Connecticut western news., 1911-01-26

sarily do a great deal of individual work and in this way the singing of the ascending scale may be brought in with the older ones and the most advanced of the lower class may have some of their technical work with the higher grades.
 The work of teaching staff position is the teachers easiest work, Never teach from board to child, but always from child to board. Fix mental drill in new subject before eye represen tation IS given. Teach everything as far as possible through the song. Treat the exercise as q means to an end. The old days when technique was everything, fortunately are past, and the music ing of song has failed to accomplish it's work.
 The child should be taught to sing an interval and then the teacher makes a picture of what has been sung, next re- quiring the child to make the picture himself. Add new intervals as rapidly as possible, not waiting for all to perfect the old, as the youngest children will have several years in which to study intervals. The only possible solution that can find of the problem is the constant tapping over one class into the other, working the most advanced of the lower class into the higher by straininE a point in both directions.
 ko oF l~ l. a1 easy matter. I never teach the key of O first because it seems to be so fixed in the minds of parents that it is the easiest key in which to read that wish the letters with their corresponding sharps and flats drawn to assist the child in remembering. teach the lines and spaces by spelling, giving two or three words day for seat work, @. g. the word beg. A note must be placed on the third, first and second lines; this is not done until the end of the first year In graded school I should do no board or chart work until January of the first year, but in an ungraded school of course the lower class is not composed entirely of first year pupils so the work must be begun at once. Different devices may be employed to teach the position of do in different keys. One which appeals to the children is the location of MT. Dos residence. A new key is to be taught. MT. Do is said to be tired of his present residence on G street and desires to move to D street. The teacher says, "You children all know what it is to } mover" Why. certainly, and each child is seized with desire to become family ) historian, and Is with difficulty sup pressed. All are interested and Mir Do may change his residence, but he must , hang out a slgn or people will not know ) where he lives, so Mir. Do puts out the sign of two sharps to show that he lives on D street. In this manner the relation } of the key signature to the position of do is established.
 During the first year the pupil learns much by hearing the teacher and the advanced pupils use technical terms. In almost every case the child will know the meaning of staff-G clef-G cleft as I heard 8 teacher repeatedly call it-of bar, measure, etc. The teacher should always use these terms and designate the lines by their letter names but the child of the first year should not be re- quired to know them Hntil late in the year.
 The objectOf monotones has not yet been treated and just here my sympathy again goes out to the rural teacher. In proportion to the number registered the percentage of monotones in rural schools is far greater than in the town schools; the child hears less music, is naturally } more shy and consequently afraid of the sound of its own voice, and in many cases does not know that it can sing Numerous devices are used to overcome these difficulties the familiar one of the whistle of the engine on a high pitch is the most effective one that 1 know Matching tones with the teacher is pro duotive of good results-constantly en- courage the child and compliment every +effort. Show your delight and apprecia- tion at every opportunity.
 We now come to the advanced clas~ in preparation for promotion. I an GO. . sidering school in question to be ready for seventh grade work.
 They should have had tw0 years in two-part work, and j7st here tI" teacher in tba ungraded school cau have her innings, for she can at once give the advanced practice in singing ito. while at the same time she is trengtheniug the independence of the lower grades ill sustaining the melody. At the close of the sixth year the child in the graded school should be able to sing either part in an ordinary song, should be familiar with all of the major and minor scales. and understand chromatlcs. Conditions