MUSIC TEACHING

Waikato Times, Volume 96, Issue 15354, 1 October 1923, Page 9

MUSIC TEACHING

THE LIQHTNINQ METHOD, ITS USE IN SCHOOLS. The drudgery of learning" the Initial steps of music is, to say the least of it, discouraging to the pupil, but when this drudgery can be done away with and the student enabled to 'obtain a pretty fair knowledge of music in a few lessons, it is evident that the musical accomplishments of the community as a whole will reach a decidedly higher standard. This is' exactly what Mr George Kyme claims to be able to do with his lightning method, designed to give the pupil a thorough understanding of sight-reading, of time and tune in comparatively short time. Mr Kyme is at present engaged in visiting the more important schools in

the district, explaining to the teachers the great advantage? of his method and forming classes, also giving free lessons to the schoolchildren. The Education Department, recognising the value of his work, has granted him free permission to come and go as he wishes in the schools, so that his work is really being conducted under their auspices'. Mr Kyme’s contention is that the child learning music under the ordinary system is taught to run before it could crawl. Before anyone begins to learn singing or the piano they should first be taught to read and write music, and have the value and true significance of the various' signs so instilled into their minds that a piece of music will be easily read at first sight, just as a child who has been taught English is

able to pick up a book and master the contents. The inventor does not claim that all the niceties of musical technique may be acquired in a, few lessons under his system, but lie does claim that a short course of a few weeks will give the ordinary pupil a pretty thorough and practical grasp of the knowledge of music-reading. It was just as ridiculous, Mr Kyme maintains, to ■teach a child typewriting without a knowledge of English as to attempt to make a pupil proficient without a knowledge of the signs. Yesterday Mr Kyme visited the Hamilton East School, where he explained his system to the teaching staff, outlining his principle of teaching music to the school children, and pointing out how it was possible to give ■the youngsters a thorough understanding of “crotchets” and "quavers” by clapping the time of music-sheets submitted to them. His idea was for all the teachers to obtain one of the sheets and then get the children to copy and learn them. By the use of his system Mr Kyme said a class of Standard I. children could in five hours be made musically more proficient than Standard VI.