
the lesson4 ,but she must now gradually 
merge her personality into that of the  
class--she must work with them1 not     
outside them4 ,it is difficult to put   
this idea into words1 but all real      
teachers will see the meaning4 ,there is
 no driving force to equal that which   
works from within a community--not from 

without4  ,now for the lesson itself4   
,it should start with a few simple      
exercises in voice production4          
,excellent suggestions for these will be
 found in a little book called ,class   
,singing for ,schools1 with a preface by
 ,sir ,charles ,stanford1 published by  
,stainer  ,bell1 also in the ,board of  
,education ,memorandum on ,music4 ,a    
special point must be dwelt on4         
,children should never be allowed to use
 the chest register4 ,their voices      
should be trained downwards4 ,in the    
singing of scales there should be a leap
 to1 or a start on1 a note high enough  
to be out of the chest register--such as
 the high ,eb4 ,the descending scale    
should then be sung4 ,breathing         
exercises should be taken at the        
beginning of the lesson4 ,a good        
exercise is to exhale on the sound 'sh'4
 ,the children will stand in easy       
positions for this1 the hands on the    
ribs1 so that they can feel the ribs    
expanding and contracting during        

inhalation and exhalation4 ,the         
shoulders should be kept down4 ,the     
advantage in using the sound 'sh' is    
that the teacher can thereby tell how   
long each child makes its breath last4  
,when these exercises are finished1 and 
a few scales and passages have been     
sung1 the class should sit down while   
the teacher speaks about the new song to
 be sung4 ,in schools where             
sight-singing is taken as part of the   
regular curriculum it is not necessary  
to work at this in the song class4 ,in  
beginning a new song the chief thing is 
for the teacher to get the class to     
seize the spirit of it4 ,if difficult   
words occur1 they may be explained      
later1 but it is absolutely essential   
that the children shall get hold of some
 idea which they can express in singing4
  ,mr4 ,w4 ,tomlins1 who came over from 
,new ,york in order to show some of his 
methods for dealing with large classes1 
produced some admirable results4 ,he    
worked up the enthusiasm of his classes 

to such an extent that the effect of    
their singing was electrical2 and it was
 all due to the few words he said before
 the song was sung1 not to any          
corrections he made later4 ,it is not   
necessary for a teacher to conduct the  
songs all the time during the lesson1 or
 the fact that the class is expected to 
watch the baton tends to make them rigid
 in their attitudes1 and therefore1 to a
 certain extent1 in their singing4 ,the 
best results are obtained when a class  
stands to sing4 ,some well-meaning      
teachers forget that the children have  
probably been sitting in their          
classrooms for the greater part of the  
morning1 and are only too glad to stand 
for a change4 ,they can sit between the 
songs1 when finding their places1 and so
 on4  ,songs should be chosen in which  
the pitch is not too low4 ,many people  
have the mistaken idea that young       
children cannot sing high4 ,listen to   
their shouts in the playground1 to the  
notes they use when calling to each     

other1 and this idea will soon be       
corrected4 ,the lowest note in the voice
 of a young child is generally ,e1 and  
it can take the high ,f or ,g quite     
easily4  ,droners should not be allowed 
to sing with the rest of the class1 or  
the pitch will be lost at once1 to say  
nothing of the spoiling of the general  
effect4  ,flat singing is often due to  
bad ventilation of the room1 more often 
still to boredom4 ,a good plan in this  
case is to raise the pitch a semitone2  
it is often just as easy for singing1   
and invariably produces a sense of      
cheerfulness4  ,children should never be
 allowed to sing loudly1 especially when
 very young4 ,it is most difficult to   
cure the habit when once formed4        
,attention should be paid to            
articulation from the very first4 ,a    
useful lesson is taught the class if1   
from time to time1 half of them go to   
the end of the room1 and1 with closed   
books1 listen to their companions       
singing a verse of a song which is new  

to them4 ,the difficulty they experience
 in following the words will not soon be
 forgotten4  ,attacks should be         
absolutely precise4 ,the two-and        
three-part contrapuntal singing which is
 done in the sight-singing classes is   
admirable for this1 as the whole effect 
is blurred or entirely spoilt in such   
clear-cut work by a false entry4  ,for  
all large school functions1 such as a   
prize-giving1 the songs should be sung  
by heart4 ,this is not necessary in     
ordinary class work1 as the aim there is
 to teach as many good songs as         
possible1 in order to form a standard of
 real musical literature4 ,but at the   
set performance nothing is more         
delightful than to see children rise1   
and1 without any flapping of pages1 or  
uncomfortable attitudes for seeing the  
words in a book1 sing straight from     
their hearts4 ,however simple the music 
or the words1 the effect will be well   
worth the little additional trouble4    
,our last consideration is that of the  

songs to be chosen to learn4 ,little    
children should rarely sing anything but
 unison songs4 ,folk-songs1 such as     
those edited by ,cecil ,sharp and       
others1 and1 for the very little ones1  
traditional nursery rhymes and game     
songs are the best4 ,from the ages of   
ten to fourteen years such books as     
,boosey's ,national ,songs or ,songs of 
,britain should be the staple work1     
while for older children the great      
classical songs may be added4 ,a good   
book for these is the ,golden ,treasury1
 published by ,boosey4  ,songs by living
 composers should be strictly limited in
 number1 though not excluded4 ,these    
have not stood the test of time4 ,we    
teach ,shakespeare in our literature    
classes1 not a modern poet--the essays  
of ,bacon1 not those of a modern        
essayist4 ,and our reason is that the   
only way to create a standard of taste  
is to take our children to the classical
 fountains of prose and poetry4 ,we must
 do the same in music4     ,,chapter    

,,iv  ,,the ,,sol-,,fa ,,method   ,to   
those who are not accustomed to the     
,sol-fa notation it appears at first    
sight a useless encumbrance4 ,excellent 
arguments are produced for this view4   
,many musical people can scarcely       
remember when they could not sing at    
sight and write melodies from dictation4
 ,they picked up this knowledge         
instinctively1 and cannot see why others
 should not do the same4 ,unfortunately 
everybody has not proved able to do so1 
hence a multitude of 'methods' for      
teaching them4  ,the most familiar of   
these consisted in trying to teach the  
pupil to sing intervals1 as intervals1  
at sight4 ,thirds1 fifths1 sixths1 c4   
were diligently practised4 ,but pupils  
did not always find it easy to sing     
these intervals from all notes of the   
scale1 unless in sequence4 ,the major   
third from doh to me seemed easier than 
that from fah to lah1 and so on4 ,thus  
in the majority of cases sight-singing  
in classes resolved itself into the     

musical children leading1 and the others
 following4 ,it is rare to find a large 
class in which there is not one musical 
child1 and the only sure test of        
progress is to make the less musical    
children sing at sight alone from time  
to time4  ,now1 if those who have       
'picked up' the knowledge of            
sight-singing without knowing how they  
did it be asked to explain how they     
arrive at their intervals1 it will be   
found that tonality plays a large part  
in their consciousness4 ,in other words1
 they are perfectly certain of their    
key-note1 and at any moment could sing  
it1 even after complicated passages4    
,this fact is the root of the ,sol-fa   
system4 ,the child is taught to think of
 all the notes of the scale in relation 
to the key-note4 ,a very sensible       
objection is sometimes raised to this1  
i4e4 that it must surely entail a great 
deal of detachment from the matter in   
hand if the mind has to grope for the   
key-note between every two consecutive  

notes of a melody4 ,but this process    
becomes automatic very quickly4 ,we are 
not conscious of references to the      
multiplication tables every time we do a
 sum1 yet we could not do the sum       
without these4 ,and it is the same with 
the ,sol-fa system4 ,the child need very
 rarely actually sing the key-note when 
considering another note1 she refers the
 latter to it unconsciously4  ,there is 
one curious anomaly in the orthodox     
,sol-fa system1 which has caused a good 
deal of amusement to its critics1 and   
has ended by causing a cleavage on the  
part of many who are otherwise in       
cordial agreement with the broad lines  
of the method4 ,this is concerned with  
the treatment of the minor key4 ,the    
orthodox ,sol-fa teacher relates the    
notes of the minor scale1 not to the    
key-note1 but to the third of the scale1
 i4e4 to the key-note of the relative   
major4 ,the confusion which this plan   
produces in the sense of tonality can   
readily be imagined4 ,when singing in   

major keys the pupils are told to refer 
all notes to the key-note for 'mental   
effect'1 but in the minor key this is   
strictly forbidden4 ,to take an         
instance4 ,in the scale of ,c major the 
child has been trained to feel the      
sharp1 bright effect of the note ,g1 the
 fifth from the key-note ,c4 ,it would  
naturally feel the same effect for the  
note ,e in the key of ,a minor1 when    
related to the key-note ,a4 ,but the    
orthodox ,sol-fa teacher says3 ',no4    
,you must feel the calm1 soothing effect
 of ,e in relation to ,c6' ,can the     
child be really trained in this way8 ,if
 it were merely a difference in detail  
of the treatment of the two modes this  
error could be forgiven1 but it is a    
difference in fundamental principle4    
,one of the many difficulties caused    
occurs in transposition on the piano4   
,when transposing from1 say1 ,c minor to
 ,f minor1 the child must first think in
 ,eb major1 so as to get the pivot of   
reference1 then in ,ab major for the new

