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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
Does Musical Intelligence Exist as an Instinct?—How It Can Be Cultivated
By Active Participation of the Piano Player and Music Roll Manufacturers
and Dealers—The Player a Great Stimulus to Musical Understanding.
The advent and popularity of the player-piano
have had amazing effects upon the public under-
standing of all that constitutes the art of music.
It is perhaps fairly accurate as a statement to
assert that music has always been exceedingly
democratic from one point of view and exceed-
ingly aristocratic from another. In other words,
the artless song of the people has always existed
and probably always will exist, almost instinctive
and equally almost inchoate. Popular song and
ballad arise in every land. How they come about,
whence they spring, what are the sources of their
popularity, are questions that no man seems to
have answered satisfactorily. They exist, and that
is all we can accurately say on the subject.
Now, music has developed from the popular
song—by which we mean the rude words set to
rude tune and transmitted orally from generation
to generation—into an art of considerable com-
plexity, almost endless possibilities and tremendous
present beauty and power. To the superficial
thinker it might seem that since artistic music has
sprung from the source of popular song, its pres-
ent development ought to be understood by every-
body, being only a finer form of a simple and
quite fundamental instinct. Yet the fact is ap-
parent to us all that the modern development of
music as an art has been an immensely obscure
thing to the vast majority of people. As the art
has grown in beauty and splendor it has apparently
grown right away from the thought and feeling
of the people, until it has, in fact, become remote,
recondite and even different to them.
On the other hand, if we ask ourselves whether
the popular music of the present day can be said
to take the place occupied in the minds of people
by the folksongs and ballads of the Middle Ages,
the answer must be negative. The music of to-day
which is called "popular" is not in any true sense
of the term "music" at all, for one thing, while
one might say with no lesser accuracy that it cer-
tainly does npt appeal to emotions or feelings in
any sense admirable. If, in other words, the mod-
ern popular music craze of the moment reflects
the true feelings of the people, one cannot help
feeling exceedingly sorry for the people.
This being the case, we are forced to ask our-
selves whether it is not true that music, in becom-
ing an art, has ceased to stimulate those most ob-
vious emotions which are common to all persons
no matter what their level of culture. The answer
must probably be affirmative. And so people cannot
be blamed for the conclusion that the higher de-
velopment of music is an artistic, an exclusive, de-
velopment, obscure and out of sympathy with pop-
ular aims and ideas.
The Real Underlying Reason.
The real underlying reason for the growing ex-
clusiveness of music has been the technical diffi-
culty of performing it. As an art advanced, it
more and more ceased to be a mere amusement
and became more and more a profession, a life
study. Naturally, the professional musician be-
came from almost the first an exclusive sort of
person, talking a mysterious technical language
and holding himself more or less aloof from the
common world which knew not the mysteries he
practiced. Thus, as we began by saying, music
and the people have drifted apart.
Now the player-piano has come into the scheme
of things and has introduced into old situations
an element of new and disturbing character. It
has, in fact, abolished the necessity for elaborate
and long-sustained studious effort to obtain the
necessary playing technique, at least so far as con-
cerns the piano. In consequence we find that any-
body who will may now produce after a fashion
all kinds of artistic music. Yet we find that
artistic music is not being studied with any great
enthusiasm by those who use the player-piano,
while also those who are responsible for the man-
ufacture and development of the player are more
and more commonly coming to present an instru-
ment as nearly as, possible automatic, in playing
which the mental faculties of the user are less
and less required.
It would superficially seem that musical instinct,
in the sense of instinctive grasps of musical ideas
from the artistic viewpoint, is by no means a com-
mon possession.
Yet we believe that the assertion can be corn-
batted with good hope of success. For it is the
common experience of those whose duty it is to
observe these things that musical intelligence is
apparently the least common of faculties. Yet it
remains perfectly true that everybody has some
sort of taste in music and is usually, in fact,
ready to defend his tonal beliefs with much force
and heat. There is seemingly somewhere an op-
portunity for revision of ideas.
Nor is it at all either credible nor is it reasonable.
The fact of the matter in our opinion is that
the makers of player-pianos do not trust people
enough. It may take some time yet for people to
discover how natural a possession musical intel-
ligence really is, if so be it we but allow ourselves
to think of it in this way. Of course there will
always be people entirely devoid of musical appre-
ciation, just as there are people who do not like
metaphysical discussion, or mayonnaise dressing,
or modern German architecture. Rut the fact is
that so long as virtually everyone likes a song,
and still more likes to sing, so almost everyone
would like to play. The thing that keeps them
from playing, or trying to play, by means of the
player-piano is mainly, after all, that the kind of
music which must be "interpreted" is unfamiliar
to most people even to the extent of the most
casual hearing. Hence it follows that they are
afraid of it and shy at it, like a colt at a piece
of paper at the side of the road; because they
don't know what it may be. And the musicians
themselves, let us not forget, are entirely to blame
for all this. They have carefully cultivated the
art of persuading the people that music is recon-
dite; and no wonder why it is not popular.
Traveling the Same Road.
The player manufacturers are traveling the same
road. They have made up their minds that people
don't know much about music, which is quite true.
They have persuaded themselves that musical in-
terpretation must be taught, which is true, after
a fashion. Then they have drawn the wrong con-
clusion that because people recognize these difficul-
ties and experience them, therefore the player-piano
must be entirely automatic, which is nonsense.
Time and exploitation; these words hold the
solution of the whole problem. Musical intelli-
gence is present in almost everybody, but in the
majority of people it is latent. What otherwise
The Decision of the Question.
It is perfectly plain, of course, that upon the could be the truth of the matter? The fact that
decision of this question must rest the immediate people like any sort of music at all proves that
future of the player-piano proposition. If the they are ready to like all sorts when the oppor-
player is in reality to be what we have been claim- tunity of hearing and judging is brought to them.
ing for it—the new musical instrument of the But musical intelligence cannot be cultivated by
future—then it is certain that its value will be passive listening. It must be cultivated by active
participation. Hense, again, the player-piano, as
in proportion to the breadth of distribution of
musical intelligence among the people. If this a matter of course, must be developed along the
intelligence is scattered but meagerly, if the mu- lines of personal control. Unless and until this
fact is generally recognized it is fairly safe to say
sical thought does not at all appeal to the vast
that its progress will be slower than it should be.
majority of people, then the only possible future
for the player-piano is as a sort of sublimated
Musical intelligence is instinctive, but instincts
street piano, to grind out the atrocities on the art are not always on the surface. Often they lie
of music which must become steadily worse if the
dormant, beneath the threshold of consciousness,
hypothesis.be at all accurately stated.
waiting to be called fourth by the appropriate stim-
What a fearfully discouraging prospect this ulus. This stimulus the player-piano may, should
and sometimes does furnish. It could do so al-
means for the future of music, no less than for
that of the player-piano, we need not emphasize ways if it were more often thought of intelli-
just now. It is enough to say that if the predic- gently, and intelligently exploited. When it is so
tion be accurate music itself is doomed as much understood and exploited its future will be indeed
bright, not only with promise but with fulfilment.
as is the player-piano. Yet we cannot believe it.
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