<SPAN name="THE_READING_OF_MUSIC" id='THE_READING_OF_MUSIC'></SPAN>
<h2>THE READING OF MUSIC</h2>
<div class='figtag'>
<SPAN name="linki_35" id='linki_35'></SPAN></div>
<div class='figright' style='width:500px'>
<ANTIMG src='images/illus-099.jpg' alt='' title='' width-obs='500' height-obs='245' /><br/>
<p class='caption'>
<span class='smcap'>Fig. 32.––The Musical Staff.</span><SPAN name="FNanchor_0001" id='FNanchor_0001'></SPAN><SPAN href='#Footnote_0001' class='fnanchor'>[A]</SPAN><br/></p>
</div>
<p>When the child knows how to read, he can make
a first application of this knowledge to the reading
of the names of musical notes.</p>
<p>In connection with the material for sensory
education, consisting of the series of bells, we use
a didactic material, which serves as an introduction
to musical reading. For this purpose we
have, in the first place, a wooden board, not very
long, and painted pale green. On this board the
staff is cut out in black, and in every line and
space are cut round holes, inside each of which is
written the name of the note in its reference to
the treble clef.</p>
<p>There is also a series of little white discs which
can be fitted into the holes. On one side of each
disc is written the name of the note (doh, re, mi,
fah, soh, lah, ti, doh).</p>
<p>The child, guided by the name written on the
discs, puts them, with the name uppermost, in
their right places on the board and then reads the
names of the notes. This exercise he can do by
<span class='pagenum pncolor'><SPAN id='page_99' name='page_99'></SPAN>99</span>
himself, and he learns the position of each note on
the staff. Another exercise which the child can
do at the same time is to place the disc bearing the
name of the note on the rectangular base of the
corresponding bell, whose sound he has already
learned to recognize by ear in the sensorial exercise
described above.</p>
<div class='figtag'>
<SPAN name="linki_36" id='linki_36'></SPAN></div>
<div class='figleft' style='width:389px'>
<ANTIMG src='images/illus-102.jpg' alt='' title='' width-obs='389' height-obs='500' /><br/>
<p class='caption'>
<span class='smcap'>Fig. 39.––Dumb Keyboard.</span><br/></p>
</div>
<p>Following this exercise there is another staff
made on a board of green wood, which is longer
than the other and has neither indentures nor
signs. A considerable number of discs, on one
side of which are written the names of the notes, is
at the disposal of the child. He takes up a disc at
random, reads its name and places it on the staff,
<span class='pagenum pncolor'><SPAN id='page_100' name='page_100'></SPAN>100</span>
with the name underneath, so that the white face
of the disc shows on the top. By the repetition
of this exercise the child is enabled to arrange
many discs on the same line or in the same space.
When he has finished, he turns them all over so
that the names are outside, and so finds out if he
has made mistakes. After learning the treble clef
the child passes on to learn the bass with great
ease.</p>
<p>To the staff described above can be added another
similar to it, arranged as is shown in the figure.
(Fig. 32.) The child beginning with doh,
lays the discs on the board in ascending order in
their right position until the octave is reached:
doh, re, mi, fah, soh, lah, ti, doh. Then he descends
the scale in the same way, returning to
<i>doh</i>, but continuing to place the discs always to
the right: soh, fah, mi, re, doh. In this way he
forms an angle. At this point he descends again
to the lower staff, ti, lah, soh, fah, mi, re, doh,
then he ascends again on the other side: re, mi,
fah, soh, lah, ti, and by forming with his two lines
of discs another angle in the bass, he has completed
a rhombus, “the rhombus of the notes.”</p>
<p>After the discs have been arranged in this way,
<span class='pagenum pncolor'><SPAN id='page_101' name='page_101'></SPAN>101</span>
the upper staff is separated from the lower. In
the lower the notes are arranged according to the
bass clef. In this way the first elements of musical
reading are presented to the child, reading
which corresponds to <i>sounds</i> with which the
child’s ear is already acquainted.</p>
<p>For a first practical application of this knowledge
we have used in our schools a miniature
pianoforte keyboard, which reproduces the essentials
of this instrument, although in a simplified
form, and so that they are visible. Two octaves
only are reproduced, and the keys, which are
small, are proportioned to the hand of a little
child of four or five years, as the keys of the
common piano are proportioned to those of the
adult. All the mechanism of the key is visible.
