PIANOFORTE STUDY

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 48, 20 November 1930, Page 13

PIANOFORTE STUDY

Cultural Value to Youth “Apart from its acknowledged value as a cultural asset,” said Mr. Gordon Short in the course of a brief but illuminating address on the value of pianoforte study last evening, “its study has a decided educational Influence. The great ease .with which mechanical music can be listened to has doubtless caused some doubt here and there as to the justification of time and money being spent on the study of the instrument. The mere passive recreation of listening to music, although inviting and often pleasurable, is inclined to dull the > faculties of the young at a time when they should be bestirred and encouraged to activity.

“Modern teaching stresses the great value of sight-reading as a valuable contribution to general mental efficiency. It calls for keen concentration, accuracy ,of perception and quickness in decision on the part of the performer. It is also a valuable outlet for the. emotions at a time in the lives of young people when some such an outlet is urgently needed. There are many teachers of long experience who are inclined to believe that the educational and emotional value of the study of the pianoforte even outweighs its value as a social accomplishment.”