Scan 9
Musical Courier 1928-12-13: Vol 97 Iss 24, 1928
36 lines. Read by computer on 29 September 2026. Printed page 10. See the scan on archive.org.
1Photo courtesy Aeolian Company ERNEST SCHELLING, AT A PARENT-TEACHER EXPOSITION IN THE GRAND CENTRAL PALACE, NEW YORK
2He is about to demonstrate a musical selection, using his own Audiographic recording for the Duo-Art
4HELP YOUR CHILDREN TO MAKE MUSIC
5By Ernest Schelling
6Pianist, Composer and Conductor of the Children's Philharmonic Concerts, New York and Philadelphia
7(This article is reprinted by permission from Children, The Magazine for Parents)
9WHEN music is classified with spinach, castor oil and the like, something happens to music—and to the people who make music. All three, jointly and severally, may be good for body and soul, but thus didactically treated, they fail to arouse the passionate enthusiasm of youth. Martyrs to the cause of stilted music instruction spend hours grinding out scales and tunes and we, however undesirous of martyrdom, dedicate hours of painful listening. And all for what purpose? For the development of a generation of music-haters, victims of incorrect musical feeling.
11We have stacks of tracts on child hygiene, admonitions to parents on clothing designed to make strong children stronger and weak children healthier, lists upon lists of Do's and Don't's. Almost every factor, psychological and physiological, in the rearing of the child, is scientifically considered. But music is left very much in the shade.
13Fond mamas may still croon lullabies, although they no longer rock the cradle, rocking being bad for modern babies. Sometimes, even before the lullabies have been outgrown, the radio, the phonograph, and other less elaborate music boxes are set in action. The dials are adjusted and the station tuned in, but there the parental responsibility for musical education ceases. Today it is too easy to push a button. One small push, requiring only an infinitesimal exertion, and the room is flooded with music. Practice is no longer a prerequisite of good music. The radio performers seldom practice in public, and the music heard by the average family today lacks those terrible, though charming mistakes which usually grace amateur performances.
15And yet, we will never become a nation of music-lovers until there is more home-made music. Lectures and concerts may aid in developing an appreciation of music, but unless there is active participation in the production of the music, the appreciation will be shallow, and meaningless. Passive interest is not enough.
17All of this, you may say, does not strike home in your case. Before the phonograph, or later the radio, provided "canned music," no one played for your family. If some of the children were taking music lessons, they considered their duty done with the day's practicing, and when evenings or Sundays came around, stayed far away from any instrument upon which they might be asked to perform. Getting Mary, Jane, or John to play for company was more difficult than persuading them to go to the dentist. And when they did comply with the request to "play something," the results were almost as painful. Mary may have played delightfully when no one was listening, but as soon as company was in her room, her playing could not honestly have been called good. Now the phonograph and the radio play uniformly well whether there is company or not. And amateur playing has been relegated to the list of "used-tobes."
19It is not really difficult to induce children to play for company. Suppose, instead of asking Jane to play Rachmaninoff's Prelude, or whatever piece she has been practicing, you sit down and play something. Or if you cannot play, then let someone else play first. If everyone would play, no matter how well nor how badly they performed, Jane would certainly not balk when her turn came.
21The most important element in the musical education of a child is the development of an initial interest. Once enthusiasm is aroused, it is easily maintained. One boy started to read about all the composers whose music he played, and heard played, and he discovered that Schubert and his family often played together during the evenings. That prompted him to write me a note: "Schubert's family was fond of staying up in the evening and playing string quartets. Wish my family did that—does yours?"
23All of this does not mean that practicing can be converted into a pleasant pastime, nor that children and grown-ups will play their scales without urging. Even geniuses find practicing tiresome, but if children know something about the music they are practicing, it becomes a trifle easier because it is very much more interesting. The popular tradition that one must keep up with the Joneses is excellent when applied to music. There are few things upon which pupils thrive better than competition. If Mary and Jane are studying the same music, there is pretty good chance that both of them will learn to play it better and more quickly. Competition is wonderful stimulus to effort.
25Competition within a family is really a good thing, once it gets started properly. Suppose Father plays the viola, Mother the piano, Sister the violin, and Johnny the violoncello. Now Father and Mother may not play so very well. They may have started to take lessons with their children, or they may not have practiced for years, and so need a long time to polish their playing. In a family where everyone is trying to play some instrument, it is easier to make everyone practice and try harder. It's in the air.
27When should a child start to take music lessons? Usually whenever he wants them. Some geniuses play before they can walk, but most of us are not geniuses, and we prefer to walk before we play. In homes where other people are practicing, the children will want to take lessons as soon as possible.
29Three things may happen to a child after he has started to take music lessons. He may decide fairly soon they are not what he thought they would be, and make so much trouble that the best thing to do is to stop the lessons; he may begin practicing like fury, and show evident signs, at least to a fond mother of future greatness; or he may have to be urged to practice, and his progress be only average because his work lacks inspiration.
31Generally there is nothing to be done with the child who insists that music does not interest him after teacher, or parent, or both, have made every effort to make the music interesting. Some children just do not like music; and that's that. It is just as difficult to categorically indicate the point at which a child should be considered musically hopeless as it is to list a schedule of ages when music lessons should be started. Such decisions must be made by the individual parents and children. The great danger, however, lies in the too easy discouragement of music aspirations. If half a dozen lessons fail to enable the pupil to play like an artist, or if one teacher does not arouse the enthusiasm of the child, it does not necessarily prove that the lessons should stop. They should keep right on until several additional experiments have proved beyond doubt that further experimentation is needless.
33How can you get the child interested in music, especially the child who has already displayed a not too strong desire for it? The easiest way is to discover whether the child understands music, or any part of music. And if he does not, there is the starting point. An eleven-year-old boy once wrote to me, "…5/4 time isn't so hard, and I don't know why the conductors make such a fuss over it." He had discovered a few things for himself, because he was interested in music, and his discovery probably made him still more interested in it. The number of born music-haters is really
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