 pivot ,ab4 ,yet all the time its real  
sense of pivot1 which1 be it noted1 has 
been admirably trained by the ,sol-fa   
treatment of the major scale1 is in     
favour of ,c and ,f respectively4  ,the 
method evolved for the minor key by     
those who wish to uphold the fundamental
 principle of the key-note being the    
pivot of reference for all keys1 major  
and minor1 is a very simple one4 ,it    
consists in giving to the third and     
sixth of the harmonic form of the scale 
their logical names of maw and taw4 ,the
 sixth of the ascending scale in the    
melodic form will of course be the same 
in the minor as in the major4  ,there   
are two other points in the orthodox    
,sol-fa system which are modified by    
those who wish to use it as a crutch to 
staff notation4 ,the first of these     
concerns the rather complicated time    
notation of all but the first sets of   
exercises4 ,directly subdivisions of the
 beat are introduced the notation       
becomes difficult to read without       

putting a strain on the eyes4 ,the      
little dots1 dashes1 commas1 c41 worry  
children4 ,experience has proved that   
when a class is ready for anything      
beyond the very simplest time values it 
can leave the ,sol-fa notation          
altogether1 and keep entirely to the    
staff notation4 ,this is1 of course1 an 
advantage1 and is what is being aimed   
at4  ,the other point is connected with 
the use of what are called              
'bridge-notes'4 ,when a modulation is   
introduced which entails a fairly long  
reference to a new key1 the note leading
 directly to it is of course accidental 
in the first key and diatonic in the    
second4 ,this is called a bridge-note1  
and must be thought of in two ways1     
first in the old key1 then in the new4  
,thus its name must be changed1 as a    
prelude to using the new pivot4  ,now1  
in teaching staff notation it is neither
 wise nor necessary to introduce        
extended modulations very early4 ,the   
aim is to make it possible for children 

to sing fairly easy melodies in all     
keys1 major and minor1 with incidental  
modulations1 as soon as possible--then  
to revise the work1 introducing more    
difficult modulations4 ,this end will be
 attained by deferring the use of       
bridge-notes until the children are     
ready to sing melodies in the minor keys
 which modulate to the relative major4  
,if the above-mentioned plan for the    
treatment of the minor key be adopted1  
bridge-notes will be essential at this  
stage1 and the melodies1 at any rate at 
first1 cannot be sung without their aid4
 ,a further reference to this matter is 
given in the chapter on the teaching of 
sight-singing4     ,,chapter ,v  ,,first
 ,,lessons ,,to ,,beginners ,,in        
,,ear-,,training   ,the form of these   
lessons will vary slightly according to 
the ages of the children4 ,we will      
suppose these to lie between seven and  
nine years1 when the children can read  
and write4  ,at the first lesson the    
scale of ,c major should be played1 from

 middle ,c to high ,c1 ascending only4  
,then repeat middle ,c1 and stop on it a
 little4 ,do this three or four times1  
telling the children to count the notes 
as you play up the scale4 ,when they are
 all sure that eight notes have been    
played1 ask them why they think you     
repeated the middle ,c at the end4 ,they
 will probably say3 ',to make it sound  
finished4' ,in other words1 they have   
grasped the 'mental effect' of the      
key-note in every key1 the pivot round  
which the other notes revolve4 ,give the
 hand sign for this note1 according to  
the ,sol-fa plan1 and tell the children 
that the note is called doh4 ,now repeat
 the scale1 but this time play it from  
high ,c to middle ,c1 repeating the high
 ,c at the end4 ,the children will see  
at once what has happened1 and that the 
high ,c now 'finishes' the passage4     
,thus it will be called 'high doh'1 and 
the hand sign will be repeated1 but at a
 higher level4 ,be careful not to bend  
the hand at the wrist when giving this  

sign1 or the effect of finality and     
repose will be lost4  ,at the second    
lesson1 repeat this work1 the children  
telling you what to do4 ,then make eight
 large dots on the blackboard1 and      
against the first and eighth of these   
write doh and doh'4 ,now play the first 
five notes of the scale1 and repeat the 
first as before4 ,ask how many notes    
were played4 ,then play them again1 but 
starting from the fifth downwards1 and  
repeat the fifth at the end4 ,ask the   
children why they think you did this4   
,at first they will not be able to      
express what they feel1 but gradually   
the idea will emerge that you want to   
call attention to something of interest4
 ,people often call to each other by    
singing up a fifth4 ,the new note is    
sharp and bright in sound when related  
to the key-note4 ,hence the hand sign4  
,give the name soh1 and write it against
 the fifth dot on the board4 ,the       
children should now sing from the three 
hand signs known1 also from the notes on

 the board4 ,they should also identify  
the notes when played in groups of two  
and three on the piano4  ,when they can 
do all this easily1 the next note1 the  
third of the scale1 is taken in the same
 way4 ,the 'mental effect' is calm and  
soothing1 hence the hand sign4 ,in      
addition to singing from the hand signs1
 and from the ,sol-fa 'modulator' which 
is gradually being constructed on the   
board1 the children can now sing from   
the horizontal ,sol-fa notation1 and    
from the staff notation4 ,the first of  
these is invaluable in the early stages1
 as it absolutely precludes guessing4   
,in singing from the modulator this is  
possible to a certain extent1 as the    
relation of each note to the key-note is
 shown roughly in distance by the dots  
between the notes4 ,there is no such    
help given in the horizontal notation4  
,in beginning the work in staff notation
 the notes of the scale will be thought 
of as steps in a ladder4 ,in all keys1  
when doh is on a line1 me and soh are   

also on lines1 and high doh is on a     
space2 but when doh is on a space1 me   
and soh are on spaces1 and high doh is  
on a line4 ,these are very simple       
matters1 but children are simple people1
 and will not despise such hints4  ,the 
next notes of the scale to be taken are 
ray and te1 then fah and lah4 ,the last 
two are the most difficult4 ,a good     
pattern to fix in the children's minds  
is3       d f m l s t1 d--  which splits
 up into3       d f m--2 d l s--  ,if   
these are really known1 no trouble will 
be found with the notes f and l4        
,plenty of exercises should be given in 
which the notes of the scale are taken  
in relation to the high doh4 ,possible  
notes should also be taken above high   
doh 7such as high ray1 high me1 high fah
 in the scale of ,c7 and below doh4     
,with regard to the latter1 the key may 
be changed from time to time when taking
 ,sol-fa work from hand signs or the    
modulator1 or from ,sol-fa notation1 in 
order to get a wider range for the notes

 above mentioned4 ,thus1 if the class be
 given the doh of ,g major1 they can    
sing low te1 low lah1 low soh1 and low  
fah1 or1 as these notes are written in  
,sol-fa notation1 t1 l1 s1 f14 ,these   
points are sometimes overlooked by      
mistresses1 and the early training loses
 in thoroughness4  ,directly the        
children are sure of the diatonic notes 
of the key of ,c major they should take 
the sharpened fourth 7fe71 the flattened
 seventh 7taw74 and the sharpened fifth 
7se74 ,later on they will learn that    
these notes often introduce modulations 
to the dominant1 subdominant1 and       
relative minor keys respectively4       
,extemporizing with the voice may now   
begin1 along the lines suggested in     
,chapter ,,ix4 ,an extra interest will  
thus be added to the lesson1 and the    
child will have its first initiation    
into 'self-expression' through the art  
of music4     ,,chapter ,,vi  ,,the     
,,teaching ,,of ,,sight-,,singing       
,instruction in sight-singing should    

begin by teaching the staff notation    
through the ,tonic ,sol-fa method4      
,objections to this are sometimes raised
 by very musical people1 who have no    
recollection of any 'method' by means of
 which they themselves learnt to sing at
 sight1 and who therefore think their   
pupils can pick up the knowledge in the 
same instinctive fashion4 ,experience   
proves that this is very rarely the     
case4  ,with very little children it is 
well to keep entirely to hand signs and 
ear tests until all the notes of the    
scale are known1 through their 'mental  
effect'4 ,one reason for this is that   
such children cannot read or write1 so  
no musical work can be done with them   
which implies this knowledge4 ,care must
 be taken to vary the lessons as much as
 possible4  ,at one lesson the teacher  
can give the hand signs and ear tests   
herself4 ,at the next1 one of the class 
can give the hand signs for the rest of 
the class1 and the teacher the ear      
tests4 ,at the next1 a child can give   

the ear tests1 and so on4 ,an           
experienced teacher will find plenty of 
similar ways for producing new interest 
in the lessons1 even though the actual  
amount of work done be necessarily      
small4 ,nothing is gained by hurrying   
over the initial stages of ear-training4
 ,the foundation must be securely laid1 
or trouble will come later4 ,those who  
have had experience of class work in    
kindergartens know the special          
difficulties to be met--the irregularity
 of attendance1 the constant stream of  
new pupils coming in1 and so on4 ,unless
 plenty of opportunity is given for     
revision the work will suffer in        
thoroughness4  ,for children who take   
this work between the ages of eight and 
twelve1 no better scheme for            
sight-singing can be found than that    
contained in ,somervell's ,fifty ,steps 
in ,sight-singing1 supplemented by the  
children's books1 ,a ,thousand          
,exercises1 published by ,curwen4 ,it is
 essential to read carefully the        

