however, have the capacity to awaken an active response in the listen-
ers-an infectious quality in the voice and an animation which calls for
action. This capacity to awaken active response is part of the personality
of the singer and is due to an element in his character which physically
stirs his audience. The most infective type of song is one which has
the feeling of action in its structure. The pulsation of the music, when
transmitted by a singer who can himself intensify this feeling of action,
invariably arouses even in the most passive listener a desire to partici-
pate, which shows in a tapping of the foot or finger, a nodding of the
head, or just an increased animation in the expression of the face. The
response may be quite unconscious, the stimulus striking directly at
the body through the solar plexus. During my own lifetime there has
been a diminution in the number of people who are active music-
makers compared with those who listen more or less passively. In this
matter music resembles some of our national sports-football more
than cricket-where the number of those who play, compared with
those who pay to watch, is vastly out of proportion. Yet the watchers,
if they cannot play in the game, participate actively in the excitement
of its changing fortune.
There is no doubt much to be said against the old-fashioned forms
of domestic entertainment when each guest took his roll of music or
his instrument to the party and expected someone to ask him to per-
form. The general company endured amiably, while each individual
in turn was thrilled and encouraged by playing an active part in the
social event. No doubt since those days there has been a growing
lethargy, a reluctance to join in. Now there is a strong disinclination
to play any part in music unless one can perform with a very high
degree of skill.
There was in England a period between the wars when there was a
craze for community singing in large crowds. While this singing in
unison satisfied the very humble it was not a natural form of expression
for the English and it led to nothing in the way of new development.
To get laymen to join casually in a folk song is a highly skilled
business. In the practical work in England we have found that the
most effective participation is achieved if we dispense with notation,
and the direct performance of the singer is followed line by line with
an echoing response by the group. Anything which attracts or detaches
the mental attention away from the completeness of the psychological
experience detracts from the intensity of the participation. For in-
stance, if there is some slight difficulty over a particular musical interval
or time value, or an awkwardness in the rhythmic quality of the words,
singke
(singke)
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