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of delivery takes precedence over refinement and fidelity to the musical facts of the song.

Instead of such a method we might select songs that have real merit as music, albeit of a childlike range; we might play these first, as beautifully as possible, upon the piano; we might then sing them entire, as attractively as we could, so that the song might come to the child, as it should, in the form of an artistic whole. We could then sing a phrase at a time; and all the while we could give him beauty of tone and lead him to strive, in his turn, for such beauty. If we did this I need not point out, I trust, that we would be resting upon a belief or assumption that music is beauty of tone and tonal design; that it is an art of impression as well as of expression; that the ear must be cultivated as well as the emotional energy of the singer developt; and that feelings of the highest type are not aroused by the clang of circumstances but rather by endeavor toward the ideal.

Our blindness to the supreme importance of the aesthetic element in music is shown in numerous other ways. There is a tendency to choose songs of intense realistic character and sing them in an excessively declamatory style. In countless schools there is an obsession with voice that is most unfortunate. The supervisor of music is styled-let us hope unjustly! -the "teacher of vocal music." Children in such schools who are studying Mozart or perhaps even Beethoven outside of school are rated in school according to their response on songs that hold far less value than their piano music; and their puzzled condition because of the difference in character between their music in and out of the school is almost tragic. A boy who plays the violin beautifully, but who has no impulse to express himself in song, is likely to sit neglected thru the daily music lesson, dimly conscious of power of another kind, which outside of school is rated as musical power, but which in school seems to be held in small account. The possibility of developing a high grade of musical inspiration and accomplishment thru instrumental combinations or small orchestras is neglected. Because freedom and fervor of response are valued above broad musical development, unison singing is perpetuated in undue measure upward thru the seventh and even the eighth grade. As a result the pupils are weakened musically, miss the pure enjoyment of the tonal richness and complexity of parts, and are far less intelligent than they should be about their voices, especially with regard to their range and classification in relation to the bass and treble clefs.

Outside the school we are engrost now with music as a social agency. I welcome the advent of community music; but we must realize that community music does not mean some inferior brand of music too common to hold any interest for us but good enough to exert some beneficent power upon the proletariat. It rather means the great and noble music of the ages which, by our ardor, our power as musical prophets and interpreters of

the musical gospel, we must restore in all its beauty to the heart of man, from which it came.

Perhaps the grossest error that is made by those who are groping toward some hoped-for regeneration thru music is that which manifests itself in certain forms of effort toward so-called musical appreciation. Mechanical music is responsible for a large stimulation of this kind of effort. Countless persons are reading the stories of operas, learning the names of compositions, composers, singers, players, and conductors, with little more result than to enable them to enter into a drawing-room conversation with less likelihood of embarrassment. My great fear is, however, that this musical sophistication will be taken up by teachers of music in public schools and imposed upon children. I can think of nothing more deplorable than that children, with their frank and open receptivity to the aesthetic product itself, their unscarred background of wordly experience, their disregard of artificial social demands, should spend their time conning the unsavory story of some opera, or learning irrelevant biographical and historical facts, when they might be singing with pure joy some song in which a beauty untroubled of earth is revealed.

The essential factor then in musical education is the aesthetic. Without any particular attention from us it is working all such regenerative wonders as are accomplisht at all thru music. We can take measures to develop subconscious and, at a later date, conscious appreciation of it, and we should do this. At least we should not constantly ignore and deny the one element that is essential in all art by always calling the attention of pupils and the whole world to phases of musical appeal that are not distinctively musical, that are of minor and incidental importance, and that at best are characteristic of only one class of musical composition.

IN WHAT DIRECTION IS PUBLIC MUSIC EDUCATION
TENDING?

OSBOURNE MC CONATHY, NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY, EVANSTON, ILL.

It was Walt Whitman who said, "I see America go singing to her destiny." Could that grand old poet open his eyes today, how gloriously would he see his prophecy fulfilled. For today America, as one great united people, has gone forth to battle for the freedom of the world, and her armies are singing as they train, singing as they march, singing as they fight. Let us not mistake the purpose of this use of music in the building of our marvelous war machine. The busy men who have performed this modern miracle of organization have not included music in their plans merely as a pleasant pastime for our boys. In these stern days there is no time for anything but absolute necessities. Our leaders have learned that the needs of the spirit are as fundamental as the needs of the body, and that in min

istering to the spiritual uplifting of our men music has as fundamental a place in our Army's organization as have those things which contribute to its physical upbuilding.

It is not in our Army alone that music contributes to our spiritual growth. All over our country, wherever our people gather, we are learning to voice our patriotism in song. "Community singing," as it is called, is rapidly becoming an establisht institution. We must not imagine, however, that the vital value of music is in any degree restricted to war times. Its usefulness is every whit as real in times of peace.

There seems to be no doubt that in the years to come music is destined to play an increasingly important part in the lives of the people of our country. It is well, therefore, that those educators on whom must fall much of the responsibility for directing our musical development should carefully consider the problems before them. Music education in the days to come will be quite a different thing from what it was in the haphazard times that are past. Remarkable changes are taking place in the attitude of our people toward music, and these changes of attitude are reflected in the musical training of our young people in our schools and colleges, in musical institutions, and to some extent in the studios of private music teachers.