appendices to this work1 especially that
 concerned with the minor keys4 ,another
 book of sight-singing exercises which  
follows the same sequence is the        
,rational ,sight ,reader1 by ,everett1  
published by ,boosey4  ,in teaching the 
keys of ,g major and ,f major it is most
 important that the class shall         
themselves discover the necessity for   
the ,f and ,bb in the respective        
signatures4 ,inexperienced teachers     
sometimes teach this as a dogma1 and    
thereby deprive the children of the     
delight of discovering it for           
themselves4  ,thus1 if the scale of ,g  
major be played with ,fn instead of ,f1 
the class will discover that taw has    
been played instead of te1 and will soon
 find out how to correct the wrong      
sound4  ,similarly1 if the scale of ,f  
major be played with ,bn instead of ,bb1
 they will say that fe has been played  
instead of fah4  ,if the order of keys  
taken be that of the ,fifty ,steps1 the 
following diagram will show at a glance 

the underlying plan3       #g      #e   
#c    #a    #b   #d   #f      ,eb  ,bb  
,f  ,c  ,g  ,d  ,a  ,it should be noted 
that so far as the positions of the     
notes on the stave are concerned1 the   
key of ,ab is as easy to sing in as the 
key of ,a1 ,db as ,d1 and so on4 ,this  
fact is sometimes overlooked1 and       
unnecessary difficulties are created for
 the children4  ,it is important for a  
class to sing at sight fluently in one  
key before attempting a new one4 ,some  
teachers take keys in groups1 and try to
 teach them all together4 ,this plan    
rarely leads to satisfactory results4   
,minor ,keys4  ,it is wise to defer the 
treatment of these until all the major  
keys have been mastered4 ,the harmonic  
form of the scale of ,c minor should    
then be taken1 the children identifying 
the two notes new to them as the        
flattened third and sixth of the scale4 
,it is a good plan to get them to sing a
 few melodies from the blackboard which 
are in ,c minor1 but which bear the     

signature of ,c major1 the flattened    
third and sixth being supplied4 ,this   
impresses the new notes on the children4
  ,later on1 the correct signature      
should be evolved by experiment1 and the
 same plan followed for the other keys1 
before the 'rule' for finding the       
signature is discussed4 ,the melodic    
form of the scale can then be taught1   
and both forms practised to give plenty 
of freedom in the new tonality4 ,the    
various minor keys should then be taken 
in the same order as that in which the  
major keys were taken4  ,it is advisable
 to limit the work at first to melodies 
which do not modulate to the relative   
major4 ,later on1 when the children are 
fairly fluent1 they can take these4 ,at 
first they will have to make use of     
'bridge-notes' at the modulation1 but1  
with a little practice1 they will soon  
be able to sing at sight to lah4        
,part-singing4  ,children should not be 
allowed to sing part-songs until they   
can sing at sight in parts4 ,the reason 

for this is that in the majority of     
part-songs the under parts are written  
too low for the child voice1 and if they
 are practised several times in         
succession1 harm is likely to result4   
,if1 on the other hand1 the songs can be
 read at sight1 the parts can be        
interchanged1 and the voices of the     
children do not suffer to the same      
extent4 ,the greatest difficulty in     
teaching part-singing is a moral one3 a 
child who takes an under part does not  
like the feeling of some one singing    
above her4 ,the voices must be divided  
carefully for this work--some teachers  
prefer to get the balance on the side of
 the under parts1 in order to avoid the 
feeling that it is necessary to shout in
 order to be heard6 ,the ideal plan is  
to interchange the parts freely at the  
same lesson4  ,exercises should be      
chosen at first in which the under part 
starts on a fairly high note and1 if    
possible1 before the upper part enters1 
in order to give confidence4 ,the under 

part should also move freely1 and should
 not consist of long holding notes4     
,exercises in which the parts cross     
afford excellent practice4 ,good        
instances of easy exercises are to be   
found in ,nos4 #i1 #fh1 #hj1 #aja1 c4 in
 ,book ,,iii of ,a ,thousand ,exercises2
 also in the many canons to be found in 
that book4  ,sight-singing in three     
parts should always begin with exercises
 written in the contrapuntal style4     
,there are instances of these in        
,three-part ,vocal ,exercises1 by       
,raymond1 published by ,weekes  ,sons4  
,this book is also suitable for use     
where men's voices are obtainable1 the  
two treble parts being taken by two     
tenors1 and the transposed alto part by 
a bass4  ,a good series of part-songs is
 to be found in the ,year ,book ,press1 
which only admits songs by standard     
composers4     ,,chapter ,,vii  ,,the   
,,teaching ,,of ,,time ,,and ,,rhythm   
,it is impossible to over-estimate the  
importance of careful study before a    

teacher attempts to train children in a 
sense of time and rhythm4  ,not only    
must an intellectual conception of the  
importance of the subject be arrived at1
 but a subconscious realization of it4  
,the function of rhythm in the world    
should be perceived1 and such natural   
phenomena as day and night1 the seasons1
 the tides1 and countless others1 seem  
to be examples of the same principle4   
,the same influence may be traced in    
social activities4 ,work cannot be      
organized and carried on where rhythmic 
order is not found1 and no conception of
 the brain or of the artistic faculty   
can emerge uninformed by rhythmic       
continuity4  ,a human being imperfectly 
endowed with a sense of balance or      
rhythm is a danger to the community1 and
 one who is entirely without this sense 
is spoken of as 'insane'4  ,in the      
training of the teacher it is well to   
call attention first to the rhythm of   
speech1 before entering into that of    
music4 ,those who have had a literary   

education have already studied the      
metrical properties of poetry and prose4
 ,they will readily agree that such     
phrases as3  ',my father's father saw it
 not4' ',happy ,new ,year to you4'      
',because ,i sought it far from men1    
,in deserts and alone4' ',we must go    
back with ,policeman ,day1   ,back to   
the ,city of ,sleep4'  can be thought of
 as written in #b_/d1 #c_/d1 #d_/d1     
#f_/h times respectively4  ,m4 ,jaques  
,dalcroze has shown1 through his        
,rhythmic ,gymnastics1 the extraordinary
 effect that rhythmic movements can     
have1 not only on physical health1 but  
on mental and moral poise4 ,for highly  
nervous children some such work is of   
especial benefit1 but for all children  
it is of great value4 ,it should be     
supplemented in the ear-training class  
by constant practice in beating time to 
tunes4 ,the teacher begins by playing   
simple tunes1 with strongly marked      
accents4 ,the children should discover  
these accents for themselves1 and should

 be taught to beat time1 using the      
proper conductor's beats from the first4
  ,the ,french time names--ta1 ta-t1    
c4--are invaluable in early stages4     
,they are based on sense impression1 and
 are picked up quickly by the children4 
,by taking the crotchet as the unit to  
start with1 the old-fashioned plan of   
exalting the semibreve1 the least used  
note in music1 to a primary place1 is   
avoided4  ,if the order given in        
,somervell's ,fifty ,steps in           
,sight-singing be followed1 the question
 of complicated time will not be forced 
too early on the attention of the       
children4 ,pupils trained on other      
systems have sometimes been found       
incapable of singing melodies written in
 complicated time1 even though they can 
beat time to the notes1 giving the time 
names1 without mistake4 ,the same thing 
is noticeable in their instrumental     
work4 ,this is due to the fact that one 
side of their training has been         
developed at the expense of the         

other--time at the expense of pitch4    
,there seems little point in teaching a 
child such time-values as               
,illustration3 7crotchet tied to first  
note of a quaver triplet1 followed by   
four semiquavers and another crotchet7  
when it can only read at sight in the   
key of ,c major6  ,in taking an exercise
 in sight-singing for the first time    
with a class at an elementary stage the 
following practice has been found       
beneficial3  #a4 ,the children sing the 
tune straight through at sight1 without 
stopping1 the teacher beating time4     
,mistakes are then pointed out and      
difficult phrases practised4  #b4 ,the  
children stand and sing the tune        
straight through again1 beating time as 
they do so4  #c4 ,individual children   
then stand and sing the tune by         
themselves1 beating time4 ,in this way  
the child gets to know the sound of its 
own voice1 and the teacher can correct  
any individual faults of intonation1    
voice production1 c4 ,some children will

 always have an inclination to shout    
when they sing with others1 partly      
through excitement and partly because   
they cannot hear their own voices in any
 other way4 ,if this be permitted the   
quality of tone will rapidly degenerate1
 and the effect of the whole class work 
will suffer4  ,nothing is more          
delightful than to hear young children  
sing quietly1 and without in any way    
forcing their voices4     ,,chapter     
,,viii  ,,the ,,teaching ,,of           
,,dictation   ,so long as the work done 
in ear-training is in the very          
elementary stages the best form of      
dictation will be3  #a4 ,ear tests1     
consisting of two to three notes at a   
time1 which should be written in staff  
notation as soon as possible4  #b4      
,monotone time tests1 which should be   
quite short1 as the constant repetition 
of the same note in pitch is irritating 
to the more sensitive ears in a class4  
,this point is sometimes overlooked1    
with the result that only the less      

musical children get any real benefit   
from the tests4  ,by the time that      
children can sing at sight in the key of
 ,d major they will be ready to take    
down from dictation short melodic       
phrases in time and tune4 ,a useful plan
 is for the phrase to be played over    
three times1 the children listening     
carefully and beating time4 ,they should
 then sing the phrase once through to   
lah1 and write it down4  ,this method of
 dictation is more satisfactory than    
that of dictating a bar at a time1 as it
 draws attention to musical phrases as a
 whole4 ,later on it will be found      
possible to dictate in the same way     
longer and longer phrases4 ,incidentally
 the memory is being trained as well as 
the ear4  ,the class should be          
accustomed to write phrases which do not
 necessarily begin on the first beat of 
the bar4 ,the handwriting1 exact        
position of accidentals1 c41 should be  
carefully watched4 ,with young children 
it is well to use manuscript books which

 have the lines ruled very widely       
apart--a little child's hand soon gets  
cramped if it is made to write in an    
ordinary manuscript book4  ,when a class
 can take down simple melodies correctly
 it is time to begin two-part work4 ,as 
a preliminary1 get a child to play      
middle ,c on the piano1 then to combine 
with it each of the notes of the scale  
of ,c major in turn4 ,the class will    
decide which of these two-part chords   
are pleasant to listen to4 ,opinion is  
generally unanimous in favour of the    
third1 sixth1 and octave1 which will    
therefore be the basis of the first     
exercises in two-part dictation4        
,plenty of practice should be given in  
isolated examples of these chords1 in   
more than one key1 before the class     
attempts to combine time with tune4     
,when they are ready for this1 the work 
should begin with very simple phrases1  
with plenty of repetition to enable them
 to be quickly memorized4 ,a later stage
 introduces the use of passing notes4   

