Omaha daily bee., 1911-01-29
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teresting stories II their excitabilites and
were made public.

teresting stories II their excitabiliues and
mannerisms were made public.
.
The musical talent should never be devel-
oped at the expense Of the general intel
ectual growth. Musicians are very apt to
neglect the general work Of education and
they are too frequently disposed to become
so engrossed in their studies OF music that
other studies are crowded out. Be 1t noted
that the writer does not for one moment
mean to suggest that the development OF
musical talent does not require mental
growth Of itself It is a positive mental
growth but along one line. Many Of our
intellectual men would be greater had they
done some work along musical lines and
so many musicians would be less peculiar
in the popular mind, II they devoted some
time to branches Of knowledge entirely
apart from music. DO not leave school in
order TO study music. But continue TO go
to school, in other branches, even II you
are your own tutor, after you have taken
the subject Of music for your special lie
work. Music development without mental
development in other directions is very IL
able to prove a curse instead Of blessing
o
Very frequently one is asked about the
value OF absolute pitch" and sometimes
one is asked what is means. II means that
II you wish, for example, to sing the note
c, you can sing It or whistle 1t correctly
without having to first strike on the
pianoforte or other instrument. Again, II
you hear some tones sounded on an instru-
ment and you can instantly name them
without looking at the instrument you are
/ said to have absolute pitch. on this sub
! iect Mr.. Louis Elson. the distinguished
musical author says in a recent work
It certainly implies musical ear, but
/ II Is rather a special use OF memory than
/ of the musical attainment. The blind al
/ most always have II, because they need TO
! cultivate II. There are several eminent
composers alive at present who have not
absolute pitch" and there are some medi-
| ocre musicians who have II. II can be cul-
| tivated by sounding a tuning fork many
] times day and humming the note "a or @
( until IL remains in the memory. other
! notes will soon follow in its train. An odd
/ point in connection with absolute pitch Is
/ that IL sometimes temporarily deserts a
person who has It, Also, In employing H.
! the violnist will recognize IL more quickly
! upon the violin than upon any other in
strument, the oboist upon the oboe. etc
/ This last is not surprising, because the
! quality OF tone has a conspicuous effect
( upon its transparent pitch so that even the
musical are sometimes puzzled to place a
note in strange timbre, sometimes max
! ing II an octave too high or too low. a
! soprano Is quick to recognize soprano tones
and a violinist may know the clear ring
Of an open a string even though he does
not profess to have absolute" pitch.
For those who have been under the i'm
preston that they were not musical simply
because they have not absolute pitch II
will be interesting to remember Mr. Elson's
words There are several eminent com
posers alive at present who have not 'abso-
lutte pitch and there are some mediocre
musicians who have It,"
THOMAS J. KELLY.