The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-08-26

lldtlolls leacnillg Mali lad'.l.
Voice Culture by Mail-TheI
Question of How'--NNliat Is
Possible by Correspondence
and What Is Not.
By:5vV. s. %. Mathews.
lar History .sof Music etc) J, !.
trT,HD correspondence school is performing mi
You can set lessons by mall upon al Z.
= most any subject you choose to Apply
for. you can be examined by nall I; anh n
established rates and conditions. Tho great V,t
universities have so far sanctioned, TINS ~
system as 70 permit work done ,a by
always provided the instruction has been given
by their own It Is q godsend 70 me
In some small place wiere family responsibill-
ties and duties keep him fast during the
period when his mind Is most awake and his
a large and constantly Increasing class OF
married women, who have married TOO SoV1g
and now. along toward twenty five or past ast
when the romance has Quieted down. O. DIT.
they remember the unfinished education OF
their youth and apply to the eorrespondence
sse
which are practically ,' tnexhaustib'le Is
There are some things which We S.n can yd 90
can pay a note, give a note give O testl-
inonal. refuse to give one and mark az exam n
5ination paper with m impartalty Wholly IN
dependent OF the charming grace Of the sweet
Egirl applicant. There arc also some things
ono cannot do BY mail Nobody can DO then !, n
fat least IS not successfully. A kiss, as the
catechiam used 70 say Of baptism is /. . !, !.
outward Sign Of an Inward work but neitner
the OSCILLATION itself nor yet the inward work
can YOU send successfully by mall R i err
Ing the letter makes but little difference
Of .v affection a1 whiehsthe mails falls 10 carry
You cannot examine and Justly $ce rtiflcatef q
person as a competent chauffeur by mai re
not only must know his levers and duties
but you have to see him work han :: q md
observe how successful he is in avoiding IN,
expected difficult les He cannot send by mail
leisure. You have TO be OH the spot on cam
not shoot d ucks by mall. So there you are
Some things YOU q can do BY letter. ter some
$ The inherent limitations Of teaching BY
mali are two ! gu have to take the god faith
Of the student for granted and assume that
lis his own production, and not ''cribbed' NJ
dn other words 2S .stolen'D from some con-
venient You eoncsde g uen
really desires to- know, and not, Ike q coi
flege boy, lnerelyt to The second limi-8
the
and theses which, Il well done, may contain
the entire knowledge to be tested. ri Here rs Z
where teaching by mail hits a difficulty, Gull
5ture contains d very considerable and con-
SANITY growing variety Of subjects which are
not simply o. series Of definitely formulated
such 81 and in part. what We call art
there Is Tin the work n certain element Of
4. know how.' which no teaching or arms
length analysis 81 quit reaches.
Many will remember the case Of the : ex-$
cellents lady dean Of a woman $ college who,
after teaching the French language FOR ssys
unable to get Il herself from the station 70 4
the hotel IS the Anne riean nature o.
he was an & Ignorant creature, but Tho same
difficulty might have happened to the mail
student Of that singuarly eyasve language;
Music, whether I'VE take 4 1t in Its quasi /
scientific and theoretical aspects or in hose
which are pure art and personal technic,5 Is
OF Ignorance nrc liable to escape. Beg Ginning
purely art aspects of such as
drum or singing, In all there are always two 4
how howl The ..how,'95Si IS the main thing. Quite
son to Inquire whether the boy not now
so far n master Of piano play ing as TO be
ca pable OF securing. pay Ing erGngements nt
his best Known pieces, a sonata of Beethoven,
and it was full Of false notes. " rongly con.
eelved in the most Vital points q ra, ts q
fact missed Beethoven's idea al along the
line had to answer that he must first
learn e roas
to have meant 1t, before he was read to be A
proposed as young artist II this sort Of Of
here 4 in Chicago what would it have been
II heayoung sman had been recely wing his les-R
sons by nfrequent letters, tie stencher KIN oW-9
Ing nothing OF his touch or mode Of pig "
ms. 548if55 i . ~ Is55$s33ff
There are not q few who now profess /. 70 !.
give singing lessons by mail, and What they
against the & Inherent Limitations Of mall In
struction already mentioned It ~ a ques-2 4
ton s
for tonemaknE in such terms that the distant
student can repeat the experiments with APP
prove OF Important use to the voice. vet the ]
moment 1t becomes progressive course oI \
instruction the mail business falls down 4; IN
evitaby Mt tho point where the blatant teacher
wants to know whether exercise ss3.b' has 4
been well done before proceeding to exercise
.'c" 1'he teacher can have no Idea; E. &.
Ito give an Idea OF how aerious tho Ia pseT 4
might be. II Will mention that the best voice
placer In this country, SO fnr,as q l! know,
From a DC
nrtiatio intensity. During the early part Of
this period the pupil Is not permitted & to-
practice at NIL by himself. nor to sing songs
He Inns to devote himself to forming tones,
The teacher begins With the best tone he Is
able to find In tho pupil $ voice. III says I
there is almost always nj least one good
tone. II the pupil has my voice at all this
he purifies and develops. and 4 then goes on
to build to 1t. taking the tones next to- IT.
and so on until the entire compass lis com
pleted. Meanwhile there are tones IN certain
parts Of the register which. remain 3 weak s.
good upon one vowel, but faulty. upon all
Others. These the teacher works at.
6 It takes a year or more before the pupil
learns to hear his own voice ms B IT actually
,sounds Mt first he accepts It ms he intended
But In concert singing good Intentions are not
marketable, excepting in Germany. cold
FLOODED American audience insists upon the
voice. sa3 + sE6 N 81
At this point one OF our mali professors
VIII blandly remark TINT this is because
the most OF music teaching Is purely emf
plrcnl; were the subject worked out scienti-
fcally he says as I have worked It out.
could os GO u aa wor, N
time, and do It better. n + Is q nice idea