MUSICAL TOPICS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume L, Issue 253, 20 September 1930, Page 7

MUSICAL TOPICS.

FOUNDATIONS OF MUSICAL EDUCATION. (By “Scmibrove.”) Dr. John E. Borland, of the Trinity College of Music, London, gavo an interesting lecture to music teachers on Saturday. last, taking for his subject the essential foundations upon which a musical training should bo built. Dr. Borland said: “This has been dignified with" tho titlo of ‘lecturo’ but tfiero are so many little things to bo mentioned that it will seem rather a catalogue than a lecture. One idea, however, runs through tho whole and links tho small parts into a dosign of some magnitude. Music must possess somo woighty import or we could not imagine so many men of great capacity and industry clovoting laborious lives to its production regardless of tho meagrenoss of tho financial reward which it cams. There must indeed bo something in it infinitoly deeper . and wider than the satisfaction of securing a paying career even if such should bo the securod. ‘Music leads us to tho odgo of tho infinite was a quotation prized by Beethoven, and I fancy that people who follow music with even tho feeblest of immediate motives must havo somo such thought in their minds, at least subconsciously. There must bo something worth while in it to justify so much expenditure of time and mental effort.

i “Tho immediate object in learning music may bo a mixed one. Some do it for the ploasure of producing more or less agreoablo sounds, melodious tunes which cheer or sooth or' stimulate. Some do it for display of dexterity like tho small boy who came to tho teacher and said ho wanted to play loudor than his brother and quicker than his sister. But bohind such ephemeral motives thero probably exists a fragment of realisation that music does mean something greater as well, and can lead to a noble goal. WORK IN THE SCHOOLS.

“Having spent a good many years as a teacher and conductor, thoso kinds of work were dropped almost entirely for twenty years in order to undertake the supervision of tho music in the three thousand or so schools and colleges of London. Hero one realised t)iat tho teaching of music would be revolutioned if it wero built on foundations such as are laid in tho best of thoso schools. But the average music teacher makes little or no use of such foundations. It is commonly asserted that a considerable proportion ol children fail in their music lessons because they are not naturally musical, but this is a misleading statement. “Many a child comes from a homo whore there is little music to bo heard and is put to a complicated maehino, tho pianoforte, to learn music. How can lie get any real impression of what music is by such a method ? Ho has all the physical, mechanical and notational problems involved in pianoforte playing put before him at ono full swoop. But there is really no object in bothering a child with piano forto playing at a very early age, for one who is taught ‘music’ before going to the piano at all will simply fly through problems which baffle the beginner who starts on tho confused old lines. ABSENCE OF FOUNDATION.

“In the course of examining, which is my third phaso of experience, 1 have come to this conclusion, namely, that the absenco of foundation work is the chief cause of candidates’ troubles, and of labelling pupils as unmusical on account of absurb little blunders which would never have been made if adequate training of the ear and brain had preceded the introduction of instrumental work. Among these blunders are lack of balance in time, absence of the sense of key, undeveloped sense of harmony. Tjheso failings come out most markedly in sight-reading tests, even in passages which present no technical difficulty. An anecdote is recorded of Handel, who on his way to Dublin for the first production of "The Messiah’ (1742) ■ was delayed at Chester by a storm and wishedto try over somo of his manuscripts. “A certain singer” volunteered to read them at sight, but failed so ogregiously that Handel was enraged and said “You scoundrel ! Did you not tell mo you could sing at sight?’ He replied, “So I can; but not at first sight 1” It is, indeed, first sight reading wnich we require for utility. This doos not involve the perfect rendering of all difficult passages, but tho giving of at least an accurate general impression. Ideal accompanists aro thoso who can read well in this sense, and examiners would always rather hear a passage played with a few notes missing than a rendering which breaks the time in the struggle to get everything in. Candidates often start a sight-reading test without looking at key and time signatures at all. Another typo of so-called sight-reading includes looking at top and bottom lines alternately and playing the notes separately. Such a halting performance is the equivalent c.f the small child laboriously spelling out c—a —t instead of saying ‘cat’ straight away. We want sight reading by phases, however short. and simple they may bo. TRAINING OF THE EAR. “The most striking example of the divorce of much current musio teaching from the foundation work of the school eartraining classes is to be witnessed in examinations, where advanced candidates will struggle and fail in simple tests which infantß of six and seven years can meet easily and enjoy almost like games. These include the naming of a few notes after a key chord has been sounded, the name of a few pairs of chords known as cadences which aro the punctuation of music, and the naming of time signatures of siroplo tunes which are played. ' All these are done easily by the aforesaid infants and are often not done at all by candidates for teachers’ diplomas. Thero is surely something radically wrong here. Many a candidate will' say quite cheerfully when the ear tests aro approached, ‘I was never any good at this.’ What a confession of incompetence 1 It is doubtful whether such a person who has not graced tho first essentials of. musical training should be recognised as a teacher at all.

“With the help of tho tonic sol-fa system young children can recognise any reasonable passage played or sung. With the help of the time names ho can analyse all ordinary pulses and divisions of pulses; absolute pace can memorised with the aid of musical tunes; steadiness of pace can be acquired by concentration oh simple clapping exercises. Absolute pitch, which used to be called a gift, which few possess and others could not acquire, can bo easily memorised by little children, who at first concentrate on one or a few notes; -tho sense of key and of simple harmonies is not beyond the scope of these juvenilo classes. In all class work, however, we have to met ‘the difficulty of about ninetenths of the children being somewhat inert and of being- willing to be led by tho smarter members. The immediate imitative faculty is so keen that what should be a blessing may become a- hindrance unless special means are adopted to neutralise it. Wo see this in the so-called sight reading of many choirs who are listening not only to their leaders but also to tho piano or organ, instead of using their eyes and brains actively on the musio copy. All thoso things are trifled in themselves, but they aro the trifles which make up perfection, andyperfoction is no trifle.” Dr. Borland illustrated many of his points at tho. pianoforte, causing amusement at times by his imitation of “how not to do it” as performed by many a candidate for musical honours. Another important part of examination work touched upon was the question of nervousness. Tho lecturer stated chat it was his'opinion fhat most cases of nervousness wore due to the fact that ’ many teachers and parents talked too much about tho examination and the examiner, thereby causing a certain mount of fear, fear of the examination and fear of tho examiner, which resulted in the candidate being in a complete state of nerves on the .important day. Illustrating this point, Dr. Borland stated: “A child one day said to me, when making her exist from the-', examination room, ‘Please, may. I say something?’ ‘Yes, you may.’ ‘I didn’t want to como here at all to-day. I was too frightened, but, I liked it very much and didn’t mind it a bit.’ ” Dr. Borland said that teachers and parents should convince pupils that examinations were even nicor than lessons.