MORE MUSIC IN SCHOOLS

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21685, 20 January 1936, Page 6

MORE MUSIC IN SCHOOLS

", PRIME MINISTER TO BE APPROACHED APPOINTMENT OF DIRECTOR ADVOCATED When Mr Roland Poster, of the New South Wales State Conservatorium of IMusic, returns to Wellington he will interview the Minister for Education (the Hon. P. Fraser), and during the interview will emphasise to Mr Fraser the importance; of adequate instruction in music and musir cal appreciation in New Zealand schools. Mr Poster, who is a'widelyknown musical authority, has made a special study of musical instruction in other parts of the world, and in response to a special request he gave in an interview last evening some valuable examples of methods that might be adopted in New Zealand. One of the first essentials of any such school music system, Mr Poster said, was an accomplished and skilled national director of school music, such as New Zealand once did but no longer does possess. He considered that before the musical section of .the school curriculum could be organised fully a director must be appointed. Although he has not been able to observe and study the musical, work done in New Zealand schools, Mr Foster offered some useful information on the systems adopted in Australia and America, and suggested that the leading features of these should be copied here. Case for Music In Australia as well as in Great Britain and the United States the value of music as an educational subject was steadily receiving wider recognition, Mr Poster said. _ It used to be considered that music was somewhat an effeminate • accomplishment, reserved for those individuals possessed of special gifts mid inclinations. Apart from the singing of a few national songs and the occasional use of the tonic sol fa modulator little was done to cultivate a knowledge and love of music among school children. But nowadays, Mr Poster said, it was realised that a capacity for musical appreciation, if not for actual performance, was possessed by the great majority of normally constituted boys and girls, and so we found that it was gradually establishing , itself as a worthy subject for any school currlculum. _The United States Commissioner of Education, on this subject, had said: “The value of music in our schools can hardly be over-estimated. Probably after the three R's, music is of greater practical value than any other subject. All children should be taught loosing, and as many as possible should learn to play some instrument." Work In United States During a visit not long ago to the United States, Mr Foster paid particular attention to the musical training system in the schools there, and found that children of every type* from kindergartens to the senior High schools, were being taught with great thoroughness and efficiency. Beginning, with the tiniest children, who before learning 1 to read and write were learning little tunes and practically reading intervals from a blackboard, a carefully graded system of instruction had been devised. One found senior pupils, aged from 14 to 17, forming glee clubs, choral societies, bands, orchestras, and light opera societies. A great many of the American schools, Mr Poster said, had fully

equipped symphony orchestras, • and these were gathered together at an annual summer, camp; where as many as 3000: children took part in mass performances. ; : " -The value of broadcasting ,as a medium for teaching, music and musical appreciation was .fully realised in America, Mr Foster said, and as an instance.of this it was stated’that the most successful of all broadcast educational courses were those Oh musical appreciation by Dr. Walter Damrosch, one of America’s most famous musicians, and his orchestra. This course consisted of an hour’s lecture-with orchestral illustrations, broadcast from 57 national stations and reaching about 8,000,000 listeners in the schools* Australian Methods

In Australia, Mr Foster said, broadcasting was. also extensively! used in schools, by means of special radio talks and demonstrations. The inclusion of music in the general routine of school work had not yet extended in Australia to the lengths it had gone ,in Great Britain and America, but it was steadily increasing. ■' At the Teachers’ Training College in Sydney, for instance, Mr Foster »»»**, teachers with special musical aptitude were receiving special attention and were being drafted into schools where their musical qualifications could b» fully used. The supervisor of school music, Mr E F. Treharne, was himself a practical musician and .conducted an annual summer school-for teachers, besides going round, the schools and helping them In their work.

In Victoria the teaching of singing and efforts to develop musical appreciation were part of the routine in every school, and' the assistance of gramophone records and broadcasting was well developed. Much good had been done with a-bequestpf SIO-DOO. Mr -Foster hoped that these facts about work overseas and the methods used there would be helpful in New Zealand. It was essential that any scheme for musical education in schools—and there should be one in every country-should have a capable director, and be equipped with expert teachers. Full use should also be made of - gramophone records and broadcasting.