THE NATURAL TEMPO
One of the greatest shortcomings of elementary music education as
practised hitherto has certainly been neglect of the natural tempo.
Physical rhythms-heart-beat, breathing, walking, etc.-together
make up an average individual tempo, which is comparatively slow
in the old but much quicker in children. Any work calling for a rhythm
too far removed from this natural tempo is not only less well done but
also much more tiring. The more rhythmical the activity, the clearer
this becomes. Adults, as a result of their adaptation to the demands of
life, are able to depart to some extent from the natural tempo without
suffering too much, but children have a very definite tempo of their
own (about 100) and any repetitive work at a different tempo, espe-
cially a slower tempo, leaves them completely at sea; they strive vainly
to retrieve their position, grow tired and lose control. A sort of defence
mechanism comes into play to make them insensible to the unhealthy
tempo, their minds wander or they fall half-asleep.
This is a common occurrence in everyday life but it is strikingly
demonstrated in the teaching of music. As we shall see below, it is,
together with premature instruction in theory, one of the clear causes
of the destruction of the sense of rhythm in children. Most, if not all,
of the sol-fa or instrumental exercises that a child is required to per-
form are at a slower tempo than is natural to him (particularly at the
outset) because they are too difficult to be done more quickly or be-
cause the teacher unconsciously imposes his own, naturally slower,
tempo. By depriving the child of his natural rhythm, we expose him
to those terrible moments of blankness, those interminable ‘er...
er... s’ which continually interfere with the sequence of associations.
Discomfort and fatigue quickly undermine the sense of rhythm, jeo-
pardize the results of our work, and finally discourage the child.
But, though we seek to make the child put all he has into the
work, we also attach the utmost importance to the atmosphere of
calm and relaxation which should prevail before and after the period
of effort.
NATURAL EFFORTThe teacher’s task, beginning with the as yet untutored child, is to find
a straight and even path by which he can be led to the ways of thinking
and acting proper to an adult.