INSTRUCTION IN MUSIC.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 18820, 7 March 1931, Page 21 (Supplement)

INSTRUCTION IN MUSIC.

SYSTEM OP GROUP TEACHING. SCHEME OUTLINED. A movement is afoot to introduce the system of group teaching of music in Timaru. With this object in view, a public meeting was held in the Little Playhouse last evening, and was attended by music teachers, school teachers, and a number of parents of school children. , . In order that the scheme might he fully explained, arrangements had been made for Mr Vernon Griffiths, director of the Christchurch group-teaching system, to address the meeting. Unfortunately Mr Griffiths, at the eleventh hour, was unable to make the visit, but Mr C. A. Kendall, who is interested in the group teaching of the piano, came instead. The chair was occupied by Mr R. A. Malcolm, president of the South Canterbury Headmasters’ AsMr Rendall at the outset explained that the group teaching of music had been commenced in Christchurch over two years ago, and had proved a pronounced success. He said that the first step taken was in the direction pf forming a committee to control this branch of education and then an organiser to work up the scheme was appointed. When it had been notified that parents having chf\lren whom they desired should leam music should be brought to a building engaged for the purpose, on the day appointed, jthey turned up almost in shoals. The children were examined for the purpose of ascertaining how they would respond to musical instruction. This was done in the form of tests and questioning, and according to the response so the children were drafted into the school. Expounding the system, Mr Rendall said the initial step was in the direction of teaching rhythm and time. The Committee had its own studio for the music school. In this was provided, along each side of a table, a cardboard representation of the piano keyboard with the sharps raised. It was not considered practicable to have the sharps flat on the cardboard. The benefits of these methods had been proved abundantly. In older parts of the world, and in America, the group teaching of music was being carried out on a large scale. The system gave the children of parents not able to afford the expense of private tuition an opportunity to receive, a musical education. Some very bright children had been taught in Christchurch under this system who otherwise would not have been able to learn music. It had been stated that children whose homes did not possess a piano were at a disadvantage, but the speaker said that this was entirely wrong, because quite a number of such children had passed their examinations solely on the instruction and experience they gained at the school. The advantage of musical training had been found in the fact that it helped a child to concentrate, and taught it self-reliance, mental discipline and self control. The moral influence of music had been proved to be very valuable. A well-known judge in America had stated that he had proved conclusively that defects in children_ were caused through lack of self-expression and music found an outlet for a child's emotions. A great thing about a school was the type of teachers engaged. These required to understand the child mind and the psychology of children, and unless they did this the system would be quite hopeless. Mr Rendall described the methods adopted with children in the early stages of instruction, and explained that if these were carried out the scheme could not but be a great success. He urged parents to embrace the opportunity to have their children taught in this way, and said that there was no reason why a part of a child’s education should not include a knowledge of the great masters of music just as they learnt Shakespeare and other great writers of literature. At the conclusion of the address, it was decided that the business of taking the preliminary steps of forming an organisation to further the group system be referred to the Music Teachers’ Association, the headmasters of the different schools, and representatives of the School Committees’ Association.