International Conference on the Role and Place of Music in the Education of Youth and Adults; Music in education; 1955

good extraneous private tuition at expert hands. If certain bright stu-
dents come out of these new school and college courses, invariably it
may be verified, they are those who have an innate gift, hereditary
background or regular expert training at home. Thus it is the profes-
sional teacher again that helps to impart a higher standard to the music
student. In our own university, and also in our academy’s college, this
role of the professional musician has been properly recognized, and the
actual teaching of the practical music has been placed in the hands of
qualified professionals. Indeed the increasing worth-whileness of these
school and college courses in the future will depend on the extent to
which they are able to harness more and more the services of expert
professional teachers.
Whether at home or at school, the fundamental technique of learning
music which has been systematized for some centuries with graded
exercises, in specially chosen graded melodic forms (svaramdir, adan-
kara, gita, etc.) have all to be gone through with the help of the expert
teacher. The role of the professional musician is not confined to direct
teaching. Every eminent master in the field is an indirect teacher; for
it is by constant listening to high-class recitals that the students’ know-
ledge of the art attains the needed dimensions. Our music exposition
has two phases, the closed forms represented by compositions and the
free expositions of the actual melodies. The ability to elaborate a pure
melody is indeed the invariable mark of proficiency, and a youngster
learns to do this by listening more and more and developing his ima-
gination. There is no set teaching for this; if some teachers do coach-
ing in raga-singing, to fit out an over-anxious girl for a music compe-
tition or a vain lady for a radio recital, the effort and result alike are
found to be miserable. It is listening that is more important as the
education reaches higher and higher stages. There are immense private
opportunities for listening and in music institutions too, periodical
concerts by masters are organized for the benefit of the students; dur-
ing big music conferences and festivals which afford a unique oppor-
tunity for listening to first-rate recitals of every department of music,
organizers of such conferences and festivals, like our own academy,
consider it a duty, in the interests of the future growth of our music,
to allow free access not only to music students but to junior musicians
also.
The organization of music in large classes at the present day in-
evitably involves teaching in a mass. This is again a matter calling for
some review. In group teaching and group singing there is the general
defect of the less gifted and less qualified student not being noticed;