MUSIC TALKS WITH CHILDREN
by
THOMAS TAPPER
Philadelphia
Theodore Presser
1898
"Dear child! dear girl! that walkest with me here,
If thou appear untouched by solemn thought,
Thy nature is not therefore less divine:
* * * * *
"God being with thee when we know it not."
--WILLIAM WORDSWORTH.
TO THE CHILDREN AT HOME
"Teach me to live! No idler let me be,
But in Thy service _hand and heart_ employ."
--BAYARD TAYLOR.
PREFACE
A book of this kind, though addressed to children, must necessarily
reach them through an older person. The purpose is to suggest a few of
the many aspects which music may have even to the mind of a child. If
these chapters, or whatever may be logically suggested by them, be
actually used as the basis of simple Talks with children, music may
become to them more than drill and study. They should know it as an
art, full of beauty and of dignity; full of pure thought and abounding
in joy. Music with these characteristics is the true music of the
heart. Unless music gives true pleasure to the young it may be doubted
if it is wisely studied.
Our failure to present music to the young in a manner that interests
and holds them is due not so much to the fact that music is too
difficult for children, but because the children themselves are too
difficult for us. In our ignorance we often withhold the rightful
inheritance. We must not forget that the slower adult mind often meets
a class of difficulties which are not recognized by the unprejudiced
child. It is not infrequent that with the old fears in us we persist
in recreating difficulties.
There should be ever present with the teacher the thought that music
must be led out of the individuality, not driven into it.
The teacher's knowledge is not a hammer, it is a light.
While it is suggested that these chapters be used as the
subject-matter for talks with the children, they may read verbatim if
desired. All foot-note references and suggestions are addressed to the
older person--the mother or the teacher. There is much in the
literature of art that would interest children if given to them
discriminatingly.
THOMAS TAPPER.
BOSTON, October 30, 1896
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
PREFACE
I. WHAT THE FACE TELLS
II. WHY WE SHOULD STUDY MUSIC
III. MUSIC IN THE HEART
IV. THE TONES ABOUT US
V. LISTENING
VI. THINKING IN TONE
VII. WHAT WE SEE AND HEAR
VIII. THE CLASSICS
IX. WHAT WE SHOULD PLAY
X. THE LESSON
XI. THE LIGHT ON THE PATH
XII. THE GREATER MASTERS
XIII. THE LESSER MASTERS
XIV. HARMONY AND COUNTERPOINT
XV. MUSIC AND READING
XVI. THE HANDS
XVII. WHAT THE ROMAN LADY SAID
XVIII. THE GLORY OF THE DAY
XIX. THE IDEAL
XX. THE ONE TALENT
XXI. LOVE FOR THE BEAUTIFUL
XXII. IN SCHOOL
XXIII. MUSIC IN SCHOOL
XXIV. HOW ONE THING HELPS ANOTHER
XXV. THE CHILD AT PLAY
APPENDIX
BY THE SAME AUTHOR.
Chats with Music Students; or Talks about Music and Music Life.
"A remarkably valuable work. It is made up of talks to students,
calculated to make them think; of hints and suggestions which will be
of immense assistance to those who are earnestly trying to become
proficient in music."--_Boston Transcript._
"No other book covers the same broad field which this covers in such a
pleasant and inspiring manner."--_The Writer (Boston)._
The Music Life and How to Succeed in it.
"These ideas are worthy of attention from students and workers in all
branches of art, science, and literature, who mean to be serious and
earnest."--_Boston Transcript._
"Exceedingly valuable because of its broad impartiality in its
exposition of truth, its depth of understanding, and, above all, for
its earnest desire, manifest in every word, to lead music students to
a love for music itself.... It abounds in high artistic thought and
insight."--_The Boston Times._
CHAPTER I.
WHAT THE FACE TELLS.
"And the light _dwelleth_ with him."--_Daniel II: 22._
Once a master said to a child:
"If thou wilt study diligently, learn, and do good unto others, thy
face shall be filled with light."
So the child studied busily, learned, and sought how she could do good
unto others. And every little while she ran to the glass to see if the
light was coming. But at each time she was disappointed. No light was
there. Try as faithfully as she would, and look as often as she would,
it was always the same.
I do not know if she doubted the master or not; but it is certain she
did not know what to make of it. She grieved, and day after day her
disappointment grew. At length she could bear it no longer, so she
went to the master and said:
"Dear master, I have been so diligent! I have tried to learn and to do
good unto others. Yet every time I have sought in my face the light
_which you promised_, it has not been there. No, not a single time."
Now the master listened intently, and watching her face as she spoke,
he said:
"Thou poor little one, in this moment, as thou hast spoken to me, thy
face has been so filled with light that thou wouldst not believe. And
dost thou know why? It is because every word thou hast spoken in this
moment has come from thy heart.
"Thou must learn _in the first days_ this lesson: When the thought and
the deed are in the heart, then the light is in the face, always, and
it is there at no other time. It could not be. And what is in thy
heart when thou art before the glass? In that moment hast thou turned
away from diligence, and from learning, and from the love of doing
good unto others and in thy heart there is left only the poor
curiosity to see the light which can never shine when it is sought.
Thou canst never see the light of thy own face. For thee that light is
forever within, and it will not prosper thy way to want to look upon
it. It is only as thou art faithful that this is added unto thee."
Sorrowing yet more than before the little child said:
"Master, I do not understand what thou hast said, yet I believe thee;
but the wish is yet within me to see the light of my face, if only for
once. Thou who art wise, tell me why it is denied me."
And the master made answer:
"It is denied to us all. No one may see the light of his own face.
Therefore thou shalt labor daily with diligence that thy light shall
shine before others. And if thou wouldst see the light thou shalt
cause it to shine _in another_. That is the greatest of all--to bring
forth the light. And to do this, thou shalt of thyself be faithful in
all things. By what thou art thou must show diligence, the love for
learning, and the desire to do good unto others, even as these things
have been taught thee."