The Columbus dispatch. (Columbus, Miss.) 19??-1922, 1922-01-11
MUSIC AND PUBLIC EDUCATION
is MUSIC RELATED TO SCHOOL LIFE?
Very Interesting Published
BY GEORGE H. GARTLAN

ed or organized in day, or month,
or year. But if within decade, or
even a generation, it's effects have be-
gun to show, it has done well. Let us
continue to keep our ideals high and
strive to reach them.
"When music has become "a part of
our life and not apart from it, we
will probably realize more the vital
relation which it has to the lives of
all of u.s." a
The above would not indicate that
the same business wave in education
is lowering over the Middle West as
it has been over the East, and that
they still have little time to reflect
upon the niceties of life. We admire
greatly the remark about "Jazz"
music. There is enough philosophy
in their thought to see that example
is better than precept, and that if
you want to eradicate an evil put
something good in its place, but do
not start out by condemning the evil.
They are also quite correct about step
wise progress in education. The an
alogy between music and literature is
decidedly interesting. One of the great
mistakes in teaching music to school
children is the fact that we have rush
ed madly in with an attempt to teach
them all that it was possible to know
about music in one course in apppre-
citation rather than extending this
knowledge over period of years.
What we really should do if we hope
to be successful is to have listening
lessons in music as part of the grade
work in the elementary schools as
well as the high schools. 1t will then
be possible for children to be trained
to listen to music for each year of
their school lives and those who re-
main in high school may enjoy an in
innate association with the subject
over a period of twelve years.
The Real Enjoyment of Music.
We note with interest the following
statement, "When music has become
part of our life, and not apart FROM"
etc. For many years too many people
considered music as a non-essential.
1t was purely an amusement subject.
and if you have time to learn any
thing about it at all, well and good
if you did not, you were no worse off.
Modern education completely chang
ed this false attitude, and those who
are not yet affected by it are in the
minority. We have always believed
that the things that we enjoyed doing
were the things we really did well,
whether it was business or pleasure,
and if school systems would only real
ize this fact and give child more OPP
portunity to do specialized work in
the subjects toward which he has a
natural inclination, he could be made
a proficient student in these, and then
have sufficient interest left to absorb
any other education which was neces-
sary for him to possess.
We sincerely hope that other high
schools throughout the country may
encourage the children to devote some
space in their magazines to discus
sion of other subjects. We are not
selfish enought to believe that music
is the only subject a child should
know, but all students should be given
an opportunity to compare each sub
ject in relation to the other, and by
some such means of comparison ar
rive at the relative merits of each in
terms Of its full application to the
students life work.