Let us consider some of these tendencies which seem particularly significant, especially some that are noticeable in our public grade schools and high schools. One of the most interesting movements in public-school music is that which involves the use of musical instruments. I refer to school orchestras, bands, violin classes, lessons on various instruments of the orchestra and band, credit in school for the study of outside music, free piano lessons in school, and the use of schoolrooms for private studio purposes by teachers of public-school music. The school orchestra, of course, is not a new thing, neither is the school band. In the last few years, however, these school activities have multiplied greatly in number and have been placed on a basis of school credit under competent instructors. In this way the movement has taken a form and occupies a place in school life such as was not dreamed of even a decade ago. In many cities of our country the best of instruction on all the instruments of the orchestra is given to the young pupils. In most instances this instrumental instruction. is free, and in no small number of places the instruments themselves are provided without expense to the students.

Violin classes are becoming a rather commonly establisht feature in many of our high schools and are even more common in connection with the grade-school work. The same practice is growing with regard to piano instruction. Teachers are studying the processes of group instruction on the piano and other instruments and are making possible not only better instruction but instruction at greatly reduced expense. The number of schools which grant credit for work in piano or other instruments done

under outside teachers is large. The movement as a whole plainly shows the higher evaluation of instrumental music as an educational subject and presages the time when all instrumental study may be accepted as a part of regular school activity.

Another important development in school music that has been conspicuous in recent years is work in what is called "music appreciation" or "lessons in listening to music." It is well understood that only a limited number of people can ever expect to be real artists in performance, and that by far the larger number of people may expect to enjoy their contact with music thru listening to it. The art of listening to music may be cultivated just as truly as the art of performing music. To this end systematized courses of study in listening to music are now in operation in many cities of our country, beginning with the first grade and extending thru the high school.

Another important aspect of the newer attitude toward music is a recognition of the subject as a vocational study. Our schools are beginning to recognize the fact that a student who expects to become a musician has as much right for preparation in his vocation as has a student who expects to become a lawyer, a doctor, an engineer, a chemist, or a clerk. To this end well-organized courses of music are being introduced in our schools, preparing directly for professional music schools, and our children, at public expense and with high-school and grade-school credit, are being trained for their future profession of music.

Quite recently another step has been inaugurated in some of our schools, looking to a type of music education fitted to the various individual capacities of the different children. Some children are well fitted by nature to study the piano or some certain other musical instrument. The school is endeavoring to discover this fact and see that such children are given the opportunity to pursue that line of study for which nature has fitted them. Other children may be so lacking in musical endowment that it is unwise to offer them any music instruction other than help in listening to music. Piano lessons would be a waste, and even singing is serviceable only as it fits them to know more about music, to know that their power of enjoyment in listening to music may be increast. By far the largest number of children will be those who, without talent of a really superior order, nevertheless have ability enough to warrant the study of an instrument or of singing with a view to such enjoyment as a trained amateur would secure. In such cases the school will provide adequate instruction and opportunity for these children to be trained so that they may make the most of the capacities which nature has given them. The coming music education will train the individual child in those lines of musical endeavor which his individual capacities warrart, and this training will be at public expense.

DEPARTMENT OF CHILD HYGIENE

SECRETARY'S MINUTES

OFFICERS

President-DR. E. A. PETERSON, head, Department of School Hygiene.

Wice-President-DR. ARTHUR HOLMES, dean of faculties
Secretary-MARY E. LENT, Public Health Nursing Association.

. Cleveland, Ohio

State College, Pa.

New York, N.Y.

The Department of Child Hygiene of the National Education Association met in Pittsburgh on July 3, 1918, with Dr. E. A. Peterson in the chair. The following program was presented:

TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDING OF THIS DEPARTMENT

Honoring Dr. G. Stanley Hall, the First President

FIRST SESSION-WEDNESDAY FORENOON, JULY 3, 1918

"What Teachers Ought to Know about the Physical Growth of Children"-Dr. John W. Tyler, Amherst College, Amherst, Mass.

"The Mental Development of Children"-Dr. G. W. A. Luckey, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebr.

"Mental Hygiene"-Dr. W. H. Burnham, Clark University, Worcester, Mass.

SECOND SESSION-WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON, JULY 3, 1918

"A General Survey of Child-Study”—Dr. G. Stanley Hall, president, Clark University, Worcester, Mass.

Children's Sense of Time"-Earl Barnes, Philadelphia, Pa.

After the morning session Dr. Hall discust the papers read.

The president appointed a nominating committee composed of G. E. Jones, Pittsburgh; E. A. Kirkpatrick, Fitchburg; Netta Ferris, Cleveland. This committee reported at the close of the afternoon session and nominated for next year's officers the following: President-Dr. Louis Terman, Leland Stanford Junior University, Palo Alto, Calif. Vice-President-Dean W. G. Chambers, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa. Secretary-Alma Binzell, Minneapolis, Minn.

The foregoing officers were unanimously elected and the meeting adjourned.

PAPERS AND DISCUSSIONS

WHAT TEACHERS OUGHT TO KNOW ABOUT THE PHYSICAL GROWTH OF CHILDREN

DR. JOHN M. TYLER, AMHERST COLLEGE, AMHERST, MASS.

The first fact which teachers should know and recognize is that physical growth is the chief business of childhood and youth. The stunted body will dwarf the mind, and the incompletely grown and developt organ is always

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