Music As A Language | Page 6

regular curriculum it is not necessary to work at this in the song
class. In beginning a new song the chief thing is for the teacher to get
the class to seize the spirit of it. If difficult words occur, they may be
explained later, but it is absolutely essential that the children shall get
hold of some idea which they can express in singing.
Mr. W. Tomlins, who came over from New York in order to show
some of his methods for dealing with large classes, produced some
admirable results. He worked up the enthusiasm of his classes to such
an extent that the effect of their singing was electrical; and it was all
due to the few words he said before the song was sung, not to any
corrections he made later. It is not necessary for a teacher to conduct
the songs all the time during the lesson, or the fact that the class is
expected to watch the baton tends to make them rigid in their attitudes,
and therefore, to a certain extent, in their singing. The best results are
obtained when a class stands to sing. Some well-meaning teachers
forget that the children have probably been sitting in their classrooms
for the greater part of the morning, and are only too glad to stand for a
change. They can sit between the songs, when finding their places, and
so on.
Songs should be chosen in which the pitch is not too low. Many people
have the mistaken idea that young children cannot sing high. Listen to
their shouts in the playground, to the notes they use when calling to
each other, and this idea will soon be corrected. The lowest note in the
voice of a young child is generally E, and it can take the high F or G

quite easily.
Droners should not be allowed to sing with the rest of the class, or the
pitch will be lost at once, to say nothing of the spoiling of the general
effect.
Flat singing is often due to bad ventilation of the room, more often still
to boredom. A good plan in this case is to raise the pitch a semitone; it
is often just as easy for singing, and invariably produces a sense of
cheerfulness.
Children should never be allowed to sing loudly, especially when very
young. It is most difficult to cure the habit when once formed.
Attention should be paid to articulation from the very first. A useful
lesson is taught the class if, from time to time, half of them go to the
end of the room, and, with closed books, listen to their companions
singing a verse of a song which is new to them. The difficulty they
experience in following the words will not soon be forgotten.
Attacks should be absolutely precise. The two-and three-part
contrapuntal singing which is done in the sight-singing classes is
admirable for this, as the whole effect is blurred or entirely spoilt in
such clear-cut work by a false entry.
For all large school functions, such as a prize-giving, the songs should
be sung by heart. This is not necessary in ordinary class work, as the
aim there is to teach as many good songs as possible, in order to form a
standard of real musical literature. But at the set performance nothing is
more delightful than to see children rise, and, without any flapping of
pages, or uncomfortable attitudes for seeing the words in a book, sing
straight from their hearts. However simple the music or the words, the
effect will be well worth the little additional trouble.
Our last consideration is that of the songs to be chosen to learn. Little
children should rarely sing anything but unison songs. Folk-songs, such
as those edited by Cecil Sharp and others, and, for the very little ones,
traditional nursery rhymes and game songs are the best. From the ages
of ten to fourteen years such books as Boosey's National Songs or

Songs of Britain should be the staple work, while for older children the
great classical songs may be added. A good book for these is the
Golden Treasury, published by Boosey.
Songs by living composers should be strictly limited in number, though
not excluded. These have not stood the test of time. We teach
Shakespeare in our literature classes, not a modern poet--the essays of
Bacon, not those of a modern essayist. And our reason is that the only
way to create a standard of taste is to take our children to the classical
fountains of prose and poetry. We must do the same in music.


CHAPTER IV
THE SOL-FA METHOD
To those who are not accustomed to the Sol-fa notation it appears at
first sight a useless encumbrance. Excellent arguments are