Books › The violinist, 1903 › scan 46
Scan 46
The violinist, 1903
38 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 4. See the scan on archive.org.
1The Violin as a Toy
3WHAT must our average students think of themselves when they read of a ten year old colored girl of Detroit, Marie Bryant by name, who denies herself many pleasures to earn money for violin lessons at the conservatory, assisting in a candy store and carrying newspapers on a paper route? June 6 she made her first appearance as a soloist. Our American idea of education is to give a child so many toys and provide so many pleasures that a violin is often treated as a toy, a pleasure for the day, and when there are lessons to get there are also frowns and silly excuses. It is boys and girls of well-to-do families who get into childish tantrums and show such a dislike for anything more important than marbles and rubber balls. Only one thing can be done to make their musical study a success (and in after years their greatest pleasure) and that one remedy lies with the parents, not with the teacher. An understanding is necessary. An understanding that this one thing is to be taken seriously; that there are to be no excuses; that lessons must be learned and a specified amount of daily practice done—and stay up o' nights until it is done. Yes, and get up in the night to complete any work that has been shirked. It may be different treatment than the child is used to but it won't be cruelty; and it is better to have this understanding at home early in life than to get it more roughly from the world later—it is sure to come. I am not in sympathy with the idea of forcing musical training upon a child merely because you want him to have that accomplishment; I am considering the growing boy or girl who has not outgrown the "toy age," yet has a fondness for music but does not like to practice. Something must be done to show him the serious side of life, and what medium could be used that would more beautifully awaken his character than song?
5Ferdinand David's Son
7PAUL DAVID, son of the distinguished violinist, Ferdinand David, is living at Uppingham, England, from which place he recently wrote to Mr. Alexander Lehmann, who gives our readers the following short sketch;
9"Paul David started his career as a violinist, but never appeared before the musical world in that capacity. He was born at Leipzig in 1840 and took up music as a professional study when he was already twenty years of age. He was a pupil of his distinguished father and of Hauptmann and Plaidy at the conservatory at Leipzig. He went for a short time to Carlsruhe (Baden) as first violinist in the opera orchestra. In 1865 David accepted the position as director of music at the Uppingham School, one of the largest in England, in which position he has labored for thirty-eight years to creat among the young folks a taste and appreciation for good, serious music. He also contributed the articles on violin playing in Grove's large musical dictionary.
11A Well Advertised Guarnerius
13THE Guarnerius violin than Kocian took with him to Europe having now been duly advertised, in Dooley-ooley-oo fashion, let us forget the incident. The owner has forgiven him and probably the circumstances were such that if you or I had been in Kocian's brogans we would have done as he did. Unfortunately we were not. While the Deutschland was aground near Sandy Hook, Kocian entertained the passengers with his newly acquired violin, the Guarnerius number two.
15Hints on Ear Training
17HOW many violin students ever give thought to ear training? Not one, I fear, in fifty, yet of all instrumentalists they need such training the most, for in violin playing so much depends upon recognition of tones. I do not suppose any person will question this so will proceed to give a few easy exercises.
19Get some one to play single notes on the piano very slowly, giving you time after each note is struck to sing the note above without looking at the piano.
21Repeat the above exercise, but sing the note two degrees higher—which makes what is known as an interval of a third.
23Again with any other interval, either above or below the piano notes.
25Once more (after considerable practice of the above) allowing the pianist to name a different interval to be sung after each piano note.
27Now have your pianist play two notes while you stand where you can not see the keyboard and name the interval. It is not necessary to know the names of the notes played; only the interval that they make.
29Have three notes played on the piano and name both the intervals thus made.
31Name the intervals in whole chords, and whether each is major or minor, etc.
33If you know the names of chords, start from a given "tonic" and analyze the chords played, givethe "root" and name of each chord.
35All the above can be practiced with a violin in place of the piano.
37More ear training exercises next month.
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.