Fitzgerald leader enterprise and press. (Fitzgerald, Ben Hill County, Ga.) 1921-1964, 1922-03-30
MISS STREETER'S
LECTURE

Seldom has an audience of Fitzger-
aid ladies enjoyed so much of a treat
or received impressions of such last
ing benefit as that derived from the
splendid address and demonstration of
Miss Margaret Streeter on Musical
Appreciation" yesterday afternoon at
the Carnegie Library. Miss Streeter
has a charming manner and is thor
oughly conversant with not only her
own subject of music but of all the
studies that can be correlated with
music in the school.
Miss Streeter spoke of our first at
tempts to teach music from the print
ed page before the child's interest
and appreciation had been awakened
as beng a plan of putting the cart
before the horse Could such a
method ever cause child to love
music? Decidedly not. See then
what the phonograph has done for
the home and the school in the OBJ
portunity it offers to give the child
at, once the the best music there is
with the highest degree of pleasure
and profit.
Beginning with the little child in
the home she would have him absorb
the simple beautiful melodies, some
OF the lullabies that are really Amer
lean classics and which make their
appeal to the child's expert
ence. There are records pre-
pared with four or six to even
eight melodies all on one. There
are plenty of these to furnish what
the home needs in this verv earliest
training. In the schooi the teacher
VIII usually make use of either the
vocal or instrumental music that has
the most marked rhythm or mas char
acteristic rhythm as she can draw
out perception, intuition and remark
able discrimination from the very
little children after she begins teach
ing them to listen. And this, by the
way, is the slogan of the Victor ed
ucational department: Learn to lis
ten and then listen to learn" While
rhythm is the most appealing part OF
music to the little child and when
! correlated with his physical exercises
and games affords one OF the most
delightful uses of music rhythm
which is exaggerated and distorted
as it is in syncopated jazz music be-
comes the most baneful elements that
we have to deal with in the recent
and harmful popular music of the
day. Through the records and charts
that are available Miss Streeter adj
vises teaching about instruments
very early, as it is easy to do and
sooner gets results in attentive lis
tening and appreciation. Miss Street
er says always get participation by
the children when you can and you
usually can, more quickly than from
adults. Still if from some you can
only get passive appreciation even
that is worth while.
Going a little further along, Miss
Streeter showed how effectively the
music study can be correlated with
literature. For the Lady of the
Lake at least six lovely numbers
are available. One she gave in dem
onstration was Shubert's setting of
Ave Maria which but few knew
was taken from Sir Walter Scott.
All the way through, Miss Streeter
used real classics and real artists
performances and they did not seem
under her Interpretation to be above
or beyond even the little child's under
standing. Another slogan quoted
was that of the Woman-s Federated
Clubs TO make good music popular
and to make popular MUSIC good"