Page:Every Woman's Encyclopedia Volume 1.djvu/460

 THE ARTS 438 FIRST STEPS IN MUSIC A Comparison between the Development of Music among Savage Races and the Mind of a Chijtl— Let Instruction be Natural Development, and Avoid the Stereotyped System of Initial Lessons W 'HEN does a child begin to show an instinct for music, and when should she begin to have that instinct cultivated and developed ? The answer to these questions must de- pend upon what is understood by " musical instinct." Music in the child and in the primitive races is not exactly what culti- vated men and women of to-day under- stand by music. To all alike, however, it is a means of expression, a language. In its fullest development it is also a great mystery, with a potent power to suggest ideas and emotions. It can dominate the imagination of the sensitive, and express to them what otherwise would go dumbly unexpressed. Primitive Music Music to the primitive man was first felt in what we now call " rhythm." What he knew and felt he expressed in the action of dancing. The world danced before it sang. The primitive effort towards music was further extended by making a regular re- curring noise. Walking along the sea-shore a savage picked up two empty shells, and as he struck them together the rhythm of their meeting and parting gave the grown- up child of the past definite pleasure. Later, he stretched dried skins over empty shells or nuts, and made .out of them primitive " drums." He beat upon them with his hands, or with dried bones, and felt the curious joy and exhilaration of the reiterated beat. That savage joy still is ours. Who cannot walk more gaily and bravely if he has the incentive of the insistent, reiterating drum ? What soldier does not appreciate this fact ? Now, however, we have learnt to add harmonies, and they further engage our hearts and minds. But the drum alone, as we all know, can incite and excite us to a wonderful extent. Are we, therefore, still at heart savages, or just grown-up children ? Tlie Birth of Harmony The next step in the childhood of music was to sing and make tunes or melodies, invocations to the gods, wild love songs, laments and death songs. Very few notes were used, but the simple and monotonous tune was dominated still by an insistent rhythm. Man had found in " melody " a further way of expressing himself. Later on, he fixed a gut string, poised on a roughly made bridge, across a tightly stretched skin. Then he either plucked the string with his fingers, or set it vibrating by passmg a rudimentary bow over it. This was the first tentative effort towards the birth of stringed instruments. In early pictures we see these crude efforts represented, and through them we can watch their gradual growth and development. After the pipes and reed instruments were made, the next step — which was a giant one — was the combining of sounds. This , gave " harmony," and endless possibilities of invention, development, and beauty. Music in the Child The connection is strong between the evolution of music in a race and the de- velopment of music in the individual. To seek out, foster, educate, and develop this wonderful gift and instinct in the individual child is no puerile task, and it should be undertaken with great enthusiasm and intelligence. In the tiny savage of the nurssry, whacking her bricks together with great glee, who knows whether she is not trying to express the first instinct of tuneless music ? Later on, perhaps, the same child will be content to thump one note on the piano for hours together, and, if the walls are thick enough, let her. Listen, if you can bear it, and probably you will find that she keeps all the while to the same grouping of her note. Perhaps she will weary of that particular rhythm, and suddenly change it to another. But it will be a definite change, and not acci- dental. Who knows whether here is not a Mozart in the growing, who will in time, like Mozart, shed sweetness and light on the world by her wonderful music ? If the child has a distinct instinct for music she will probably show it definitely before she is three. Child Musicians Mozart, the son of an accomplished musi- cian, showed such astounding gifts by the time he was three that he could imitace on the harpsichord everything that he heard his sister play. . His next development, at the age of four, was to compose little minuets in imitation of those his father had given him to learn to play, and in the museum at Salzburg is preserved the little manuscript book in which Mozart wrote these early tunes. Inside are the following words written by the proud father : " The preceding two minuets were learnt by my little Wolfgang in his fourth year." And further on there is a little piece by Wolfgang himself, signed and dated May 11, 1762. Haydn, who was the son of sturdy Aus- trian peasants, began his serious study of music when he was six, but long before then his parents had wisely encouraged and cultivated the strong musical instinct which he showed. Bach, of course, came from a long line of musicians, and his infancy and childhood were steeped in music. Before he could ; speak distinctly he could express himself in | music.