MUSIC IN POST-PRIMARY EDUCATION

Cue (NZERS), Issue 6, 31 August 1944, Page 15

MUSIC IN POST-PRIMARY EDUCATION

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M USICAL education received in' secondary schools and colleges is for minds that have already absorbed fundamentals and are therefore able to receive training in the development and exploiting of these elementary studies.

The previous article on this subject ’of music in . schools stressed the necessity for absorbing four specified fundamentals. The use of the voice as a medium of interpretation in musical training is excellent and it is the best method for learning these fundamentals which should be limited to primary school tuition. ...

Senior children are apt to become bored more quickly when learning basic principles, and, "as stated above, their minds are more alert to possible developments and embellishments. This is especially true with music, and the writer has seen music teachers, who should have known better, taking first-year senior children in work specially written for juvenile minds. Such a procedure is most detrimental to the mind of a senior child and nothing kills interest and enthusiasm more quickly than a completely wrong approach.

Post-primary school problems also include the difficult one of adolescence, concerning which much has already been written. Adolescence in males affects : the voice — that is common knowledge. The voice « breaks » and can be controlled only with great difficulty and, in some cases, control is almost impossible. Eventually the male , voice «settles» to a level an octave lower than in boyhood. Female voices, contrary to many beliefs, are also affected but in quality more than in actual control.

However, a suggestion is made that easy instrumental training in some form should be taught in the first year at college or secondary school. At this point the bogey of finance appears, but with judicious choice of instruments, the financial outlay required to equip a class should not be heavy and well worthy of the invest-

ment, both from the practical musical results and from the viewpoint of training and experience.

As an example, a class could be formed into a complete recorder ensemble there being three main pitchs of this early type of flute —soprano or treble, alto and tenor — the • three providing a pleasing and satisfying trio of parts.

These instruments are not expensive and can now be made in . plastic as well as the conventional hardwood. They are hardwearing, accurate in scale anrf* easily played: They have a range of two octaves chromatically and the three types have the same fingering, so that to learn one type is to learn all. This advantage is an invaluable aid to rapid class, tuition.

The recorder Is not . a . child's toy, but a recognised musical instrument that blends well with other modern instruments and it can be a beautiful thing indeed in the hands of a virtuoso. Gramophone recordings of recorder ensembles can be imported and; they should be heard in order to appreciate the beauty of this, modernised « flute-a-bec » or early English flute. J

Great strides have been made in England by using the recorder in classwork and there is every indication that this once forgotten flute will pave the way for a greater general interest in group music. The music of Fur cell and Handel is particularly suited to this instrument. ■' :

The family of stringed . instruments comprises of course the ideal orchestra but, unfortunately, they .are usually costly. It is never advisable for a person to learn on a cheap ‘ and inferior violin, viola or violoncello. Often, too, the violoncello is too large

for a secondary school pupil to handle well, although special smaller sizes are made. Naturally, colleges and secondary schools financially well placed •- should maintain a complete orchestra and specialise teachers. But, for the purposes of this article, the main point to be stressed is that instrumental music of some form should be taught in all post-primary schools. Elementary knowledge of music .gained in the primary schools

In an education venture, such as musical' training in all ,NZ secondary schools, it would be advisable to start in a modest way for a year or two until the first pupils have completed their course. In that way, a three or four-year course could be introduced gradually and college music would blossom forth as an art for all and become part ,of college life, instead of being as at present, a luxury enjoyed by a fortunate few.

-would form the basis for development. Girls’ colleges could continue with the development of singing either as a supplement to, or as a complete replacement of instrumental work for, as mentioned above, girls’ voices are not subject to the difficulty of « breaking.» Good singing can be heard in /New Zealand at some secondary schools, where there are enthusiastic and competent teachers. Also, from about the end of the second year, when boys’ voices become somewhat settled, colleges could, with care, include singing, accompanied occasionally by the college orchestra —an ? achievement of which every pupil would be justly proud. , '

The question of the training of suitable teachers will naturally arise, but if a modest start is made, i.e., by using recorders, little difficulty will be encountered in connection with the provision of teachers. For adults, who already have the fundamentals, of music at ' their, fingertips, a thorough knowledge of the handling of recorders is easy to acquire and would require little tuition. Self-expression is a necessity of youth and if proper means for this are not within reach, the surplus energy may find its outlet in other activities — anti-social and undesirable.

(To be continued.)