Books › The Violin: How to Master It, 1880 › scan 11
Scan 11
The Violin: How to Master It, 1880
6 lines. Read by computer on 23 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1was mastered. I then drew on the same sheet of paper a round O lying on its side, representing a semibreve, explained the value of it in time; then cut it into two minims; explained how they each represented half the value of the first; divided these into four crotchets; explained again; then into quavers and semiquavers. This done, he had mastered Common Time. I then gave him Triple Time, and explained how to accent the two, illustrating this last by lines of poetry in both rhythms; showed how sharps and flats at the signature affected the keys; and the task was over. I gave the paper to him for home study, but practically the whole theory was mastered in these two short lessons. Any one may do so as easily for himself. At the beginning of every violin school the elements of the notation are given, generally with a diagram of the finger-board of the violin, such as I will give in a subsequent chapter, to show where the notes are to be found; and by following the simple process above described, and then following out the more minute details at leisure, an intelligent grasp of the notation may be gained in a few hours which will last for a lifetime.
3Old and New Notations Contrasted.
5The great stronghold of simplicity in the old notation, so far, at least, as instrumental music is concerned, is that there is no movable set of syllables representing the scale, and changing with every key. C always falls on the same lines or spaces; and so with the other letters, no matter how many sharps or flats may constitute the signature. Then in violin music another element of difficulty is removed in the fact that only one clef is used. In concluding this chapter, then, I would strongly advise the student to abandon silly prejudice, and boldly attack the old notation at once, assured that all its dreaded difficulties will vanish at a glance. Solfa-ists are bitterly prejudiced against the old notation; and noting the incalculable blessing it has brought to us, in making music popular and intelligible with the youngest, they rashly conclude that it is the only perfect system, and that all others are doomed. Those who understand only the old notation, again, are as lofty in their scorn of the meaningless-looking stuff which is shown them as music, and plainly hint that none but maniacs would dream of comparing the two. Alas, they are both right, and they are both wrong; for there are
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.