ombined process of ear and mind which has a far-reaching educational
effect.

The last stage of all in this work consists in transposing at sight from
the printed page. Hitherto the ear and the mind have been chiefly
employed, but now the _eye_ must be trained to do its share.

It is found useful to make children say the names of the chords aloud
when they are beginning this sort of transposition. The habit sets up a
connecting link between the various faculties in use, in some curious
way. The eye can help by noting the intervals between successive notes
in the various parts, and especially in the outer parts. It sees the
general drift of the piece before the mind comes into play--the coming
modulations and so on. In fact, it is not too much to say that it is
best, in certain musical phrases, to rely on the eye alone, e.g. rapid
decorative passages, which are not always easy to analyse at first
sight.

A word of warning must now be given. Those who attempt 'short cuts' in
this work will certainly come to grief, unless they are born with the
faculty--undoubtedly possessed by a few--of being able to transpose by a
sort of instinct. Such people are fortunate, but it is not our present
task to attempt to guide them. We are concerned with the average child,
taught in fairly large classes, in the ordinary school curriculum, and
with only a very limited amount of time at our disposal.

CHAPTER XII

GENERAL HINTS ON TAKING A LESSON IN EAR-TRAINING

All those who teach ear-training should keep a book in which they write
on one side of the page the proposed scheme of work for each lesson, and
on the other the actual work done. All sorts of things may happen in the
course of the lesson to upset the proposed scheme. The children may find
the new work easier, or more difficult than was expected, a question
from a child may suddenly reveal a piece of ignorance which necessitates
a digression--every teacher is aware of the 'unknown quantities' in
class work. Unless the proposed scheme of work is checked by what is
done in each lesson, there will be difficulties later.

Again, each lesson must form a definite link between past and future
lessons. It is often a temptation to a teacher of initiative to draw
attention to a new aspect of the subject, in which she happens to be
specially interested at the time, when the previous work is not in a fit
state to be left, even for two or three lessons. Something happens to
mak