Omaha daily bee., 1916-10-15

Al
Tben. no one studied unless he as
Tired 10 become remarkable per-
;or,ner; now music is studied not only
for the sake Of being played, but be-
cause people are beginning to realize
he great educational value OF It, and
,ecause they want not only to be able
ID play or sing, but also to know
something about music, to be able TO
asore thoroughly appreciate IT and to
understand It.
Bu. what must one do to become
4 musical amateur? The answer is
easy. Simply take music for hobby
devote some time to it every day and
every week try to find out something
new and interesting about it; every
week try to become acquainted with
little bit more Of it.
Read that delightfully."- entertaining
book, "The Musical Amateur, by
Robert Haven Schauffler, in which he
amusingfy recounts his advance
through the different stages Of must
cal development, from the ridiculous
to the sublime, and the many inter-
esting experiences he subsequently,
enjoyed.
Be honest with yourself about the
music you like and the music you
don't like, and always give yourself
a reason for each case. Above all, if
you do like music and have chosen II
for hobby, stick to it, and i perhaps
you find you have learned all you
can about one instrument or one sort
OF music try another.
BY all means study harmony and
musical history and analysis and
read some Of the musical books to
be found in the library. They are
not Ill as dry as dust; some are even
highly entertaining, and many give .
fresh viewpoint and greater outlook
upon musical subjects.
Take the trouble to listen to a
great deal OF music, but always, even
though ii bores you TO extinction, lis
ten 10 the best The best is not nee
essarily the. most intricate nor the
hardest, but the most sane, we'll
written, inspired and the most beauti-
fol. Start in whatever stage OF mt
steal development that you find your
self. IL YOU are in the drum stage,
start with the drum. Learn to beat il
properly, and then when yonr inter-
est IN Il begins to wanc and you have
outRrown It's limitations, sell the
drum or give it away and buy cor
net, ukulele, xylophone, or any kind
OF musical instrument which appeals
TO you, always remembering, how
ever, that there are some instruments
which are more or less limited in
their tone quality and means Of play
ing than others, and that after the
amount OF time you have spent upon
them you sometimes discover that
you cannot do as much with them
as II you had spend your time upon
one OF the greater opportunities,
There are some instruments upon
which one can study all through life
and not be especially hampered by
their limitations. But II you like one
Of the other kind better, 20 ahead.
With many OF them, when carefully
taught, you can leart, numerous truths
about rythm, notes, tonality, intervals,
time values and other fundamentals
which are found in music everywhere,
With some you can even supplement
course Of harmony, and learn to use
/ the chords correctly, not Just one or
two, as is usually the way, but all that
are possible in each key; learn how
they can progress to make music
most agreeable, and even how they
can lead you most euphoniously into
any other key to which you may de-
size to go. This knowledge is the yer,
grammar and root OF the art OF music
and a careful study OF it will do NOR,
towards the development Of genuine
music lover than anything else he car
do.
-
Then II you have again chosen an in
strument with lack OF tonal variety
one Of which you find you have soor
exhausted the tonal possibilities, turf
your attention to even another instru
+ ment, preferably OF the sort where tn
greatest variety OF tonal expression \
possible, the human voice pre-emi
fently, or the piano, or any membe
Of the violin family, for instance
There all that you have learned abou
music before will be OF use, and Their
viii still be other fields to conquer.
In these you will have your great
est opportunity TO learn something
about dynamics and tone color, an
the privilege OF most freely tryini
your hand at them.
But at first the chances are tina
you won't begin TO see the POSSIBLE
ties, You will be too busy learning
the manner OF playing the instrument
or with singing the notes and tones
but under the guidance OF careful
thorough instruction, and with earnes
effort and genuine liking upon you
part there will soon come a result
Then the scales will begin to fall fror
your eyes. and you will gradually Sc
the whole vista OF interpretative pos
sibilities opening up before you. 70
will realize more than ever bcfor
how much there is to music more tina
merely time and tune. You will 60
concerts by great artists to. hear VIII;
wonderful command OF dynamics an
tone color they may have and no
they use il for the power OF their il
Expectations. You will notice ho
the differences in their uses max
their musical individuality. You wi
look ior these points in each compos
ton that you hear. You will striN
with ever-growing care and though
fitness to make them effective IN yoi