Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-02-28
MUSIC IN THE SCHOOLS
A Contribution of Interest to Discussion
Now Prevailing.
Address by superintendent Powell at
Los Angeles and Views of Prone
incnt Educators Upon II.

| nave Deen introduced tue pitseHt
regime. and the investigation into them
which is now being conducted by COM
mittee of the United States Senate make
any contribution on the subject naturally
interesting.
| The journal of-the proceedings of the
| last annual meeting of the National Educa-
tional Associa ton held at Los Angeles.
Cal. contains a report of an address by
| Superintendent Powell on his method of
| teaching music in the public schools and
| the discussion that followed upon it.
The address follows:
II am one of those who believe that
music should constitute part of every
course of instruction in every grade: that
| 1t should be made requirement Hike spell
| ing or writing. Nothing in the course Of
instruction, besides civics, takes a child
into a mutually with nature music
does. 1t leads him to see the dependence
of man upon his fellow-1nan in society: it
teaches him to realize himself as a part of
a composite whole, and leads him to under
stand and appreciate the value of others in
society.
There should be poor music allowed
| In the school room. any more than poor
English should be allowed. l would pro-
scribe music that is not absolutely good.
This means, then, that the director of music
must understand what good music is. l be-
| lieve that the chief work of the supervisor
| is to train the teacher to know when music
| is good or when 1t is not good
The music. to be good and profitable,
must relate to all branches of education !;
| music should come to enrich everything
that Is said and done In the school room
How Music Should BE Taught.
Music for the sake of learning to read is
of little value to the pupil, We worked and
worked With the A, B, C's and never
learned to love and to read literature.
When We began to teach from the stand
point of literature, we began to read litera-
ture in the first grade: in the second grade,
literature; in the third grade. ntera ture;
and our children were reading and writing
literature; they spelled better than they
ever spelled before and they wrote as chill
dren never wrote before.
Il would have the children sing about
everything. l would have them sing in the
first grade. sing in the second grade and
sing in the third grade; then, later, l would
teach them the forms of music until they
are full Of song: until they can sing songs
from the platform.
First in eaching how to read literature.
let the child know by investiga ton. and
| then let him say what he knows until he is
| in the habit of talking about things that he
has found cut. Finally the English idiom
is put into mis- mouth. He is kept in school
without ever learning letter. All the time
he is talking; he is not allowed to speak in
correctly. By and by the teacher puts
sentence on the board that he has said
himself: then it is erased; it is put there
again; then erased and put there again;
and finally it is lodged in the child's mind.
1t is then erased and the child goes to the
board and writes the entire sentence. He
never learned the A, B, C's, but he writes
| the entire sentence. l would have you
teach music in that way. 1 would have
these children sing in the third, second and
first years all the beautiful songs that can
be found in all the branches of study. I
would have them sing correctly. never in
correctly; then some day when they We're
singing simple song that was very beau
uful would put that the board, as we
put the English sentences the hoard n
one year from the time you begin the chill
dren will read anything. You do not need
any drilling in reading exercises. Read
only that which the child has sung WELL
and read it from the blackboard See that
| the child reads it from his inner conscious
ness through his eyes.
Experience to BE Taught.
Tine work of the primary school in all
branches is TO fill the child's subconscious-
| ness with richness Take him into the
fields; take him to the riverside: take him
to the hillside. to the mountain top. to the
geological park. TO the museum. to the
birds nests, to the teakettle where the va
por is. to the ice house to the cars. to the
railroad station; take him out and let him
| fill himself with experience. Do that in
everything you teach, and do not fail to do
that in music. Do not go to the music
| book: go instead to the child's knowledge
| of music his own singing of the beautiful
songs he has learned to sing correctly
| fourth and fifth grades of school you will
have your pupils singing music as now
we have in the fourth and fifth grades our
children reading literature"
Opinions of other Educators.
| In the discussion that followed Mr.. Her
| bert Grisgs OF Denver, COL said: II dis
approve very heartily of the idea presented
| by Supo rintcndent Powell that education in
| music, or. in fact in any branch. can be
pai lya A r.
fore chill does not hurt him; 1T strength
ems him. We all know that too many pu-
pills enter the high school that are mentally
Incapable of doing the work in the pre-
scrfbed course of study, because they have
not been made to confront and solve for
themselves the problems that present them
selves daily Men to pupil tt1roughout his
School lie. No person can sing intelli-
gently unless he studies music"
Mr.. George H. Taylor of Bakersfield, Cal,
In the course of his remarks said: THE
old masters had to work hard for what
they attained; in no sense of the word may
| they be said to have absorbed that knowl-
edge and power, the results of which in
these days SO charm and elevate humanity.
Pupils must be taught to be Independent in
thought and action in order to prepare them
to cope with the world
Mrs. Frances NJ. Clark of Ottumwa, Ill,
| In considering the subject said, among
other things: THE child should be led to
| master the real thought underlying the no.
tation of music. If technical work be stop
ped serious difficulties will soon be encoun-
tered Hard study should take place ali
| through the grades. The pupils should not
| read notes. notes, notes alone. but methods
should be SO combined as to give pleasing
variety of work"
Mr.. A. S. Mcpherson Of Redlands, Cal,
declared: Il emphatically do not approve
of discardtng the reading of music. l think
some theory should be taught even in the
first years Of school. l have never found it
possible for pupils to gain musical knowi-
edge by absorption-they must learn to sing
by singing and to read music by reading"
According to Mr.. G. NJ. Cole of Pasadena.
Cal: -"One object of teaching music is to
teach pupils the fundamental principles OF
music-to make them unsteady intelligent.
The child should learn much as two
kinds of notes.-the staff and the G-c!ef-
during the first year of school,
The Rudimentary Studies.
To the Editor Of The Evening Star:
Concerning the present discussion in re-
gard to our educational system would like
to add my complaint to the many you have
already published.
Like many another woman in Washington
l have my living to earn and my children to
support. and naturally can give very little
attention to their education. They always