The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1895-06-09
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cieties and the introduction OF music
schools as a detriment rather than a
an advantage, because the processes tina
were used ruined voices while innmatur
that might develop into artistic organs
II saw that there was a good deal 0
volume being produced. making a salts
factory effect as far as quality wa
concerned, but / knew that the natura
voice Of the child was small, and thai
this great volume must be unnatural
There was, therefore, a strain some
where, and / knew that no singing Ii
4 right or good that is not produced with.
out strain. So went to work IN m,
i own school and for four years strove 4
i reduce the quantity Of the sound, while
4 trying to improve the tone.
II reduced the tone SO that the children
could sing much more than before, and
so we used their strength In other and
more vital directions. / began in that
year to introduce the study OF the inter-
walls, which had been practically neg.
lected. That, Of course, was the CHIEF
reason why the child could not read
music. Reading involves two elements,
! time and Intervals and these had never
been separated. l first took up the inter-
walls, and believing that they could be
! taught effectively, just as numbers and
| geography are taught. adopted the
system Of hand symbols that had been
In use spasmodically in different parts
| of the country at various times, but
never here. With the symbols we could
teach intervals and we worked back and
forth and drilled and practced, until we
had overcome some Of the old faults
The children had been taught chords UNI
til they we're In ruts and when called
upon to jump with their voices from do
to ST or from mi to Ia or to make
any unusual intervals, they were nom
plussed. l laid down the rule that q
child is not taught an inerval until It
can sing 1t when 1t has been preceded
by any other interval, and can sing any
other after 1t. Then, and only then, does
the voice become sufficiently flexible to
follow the eye when reading.
"With an encouraging amount OF sue
cess the first year we followed up the
interval teaching the second season, and
made. an arbitrary division OF the in
tervals, so as to insure perfect system
Of work in each school and not to allow
any one teacher to adopt her own plan,
that would get her own school into more
ruts. This division made two groups OF
intervals, the notes do, re, mi and ia be-
Ing In the first, and sol, la, 81 and do In
the second. After the children had mada
every possible combination In each group
all they. had to do was to combine the
groups and they had been given thor
ough practice with every jump and inter.
val Of which the scale is possible.
please remember that during this time
we were doing the same kind of work
in all the lower grades, and that the chill
dren were on the same basis We had
discarded the old books and were tear
ing down all the old foundations. The
second year we had made some more in.
novations, stopped beating time, for In
stance, in the old mechanical way, and
used a pendulum, which is the simpl.st
form Of meronome. The children
watched the swinging ball and 50 gradus
ally absorbed the notion that there are
two elements in rythm, that is, regular
recurrence and accent.
SIGHT READING.
''Then 1t occurred to me that the only
way to teach sight reading to the little
ones was to have them read new music
at each lessan, instead Of doing the
same song over and over again.
1.-THE same is true OF reading language.
No child can learn to read II he is kept
on the same page all the time. The
music, Of course, had to be carefully
graded, so that child should never be
given music ahead Of his ability. to sing.
We hunted high and low through the
music Of the world for songs of vary
ing simplicity, and these were hecto-
graphed and distributed among the
schools, to be sung In connection with
their other work. l tried to get songs
with good sense and good sentiments in
them, which was not always easy.
"But meanwhile we had not deprived
the children of the pure pleasure of sing
Ing songs, and had adopted the plan OF
giving them a few rote songs that would
make the lessons more interesting and
would teach them the spontaniety
and Joy Of song. So we picked out some
simple airs and gave them to the littls
ones, songs about birds and flowers and
spring and other seasons-nature songs,
they might be called, most of them
from the German. Indeed, | should have
been lost without the beautiful melodies
of German music. These songs were given
10 the school, as l say, and the chill
iren learned them by rote, and oh. how
hey do sing them, even yet. with their
'oft, pretty voices. and their sweet facen
ooking as II they enjoyed every note.
This was the dessert Of the feast. We
teep these rote songs as part OF the
ystem now in the first three grades.
THE PROGRESS MADE.
After two years the children began to
cad fiuently and we returned then to
he old singing books and took up the
ongs that formerly were drilled into
hem by sheer force Of lung power. There
'as great difference in the results
an assure you. And so we have gine,
making little advance each year, and
spreading the system until each
rade now has some pupils In 1t who
ave been instructed under the new plan.
Fhile the higher grades have pupils VINO
ave been drilled under both the new
nd the old. 1t will be four or five years
ct before every child In the entire pub
c school system, from the first grade TO
ne last year In the high school, has been
aught only the present system. Up to
ow the work has been only foundation
uildlng but now we have begun 70 con-
truct.
Last year we worked on the lines that
sad 20 quality In tone. and strove, oh,
D hard, to ease the tension under which
ne children sang. We learned thar
lck OF tension was the secret OF
atural ard therefore of good singing.
ne perfect voice means perfect free
om. though. OF course, this equation is
ot reversible, as perfect freedom does
OF mean a perfect voice. But we must
ave the freedom OF body and nerves II
e are to have the perfect voice. So
e try to get the children to sing In
srfectly easy attitude. we make them
rug their shoulders about until they
e perfectly flexible, and II there IS
frown on their brows we straighten
lat out. NO one can sing well who Is
owning. These are little things. but
Iey go to the seat OF all the trouble.'