,it is better to play the exercise      
through first without these1 and when it
 has been written and corrected1 to play
 it again1 inserting the passing notes4 
,before a class has finished the major  
keys it should be ready for the         
dictation of three-part chords4 ,as the 
children are accustomed to the sound of 
the chord of the third on all degrees of
 the scale1 it will be a natural        
experiment to play a particular         
combination of thirds1 thus arriving at 
the triad4 ,after this has been played  
on all degrees of the scale1 the class  
should be asked to decide which of these
 chords it will be well to get to know  
first4 ,they will remember that the     
first three keys in which they learnt to
 sing were ,c1 ,g1 and ,f major1 and    
will therefore suggest that the tonic1  
dominant1 and subdominant chords should 
be chosen4  ,at this stage it should be 
pointed out that all the notes of the   
scale are contained in one or other of  
these chords4 ,this is a seed which1 if 

well planted1 will suggest the first    
principles of harmonizing melodies      
later4  ,we must now work at the three  
chords carefully4 ,begin by making the  
class sing them in arpeggio1 and in a   
definite rhythm1 so as to get precision4
 ,each chord should be sung once very   
slowly1 so as to get the notes          
correctly1 and absolutely in tune2 then 
twice more quickly1 so as to get the    
feeling of harmony4 ,this step is       
invaluable in its later results--a child
 will often be heard to sing different  
chords in arpeggio1 when in doubt as to 
the chords to use in harmonizing a      
melody4  ,when the three primary chords 
are known the others may be added1      
together with the dominant seventh and  
the inversions1 in all keys4 ,this last 
step must not be hurried4 ,the average  
class rarely finishes three-part chords 
in less than a year1 and unless plenty  
of time is given difficulties will crop 
up later1 when four-part chords are     
begun4  ,it is not enough for children  

to be trained to listen to the actual   
notes of a chord--they must feel the    
mental effect1 in the same way in which 
they felt these effects in the case of  
the notes of the scale4  ,a later step  
is to make use of the position of the   
chord in a sequence--for instance1 the  
child soon gets to notice that many     
phrases end with the progression        
subdominant1 dominant1 tonic4  ,we now  
come to the consideration of the        
dictation of four-part chords4 ,these   
need not be sung in arpeggio4 ,as a     
first experiment it will be necessary to
 play the chord to the class with each  
note doubled in turn1 so that they may  
feel the necessity for doubling the best
 note4  ,this experiment is most        
valuable1 as it gets the child away from
 the cramping feeling of keeping a rule 
merely because it is mentioned in a     
text-book4  ,plenty of phrases with the 
primary chords in root position must be 
taken before the other chords are       
treated4 ,for at least a year the class 

will not be able to write four-part     
dictation2 the time should be spent in  
identifying the chords when played4     
,the chant form is the best for         
elementary work4 ,it is very simple1 and
 can be adapted to every sort of        
sequence4 ,passing notes1 appoggiaturas1
 suspensions1 c41 should be avoided at  
first4 ,when the diatonic chords and    
their inversions are known the principal
 modulations should be studied4 ,it will
 probably be necessary for the teacher  
to write her own tests1 as there are    
very few books of chants published which
 contain enough exercises on the use of 
the easier chords4  ,the last step in   
the teaching of dictation is the        
treatment of what may be called the     
'mixed phrase'1 i4e4 one in the course  
of which the number of parts varies4    
,this is the most difficult stage of    
all1 and will need the utmost patience  
on the part of the teacher4 ,but by this
 time the children will have begun some 
of the practical work at the piano      

described in the chapter on ',the       
,teaching of ,extemporization and       
,harmony'1 and this will help them to   
recognize easily the drift of the mixed 
phrase4     ,,chapter ,,ix  ,,the       
,,teaching ,,of ,,extemporization ,,and 
,,harmony   ,in early days the art of   
melody was developed before that of     
harmony4 ,the same plan should be       
followed in the general musical         
education of the child4  ,as every child
 possesses a voice1 but does not in     
every case learn an instrument1 it is   
clear that the fundamental training in  
music must be given through the use of  
the voice4 ,the first step will consist 
in learning how to sing at sight and how
 to take down easy melodies from        
dictation4 ,parallel with this work the 
child should be taught to extemporize   
melodies1 and to sing them4  ,quite     
little children will take pleasure in   
completing a musical phrase of which the
 first few bars have been given them4   
,the procedure will be as follows3  #a4 

,the teacher writes two bars in ,c      
major1 #b_/d time1 on the blackboard4   
#b4 ,the class sings it through twice1  
first using the ,sol-fa names for the   
notes1 then singing to lah4  #c4        
,volunteers are then asked for to       
complete the phrase by adding another   
two bars4 ,the more musical children in 
the class will at once respond1 and     
their efforts will stir the ambition of 
the others4 ,it will soon be a question 
of taking the children in turn1 a few at
 each lesson--so eager will they be to  
'express themselves' in melody4  ,it is 
important not to be too critical of     
these early efforts4 ,the great thing is
 to get the children                    
un-self-conscious--variety of melodic   
outline and of rhythm will follow       
quickly enough4  ,the next step will be 
for two children in the class to        
extemporize the whole phrase between    
them1 one taking the first two bars and 
the other the last two4 ,the key and    
time should be varied as much as        

possible--keys a fourth or fifth apart  
should be used in succession1 or the    
children will assume that any melody can
 be sung by them in any key1 which is   
obviously not the case4 ,a melody sung  
in ,c major1 which uses middle ,c and   
high ,f1 cannot be sung in the key of ,g
 major with the child voice4  ,the class
 will now find it quite easy to         
extemporize the whole of a four-bar     
phrase4 ,suggestions can be made by the 
teacher1 such as3  ',begin on the third 
beat of the bar4'  ',introduce two      
triplets in the course of the phrase1'  
and so on4  ,when this becomes easy to  
them they will be ready to begin        
eight-bar melodies4 ,at first the       
teacher will give the first four bars1  
and different members of the class will 
finish the tune4 ,modulations should now
 be introduced4 ,the same procedure as  
before should be followed1 until any    
child in the class can give the whole of
 a tune1 in any given key and time1 and 
with a given modulation4  ,next comes   

the sixteen-bar tune1 in which at least 
one modulation should be introduced4 ,a 
good plan is to begin with the          
well-known simple form3  #a4 ,four bars 
to the #f_/d #e_/c cadence4  #b4 ,four  
bars to the principal modulation4  #c4  
,repeat the first four bars4  #d4 ,four 
bars to the end4  ,three children can be
 used for this1 in the following way3   
,the first child sings the first four   
bars1 the second goes on to the end of  
the eighth bar1 then the first child    
repeats what she sang1 and a third child
 finishes4 ,this affords excellent      
practice1 particularly for the first    
child1 who soon learns to confine       
herself to a simple opening1 as this    
must be remembered and repeated later4  
,memory plays a much larger part in the 
power to extemporize than many people   
realize1 and if this step in the        
preliminary work be conscientiously     
taken there will be abundant results    
later4  ,we now come to the important   
stage of extemporizing on the piano4 ,it

 must be remembered that a very thorough
 foundation of the knowledge of chords  
has been laid by the ear-training work1 
leading up to the power to write down   
chords from dictation1 and to sing them 
in arpeggio4  ,the first exercise will  
consist in playing a very simple tonic  
and dominant accompaniment on the piano1
 while a melody is extemporized with the
 voice4 ,there is far more variety      
possible in this than appears at first  
sight4 ,for instance1 the sequence of   
the chords may run in any of the        
following ways1 among others3  ,i ,v ,i 
,v ,i ,i ,v ,i                   ,i ,i  
,v ,i ,i ,i ,v ,i                   ,i  
,i ,i ,v ,i ,i ,v ,i                    
,i ,v ,v ,i ,i ,i ,v ,i   ,those who    
have studied elementary algebra will    
recognize a simple application of the   
theory of permutations6  ,it is         
interesting to note the ease with which 
children will do this exercise1 if they 
have been carefully trained in all the  
preceding work4 ,grown-up students are  

usually very much slower than children  
at it1 partly because they are inclined 
to be self-conscious1 and to worry about
 the sound of their voice1 c4 ,but the  
child who has been accustomed to sing at
 sight and to extemporize with the voice
 in front of a class is not in the least
 embarrassed at being told to go to the 
piano and combine a sung melody with a  
simple piano accompaniment4 ,at first   
there will be a tendency to restrict the
 melodies to the actual notes of the    
tonic and dominant chords1 but with a   
little practice passing notes1 c4 are   
soon added1 and graceful little tunes   
will result4  ,the next exercise        
consists in the use of three chords1    
tonic1 dominant1 and subdominant2 the   
melody1 as before1 being sung4 ,at this 
stage it is wise to let the dictation   
work in the class take the form of      
phrases which can be harmonized with    
these chords1 so as to accustom the     
children to use them4 ,this gives       
invaluable practice in the first        

