wenka Conservatory in Berlin.

My observations have led to the firm conviction that much of the time
lost in music study could be saved if the elementary training of the
pupil were made more comprehensive and more secure. It is by no means an
economy of time to hurry over the foundation work of the pupil. It is
also by no means an economy of money to place the beginner in the hands
of a second-rate teacher. There is just as much need for the specialist
to train the pupil at the start as there is for the head of the
"meisterschule" to guide the budding virtuoso. How can we expect the
pupil to make rapid progress if the start is not right? One might as
well expect a broken-down automobile to win a race. The equipment at the
beginning must be of the kind which will carry the pupil through his
entire career with success. If any omissions occur, they must be made up
later on, and the difficulty in repairing this neglect is twice as great
as it would have been had the student received the proper instruction at
the start.

EAR-TRAINING

The training of the ear is of great importance, and if teachers would
only make sure that their pupils studied music with their sense of
hearing as well as with their fingers, much time would be saved in later
work. Young pupils should be taught to listen by permitting them to hear
good music, which is at the same time sufficiently simple to insure
comprehension. Early musical education is altogether too one-sided. The
child is taken to the piano and a peculiar set of hieroglyphics known as
notation is displayed to him. He is given a few weeks to comprehend that
these signs refer to certain keys on the keyboard. He commences to push
down these keys faithfully and patiently and his musical education is
thus launched in what many consider the approved manner. Nothing is said
about the meaning of the piece, its rhythm, its harmonies, its aesthetic
beauties. Nothing is told of the composer, or of the period in which the
piece was written. It would be just about as sensible to teach a pupil
to repeat the sounds of the Chinese language by reading the Chinese
word-signs, but without comprehending the meaning of the sounds and
signs. Is it any wonder that beginners lose interest in their work, and
refuse to practise except when compelled to do so?

I am most emphatically in favor of a more rational, a more broad, and a
more thorough training of the beginner. Time taken from that ordinarily
given