South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1915-02-08
Making Piano
Lesson Easier
Simple Devices Sometimes
Give Child New Insight
Into Difficulties.

Do we forget some times how hard
some problems are TO our youngsters?
1 am afraid we do. We expect the
childish brain TO understand a thou
sand facts in life which our minds
took a long time TO digest. We lose
patience and even punish when we
ought TO be punished ourselves.
l personally remember with partic-
ular disgust my arithmetic lesson and
the accompanying trials and agony of
mind when called in class 10 solve
problems before the others.
l also know very we'll a little girl,
since she is my daughter, who used to
be in a highly nervous state before.
during and after her music lesson,
simply because she failed TO under
stand time value.
One day L had pretty well aban-
doned the idea of letting the child go
on with the piano and half decided
not TO waste any more money on
teachers, when L happened to pick
up a musical magazine. There was
a very interesting article on a certain
interesting method. Not long after
wards, a friend of mine asked me TO
accompany her to a demonstration of
the very same method at the school
of her own little daughter. / was
delighted to go and found all eXpec-
tations of something unusual sur
passed. 1t was a wonder TO me and
the rest of the spectators how these
girls, who had only had three months
instruction, were able 10 recognize
rhythm and sound. 1 decided at once
to have Mary take lessons. My main
object was to help the child in her
difficulties. 1 had no ambition TO
make a musician or graceful dance~
out of her.
Mary's weakness and with a smile he
said She'll get there in time, don't
worry" And addressing the child, he
said You see the carpet? Divide
it's length into four steps. Let each
step count one full note. Do not reach
the end of the carpet before 1 have
played the full four notes" This Mary
promptly and correctly executed.
Now" he continued, divide the
same space into eight steps. Wen
call them pa notes. March them in
time as i play and indicate the two
beats of each note by dropping both
hands down on the first beat then
swinging them UP again on the sec
ond count" This the child did with
equal facility. SO the instruction went
on, varying between explanation of
the different time values and just lis
tening to a theme, played by the
teacher, that Mary was expected TO
follow by indicating with a stamp Of
her foot the measure of the same.
The lesson was evidently very in
teresting to the pupil and anything
but hard work.
Specially did she like the guessing
of the rhythm of the various impro-
visations her delightful professor had
at his fingers tip. 1t took Mary two
months before she invited me one af-
ternoon, to listen TO her play. l was
dumbfounded by the progress she had
made and yet there had not been any
instruction on the piano by teacher.
1t was a marvel to me how the
child's rhythmic sense had been in
creased, strengthened and developed.
OF course. seeing such wonderful i'm
provement, l decided to let her con-
tinue her course of rhythmic gymnas
tics. Today little Mary is studying
music at one of the leading cOnserva-
tories in Europe and though she has
to work hard she neither feels nerv-
Gus about it, nor does she ever con-
slider it unpleasant.
1 apply now the same principle of
education to my two youngsters. That
is to say-I try and find out why
they dislike certain studies or cannot
understand some lessons. l usually
get at the root Of the evil and find
nearly always a very simple and (
pleasant method or explanation to
help their struggling minds. 1 remem-
Der at times my own stupidity in
arithmetic.