Teaching The Little Ones To Sing

Bead beforethe Inland League February 11, 1895, and illustrated by 50 school children.) How do we teach little ones to sing? you ask, and in answering I ask anOther question - what is singing? aud what place has singing in ohild life? Every mother kuows that if her babe is comfortable and happy it lies in ifs eradle and coos most contentedly - but if anything causes discomfort it signifies it iiuinediately by lusty and vigorous cries. These are the beginnngs of song - the first expressions of emotion. A child's emotions are very clearly deflned, either pnre and absolute joy or the most genuine and intense grief - the one expressed in song or laughter (and where can be fonnd a more beautifnl song without words than the rippling langhter of a happy child) the other expressed in sobs and tears ! Everv child sings at its play long before it has any distinct idea of related pltch or melodies. But a child is so largely a creature of imitation in the first few years of its existence, that the song or soul-life it expresses seems rather to be a reflection of the soul-life expressed by those about it. Let me here urge the necessity of more music in our homes - if not piano or voice or violin mnsic, at least the far richer music of gentle, happy voices, nierry laughter and sïnging about the house. If there is any soul-life in a home, let it be expressed every day and hour. All parents desire that their cihldren ghould develop rnorally and spiritually as well as mentally aud physically - but they thoughtlessly allow the cares and worries of life to so stifle the expression of their owu soul-life that the little natures become starved and dwarfed. Bye and bye when these little ones have grown older, the parents wonder why they are not better boys and girls and send thern to chtirch aud Snnday school and provide them with the most moral books f or reading, never thinking, or knowing, perhaps, that the real time to start them in the path of truth is when their little souls are pliable as wax and may be moulded into that most beautiful and eternal form of soul-life which only mother-love and patience can develop. Yes, we must have more music in our homes. If we are worried or tired or sad, singing helps rnake the barden lighter and at the same time develops and educates the child musically and spiritu ally. Clara Kathleen Regers says, in the introduction to her most interesting book, "The Philosophy of Singing," that it might as properly have been called "The Philosophy of Life," and most clearly does she show in the succeeding chapters that the philosophy of singing is the philosophy of life. Thus we may truly say that singing is to the child a ineans f or the exepression of his soul-life. The child is very early given a means f or the expression of his mental life in words aud sentences - why not give him, just as early, a ineans for the expression of soul-life in tones and melodies? Plenty of material is at hand for the expression of the child's mental lfe, but, alas ! how little, how very little music or poetry is written which is suitable or even intelligible to the child mind. It is really pitiful to look at much that has been written in the way of songs for school use - the words are pure doggerel and the music - well, it is not music at all. For example - with the evident intent of impressing geological facts upon the youthful mind - the following is taught the child : 'Our lights and flres, our victuals and drink All come írom the eartli with inany a clink Oil, coal and salt thus make us think, And thousands of queer little fossils. Mastodong, mammotbs and ichthayaseurs, Ptnodaetyls and al most centaurs, But we shall surely break our iaws Namingr these delicate fossils." Here is another - evidently an attenipt at inculcating good moráis : "Cigarettes aud gura we've banisüed f rom our school, While learning-is so f ree, no one should be a fooi, And we believe the books and doctors all as ree That rum, beer and eider are a very bad three, So we shall do without Iheja and win the battle too, And stand by 'Old Glory' ever flrm and true." And not alone do we find poor words written for children's uso, bnt very poor and inappropriate music used for passibly good words. In searching for Christmas songs this year in the various school joumals, I found one poern with Tery good Christmas sentiment set to the tune of "Master O'Tool, " a comic Irish song ; another was to be sang to "Upidee." But what better ideas could one expect from school joumals when teachers' institutes are found singiug such verses as these : " We've come here, fellow teachers, üur ferules laid away, To teil the pi-ogress we have made And hear what others say. We hope to get the dust rubbed off And some old ruts fllled up, To feast our minds on learning lore And quatt' from learning's cup, If we are hide-bound pedants Let's loosen up the nide Cast ovorboard ourfollies And throw off all false pride, And as we journey onward In our pedagogie waye May all our toil be lightened By these happy, usef ui days." One could not be censured for harboring serious doubts of our boasted American progress in the educational matters, when he hears teachers' institutes singing such lines as these. However, let us hope that no Michigan teachers' instituto would give them a place on its program. But if a body of school