principles of harmonizing melodies1 and 
should precede all formal treatment of  
the subject4  ,another useful exercise  
at this stage is to let the children add
 a second part1 either above or below a 
given melodic phrase4 ,this will be the 
foundation of later work in formal      
counterpoint4  ,the class is now ready  
for the treatment of modulations on the 
piano4 ,if the preliminary work in      
cadences1 dominant sevenths1 c4 has been
 conscientiously done in all keys there 
will be no difficulty in extemporizing a
 sung melody1 which modulates1 and      
adding a simple accompaniment at the    
piano4  ,other chords can now be added1 
and the children will be ready to       
extemporize short tunes1 entirely at the
 piano1 without the aid of the voice4   
,to some people this may seem an easier 
thing to do than to accompany the voice1
 but experience has proved the contrary4
 ,the child is so accustomed to use the 
voice that it will at first be inclined 
to think of all melody as vocal1 and    

will be a little troubled when told not 
to think about vocal pitch4  ,the       
discipline of these early restrictions  
is obvious1 and cannot be               
over-estimated4 ,it quite does away with
 the 'hymn-tune' style of early         
composition1 which is such a trap to    
many amateurs4  ,side by side with this 
work it is advisable to get the class to
 extemporize chants1 under the same     
restrictions as have been put on the    
melodies1 i4e4 they will begin by using 
only tonic and dominant chords1 then    
adding the subdominant1 and so on4 ,the 
double chant will give opportunities for
 more than one modulation being         
introduced at a time4 ,this work will   
prepare the way for figured basses1 and 
more formal harmony4 ,the children will 
learn to avoid consecutive fifths and   
eighths because they gradually notice   
the ugliness of them1 which seems a     
better plan than to learn to avoid them 
as a 'rule'4  ,there is an interesting  
reference to methods of teaching harmony

 in the ,board of ,education ,memorandum
 on ,music1 issued in #aiad4  ,the      
writer says3  ',it cannot be emphasized 
too strongly that the current method of 
teaching harmony1 whereby pupils are    
taught to resolve chords on paper by    
eye1 quite regardless of the fact that  
#ii per cent4 of them do not realize the
 sound of the chords they are writing1  
is musically valueless4         99      
99       99       99       99  ',in no  
other language than that of music would 
it be tolerated that the theoretical    
rules of grammar and syntax should be so
 completely separated from the actual   
literature from which they are derived1 
that the pupil should never have        
perceived that there was any relation   
whatever between them4         99       
99       99       99       99  ',another
 very common result of the neglect of an
 aural basis for harmony teaching is    
that students who can pass a difficult  
examination1 and write correctly by eye 
an advanced harmony exercise1 are often 

quite unable to recognize that exercise 
played over to them on the piano1 or    
even to write down the notes1 apart from
 the time1 of a hymn or a tune that they
 have known all their lives4'  ,the     
whole chapter in this memorandum is well
 worth reading4  ,the final stages in   
the teaching of extemporization will    
consist in3  #a4 ,expressing a given    
idea in musical form1 e4g4 a march1 or a
 gavotte4  #b4 ,extemporizing on a given
 theme4  ,although these last stages may
 be thought to be beyond the power of   
the average child1 experience has proved
 that it is not so1 provided the        
previous work has been carefully graded1
 and that none of the early steps have  
been omitted or hurried over4           
,,chapter ,x  ,,the ,,teaching ,,of     
,,elementary ,,composition   ,a wise    
musician has drawn attention to the fact
 that music has a more important        
educational function than any foreign   
language1 being a common language for   
the expression of emotion1 imaginative  

power1 and rhythmic feeling4 ,he went on
 to say that1 as a training1 it is of   
use from the very earliest years1 and   
for all classes of the community4  ,if  
we agree with this view--and it is      
encouraging to note the increasing      
number of those who do so--we must so   
organize the musical education of       
children that a time comes when they    
will be ready to 'express themselves' in
 music in the same way in which they can
 express themselves in their native     
tongue4  ,an earlier chapter in this    
book has dealt with the teaching of     
extemporizing1 first1 treated as vocal  
expression1 then as instrumental4 ,when 
a class of children has arrived at the  
stage of being able to extemporize a    
tune of sixteen bars1 in any given key  
and time1 and introducing given         
modulations1 it is quite ready to begin 
the more formal study of composition1   
and to be initiated into the mysteries  
of form4 ,hitherto the experiments of   
the class in this direction have been   

chiefly spontaneous2 the teacher has of 
set design left the child who is        
extemporizing as free as possible1 but  
the time has now come for a new 'window'
 to be opened in its mind4  ,a          
preliminary talk should be given on the 
need of form in music4 ,it must be      
pointed out that we cannot be           
intelligible without it1 that it is not 
enough to have a language at our        
command2 we must have shape in order to 
convey our ideas to others4 ,the child  
should realize that the great artists in
 all the arts are under the same        
necessity as the youngest beginner in   
composition4 ,inspiration must be       
embodied in a definite form1 or others  
cannot share the vision of beauty4  ,for
 a time the child now has to learn to   
select a musical form1 then to choose a 
musical thought which can be fitly      
expressed in it4 ,it will seem a        
cramping process after the freedom of   
extemporizing1 but the child who loves  
the work will willingly submit to the   

discipline4 ,it cannot be too often     
impressed on the young teacher that     
children as a whole like discipline4    
,they despise those who are indifferent 
to it1 and give a ready submission to   
those who expect it1 provided they feel 
sure of an underlying sympathy4  ,the   
first lessons in form should consist of 
the analysis of simple tunes1 preferably
 of the ,folk ,song type4 ,the forms    
known as ,,ab1 ,,aba1 and the variants  
derived from these will be explained1   
and the class will write examples of    
each1 at first not harmonizing the      
melodies1 but afterwards doing so4 ,the 
old dance forms will then be taken4 ,at 
this stage it is absolutely necessary   
for those of the class who are musical1 
and who wish to give a little extra time
 to music1 to go through a course of    
strict harmony and counterpoint2 endless
 time will be wasted if they do not do  
so4 ,the work will be very much         
lightened because of the foundation     
already laid1 for1 without knowing it1  

the children have been doing a little   
free counterpoint for some time1 when   
they added vocal parts to a given       
melody1 and their knowledge of practical
 harmony will make it possible for them 
to take many a short cut in the formal  
work4  ,the dance forms1 together with  
very simple fugues and contrapuntal     
studies1 and a few 'free' exercises in  
songs and short pieces1 will be as far  
as the majority of children will get in 
the study of composition4 ,but there    
will always be a few in each class who  
will be eager and able to go farther1   
and to begin the study of sonata form4  
,for such children1 and certainly for   
all teachers of music1 there can be no  
better text-book than ,hadow's ,sonata  
,form1 published in the ,novello ,primer
 ,series4 ,this book is often described 
as 'more exciting than a novel'6        
,somervell's ,charts for ,harmony and   
,counterpoint are also most valuable1   
and will save the necessity of a        
text-book in these subjects--at any rate

 for the beginner1 who works under      
guidance4  ,there is one curious fact   
about all but the most musical children 
when they begin to write down tunes of  
their own composition4 ,they make       
mistakes which they have never made when
 extemporizing the same type of tune4   
,this seems to arise from the fact that 
they suddenly feel self-conscious--they 
have more time to think when writing    
than when singing or playing1 and are   
inclined to compose one bar at a time   
instead of phrase by phrase4 ,they will 
produce a tune of seven bars--they will 
end on a weak beat--they will come to a 
full stop in the middle of an eight-bar 
tune on the tonic chord1 root at the    
top--the last half of the tune will have
 nothing to do with the first half4 ,we 
could write a page of their possible    
mistakes6  ,the cure for these lapses is
 to insist on the tunes being sung      
before being written4 ,the old          
unconscious habit will then assert      
itself1 and the little tunes will fall  

into shape4  ,it is a useful lesson to  
get a class to criticize all original   
tunes when played by the young composer4
 ,for one thing1 the criticism of our   
contemporaries often carries more weight
 than that of our elders2 and for       
another1 the practice arouses the       
critical faculty1 and teaches the       
children to listen keenly1 for they have
 not the written tune in front of them4 
,after a little practice quite good     
criticisms will be given by children4   
,they will notice such points as a weak 
scheme of keys--undue repetition of the 
chief melody--a clumsy modulation--a    
trite ending--an over-laboured          
sequence--a tendency to borrow ideas    
from others1 and so on4  ,this training 
will be of the greatest possible value  
to them later on in the concert-room4   
,as a writer in ,the ,times once put it3
  ',the vague impressions which are all 
that many people carry away from the    
concert-room would be replaced by       
definite experiences4         99        

