Arizona republican., 1918-12-07
MUSICAL NOVELTY IS
 DELIGHT OF AMATEUR
Providence Sunday Journan

(ProVlIence Sunday JOurnaD
 Every now and then love of novelty prompts the amateur musician to ex- pertinent with the musical instruments of other countries and some of these experiments have resulted in the addi- tion to the legitimate concert music of the present day. The mandolin, for instance, has come to be recognized as one of the principal instruments of every college glee club, although to an older generation it was a novelty, im- pressing the listener, as naively de- scribed by a young woman who heard it for the first time, as "an instrument of eight strings, tuned in pairs, none of which were in tune" Greater fa- miliarity anI practice, however, have solved the tuning problem and the tinkling music has come to be appreci- ated and in some cases taken seriously
 At intervals other countries have left their impress on the public taste, al- though few of the instruments have a lasting hold. Orchestras have come and gone leaving agreeable memories behind them, like the Russian orches- tra which exploited the primitive bal alaika, a stringed instrument having somewhat the appearance of a three cornered guitar. In fact, most of the instruments are stringed instruments, either played with the fingers or plucked by a plectrum of one sort or another, the object in every case being to excite the vibrations as in the most primitive instruments. A year or two ago at the First Congregational church there was demonstration of native Porto Rican instruments, made of gourds or fashioned from solid blocks nf stretched, giving forth harmonious sounds, but like the balalaika, they were too primitive to be exploited com 1 mercially for the amateur public 1 The zither, introduced years age I from Bavaria and the Tyrol, had had it's followers, but has had no great | vogue; it may be because when taken from its romantic surroundings it sounds less alluring, or it may be be- cause requiring to be placed upon Q 1 table 1t requires a certain formality and loses the intimate charm of the 1 instruments which are more "cuddle some" At all events even in it's recent form with certain attachments, whic1 absolutely prevent discord, it appar- ently has no great hold upon publit favor.
 There is a growing liking for the mu. sic of the marimba, which, like tn, xylophone, gives forth from strips o well-seasoned wood, when struck witt drumsticks pleasant, clear sound especially in favor with the devotees o the modern dance. The instrument in use in the southern part of Mexic and is known in Africa, where in primi tive fashion, gourds take the plac of the wooden sound boxes, and som of the marimba bands of Guatemal and other southern countries are mak ing the music better and better know1
 Everyone knows the Hawaiian uku lele, which has found widespread ia vor, and the wailing notes produced b the sliding steel against the string seem likely to add permanent qual ity to the universal music of the pres ent day.
 The latest nation to bring it's contri button to American music is Japal and California has been having an op portunity to hear the exploitation the koto, the most popular of the na tive instruments, through the mediur
 of a young Japanese girl, Yosika Nc mura, who came to this country la.
 summer
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