The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1879-03-28
SHALL SHE TAKE LEsSoNsq
Golden Rule

Almost every parent having a daugh-
ter to educate is pretty sure to be con-
fronted with this question at an early
period of the finishing" process. And,
| in speaking of taking lessons" the piano
is of course understood to be the inStru-
ment in question; for its hold on the
popular favor is SO strong as practically
TO rule out all others in the great major
ity of cases. So much does the piano
stand for, in estimating the social status
of community, that it conveys very
intelligent idea of the character of vii
lage in the newer settled portions of our
country, to speak of il as "ten piano
town." or 'forty piano place" Abili-
ty to perform on the national instrument
has, therefore, been one of the first things
sought for by daughters in well to do
families; and as step up and out of the
unlovely and often hard conditions
of common life, it was an ambition to
encourage. That we have so much home
music in this land TO day and have seen
within forty years So rapid and wide an
increase in the popular knowledge of re-
ally good music, is due more to the piano
than any other instrument; it might be
said than to all others. The first thing
to be considered in answering the Ques-
ton, Shall she take lessons? is whether
she wants to. This idea will probably
be new to great many parents, who act
as though they suppose that lessons"
are all that is required to make a must
clan. We have not enough considered
in this country, the adaptability of chill
dren to their aVOcatfonS and so a large
share of the round holes in our Industrial
and professional activities are filled with
square pegs and, cice Cersa. If girl
has no special liking for the piano and
particularly if she be manifestly deficient
in the natural gifts requisite to its mast
cry, why should she waste her time and
you your money in a vain attempt TO
learn it Perhaps she could learn the
organ better, or the violin, or some other
instrument. Or if her ear be dull for
tones, her sense of time deficient, and her
physical and mental aptitudes are insult
ed for the loving and successful study of
music in any form, why not accept the
fact, and permit her to ascertain and fol-
low her bent in other directions? CIV
cry being that can live can do something;
this let him do,' says gruff but wise old
Thomas Carlyle. The girls can not all
play the piano; but they are not therefore
shut out of accomplishments. Let them
sing, or sketch, or paint, or embroider,
or make and adorn their apparel, or Law
ish their art instincts cooking. A
good deal of this futile forcing of the in
clinations comes from a desire to shave
some music in the house." and a very
laudable wish it is; but why don't such
parents set a son to painting, though he
may be color blind and unable to draw a
straight line even with the aid of ruler,
because they want some pictures in the
house? 1t would be quite as sensible a
proceeding as the other. Good mechan-
ical music can be had much cheaper
| from music box or a crank organ. 1t
is to be remembered, also, that piano
| playing is an art that can be retain
ed only by continual exercise. Even the
great masters of the instrument depend
upon daily practice for the preservation
of their skill. If a girls situation in life
is not likely to be such that she can re-
tain her practice, either for profit or
pleasure, it is folly, and often cruelty,
to teach her an accomplishment, and'per-
haps give her source of delight that she
must soon abandon. The question of
providing music lessons for the daughter,
except in cases where she is so clearly
gifted as to make the course plain, Is
therefore, in our view, largely one of pol
| icy. If you can afford the money, and
your daughter the time, it is often worth
her while to learn the little that the ma
jority of her pupils acquire as matter
of discipline, and for the pleasure she
may feel, and give to others, in being
able to play the sprightly measures that
enliven the social circle, or the simple
accomplishments of home songs. But if
pursued in this way, and for this pur-
pose, the course of instruction should not
discourage and burden the pupil by its
tediousness and severity, as is too often
the case. 1t takes parents and teachers
a long time to find out what children
study with freedom and delight and are
the easiest and best things for them to
learn