Page:Every Woman's Encyclopedia Volume 1.djvu/461

 IT ft Handel, on the contrary, had no hereditary advantages, nor, indeed, any environment to help him. His father positively disliked music, and the atmosphere around him left the boy unaided in the battle for fulfil- ment and success. Unmusical parents often say, "It is no good teaching music to our children because there is no music in any of the family." Surely these instances refute the argument. Heredity is great, but a sympathetic, in- teUigent environment is greater. When to Begin Instruction When the study of music should begin depends on the individual child. Do not wait, however, for any particular mani- festation of talent ; it may not be there at all, or it may not develop noticeably until she has reached the age of thirteen or fourteen. If you want your child to love music, begin as soon as possible gently to foster the smallest feelings she shows for it. When she has thumped the life out of the long-suffering piano by herself, begin to try to get her to imitate the rhythm of notes you will play to her. Play her groups of three notes, then groups of four, and try and amuse her by doing so. Then sing to her, and encourage her to try to pitch her voice on some of your notes. By the time she is four she should try to imitate on the piano the notes of the cuckoo, or any other sounds. With one finger let her try to pick out simple little tunes. Praise her when she makes soft, pretty sounds, and let her feel how ugly is the " thump " on the note. Then onwards ! Let her musical education begin, not in the conventional, hopelessly ignorant way of the average nursery " music lesson," but, from the first, let each lesson be given in an intelligent and fascinating way. That so few^ girls, comparatively, who learn music ever become artistic in their playing is mainly the fault of the mother, who thinks that any teacher will do for the initial lessons. Let every child begin upon the piano, learning the value of notes and time, and, above all, learning to pick out tunes with ease. Then, at five or six, let her try the vioUn, or at nine or ten the 'cello. During a part of the daily lesson the child should sing the notes before playing them. Choose a clever teacher, and one who knows the difference between " patience " in difficulties to be mastered and " intolerance " for bad, uninteUigent work. From the first the child should learn to criticise the sounds she is making, and to know when they are autiful and when otherwise. How Not to Teach Scales should not be taught at first on any instrument. Technically, a scale is a difficult thing to play for a child with a tiny hand. The " ladder of sound "— which is what a scale should seem to a child — should be sung and understood before it is attempted on an instrument. Then it should be learnt, playing it ascending only, beginning on different notes, and noticing 439 '»'«■ Aur* the small and large intervals occurring in each scale. The very first real music lesson given to a child should be one on interpretation, though such a hard word, of course, must not be used. " Interpretation " means that, from the first, the child must try to make the notes she plays mean something. Sup- posing a little melody is given with a single note with one hand ; let her sing her tunc until she knows it. Then let her play the accompaniment with her other hand alone, and get someone else to play or sing the air. Try to get a different quality of tone into the notes played as a tune and the notes played as a groundwork or accompaniment. Probably you will not succeed at once, but when success has been achieved it will be found that it was the trying which helped and interested her. Rhythm lessons must be given for a few minutes every day. Try to get her to group notes in certain times, giving the strong accents where those accents should be. How Instruction Should be Qiven The girl who comes home from school with a piece to play is generally a bitter disappointment to the musical mother or father. She probably could not sing a bar of the tune of her piece, and, though she has played it for months, probably does not know, or care to know, that there is a tunc. She cannot tell you whether the piece is sad or gay, a waltz or a hymn, but she probably knows that she is thoroughly tired of it, and has found no beauty in it. And this is the fault of the ignorant, patient, underpaid drudge who is thought quite good enough to " start the children." What a hopeless handicap this is in the search for one of the most laeautiful expressions of Art. At the beginning of this article I have said " instruction must be a natural develop- ment, and that the stereotyped system of initial lessons should be avoided." Do not misunderstand me. The natural development must be trained and helped, but let that help and training be adequate, and from the first — professional. Not only has the mind and instinct to be guided and developed, but the technical side must also be carefully and intelligently trained. In beginning any instrument there is a right way and a wrong way, and the clever teacher is the one who combines the fascinating musical side with the purely technical and mental side. By the phrase "stereotyped system " I do not wish to disparage the systematic good teaching so often given in schools and by visiting teachers, but I do want to uphold a more critical and intelligent choice of both teacher and method. Is music worth all the patience, the toil, the fatigue, and disappointments ? Why, yes ! All that, and more. For itself, and also for this reason : All " things beauti- ful " — are they not the handwriting of the Great Unknown ? The technique of music will be dealt with, tn future articles.