99       99       99       99  ',mental 
analysis is not1 of course1 the main    
object in listening to music1 but it is 
a most powerful aid to full             
appreciation4 ,it is the failure to     
perceive any definite relation between  
the parts and the whole that baffles so 
many people1 and sends them away from   
the concert-room remarking that they    
cannot understand classical music4'     
,,chapter ,,xi  ,,the ,,teaching ,,of   
,,transposition   ,a great many musical 
people will not take up the subject of  
transposition seriously1 because they   
have no idea of the lines along which to
 work4 ,they all agree that the         
knowledge would be most useful to them1 
especially from the point of view of    
song accompaniment1 but the path seems  
to be beset by so many difficulties1 and
 the results of their first attempts are
 so pitifully small1 that they generally
 give up all hope1 and all effort4 ,then
 again1 some of the books published on  
the subject are not very helpful to the 

average student4 ,some of them seem to  
start with the assumption that the      
student is very musical1 and can do a   
great deal by instinct4 ,they therefore 
give only the roughest directions4      
,others begin sensibly enough1 but leave
 out so many steps in the work that a   
student may be forgiven for throwing    
them aside in despair4  ,now there are  
three chief reasons why the musician    
would do well to study transposition3   
#a4 ,for the purpose of song            
accompaniment4  #b4 ,as an aid to       
committing music to memory1 especially  
that written in a form where different  
keys are used for the presentment of the
 same material4  #c4 ,as an infallible  
test of a sound 'general' musical       
education4  ,the last reason is not     
often advocated1 but a little thought   
will show that it is impossible for the 
average student1 not specially gifted in
 any way1 to transpose even an easy     
piece of music at sight on the piano1   
without proving the possession of a     

trained ear and a knowledge of practical
 harmony4 ,for class work with children 
it can be made a still more valuable    
test of progress4 ,for the average child
 will be quite unable to transpose a    
simple ear test--such as d f m l s t1   
d--on the piano1 from one key to        
another1 say a fifth away1 without a    
good deal of accurate knowledge4  ,the  
first exercises in transposition will be
 very simple--any child of seven or     
eight years old1 who can sing at sight1 
and take down ear tests1 in the keys of 
,c and ,g major1 can be expected to do  
them4 ,they consist in3  #a4 ,singing   
any well-known hymn-tune1 or simple     
melody of the ,folk ,song type1 using   
the ,sol-fa names of the notes4 ,it     
should be sung phrase by phrase1 until  
every child in the class is sure of the 
correct notes4  #b4 ,the children should
 now go in turn to the piano1 and each  
play a phrase of the melody1 first in ,c
 major1 then in ,g4  ,it is important to
 emphasize the fact that the tune must  

be well known to them1 or an extra      
difficulty will be introduced4  ,as the 
children learn more and more keys1 these
 tunes should be transposed into them4  
,provided the class does not consist of 
picked musical children1 there will     
always be a few in it who do not learn  
the piano4 ,this work will be one of    
their opportunities for learning a      
little about it4 ,interesting results   
have been obtained from such children1  
if the teacher is enthusiastic and ready
 to help4  ,by the time that the class  
has begun the study of three-part chords
 the transposition will become more and 
more interesting1 as sequences of chords
 can now be transposed4 ,when the first 
steps in extemporizing on the piano are 
begun1 the transposition advances by    
leaps and bounds4 ,the children will be 
delighted to play their little tonic and
 dominant accompaniments in every       
key--to change from major to tonic minor
 by flattening the third and sometimes  
the sixth of the scale4  ,there is a    

sense of freedom and power in such work1
 to which the class will readily        
respond4 ,they soon realize that certain
 melodies 'only sound nice' in such and 
such a key1 and in this way the         
foundation of a 'colour sense' will be  
laid4 ,also1 apart from the question of 
the key in which a melody sounds best to
 a child1 another point comes into      
notice4 ,the child cannot sing certain  
notes in certain melodies unless it     
keeps within a certain range of keys4   
,this teaches them something4 ,the point
 has been referred to in the preceding  
chapter4  ,altogether it will be seen   
that the study of transposition is      
opening a new window for them into the  
fairyland of music4  ,later on1 when a  
child can compose short harmonized tunes
 of its own1 it is well to hold up the  
ideal of being able to transpose them   
into any key1 and in certain cases1     
where the melody lends itself to the    
treatment1 from major to minor1 and vice
 versa4 ,this work must of course be    

voluntary1 but a child is well rewarded 
when it finds that it is only the first 
step which costs1 and that the second of
 such tunes is so much easier to        
transpose than the first6  ,and the time
 comes when a child will sit down to the
 piano1 and will extemporize quite      
happily either in ,f major or in ,f     
major1 whichever is suggested4 ,such    
work is well worth any initial trouble  
taken--it is a combined process of ear  
and mind which has a far-reaching       
educational effect4  ,the last stage of 
all in this work consists in transposing
 at sight from the printed page4        
,hitherto the ear and the mind have been
 chiefly employed1 but now the eye must 
be trained to do its share4  ,it is     
found useful to make children say the   
names of the chords aloud when they are 
beginning this sort of transposition4   
,the habit sets up a connecting link    
between the various faculties in use1 in
 some curious way4 ,the eye can help by 
noting the intervals between successive 

notes in the various parts1 and         
especially in the outer parts4 ,it sees 
the general drift of the piece before   
the mind comes into play--the coming    
modulations and so on4 ,in fact1 it is  
not too much to say that it is best1 in 
certain musical phrases1 to rely on the 
eye alone1 e4g4 rapid decorative        
passages1 which are not always easy to  
analyse at first sight4  ,a word of     
warning must now be given4 ,those who   
attempt 'short cuts' in this work will  
certainly come to grief1 unless they are
 born with the faculty--undoubtedly     
possessed by a few--of being able to    
transpose by a sort of instinct4 ,such  
people are fortunate1 but it is not our 
present task to attempt to guide them4  
,we are concerned with the average      
child1 taught in fairly large classes1  
in the ordinary school curriculum1 and  
with only a very limited amount of time 
at our disposal4      ,,chapter ,,xii   
,,general ,,hints ,,on ,,taking ,a      
,,lesson ,,in ,,ear-,,training   ,all   

those who teach ear-training should keep
 a book in which they write on one side 
of the page the proposed scheme of work 
for each lesson1 and on the other the   
actual work done4 ,all sorts of things  
may happen in the course of the lesson  
to upset the proposed scheme4 ,the      
children may find the new work easier1  
or more difficult than was expected1 a  
question from a child may suddenly      
reveal a piece of ignorance which       
necessitates a digression--every teacher
 is aware of the 'unknown quantities' in
 class work4 ,unless the proposed scheme
 of work is checked by what is done in  
each lesson1 there will be difficulties 
later4  ,again1 each lesson must form a 
definite link between past and future   
lessons4 ,it is often a temptation to a 
teacher of initiative to draw attention 
to a new aspect of the subject1 in which
 she happens to be specially interested 
at the time1 when the previous work is  
not in a fit state to be left1 even for 
two or three lessons4 ,something happens

 to make her realize this1 and the new  
piece of work is hurriedly              
left--suspended in mid-air1 as it       
were--and is not referred to again until
 an accident recalls it to her mind4    
,such teaching certainly has the charm  
of novelty to a class1 but we must      
remember that one of the faults of      
childhood is an undue readiness to pass 
on quickly to learn 'something new'     
before the previous work is secure4  ,in
 taking a lesson the teacher should aim 
at speaking in her ordinary voice4      
,inexperienced people sometimes imagine 
that it is necessary to shout when      
speaking in a fairly large room4 ,but   
provided the voice is clear1 and the    
articulation good1 a low voice carries  
just as well as a loud one1 and         
certainly produces a greater sense of   
repose4  ,another fault to avoid is     
monotony of tone--we need 'modulations' 
in speaking just as much as in music1   
and a class is keenly1 though often     
unconsciously1 susceptible to this4 ,a  

change of position is helpful4 ,the     
voice of the mistress will brighten at  
once if she comes down from the platform
 and walks about a little4 ,but she must
 never turn her back on a class when    
actually telling them something4        
,musical people1 who have not the same  
experience in such matters as the       
ordinary teacher1 constantly do this1   
and will even hide the greater part of a
 blackboard when pointing to notes of a 
tune4  ,in beginning a lesson the       
maximum effort will be gained if        
communal work be taken before           
individual1 i4e4 sight-singing before   
dictation1 extemporizing1 c4 ,the reason
 for this is obvious1 a certain momentum
 is thus generated1 which is impossible 
later1 when the force has been diffused4
  ,before a tune is sung at sight the   
class should analyse it1 giving the key1
 time signature1 starting note1         
modulations1 sequences1 general         
construction1 c4 ,remind the children   
from time to time that the last sharp in

 a signature gives the te in a key1 the 
last flat the fah2 that when modulating 
to the dominant key the fe of the first 
key becomes the te of the second1 in    
going from a key to its subdominant taw 
becomes fah1 for the relative minor se  
becomes te1 and for the relative major  
taw becomes soh4 ,also that if in a     
minor key taw occurs in an ascending    
scale passage1 or is taken or left by   
leap1 it is a sign of a modulation to   
the relative major4  ,in starting the   
tune the tonic chord is played1 and the 
teacher beats a whole bar1 together with
 a fraction of the next if the tune     
begins on an off-beat1 before the class 
takes it up4  ,do not tap time when     
beating3 it cultivates a habit of       
inattention on the part of a class4 ,nor
 should the teacher beat time when the  
class is doing so1 unless for a moment1 
to correct an error4 ,one reason for    
this is that if the time signature be   
anything but #b_/d or #f_/h1 the        
teacher's arm moves in a different      