teachers could sing with evident enjoyment such verses as these, how such rnistakes as the following could result froin their teaching. A lady who lives right here in Ann Arbor was, during the Christmas vacation, visiting an aunt in a city not mauy hundred miles distant. Her little cousin, six years old, was singing a little song about the house which she had learned at. school. Not hearing the words very distinctly, she questioneí the child and found that the song related tne story oí a ïittie ra o Dit cnat was chased by a dog, tne verse ending with these words - "and he feil in a hole close by" - the child had been singing it, "and he feil in a Holy G-host pie. ' ' The teacher probably taught the songs, words and music at the same time without explaining the meaning of the story and possibly a cold or indistinct enunciation on her part assisted in bringing about the unfortunate result. Many of our ablest vocal teachers complain bitterly of the inability on the part of their pupils to read music. They will teil you that they cannot take time from their work of voice building and tone production for teaching the elementary principies of music. The piano teacher will teil you the same thing - he must teach piano playing (not music, you observe). So each specialist wishes to teach only his particular instrument of expression. Sorne years since it was the custom to speak of anyone who taught any branch of musical expression as a "music teacher. '" It is now cousidered better forrn to desígnate Mr.. Élank as "a teacher of the piano," "a teacher of the violin, " or " a teacher of the voice. ' ' Is it a mere accident of speech, or is it possible that the publc generally consider that a pupil, under the ordinary instructiou on piano, violin or guitar is siinply gaining a knowledge of the instrament and how to transfer written music from the staff to the instrument - that he is not, however, studying music, its content or how his particular instrument inay be made the means of expression for true mnsic. Then where is the child to gain a knowledge of music in its elementary priuciples - a key, as it were, that will enable hini to understand and enjoy good music? Nowhere but in the public schools. There he must gain his musical vocabulary - there he must learn the grammar and rhetoric of music, so he may be able to read and understand good music, just as the study of language, reading, spelling, grammar, enable him to read and understand good literature. Jnst what do we mean by the elements of music and how much can be taught in our public schools? Rhythm, melody and harmony are the principal ciernen ts of music. It is generally conceded by our best educators that in the study of these three elements, when properly presented to the child, lies as rnuch mental development as in any other rnoral and spiritual development accompanyng the stndy dependslargely upon the teacher. That is, upon the spiritual or moral relations existingr between teacher and pupils. By that I mean that, if che discipline and duties of the school room are carried on nndei any principie other than mutual love and respect, the moral and spiritual development of the pupils, yes, and the teacher too, is necessanly retarded. Technically our work in the public schools is to teaoh sight-reading. But how do we obtain mental and musical development by purely ïechnical work? We must proceed along the same pedigogical lines used in other branches oi instruction. The child upon entering school has, generally, a good vocabulary of words in ordinary use. All the teacher does in teaching him to read is to teach him the written symbol for ;what he already knows and uses constantly to exprese his thoughts and feelings. But, alas ! in so many homes ths child does not hear music or singing o1 any degree,so that upon entering school his musical knowledge is far behind his knowledge or language. 80 we give him plenty of songs until he has fornaed some idea of melody and rhythm. Where he has learned to sing, we give him the signs and syrubols of song. So all exercises should present tone before the symbol for tone. But it is not simple tone that we have to present to the child. He has been singing melodies composed of tones having certain relationships of rhythm and pitch. He has not only to learn the symbols for certain tones or pitches but the relationships of all the tones coniposiug his musical alphabet, the scale. And it is jusfc as possible for a child to mentally hear these relationhips as it is for him to mentally see the animal when he sees the written word "dog." This, then, is what we mean when we speak of teaching a child to read music - that he shall learn to quickly recognizo pitch in its proper relationship when the symbols for such relationship are given him. One can readily see the mental developmeut in such a systeru of musical training. And is it not right here that the moral element in school music comes in? If things go wrong in the school room we let the children sing a favoirte song and everything is smooth and beautiful again. We say they are rested by singing or that it allows them to give vent to their pent up feelings of restlessness or nervousness, but does it not do more? The bending of the mental energies, 'for a few minutes, entirely to the expression of perfect and beautiful relationships in melody, reflects upon