Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1919-06-08
Nj u s / c.
By Henrietta M. Rees.

THEW people realize the tremen
dous importance the accredit
A ing OF music in high schools is t
any community. A few years agt
applied music" was an unheard O
thing. then the system was tried il
orc or two cities, and the results care
fnlly studied by musical and educa
tionaI authorities. These were fount
10 he so satisfactory in every way
that the scheme has spread unit
now a great number Of cities givt
credit for outside music study ii
the high school course.
Among these cities are OMAHA
aud Lincoln. Omaha completed the
6~st year of applied music in til.
high school" last Saturday morning
whiie Lincoln on Tuesday S,d Wed
rc day completed either the 5th OF
9th year OF accredited music
Credit is given for work in piano
voice and violin, and any other in.
struiheu,s of the symphonic or
cheStra.
Thr scheme practsed is similar
not only in these two cities, but
throughout the county where the
study Of music is admitted to the
nigh school course. Therefore, the
results noted IN the recent examina,
tons here. are undoubtedly similar
elsewhere.
nder the present scheme the
student chooses his own teacher
and his own branch of music. Re-
port cards are handed to tho school
authorities once month, signed
by both the. teacher of music and
the parent, giving in detail the work
durc by the student during that
time. These cards are made out Ill
duplicate. one signed. the other I'M
signed. and at the end of the tern,
the unsigned cards are given to the
examiner. As these show IN detail
just what the pupil has done, he
bases his examination of each pupil
upon these cards and judges him
accordingly. 80.
The examiner is chosen by the
school authorities, and is usually
some well known out of town mu-
sician. A different examiner is re-
uuired for each branch OF music, but
for illustration we will discuss
only the examinations in the piano
department, of each city. Mr.. Sid
ney SLIDER. head of the piano de-
partment of the University School
Of Music in Lincoln. was chosen as
examiner of piano students i'll the
Omaha High school, and Mr.. Mar
tin Bush OF Omaha was chosen as
examiner OF piano students in Lin
coin. In both cities the piano stu
dents were inNthe majority. In Oma-
ha IA pupils presented themselves
for examinations in this branch OF
music study. and in Lincoln 2o en-
bryo pianists applied for credits.
This seems like small proportion
from Omaha, in comparison with
the difference in population between
the two cities, but the difference in
length OF time music has been &C
credited probably accounts for it
more than any other reason.
Miss Juliet McCune, music super.
visor OF the OMAHA public schools,
gave an interesting account Of the
way Mr.. Silber conducted the ex-
aninations last Saturday, The ex.
aminer had the cards OF each pupil
gwen him. The pupil was required
10 play piece specially prepared
for the examination. which had been
sfteeted by his teacher. The exani-
aer then chose another piece from
a list OF those the pupil mad been
studving. Mr.. Siiber examined as
much on the manner in which che
mind nj the pupil worked. as he did
re9r enc seruai performance. re
ASKED many questions upon teehni-
cal proficiency. In some instances
<he asked for scales. and ne asked
many questions about them.
Technical exercises and studies
came in for their share of attention
ard these were carefully considered
Thorouzhness OF preparation.
krowiedSe OF what he was doing
by each pupil. talent. and the At
'itude Of Che pupils toward the mu-
sie we're all considered by Mr.. Sill
her. in the grading.
The following points were notice
able about the examination. First
ard foremost. the work OF the teach
er showed ND. and this is one of the
moss inroortart results OF accredit-
ing nv Secondly, ii was diseov-
cred tPat the work of the puoils in
music balanced 10 in practically ev-
ery instance with their general work
Ss Miss McCune aptly put il. "If
one has a brain that works well, it
works we'll anv way. and in anv cir
eunrstaness.S Thus the same faults
which we're noticeable in music
study could be traced through every
other study. and these were not due
90 lack OF musical adaptability. but
10 a fault in the character or per-
souatitv OF the eupil which mani
tested itself in all OF his work.
An odd point. noticed, was that
the girls were always looking for
something mysterious about the
questions whfeh were asked them.
while the boys examined took the
questions more obviously and an
swered accordingly,
re pupil was working principally
FOR the credits. and NOT for a genuine
kaowiedge OF music, This point show
ed NO constantly in all Of his or her
work. and defeated its own end. One
ri the Sublime beauties Of music as a
high school study. is that there is
no possibility OF Shutting One may
bhifs himself bur not the examiner
NJ. Bush reported similar ex-
fperteness and similar results as en-
aminer ae Lincoln Mr. Bush has
examined in Lincoln several times
and he - enthusiastic about the M