(Fig. 39.) On striking a key one sees the hammer
rise, on which is written the name of the note.
The hammers are black and white, like the notes.</p>
<p>With this instrument it is very easy for the
child to practise alone, finding the notes on the
keyboard corresponding to some bar of written
music, and following the movements of the fingers
made in playing the piano.</p>
<p>The keyboard in itself is mute, but a series of
<span class='pagenum pncolor'><SPAN id='page_102' name='page_102'></SPAN>102</span>
resonant tubes, resembling a set of organ-pipes,
can be applied to the upper surface, so that the
hammers striking these produce musical notes corresponding
to the keys struck. The child can then
pursue his exercises with the control of the musical
sounds.</p>
<div style="width:540px; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; margin-top:2em; border:thin solid black; padding:15px; clear:both">
<h2>DIDACTIC MATERIAL FOR MUSICAL READING.</h2>
<div class='figtag'>
<SPAN name="linki_37" id='linki_37'></SPAN></div>
<div class='figcenter'>
<ANTIMG src='images/illus-100a.jpg' alt='' title='' width-obs='500' height-obs='187' /><br/>
<p class='caption'>
<span class='smcap'>Fig. 33.</span><br/>
On the wooden board, round spaces are cut out corresponding to the notes. Inside each of the spaces there is a figure. On one side of each of the discs is written a number and on the other the name of the note. They are fitted by the child into the corresponding places.<br/></p>
</div>
<div class='figtag'>
<SPAN name="linki_38" id='linki_38'></SPAN></div>
<div class='figcenter'>
<ANTIMG src='images/illus-100b.jpg' alt='' title='' width-obs='500' height-obs='171' /><br/>
<p class='caption'>
<span class='smcap'>Fig. 34.</span><br/>
The child next arranged the discs in the notes cut out on the staff, but there are no longer numbers written to help him find the places. Instead, he must try to remember the place of the note on the staff. If he is not sure he consults the numbered board (Fig. 33).<br/></p>
</div>
<div class='figtag'>
<SPAN name="linki_39" id='linki_39'></SPAN></div>
<div class='figcenter'>
<ANTIMG src='images/illus-100c.jpg' alt='' title='' width-obs='500' height-obs='174' /><br/>
<p class='caption'>
<span class='smcap'>Fig. 35.</span><br/>
The child arranged on the staff the semitones in the spaces which remain where the discs are far apart: do-re, re-mi, fah-soh, soh-la, la-<SPAN name="TC_3'></SPAN><ins class="trchange" title="Was 'si'">ti</ins>. The discs for the semitones have the sharp on one side and the flat on the other, e.g., re♯-mi♭ are written on the opposite sides of the same disc.<br/></p>
</div>
<div class='figtag'>
<SPAN name="linki_40" id='linki_40'></SPAN></div>
<div class='figcenter'>
<ANTIMG src='images/illus-101a.jpg' alt='' title='' width-obs='500' height-obs='174' /><br/>
<p class='caption'>
<span class='smcap'>Fig. 36.</span><br/>
The children take a large number of discs and arrange them on the staff, leaving uppermost the side which is blank, i.e., the side on which the name of the note is not written. Then they verify their work by turning the discs over and reading the name.<br/></p>
</div>
<div class='figtag'>
<SPAN name="linki_41" id='linki_41'></SPAN></div>
<div class='figcenter'>
<ANTIMG src='images/illus-101b.jpg' alt='' title='' width-obs='500' height-obs='174' /><br/>
<p class='caption'>
<span class='smcap'>Fig. 37.</span><br/>
The double staff is formed by putting the two staves together. The children arrange the notes in the form of a rhombus.<br/></p>
</div>
<div class='figtag'>
<SPAN name="linki_42" id='linki_42'></SPAN></div>
<div class='figcenter'>
<ANTIMG src='images/illus-101c.jpg' alt='' title='' width-obs='500' height-obs='222' /><br/>
<p class='caption'>
<span class='smcap'>Fig. 38.</span><br/>
The two boards are then separated and the notes remain arranged according to the treble and bass clefs. The corresponding key signatures are then placed upon the two different staves.<br/></p>
</div>
</div>
<hr class='toprule' />
<div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />
1 of 2
2 of 2
Previous
Next
Update Required
To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.