It is not necessary that the teacher should be an expert in testing; but it is essential that she should understand the nature of musical talents and have the sort of insight into child life which has been developed so splendidly in recent scientific studies of child behavior, especially with reference to the recognition of natural abilities, the early fostering of these, the devising of effective motivation, the awarding of praise and blame, and the setting up of standards of achievement recognizable by the child. It is, furthermore, reasonable to demand that the teacher herself should present a good voice in song and speech, have some proficiency and ingenuity in the manipulation of simple instruments, and feel deeply the love of music.
Group instruction. The old-fashioned piano lesson was at fault in various respects. First, time was taken to tell the pupils, individually, the elements of musical notation; second, the main function seemed to be to make the pupil "get" his lesson; and third, the child was expected to acquire a love of music through the technical approach. These things are now changing. The pupil now coming from the respectable primary school already has acquired the elements of sight reading, both from ear to eye and eye to ear. Any new element in notation can certainly be picked up incidentally as needed, without waste of time. The position of the teacher as a taskmaster is also disappearing. True, that eliminates many a pupil, but probably without much loss to the musical life of the community. The child comes to the private teacher already motivated with a feeling and urge for music. Musical achievement is no longer counted in terms of the number of lessons taken.
The function of the teacher is far more to motivate than to teach. The thing that counts is how long and faithfully the pupil works to acquire the proficiency which can only come through practice. What can be taught in one lesson should suffice for several times as much practice as is ordinarily expected. Better than having the teacher crack the whip for many periods would be to give the time available for lessons to the pupil for practice and use more remunerative rewards, even a percentage of the teacher's fee, to encourage self-help in a larger assignment through adequate practice.
One of the significant advancements in private instruction for children of this age lies in the direction of class or group instruction. No effort is made to force all children into the same cast. Small groups are formed on the pattern of chamber music, taking children of matched abilities and interests and using music progressively adapted to their level. Many forms of class instruction have failed on the ground of the teacher's inability to use informal procedures in some form of project method. Duets, trios, quartets, all in the competitive and play mood, can accomplish great things, even with the youngest children. Few private teachers have awakened to a realization of the fine possibilities in that approach. This method is especially adapted to primary instruction in private music schools in which there are enough pupils to make competitive promotions from group to group. Most of the musical information and the motivated drill can be accomplished through the group. The recognition of this principle may lead to the development of extracurricular and private organizations under an inspiring teacher or group of teachers for private instruction.
Formal lessons delayed. The principal point I wish to stress is that musical education should not begin with formal lessons on one instrument. Except in the case of rarely-gifted children, such specialized instruction should come naturally after the general musical interests have been awakened and the natural abilities have been revealed. Technical private lessons for children in general should therefore be begun considerably later than has been customary. In this there is a threefold saving: First, except in rare cases, rigid technique of instruction can be responded to much more economically after the age of eight or ten than before. A ten-year-old will acquire more than twice as much in a single lesson as a six-year-old. This will apply even to the much "touted" necessity for early finger development. Second, during this period the child should have the freedom to try himself out spontaneously with diversified encouragement in the development of specific interests; and third, it will take the aspect of drudgery away from the music lesson. To these may be added the fact that this liberal procedure helps to give the child a feeling that he is living music rather than learning it. It involves the play attitude in the acquisition of an art. The attitude of feeling the necessity for hard work, which is a very real necessity in music, can best be cultivated formally after the age of eight or ten.
A sympathetic listener. Although circumstances may alter cases, facility in piano playing might well be regarded as a foundation work in the approach to other instruments. The child's preference for a particular instrument is generally childish and will change in the normal course of development. An analysis of case histories would make an interesting study on this point. The development of skills in a particular instrument should always be accompanied by opportunities for sharing the pleasure in this skill with other children and the presence of a sympathetic listener in the teacher and the parents. What the child of the primary-school age needs is more a sympathetic and critical listener than a task-driver. This type of approach will discredit the now so prevalent artificial ways of symbolizing music by attempting to force the teacher's affected and stilted imagery upon the child's musical mind, which may run naturally in much more effective channels. It is a notable fact that the great musicians who emerged as very precocious made their early and distinctive progress far more through freedom for self-expression than through instruction from the masters.
In brief, the private lesson to the child should pattern, at the child's age level, after the procedure followed in adult instruction in music at its best; namely, that of sympathetic and inspiring criticism and guidance rather than the dealing out of predigested pellets of interpretation and technique. The general attitude to be cultivated in the child should therefore be freedom for self-expression rather than mere willingness to absorb set tasks. In this attitude the problem of scales, exercises, and calisthenic techniques will come in the natural course of events without being forced.
Music lovers vs. virtuosi. One of the first essential steps in training at this level is to educate the mother to the notion that only in very rare cases will the child become a virtuoso or a professional musician, and that she has no right to pose as an exhibitioner. The normal child is richly endowed with powers for diversified development. By too early emphasis upon a "gift" it is possible to produce monstrosities and pathological temperament. True, a gifted child beginning, for example, by taking lessons at five and being effectively motivated, may produce extraordinary results before ten, but generally at the expense of a normal development of the child as a person. An ill-guided enthusiast can make of the bright normal child a mathematical freak or a contortionist before the age of ten; but who wants that for the welfare of the child? It is a form of human sacrifice. The time for intensive specialization should normally come after the age of ten. Parents and teachers should shun the development of precocity as they shun disease. Indeed, in ninety cases out of a hundred, excessive precocity is a form of disease, a distortion of the normal personality.
The goal in musical education in this period should be to recognize individual differences, natural capacities, and native interests and urges in their natural stages for the development of a well-rounded personality. We have long since abandoned the notion that every girl should play the piano. What we need to learn now is that we should not allow the musically-gifted child to die with all the music in him, and that the musically gifted should not be exploited. The middle ground is that all children who have musical ability should learn to love music and live it naturally, each according to his ability.