that is really
distinctive. If one stops at the second or third, and thinks that
although not very good yet it is possibly good enough, very probably
the choir will be found to be sluggish and unresponsive, filled with
what Coward calls "inertia."[6] But if one goes on looking over more
and more selections until something really distinctive is discovered,
it is more than probable that the chorus will respond with energy and
enthusiasm.

[Footnote 6: Coward, _Choral Technique and Interpretation_, p. 73.]

We have heard many arguments in favor of teaching children only the
best music, and here is yet another, perhaps more potent than all the
rest. They must be taught only good music because you as a musician
will find it impossible to become enthusiastic over mediocre or poor
works; and if you do not yourself glow over the music that you are
directing, you will hardly succeed in arousing the children's
interest, for enthusiasm spreads by contagion, and there can be no
spreading by contact unless we have a point from which to start.

A sense of leadership consists, then, of a combination of
self-confidence and poise, clearness of speech and expression, and
enthusiasm for one's work; and if with these three there is mingled
the ability to think clearly and definitely, we have a combination
that is bound to produce distinctive results, no matter what the field
of activity may be. Let us repeat that the encouraging thing about the
whole matter is the fact that most of the things involved in
leadership can be _acquired_, at least to a certain degree, if
persistent efforts are made for a long enough time.

Before going on with the topic to be treated in the next chapter, let
us summarize the materials out of which our conductor is to be
fashioned. They are:

1. Innate musical ability.
2. A long period of broad and intelligent music study.
3. An attractive and engaging personality.
4. A sense of humor.
5. A creative imagination.
6. Conscious leadership and organizing ability.

Some of these qualities are admittedly almost diametrically opposed to
one another, and it is probably because so few individuals combine
such apparently opposite traits that such a small number of musicians
succeed as conductors, and so few organizers and business men succeed
as musicians. But in spite of this difficulty, we must insist again
that any really tangible and permanent success in conducting involves
a co