Raleigh High School - Excelsior Yearbook (Raleigh, IN)

Page 46 text:

Now what can the pupil do who enters the fifth grade, having missed those first four years of val- uable training in the fundamental principles of the subject? He is absolutely helpless. lf he is espe- cially talented, he may catch on to some things and ride along, so to speak, but he is always lacking in independence, a load for the pupils to carry and a hindrance to any high attainment on the part of the class as a whole. lf he isn't especially talented, he flounders along blindly, learns nothing and soon loses interest in the thing he cannot comprehend. And one uninterested discouraged pupil is a menace to the success of any class. But the fact is, there is not only one of him so migratory in our population, that it is not unusual to find a half dozen or.even more of these pupils in a single class. ' Now why is this condition permitted to exist? Is it because music in comparison with other things taught is lacking in practical value as a means of education? But what is the opinion of great educa- tors of all times with regard to the practical value of music E! The educational system of ancient Greece was based upon music. Of course, with the Greeks the term music had a much broader significance than it has with us today. The arts of poetry, song and gesture were supposed to have emanated from the Muses, and they were all comprehended in the word musa, from which the word music is derived. It was a reproach not to be well versed in art. It was considered indispensable in education, from the de- veloping of a beautiful soul in a beautiful body, to the training Spartan youth for war Page fortv four There is not a single great educator of the pres- ent day who does not advocate the teaching of music as one of the most vital and practical subjects. The chief inspector of the educational system of England says: A musical atmosphere in education develops the higher ideals and brings the child into closer touch with nature. The spring with its fiowers, the summer with its fruitage, the autumn with its har- vest and golden glow, the winter with its snow, the rain and the sunshine, the darkness of night and the stary heavens about us, the coming of the morn- ing, the noonday, the setting of the sun, the glowing twilight and the deepening night, can only be in- terpreted to children in song and instrumental music. It was Froebel who introduced the occupational songs into education, putting the work of the world into music in simple songs, which have been most effective in giving the child higher ideals of the work of the farmer, the carpenter, the blacksmith, the shoemaker and of every useful occupation. It is a well established fact in Germany, that anyone who aspires to teaching in the public schools must stand an examination in music. Equally as much stress is laid upon the teaching of music in schools of Denmark, England, France and Switzerland. Philander P. Claxton, the United States Commis- sioner of Education, in an address delivered at the National Educational meeting at Minneapolis last summer, said: lf I were making a public school curriculum, I would put in a little reading and writ- ing, a little arithmetic, a little history and geogra- phy, and a great deal of music. The same author- ity said: Next to reading and writing, even ahead

Page 45 text:

Some Reasons Why Music Should be Taught in all Public Schools A X V Music-! O! how faint, how weak. Language fades before they spell: ' Why should feeling ever speak, VVhen thou canst breathe her soul so well? NE of the annoying problems confronting the music supervisor today, is how to deal with tho e migrator pupils who come from the rural districts and towns where music is not up to grade. Practically all of our city schools require the teaching of music the same as that of any other study in the curriculum. If a pupil from outside ap- plies for admission to-say the fifth grade-and is up to the standard in other branches taught in that grade, he i permitted to enter, even though he may never have had any previous training in music and knows nothing whatever of the subject. I do not advocate that his musical illiteracy should prevent him from entering any grade in which he can meet the requirements in other branch- es. But the question is, what can the music super- visor do for him when he comes to the music lesson? Those who have come up through the grades thus far have had a musical training and experience such as he has not had and cannot now obtain, and with- out which he is incapable of doing the music work required in his grade. They have had a period of training in rote songs, of which they learn from seventy-five to a hundred. In doing this they ac- quire a valuable musical experience and become grounded in the first elements of rhythm expression and tone culture. During the second year they learn much about the notation of music through observation work on the notation of the songs previously learned by rote. During the first year they learned music-the thing itself. The second year they learned to observe the signs they already knew and thus lay the founda- tion for future sight reading. The work of the first year was devoted to ear training, that of the second year principally to eye training. Music work throughout the entire school period is based largely upon these two things. During the third year much about practical sight singing through the study of songs from their books and charts, mastering them partly by note and part- ly by application of knowledge gained through ob- servation. The fourth year was spent almost entire- ly in practical sight reading. Hence they entered the fifth grade with a fair knowledge of music nota- tion and the power to read plain music at sight. The fifth year is devoted to theory and much practice for the purpose of acquiring skill in sight reading and execution. Page forty three

Page 47 text:

of writing, and next to the power to count the sim- plest things in arithmetic, music is the most prac- tical thing in our schools. Let us briefly consider some of the ways in which music is practical: First, it is practical from a religious standpoint. Now, it must be understood that our educational sys- tem of today, like that of all times, is the out-growth of a philosophy based upon religious ideas. This is true no matter how far the idea of practical utility may enter into it. Take away our churches and what would become of our moral and social struc- ture? No church service would be complete Without music. Music is the child of prayer, the companion of religion. We must have choirs, and there must be choir and congregational singing in order to give inspiration to the service and put us in a proper frame of mind and soul to be benefited by it. We cannot get along without music in our Sunday schools and prayer meetings. It is the one part of the service in which all can join, and which gives unity to the exercises. And, as Dr. Talmage once remarked: A singing church is a living, growing church. Second, it is of practical value from a social standpoint. No social meeting would be satisfactory without music of some kind. We must have music to give inspiration to our political meetings, and every nation has its patriotic songs. That person who said: Let me write the songs of a nation and I care not who makes its laws, knew something of the practical value of music in the everyday affairs of mankind. The United States government realizes something of the practical value of music when it pays enlisted musicians twice the salary paid to the men behind the guns. It is music that inspires the men behind the guns to achieve deeds of heroism. Third, music of practical value from an altruistic standpoint. In the singing of a song, whether it be of a religious, social, moral or patriotic nature, all experience the same emotions and thought and are thus bound together by a common experience. It is difficult, says Gottschalk, not to treat as a brother, one Whose voice has mingled with yours and whose heart has been united with your own in a community of pure and joyful emotions. Fourth, music is practical from the standpoint of mental training and discipline. There is no study in the curriculum that requires greater concentration than that of reading music from the printed nota- tion. The eye, the ear, the power of memory and dis- crimination-in fact, nearly all the mental and phys- ical faculties-are called into play, While the rhyth- mic performance is an element of discipline that can- not be over-estimated. Indeed, we are just begin- ning to comprehend something of the value of rhythm as an educational factor. It has long been known that one who stutters in speech can sing with perfect freedom. But it took us a long time to wake EIS to the educational possibilities suggested by this act. Fifth, music is practical from a cultural stand- point, for Culture and refinement are not adjuncts of the toilet, but things of the head and heart. The music that comes down to us from any period in the world's history reflects the intellectual, social and Page forty flve