The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1914-03-08
Debrecdtes Class
Teaching of Violin


warmly received address before th
music section of the Ladies lhteraT,
.lub last Tuesday afternoon, George L
Skelton, one OF Salt Lake g best knows
teachers of the violin, vigorously eS
pressed his opinion of class Instructlo
FOR the violin, holding that tho, bes
that can be said of it is - 1t IL petite
han no instruction at all. Mr.: Ske!
Ton pointed out the necessity Of lndl
yidual faults of the pupil being cor
.ected by painstaking individual eh9r'
and also paid his respect to the teache
who 'does not believe IN giving nj
pupils any solos until they have ha
he soul of music dried out of them.
His address in part follows:
Teaching the violin is subject on
which there Is about as much dl-
versity OF opinion as there are teacn-
ers Many men-many methods-a!-
most every teacher has his or her
Idea as 10 the best method OF imrart-
Ing their knowledge to The student.
and. needless To say, each Things ms
method IS as good or maybe better
than his fellows.
The first requisite for the pupil is
q decent instrument. as II Is inpos-
sible TO produce q good. clear tone
on some of the so-called vlolins.
Next Is a good bow, as the bow nat
ura!ly ranks next In Importance 10
the violin itself, and IT Is quite sur,
prising what great help 20 good
playing n superior bow Is
The chief requirement or the pOpli
Is good ear and then a great deai
OF application. Intelligent practice
viii work wonders with the most
stubborn cases. One time, when
urging pupil TO apply herself TO
,his rule and telling her what IL
would do for her. she said: That
may all be true. but an elephant VIII
never sing ike a nightingale. !
happened TO have presence OF mind TO
say Yes, but II can trumpet.
and hurried on With the lesson,
Scale practice. aided by tunes which
are familiar and melodious, Will gen
orally correct n poor musical ear.
be acquired by almost anyone who
viii work. but the chief beauties OF
violin playing do not depend upon
technique. Some of the most sub
lime and pathetic passages from the
most admired solos and concertos are
OF simple type and must be per
formed in simple style TO be really
artistic on the other hand. playing
may abound with difficulties and yet
on the whole. be frigId and unaffect-
ing. The Sevcik system is one
which was popular through Kubellk
startling the world with his dazzling
technique. Groves Dictionary OF
Music gives this account OF the
method pursued under his direction
10y his pupils:
For as many hours daily as their
strength VIII allow, they play small
sections OF passages backward and
forward. hundreds. even thousands, OF
times. in every possible lingering and
variety OF bowlng. No other teacher
OF the violin has the knowledge which
Sevcik possesses of the anatomical
structure OF the hand and arm. He
divides the bow not only into the
usual three sections, but also Into
subdivisions, and, of course. the pupil
has TO apport!on each accura tely In
accordance with the ma ture OF tho
phrase. thus requiring great COM
mand OF tone and accent In short.
under the Sevcik system. nothing isa
left undone that methodlcal training
OF ear and muscles can accomplish
In regard TO Interpretation. the pro-
fessor, seated AT the pianoforte,
teaches all the great concertos on
sound technical lines. but the deveI
opment OF the psychtcal side Of the
students nature. the bringing TO bear
on him OF subtle Influences which
tend TO make him a great interpreta-
tive artist, must come from with
How differently Leopold Auer's
pupils, NJ. Elman. Karen Parlow.
Ephraim Zimbalist, and many others
hardly less noteworthy. play.
Class teaching is without doubt bet
Ter ttlan no teaching at all, and that
probably Is the best that can be said
Of the proceeding. Even II the class
be small one, II is impossible for
the teacher to give each pupil that
individual attention that is so essen
tial. and there is no end of study re-
quiriDg special discrimination In each
case more than that OF the violin. One
pupil develops one set OF faults. an
other quite "A different set, and the
course Of instruction best adapted for
one Will be wholly inadequate for an
other, This class method, and also
the course that some mossback teach
ers pursue, reminds one OF the School
of Squeers In Nicholas Nickleby,"
when each child filed before Mrs.
Squeers and had a liberal helping
phur. whether they needed II or not.
Surely, the main objects In teaching
should be to make the pupils love mu-
sic and elevate their taste for art A
teacher should show a kindly spirit
OF happiness, not a fault finding,
crotchety disposition
Then as to the kind Of teacher
The fiashy advertiser. whose pupils
play one piece In public for year
or so. and that OF the flashy kind
surely digs his own grave and must
Keep getting new pupils. The teach
er who does not believe In giving the
pupils any solos until they have had
the soul OF music dried out OF them
is also back number, Any teach
er VINO has particular hobby In
teaching TO the exclusion of the best
results of good, all-around progress
Is to be avoided. The work OF the
ooasting person. who gave recital