Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1895-06-20
Grant County gerala
CLYDE r.
EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR.
MusIc il the PublIc school.

being made upon the public schools
and if these demands are satisfacto
rily met, the schools must nave intel,
ligent and generous support. There
are defects in our plan OF education
that should and in time viii Be
remedied.
Our education deals too exclusively
with the intellectual to the neglect
Of the physical, moral and aesthetic.
The world demands today Of young
men and women not only What do
you know?'' but also What Is your
character and what can you do?"
Power and culture in addition to
mere knowledge are essential. An
education that neglects the emotions
detracts from the energies that pro-
due action, for in the emotions is
the origin Of activity. It Is ~a.deplor-
able fact that many 50 called educat-
ed men aui women are cold, feeble,
tranquil, ~passionle-s b~ook-worms,
having much head, some body. 30
heart-freahs! the result Of one-sided
schooling. The children 81 our COM
mon wealth have a right to All educa-
ton that viii provide "a full and har
moniou, development Of all their poA-
r--a education shat IS not merely
intellectual but one that leads To com
pletc living, and living means more
than thinking; it includes feeling and
acting.
Right education will not permit a
large percentage Of the pupils who
pass through our schools to leave
them with one OF their MODEST powers
OF mind-the musical-dwarfed and
undeveloPed. It will not send them
forth deaf 10 the sweetness and gran
deur which their fellows hear nor de-
priye them Of the happiness and cul-
ture that comes from musical training.
Darwin wrote, If had to live
my life again | would have made it a
rule TO read some poetry and listen to
some music at least once a week, for
perhaps the part of my brain now
atrophied would then have been kept
active through use. The loss of these
tastes is a loss Of happiness and may
possibly be injurious 10 the intellect
and more probably to the moral char
acter.
According to Martin Luther, There
is but one class OF beings who hate
music and they are devils who love
discord not harmony
The power to appreciate and IN
press music is informs universal.
Every child II sound mind aud
body can learn to sing. Men and
women who cannot sing have been
born without the powers of mind and
body which a normal human being
possesses or they have allowed
through disuse one OF their best fac
ulties TO become dwarfed into insig-
n%ifcance. Musical ability is probably
as general as power to understand
number, distinguish color or handle a
saw skillfully, and training is as
necessary for one as for another.
The human soul is musical and a
system of education which does not
recognize this fact as seriously de-
feetive. a false impression prevails
that music is simply a recreation-a
pasti.le. 1t is true that singing
serves this purpose but it has other
and more important uses as a school
study. Singing by note trains the
perceptives. the attention, the mem
DRY, the judgment. 1t requires alert
ness. self control. earefulness. Many
problems in tune and time demand
fer their solution as intense applica-
tioL 4 the mental faculties as does
work in mathematics. Music has a
hygenic value. 1t strengthens and
beauties the voice; it helps to cor
rect hat rasping, nasal, lisping.
mumbling, indistinct speech SO com
mon. Il requires deeP breathing.
suggests proper clothing, necessitates
care OF the throat. demands correct
position Of the body and tends to
Danish care.
But the noblest work # music in
the public schools is in building moral
character. Il is through the emotions
that character is built Habitual
right feeling leads to right acting.
The musical instructor can cultivate
in his pupils any feeling ne pleases
and bring them into any mood ii win
through the power Of song Strains
q martial music Will impe' soldiers
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