The Attentive Superintendence of Practice.—The time allowed for practice should be arranged to suit the requirements of the pupil, and need never be excessive or interfere with the general course of study. With care and thought, much good work may be done in a short time. A large proportion of pupils of all ages are unable to perceive their own faults, and the time for practice may thus become a means of forming and confirming fresh bad habits as fast as the old ones have been eradicated. Moreover, since the time allotted in schools to practice must needs be short, every moment of it should be utilised; and very clear explanations should therefore be given to those who superintend it of what is required as well as to the pupils themselves—explanations which should be punctiliously followed. There are also many cases in which the instruction of the promising or fairly well-trained young pupil may be almost entirely undertaken by a competent assistant teacher, but subject to the careful supervision of the master, who should be responsible for her proper progress.
Before closing these remarks, which have not been easy to render systematic or consecutive, it would be inexcusable in these days to omit all mention of—
Examinations.—This is too large a subject to be dwelt upon in relation to music alone. But it must needs be said that here again the temperament of pupils must be considered. In some cases good work is helped by examinations of one kind or another; in others it is hindered. On this subject we all have our own views. However, if they can be met easily and in the regular course of study, without forcing or cramming, or interrupting solid work, let them be undergone by all means. Otherwise their use becomes abuse, and frequently tends to entirely false ideas of the proficiency of those who pass them. An apparently low point may be substantially preferable to an apparently high one.
But no matter what point is reached, let it be thoroughly reached, even though the time occupied in attaining thoroughness be apparently deducted from what is required for further progress. The deduction is but seeming—not in reality. School work is neither the end, nor the whole, nor the largest, nor the most important portion of education. Far better for a girl is it to leave school able to play fairly well at sight, and to execute a moderately difficult or even easy piece faultlessly, than with the prestige of a brilliant performer which will crumble to pieces for want of a foundation as soon as she is left to her own resources. Another grand mistake, in the same connection, is made by parents who send children abroad for the continuation or completion of their musical education before, by having been properly and systematically grounded, they are able to reap the slightest benefit from foreign training. But, almost before all things, I would insist upon a good general education for all who show marked musical ability, and are thus justified in making music their special and paramount subject of study. Music is so absorbing a pursuit that it tends to narrowness by its own nature; and all that inclines to extend the outlook and enlarge the mind during the impressionable period of life, is even more important to the musician than to those who are engaged in pursuits of a less exclusive order. The really cultivated musician is a prize product of education; but the mere musician, who may be the mere executant, and nothing else, is the last sort of being that one would wish any school to evolve.
To conclude, there is perhaps no royal road to the successful study of anything; there is certainly none to the pianoforte. I have not attempted so vain a task as to try to make one. What I have undertaken is to point out the crags that must be faced with a stout heart, and the best and safest path—which is not necessarily the shortest—to the vast stores of intellectual pleasure and profit awaiting the aspirant long before the whole journey’s end.
THE VIOLIN.
By Lewis Hann.
The teaching of the violin in our schools has of late years attained a high grade of efficiency. The progress of musical education generally has been remarkable, but most especially so in the study of the violin, and perhaps no branch of the art demands so much of the teacher. It is not enough for him to be a good and brilliant performer; the real gifts which constitute the successful teacher are great patience, self-control, tact, discretion and a good knowledge of character. It is not judicious to lay down hard and fast laws, and pursue a certain beaten track in teaching, for no two pupils are constituted alike, and it is often desirable, according to the disposition of the pupil, to take a somewhat circuitous route to attain the desired goal. With really talented pupils, of course, no trouble whatever is experienced—it is the bringing into life hidden or dormant abilities in the less gifted which proves the art, science and experience of the teacher.
The establishment of a string orchestral or an ensemble class, even in a humble way, is of great advantage to violin students. Not only are the practices a source of pleasure and delight to the pupils, but they help greatly to improve them in the practice of sight-reading; and in the study of ensemble music they learn to give more serious attention to the marks of expression and to observe the nuances. Also by taking part themselves in the performance of important compositions they learn to appreciate these properly when they hear them rendered by great performers. It is well for the pupils to attend high-class concerts as frequently as possible; the earnest, observant student will derive great benefit and learn much that is invaluable from hearing good works performed by sound artists.