direction in certain beats from that of 
the class facing her1 and this is most  
confusing4  ,never correct a mistake by 
singing the right note yourself4 ,this  
would be teaching by imitation--as we   
teach a bird to sing a tune--not        
teaching by method4  ,remember that we  
are not aiming at artistic performance  
in a sight-singing class1 so do not     
hammer away at a tune until the         
performance of it has reached your      
ideal4 ,if you do1 your aim is          
'performance'--not sight-singing4  ,if a
 child makes a mistake in dictation1 do 
not tell it what is wrong1 unless you   
are very short of time4 ,get it to sing 
the phrase it has written to ,sol-fa    
names--in this way it will find out its 
own mistake4  ,in writing notes1 either 
on the blackboard or on manuscript      
paper1 it is not necessary to fill up   
all the space between the lines1 as is  
done in printed music4 ,if children are 
allowed to do this1 they will spend a   
long time over their exercises4 ,teach  

them to turn all tails of notes up which
 are written on lines or spaces below   
the third line1 and down for those      
above4 ,the direction of the tails of   
notes on the third line itself will     
depend on the context4 ,these directions
 refer1 of course1 to the writing of    
melodies4 ,it is often necessary to     
remind even grown-up students that      
accidentals must be placed before the   
note affected1 not after it2 also that a
 dot after a note which is written on a 
line must come on the space next above1 
not on the line itself4 ,children often 
forget that the leading note in a minor 
key invariably carries an accidental4   
,we must now say a little on the subject
 of revision4 ,it is a fault of the     
young teacher that she often entirely   
neglects this1 with the result that her 
class can only sing accurately at sight1
 and do dictation in1 the last key      
learned4 ,during the first few lessons  
in a new key it is certainly inadvisable
 to give exercises in the preceding     

ones1 as the whole attention must be    
concentrated on the new tonality4 ,but  
other keys should be taken at least once
 in three weeks4 ,an impatient person   
may say3 ',but properly taught children 
could not forget so soon6' ,yet1 at     
times1 we are all hazy on almost any    
subject1 but it does not follow that we 
are either fools1 or badly taught3 we   
are simply human6 ,after all1 machines  
get out of order1 so why not the most   
complicated machine of all--the human   
mind8  ,again1 it is only the           
inexperienced teacher who thinks her    
class has been badly taught by her      
predecessor4 ,many a student in training
 is inclined1 after the first lesson    
with a new class1 to come to the        
distracting conclusion that the children
 know 'nothing'4 ,this generally means  
that1 after the holidays1 the former    
work needs a little revision before new 
work is begun4  ,in taking a fairly     
advanced class a teacher is often       
worried because there is not enough time

 in a single forty-minute lesson a week 
to touch on all of such subjects as     
chords1 cadences1 extemporizing1        
transposition1 c41 in addition to       
sight-singing and dictation4 ,it is     
certainly quite impossible to do so1 and
 this is one of the reasons for         
apparently slow progress4 ,but there is1
 however1 a good side to the difficulty1
 for such work ought not to be hurried1 
and it is well to leave a little        
breathing space between the references  
to it4  ,teachers are sometimes heard to
 speak with regret of the high spirits  
of their classes1 which lead to         
restlessness4 ,but we should never      
regret force in a child1 and we must    
realize that all pent-up force needs a  
safety-valve4 ,it must be our business  
to direct such force into safe channels4
 ,keep the children really busy1 give   
them plenty to do1 and there will be no 
cause to regret their vitality4         
,,chapter ,,xiii  ,,the ,,teaching ,,of 
,,the ,,piano   ,it is impossible1      

within the limits of a chapter1 to do   
more than dwell on a few practical      
points connected with the teaching and  
organization of this work in a school4  
,as was said in the preceding chapter1  
the ideal for all young children who are
 about to learn the piano is that they  
should first go through a short course  
of ear-training4 ,if this be done1 the  
progress in the first year's work will  
be about three times what it would      
otherwise be4 ,if the ear-training be   
done along the lines suggested in       
earlier chapters1 the child will have   
been taught to sing easy melodies at    
sight1 she will have approached the     
question of time by means of the ,french
 time names1 she will have learned to   
beat time with the proper conductor's   
beat1 to find notes on the piano1 and1  
what is more important1 to know these   
notes by sound1 in relation to fixed    
notes4  ,in this way some of the        
processes which a child goes through in 
beginning to learn the piano are taken  

one at a time1 in company with other    
children1 and are therefore not hurried4
  ,when the time has come to begin the  
piano1 the child should join a class for
 this for one year4 ,such a class should
 not exceed six in number4 ,during this 
time she will add to her knowledge the  
first principles of fingering1 will play
 easy exercises for fingers1 wrist1 c41 
and will learn a few easy pieces and    
duets4  ,from the very first she will be
 taught to analyse a piece before she   
begins to play it--she will find out the
 key1 time1 cadences1 sequences1        
passages of imitation1 modulations1 c4  
,if the melody be within the range of   
the child's voice she will then sing it1
 beating time as she does so4 ,after    
these preliminaries it is only a        
question of technique to learn to play  
it4 ,the last stage will consist in     
learning the piece by heart4 ,the day   
has long gone by when it was considered 
a sign of exceptional musical gift to be
 able to do this4 ,all experienced      

teachers know that1 provided a child is 
having its ear trained by some such     
method as that suggested above1 it can  
learn a piece of music by heart almost  
entirely away from the piano4 ,that is  
to say1 instead of the wearisome        
repetitions which were formerly         
necessary before a piece could be played
 by heart1 it is possible1 directly the 
technique is mastered1 and in many cases
 before this is done1 to learn the piece
 away from the piano4 ,the benefit of   
this is obvious1 and the nerves1 both of
 the player and of the unwilling        
listeners1 are the gainers4  ,a little  
thought will show that it should be no  
more difficult for average children to  
learn a piece of music by heart in this 
way1 than for them to learn a piece of  
prose or poetry by heart4 ,the initial  
steps are exactly the same--the language
 has to be known1 and it is then a      
question of memory1 and memory alone4   
,who would think of learning poetry by  
heart by the process of repeating it    

aloud a hundred or more times8 ,yet this
 is what was formerly done in the case  
of music4  ,sixty years ago no girl was 
considered educated who could not play  
the piano a little4 ,since then a       
reaction has begun to set in4 ,the      
standard of playing has gone up to such 
a degree that parents are often heard to
 say that their child is not musical    
enough for it to be worth while to teach
 it an instrument4 ,this is a pity4     
,music is used so much in our daily life
 that we cannot do without our 'average 
performers'4 ,the soldier marches best  
to a tune1 the sailor heaves his anchor 
to a song1 the ritual of all forms of   
religion needs the aid of music2 we need
 it1 not only in the pageantry of our   
processions1 but in the solemn crises of
 life and death4 ,for these purposes    
artists of the first rank are not       
necessary4  ,every child1 however       
apparently unmusical1 should be given   
its chance1 at any rate up to the age of
 twelve years4 ,during this time1 the   

stress should be placed1 for the        
unmusical child1 not so much on         
perfection of technique1 but on the     
ability of playing easy pieces really   
well1 and to read at sight such things  
as duets1 song accompaniments1 c4  ,if1 
in addition1 the children have joined an
 ear-training class1 they will1 at any  
rate1 be intelligent listeners for the  
rest of their lives to other people's   
playing4  ,for all children1 sight      
reading should form part1 not only of   
every lesson1 but of every day's        
practice4 ,many books for sight reading 
have been published1 well graded1 some  
of them beginning with little pieces in 
the treble clef only1 and going on to   
advanced tests4 ,the following are a    
few1 selected from many other excellent 
ones3  ,schfer 7#c vols41 published by  
,augener74  ,hilliard 7#e vols41        
published by ,weekes74  ,somervell 7#b  
vols41 published by ,augener and ,weekes
 respectively74  ,taylor 7#a vol41      
published by ,bosworth74  ,as a child   

will need more than one such book in the
 course of her study1 and as she cannot 
play the same test twice1 a plan has    
been made in some schools for the music 
to be sold second-hand from one pupil to
 another1 through the medium of a       
mistress1 in the same way in which      
ordinary school books are sometimes     
passed on4 ,this reduces the expense of 
constantly having to buy new books for  
sight reading4 ,another plan is to      
establish a lending library1 each child 
to pay #b;d4 or #c;d4 a term4  ,in the  
teaching of 'pieces' music mistresses   
should bear in mind that children must1 
from time to time1 revise those which   
they have finished4 ,nothing is more    
irritating to a parent than to be told  
by a child that it has 'nothing to play'
 to a visitor4 ,the mistress who is     
anxious to get a pupil on as quickly as 
possible often overlooks this point1 and
 an entirely wrong impression is given  
of the child's progress to the parent4  
,we now come to the vexed question of   

the interpretation of music by children4
 ,an interesting point can be noted     
about the practice of the early         
classical composers4 ,they were         
accustomed to give the minimum amount of
 indication as to tempo and general     
detail for the performance of their     
works4  ,and to what conclusion does    
this lead us8 ,surely this--that these  
giants in music recognized the necessity
 for every performer of their works to  
express themselves through the music1   
subject to the broad conditions laid    
down by the composer4 ,as ,hegel said3  
',music is the most subjective of all   
arts4' ,and is it not true that it is   
this constant necessity for personal    
interpretation1 so strongly felt by the 
majority of artists1 which gives the    
permanent interest to music8  ,we say1  
'by the majority of artists'1 for now   
and then we meet an artist who seems to 
have strayed from the path of beauty1   
and who is devoting his energies to an  
ascetic determination to keep alive one 

