Music edmafiofi in the czirriczhmIn the meantime another plan is ripening. In order to understand
this we must for a moment examine the general programme of study
in secondary education. For the last three years in school the pupils
may choose between five complete courses of study. Now a sixth
course, music, has been proposed. It will offer music appreciation,
theory, singing and playing. This course will become a rather specialized
study, chosen by students planning for a professional career in music
and by students aiming at the teaching profession. In this instance we
are most interested in the last-mentioned group. It is to be hoped that
the course will give the pupils an early familiarity with music. From
those who go on into the teachers’ colleges or to university we would
be inclined to expect the happy combination of musicianship and
teaching ability.
I want to express the Norwegian point of view regarding subject
matter in schools. The teacher should have the ability to impart spe-
cific fundamentals in music which, at the minimum, are as follows :
He or she must know about voice placement and be able to guide
and give practical advice on the mechanism of singing to a class of
30 boys and girls. The pupils must be taught the stave, preferably
through a simple musical instrument. If, for instance, the general music
class during the two last years of secondary school is to be a success,
the pupils at this age must have acquired, by constant practice, the abi-
lity to read music, which not only means singing the intervals but also
having a quick perception of rhythm and beats, imparted to them
through some method such as rhythmics, dance, rhythmical instru-
ments, etc.
One of the aims is good singing. It is comparatively easy to make
primary grade schoolchildren sing with some quality. It is much harder
to make the older secondary students do so: the genuine appetite, and
the ability to bring in such variations as part singing, solos and chorus,
and improvising harmonies and descants requires some skill. Only
then can they explore the realm of the masterpieces of the world.
Particularly in the secondary schools we are inclined to include music
appreciation in the singing period. Let us understand the word correctly.
It cannot become real appreciation unless preceded by analytical dis-
crimination and evaluation, preferably through the combination of
recordings and scores.
I want to express my personal opinion that in secondary education,
which is my field, it is the truly good teacher who imparts to the pupils
that deep love for music which makes them, or at least some of them,
want to continue their exciting voyage of music discovery.