THE TONIC SOL FA SYSTEM.

Thames Advertiser, Volume XIII, Issue 3632, 21 June 1880, Page 3

THE TONIC SOL FA SYSTEM.

To the Editor of. tlio THAMES Advertiser,

Sib,- In your report of the recent meeting of the Board of Governors of the Thames. High School, Dr Kilgour' is credited with having made certain statements calculated to do mo serious'injury if allowed to pass unchallenged.;. As the doctor; and I are on friendly terms, the remarks alluded to cannot bo attributed to malice, and I can only suppose that in his zeal to support the applications of his nominees, he considered it necessary to speak in disparaging terms of the other applicants. There are, however, some people who venture to " differ 1 with him," notwithstanding his assertion that ho has " some knowledge of musio.". In my application I did not say that tlie touio sol fa system, was preferable to the old notation. Such a statement would'have been absurd, as a. "system" of teaohing cannot bo logically placed in apposition with a ■' notation" of sounds. What V said was,,that Wilhom'a method .(com. monly called Hullah's) had been found impracticable, for sohool purposes, and teachers had given : it up. This I am prepared to .prove by abundant evidenco, Now, as I havo a thorough knowledge of both systems, I think I was entitled to express an 'opinion on the subject. The fact of the matter is, in. schools and singing classes whore one hour per week only is devoted to learning 'to sing by notes, it is next to impossible to master the old notation by Hullah's method, except in raro cases of special talent uud industry. This fact may not k,o, generally known, as tho publiq ; are often , deceived' by school and other "shows," where the performers. profess to sing from notes, but, really s do so by memory, having had tho musio ■sunge,' i played over to them till, they know it. A. good pianist, plays n rattling accompaniment, and tho pilded sham satisfies ©very one:? tho crowing. teacher, tho vain pupils, and the blissfully-deceived audience. Of course, a teacher, of toni<> sol fa could adopt a similar plan,, but the simplicity of his system removes all temptation to do so v He never uses an instrument, qq il\a,t from the outset his pupils ha\fo. to exercise their judgment in sounds, and the exercise becomes suoh'a pleasure ; to the intelligeut that they spurn the "coachiug" pi'ouess and read for themselves. No? do the teachers of the tonic sol system consider their simplify notation as being opposed to tha old, but they bok upon the study of the latter as op.lion.al •> hence, I o%edj " if required," to teach tho equivalent symbols, of the staff nota- : ti.on tp pupils wlieu they shall have taken ' tho clemetitary qertiScate, a further proof i that 1 di,d not consider the tonic sol fa ''system" preferable to the old "notation." Dr Kilgour also states that the progress made by the class I instructed at his houso led him to entertain a very poor opinion of tho system. This is a very extraordinary statement, for a more

successful class no teachor could desire. During tho m'ne montha it existed, fivo out of tho sis steps of the course wero gone through, and up to the time when the treasurer resigned every ono appeared enthusiastic. It is a matter of regret to me that the class was .not resumed after tho Christmas holidays; but, of courso, a private circle of friends havo a perfect iriglit to vary tlioir amusements as they thiukfit. In conclusion, permitme toquoto from an English musical journal, the following remarks mado by Mr-J. Thomson, R.A.M. (a teacher of music in the Westmister Training College), at the recent Social Science Congress, in Manchester, " Ahhoagh most of tho Training Colleges still' teach only tho old staff notation, teachers find (as I myself have found) tho ■difficulty of teaching 'it so great, and tlio .success so small, that tho tonic sol fa system is used in all the schools of the Loiidon, 'Birmingham, and several other, large school boards, with (as I .myself from 'personal., inspection can tc'sify)'a most gratifying amount of success." Your insertion of this letter will oblige,—Your obedient servant, John Guiqo.