Music in education
Music serves in three ways to assist the general moulding of the human
personality.
The cultivation of singing as an outlet for the emotions. Song is one of the
ways in which the soul finds expression. This is a need which the child
experiences from the very earliest age and he uses singing to satisfy it.
Thus singing should be regarded as a gift shared by the majority of
pupils and a channel for the emotional life. For singing is not just a
game for the virtuoso of the vocal cords, and no musical instrument
can equal or replace the voice in intimacy as a vehicle of the inner life.
The educator must foster, direct and develop the healthy inclination
of the human soul towards this means of expression.
Vocal independence. Singing admirably satisfies the requirements of
education in the broad sense. The end result of singing in school must,
if the aim sought is to be effectively achieved, be vocal independence,
that is: the pupil must be able to sing at sight, i.e. to convert written
symbols into auditory images without the agency of a musical instru-
ment, and vice versa to take musical dictation, i.e. to record in musical
notation melodies received through the ear. Most of the pupils have
the necessary ability to develop this power within the limits of song
as practised in school.
It is essential to give the children this standard of accomplishment
for the exercises which prepare the way for it, and the activities which
spring from it make it a valuable intellectual discipline.
Children cannot, however, be led towards this vocal independence
unless the teacher has an understanding of psychologyand is fully master
ofhis subject andhis class. It is on this account that most experiments in
the past have met with grave difficulties and the pedagogic inadequacy
of even the most recent methods has rapidly become apparent.
Teachers must give up concealing their ignorance of music-teaching
behind a screen of defeatist prejudice and must seek inspiration in the
healthy principles of the profession. They will discover unexpected
possibilities in themselves and in their pupils.
Introduction to the edacational aspects of choral singing. Once the pupils have
attained a certain measure of vocal independence, new horizons are
opened up by the use of choral singing as a medium for their general
education. Whereas the usual practice is to aim only at the performance
of the work, exploiting the natural gifts of the pupils, when music is
regarded as a formative agent the emphasis is laid on the advantages