the soul of the child, producing correct relationships there and we have again established the true moral atmosphere of the school room. And is not this really the end and airn of all education - success and happiness in life ; both of which as we see from the illustration of the school room, result from the establishiug of correct relationships with aur surroundings. Jnst here permit rue to quote from au : article on the "educational value of ! music in schools. ' ' written by Mr. A. E. Winship, of Boston, editor of the Journal of Education, and one of the soundest educational thinkers of the day. He says : ' ' We study geography and reading that we naay know more, arithmetic and drawing that we may do more, lauguago that we may say more, physiology and singingjthat we may be more. Singing is closely related to health, to choices, to intellectual activit : conseauently u is vitai te ocaracter. To make a man is more important than to make a mechanio, to make a good man is more important than to make a brilliant man. We must get more out of singiug than a knowledge of the scales or ability to sing a song. What the public school wants of singing as a branch of instruction is the grandest possible teaching of the art, intellect - ually and fervently, as a means of providing the most mauhood and wornanhood. Singing is to be taught the whole child. His en tire being, mentally.morally, physically, industrially is to be vibrant with health, elasticity, energy and cheerfulness. "These things being so, singing, when well taught, is as important a subject for the school room as any other brauch, and unlike most other branches, it needs to be taught from the lowest primary grade to the highest. It is needod for partiotism, for morality, for health. It it needed to make discpline lighter, school attendance more regular, study more interesting, recitation more spirited. What the wings are to the bird, what the blossom is to the plant, what the juice is to the fruit, what the eye is to the face, what fervency is to the voice, singing is to the school May the day soon come wheu every child shall be so taught in the art of singing as to make a brighter student, a nobler man, a better eitizen. ' ' I have been requested to give my thought in regard to music in ungraded and district schools. I have feit for some time that music ocight to, and would bef ore long, become a part of the every day work of each district school in the country. For the past year I have visited, once a week, the Mills district, 2X2 miles south of Aun Arbor, and have given them au hour lesson in singing. This work has proven to me, beyond a doubt, that music can be taught to great advantage in district schools, this school having accomplished in one year whatgraded schools usually require three years to accomplish. This may have been dne partly to the newness of the work for the ehildren, partly to the teacher, who evinced great interest in the work, and_ partly to the f act that the school room (which, by the way, is the most completely equipped and the best furnished district school room I have ever seen) contained a good organ which was used for devotional singing, marching kindergarten game songs. This gave the children some idea of tone relationships and melodies. The child 's alphabet in learuing to sing is the scale (do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si). These eight tones and tiieir relationships must be well fixed in the mind of the child before he is allowed to see the syrnbols for tones, naniely notes. Just as every child iearns to talk and to use words in their proper relationship in sentences before he leams to read, so the child must learn many little nielodies and know the tones of the scale thoroughly before he leams to read notes. For little children I often place a tree on the blackboard with eight birds of different colors on a branch, and then let each bird sing one tone of the scale. After a time I name t!ie birds do, re, mi, fa, etc. For variety eight bells can be placed on the blackboard, or the numeráis 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 The manual signs of the tone sol -fa system are excellent also. When the child has mastered all the tones and intervals of the scale, then give him the staff and notes, and it is astonishing how quickly he will learn to read in all keys and all kinds of time. Time should also be made a mental concept, accent being carefully observed. Our best teachers give it as their experience that a vigorous drill of ten or flfteen minutes at the opening of'school upon tone and time work proves to be an i excellent ton ie for the. heavier studies of the day. Can we not have similar music work in every district school in the county? Would we not take natural pride in having Washtenaw county take the lead in introducing music into its ungraded schools? And this can be easily done. There are very few teachers who have not mnsic enough in them to learn to sing the scale correctly and to impart a knowledge of it and its relationship to the mind of the child. There is very little literature bearing on this subject, but the following wi]l be found helpful : The Whiting Music Course has an excellent book for ungraded schools. Frank Damroseh's New Method of Sight Singing is also an excellent work and contains some valuable aids and suggestions for teachers.