particular interpretation of a          
composer's work1 or works2 who dictates 
these interpretations to his pupils1 and
 who talks of other artists who feel the
 bounden duty of self-expression through
 the said works as 'outsiders'1 and 'not
 in the cult'4 ,such musicians do not   
appear to see that such an attitude is  
'idolatry' pure and simple4 ,they have  
not pondered the well-known anecdote of 
,brahms1 who1 when asked by a singer    
whether his interpretation of one of his
 songs was 'the right one'1 answered3   
',it is one of the many hundred possible
 interpretations4'  ,a word must now be 
said on the organization of instrumental
 work in the school4 ,it is important   
that this should be in the hands of one 
person1 who will not only keep a        
supervising eye on questions of method1 
choice of music1 lengths of lessons and 
practising1 c41 but who will evolve some
 means of testing the progress of the   
pupils every term1 in the same way in   
which their progress is tested in other 

subjects4 ,the progress of the          
individual pupil should not be a secret 
between herself and her particular      
mistress6  ,it is a good plan to arrange
 a short recital every term in a school1
 at which from twenty to twenty-five    
pupils should play at a time4 ,such     
recitals should not exceed more than    
#a-a_/d hours in length4 ,nothing is    
more wearisome to the outsider than to  
listen to amateur performances which    
stretch out to two and sometimes to     
three hours' length4 ,if the above plan 
be adopted1 no child will be able to    
play more than one short piece4 ,a      
mistress who is ambitious for the       
success of a few specially gifted pupils
 will sometimes suggest that a recital  
shall consist of the performance of two 
or three of these only1 and that each   
pupil should play more than once4  ,such
 suggestions should be frowned at4      
,what we want1 if we have an educational
 end in view1 is not so much to give the
 few musical children in a school the   

opportunity of gaining experience in    
playing in public1 and indirectly of    
showing their progress to an admiring   
audience1 but we want to give every     
music pupil in turn the same            
opportunity4  ,all children need        
experience before they can play to      
others in such a way that they not only 
do themselves justice1 but give pleasure
 to their listeners4  ,pieces played at 
such recitals should invariably be by   
heart4 ,the nervous pupil may possibly  
break down at her first appearance1 but 
she will be quickly succeeded by a more 
confident player1 the little victim of  
'nerves' will be soon forgotten1 and the
 experience gained in this way is       
invaluable4  ,before a recital a        
rehearsal should be held in the same    
room in which the recital is to take    
place4 ,few people seem to realize the  
immense difference made to children by a
 change of environment at such a time4  
,the pupil who will play her piece on   
the piano without one mistake to her    

mistress1 and in the room to which she  
is used1 will often be troubled at      
playing it on another piano1 and in     
another room4  ,a child was once known  
to break down in an evening recital1 and
 when asked the reason1 said3 ',i have  
never played that piece before with a   
candle near me1 and ,i didn't like the  
shadows on the piano4'  ,this sort of   
remark gives a real insight into the    
child mind4  ,another small point may be
 mentioned4 ,in the lessons just before 
a recital the mistress should go to the 
end of the room in which the lesson is  
given1 while the child is playing her   
recital piece1 in order that her        
supporting presence near the child may  
not be missed at the recital4  ,the     
recital will probably be followed by    
some form of reception by the school    
authorities of the parents of the       
pupils4 ,no teacher should miss this    
opportunity of getting to know the      
parents of her pupils4 ,a friendly talk 
over the progress1 or lack of progress  

of a child will often result in         
sympathetic help being given at home1   
and1 in any case1 the teacher will      
probably learn something about the      
character and home environment of the   
child which will help her in her work4  
,partly owing to lack of time1 and      
partly because some pieces will not be  
ready1 a certain number of children will
 not be able to play at the school      
recital4 ,such children should be       
gathered together at the end of the     
term1 and should play to the mistress   
who organizes the work4 ,in this way    
they too will gain experience1 and a    
little focus will have been made for    
their work4  ,we must add one final     
suggestion4 ,each music mistress should 
keep a register1 in which she notes not 
only the names of her pupils1 the times 
of their lessons1 absences1 late        
arrivals1 c41 but an exact list of all  
the work done by them1 with dates4 ,this
 is invaluable1 not only for gauging    
their progress1 but as a means of       

quickly ascertaining their work in      
musical literature4 ,it is1 alas6 a day 
of examinations1 and with the many      
little books of studies and pieces which
 have to be got up for outside          
examinations there is a serious fear of 
the systematic education of a child in  
classical musical literature being      
interrupted1 or1 at any rate1 put on one
 side for a time4 ,such a book makes it 
possible for the mistress to keep a     
definite scheme of work in view for each
 pupil1 and the busier the mistress1 the
 more she will need some such aid to her
 memory4  ,the pupil should also keep a 
register1 in which she notes the exact  
amount of time spent daily in           
practising1 and the way in which she    
divides it4 ,this book should be brought
 to each music lesson1 and should also  
be shown to the supervising mistress at 
the end of each term4     ,,chapter     
,,xiv  ,,suggestions ,,to ,,students    
,,on ,,leaving ,a ,,training            
,,department   ,in finishing a course of

 training along the lines we have been  
considering1 it is well to take a       
bird's-eye view of what has been done4  
,in all communal work the results fall  
roughly under two heads3  #a4 ,the      
getting of new ideas1 and of new ways of
 presenting old ideas4  #b4 ,the        
development of character1 due to the    
mixing with fellow students and with    
those who are directing the work4  ,so  
far as the actual work is concerned1    
stress has been laid on the following3  
#a4 ,the necessity of considering music 
as a language4  #b4 ,various methods for
 teaching in accordance with this idea4 
#c4 ,the principle of the inclusion of  
the work in the regular curriculum of   
schools1 with class treatment4  ,in the 
short space of one year1 which is all   
that can be generally spared by the     
student1 it is impossible for her to    
realize the full bearing of all that has
 been done4 ,it is only when we see such
 work in perspective1 after the lapse of
 a little time1 when it has been        

possible to work out at leisure some of 
the practical points involved1 that we  
can perceive all the ground covered4    
,many students have experienced         
considerable difficulty at first in     
doing themselves what they have seen    
children do1 who have been trained along
 these lines1 i4e4 to write down two-1  
three-1 or four-part exercises in       
dictation1 to transpose at sight1 to    
extemporize without hesitation at the   
piano1 c4 ,the feeling of working       
against time1 of examinations to be     
passed1 of discouragement at apparently 
slow progress1 has possibly produced a  
state of mental indigestion1 and the    
only cure for this is ,time1 the        
universal doctor4  ,the student is now  
at the point of entering a new sphere of
 work4 ,the instrument has been         
sharpened4 ,how is the application to be
 directed8 ,a word of warning is        
necessary4 ,the young and enthusiastic  
teacher1 fresh from the inspiration of a
 year's work with those interested in   

her development1 is too often apt to be 
over-rigid in enforcing a new           
presentment of ideas4  ',this way1 or no
 way6' is her cry4  ,now all sound      
educational work must possess an        
intrinsic quality of pliability3 it must
 grow1 expand1 and be capable of        
development in a hundred ways4 ,small   
points of method must be adjusted to the
 particular class and pupil1 and a      
generous recognition of the useful parts
 of other people's 'methods' will be the
 surest way of obtaining recognition of 
our own ideals4 ,provided a firm        
attitude be maintained on essentials1 it
 is often possible to compromise on     
minor details4 ,above all1 an open mind 
must be preserved in the presence of    
advice1 however inexperienced4 ,many a  
young teacher has failed in her first   
post because she has given the          
impression to those in authority that   
there is one1 and one only1 way in which
 she can do her work--one1 and one only1
 possible scheme of division of classes 

and hours for lessons4  ,an arrangement 
far short of the ideal must often be    
accepted1 with a courteous protest1 but 
it will assuredly be modified later by  
the authorities when the teacher has won
 confidence by arousing the interest and
 enthusiasm of the pupils1 and by       
showing good results from the lessons4  
,has not every new presentment of every 
subject in the school curriculum been   
greeted with the same chorus of         
depreciation at first8 ,why should      
music1 the latest arrived of the        
subjects on the regular curriculum1 fare
 differently8  ,remember that the head  
of a school has often to keep in mind1  
not only his or her ideals in education1
 but the wishes of a governing body and 
of the parents4  ,a short demonstration 
of work done under imperfect conditions 
will often throw a flood of light on the
 aims of an enthusiastic teacher1 who   
has been struggling in difficult        
surroundings4 ',i had no idea you were  
doing all this with the children' has   

been the admiring comment of more than  
one former unsympathetic critic1 and    
conditions are at once altered in a     
generous spirit4  ,above all1 the young 
teacher must remember that it is of the 
first importance not to lose her        
enthusiasm for the work4 ,she must keep 
herself up to date by being in touch    
with general musical life outside her   
immediate circle4 ,she should belong to 
a musical society1 and take every       
opportunity of attending lectures1 c4   
,she should organize musical clubs and  
meetings among her pupils1 and encourage
 a healthy attitude of kindly criticism4
  ,and1 finally1 she must be always     
working at something to do with her own 
music1 for directly she ceases to put   
herself1 from time to time1 in the      
attitude of the learner1 she will cease 
to be a sympathetic and stimulating     
teacher4  ,it is a good plan to keep a  
musical diary1 in which our own progress
 and that of our pupils is recorded1    
together with notes on current musical  

events--concerts attended1 and so on4   
,such a record is most useful for       
reference1 and for encouragement in dark
 hours1 when it seems impossible to     
re-establish a lost sense of proportion4
  ,,printed ,,in ,,england ,,at ,,the   
,,oxford ,,university ,,press