Classic Mode

Music Trade Review

Issue: 1927 Vol. 84 N. 4

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
REVIEW
THE
VOL. LXXXIV. No. 4
Piblished Every Saturday. Edward Lyman Bill, Inc., 383 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y., Jan. 22, 1927
8In
*{I. 0c0 °C &£••*•
John S. Caldwell
Educates the Parent Mind, Too
Vice-President and Manager of the J. R. Reed Music Co.,
Austin, Tex., Doesn't Forget the Adult Prospect for the
Piano—A Massed Grand Concert That Made Sales for Him
kDUCATE the parent mind; then you out into the rural sections surrounding the city.
A crowd, far larger than expected, attended
may expect to sell grand pianos and a
better class of music," according to the massed piano concert, many of them being
John S. Caldwell, vice-president and active man- out-of-town prospects. Naturally this occasion
ager of the J. R. Reed Music Co., of Austin, called for a higher-class program than usual.
This music, coming from the source that it
Tex.
Judging from results in the way of increased did, had an appealing force. The entire affair
business in his own firm, Mr. Cald-
well speaks with first-hand knowl-
edge and authority. Mr. Caldwell
uses a number of successful meth-
ods in getting his idea across to
the parent mind, but probably the
one thing that has been largely
responsible for the greater amount
of piano and similar sales was the
use of a massed piano concert,
which placed the parents in a buy-
ing attitude.
Through cooperation with a
number of local musicians, and
more especially Professor William
Rudolph and Miss Willie Stevens,
superintendent of the music de-
partment of Austin schools, Mr.
Caldwell recently conducted a
massed piano concert that won
wide distinction. Ten grand pianos
were used in this concert, which
represented a total valuation of over
twelve thousand dollars. It was
an easy matter to make arrange-
ments for the largest theatre of the
city to stage this concert, as the
theatre manager is quick to take
The Reed Music Co. Grand Piano Massed Concert
advantage of such drawing cards
as will bring large crowds to his playhouse. had been planned in order to reach the parent
The stage setting made it possible for all the mind. It was seen too that many of the parents
pianos to show at their best and it further added were there to receive this education.
to the interest of the event.
Teaching by example was the outcome of
A great deal of training and personal super- this concert. The prospects were followed up
vision was given to the players who took part in an indirect way. Salesmen did not rush
in the concert. Special invitations were sent out and insist on dragging in the prospects,
a number of prospects over the territory, who as this would have convinced them that the
were listed as possible prospects for grand concert was merely an advertising scheme and
pianos and such musical instruments. The the educational values would have been lost;
entire public was reached through newspaper but, on the other hand, in an indirect way the
advertising and telephone calls that extended prospects were soon approached, and as thov
E
had seen for themselves the intrinsic value of
the classical music, they were ready to talk
business, that led to the sale of many pianos
and other musical instruments.
A follow-up of this event was made by send-
ing out a small magazine that discussed various
advantages of music and further gave items of
current news pertaining to music.
This magazine reaches only a se-
lected number of prospects, while
from time to time other prospects
are added to the subscription list.
Parents who have children, but do
not have them in a school of mu-
sic or do not have musical instru-
ments in their homes, are the ones
that Mr. Caldwell attempts to reach
with this small publication.
As a direct result of this special
effort to educate the parent mind
of his city, Mr. Caldwell shows
where the Reed Co.'s sales in grand
pianos were immediately increased
after the massed concert, while in
an indirect way the entire cam-
paign has meant a larger list of
customers and prospects.
The massed piano concert idea
and the other plans carried out by
J. R. Reed Music Co. for the pur-
pose of interesting the grown-ups
in the piano and piano music does
not in any sense serve to minimize
the interest of the company in the
movements on foot for having the
piano appeal to the youngsters in
the schools through the medium of group piano
instruction and other methods. This work is
considered essential in building up a worth-
while field for future piano sales, but it is like-
wise realized that the retail piano business must
be stimulated to-day.
It has been the experience of the Reed Music
Co. that there are many prospective piano pur-
chasers who have never had the proper appeal
made to them and that when they are s once
interested by one means or another are appre-
ciative and quick to buy.
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
The Music Trade Review
Ampico Corp. to Issue Recordings of
Miessner Melody Way Teaching System
Working Arrangement Made by This Firm With the Miessner Institute to Continue
Research Work and Provide Schools With Most Modern Methods of Music Study
A KRANGEMKNTS have been made between
*"*• the Ampico Corp. and the Miessner Insti-
tute of Milwaukee, Wis., whereby a close rela-
tionship is established between the Institute and
the Educational Department of the Ampico
Corp. This affiliation will provide each with
added resources for research work and for the
continuation of their already established policies
of providing the schools of the country with the
most modern material for music study. It will
also provide those using the Ampico with ma-
terial for teaching music as an applied art, in
addition to work in music appreciation. The
Miessner Institute, therefore, will collaborate
with the Ampico Corp. in this field, and work
concurrently with the appreciation research
work which the Ampico Corp. has been con-
ducting under the direction of an advisory com-
mittee consisting of Peter W. Dykema, Clarence
G. Hamilton, Alexander Henneman, H. C. Mac-
Dougall, Carl Pfatteicher, Alexander Russell, M.
K. Suyder, Sigmund Spaeth, Artur Bodanzky,
Josef I.hevinne and E. Robert Schmitz.
The Miessner Institute was established three
years ago to train teachers in the art of class
piano instruction; to establish normal training
centers for teachers in every part of the coun-
try; to inform and convince school superintend-
ents and music supervisors of the value of class
piano study as a vital part of the public school
music curriculum. In addition to these activi-
ties, the Institute has enlisted the cooperation
of many wide-awake -dealers, who have demon-
strated the results that can be achieved with
the "Melody Way." As a result of this co-oper-
ation several hundred public school systems
have already adopted this method of group piano
instruction.
W. Otto Miessner, author of "The Melody-
Way System" of group piano instruction, will '
record his playing exclusively for the Ampico,
and the Ampico Corp. will issue an authoritative
set of recordings for use in teaching this course,
which has already been adopted by over 300
school systems.
The Ampico recordings played by Mr. Miessner
are based on modern teaching principles as ap-
plied by him to piano instruction, and will pro-
vide perfect models for imitative playing and for
interpretative guidance. A special edition of the
course to correlate with the recordings has been
prepared by the Miessner Institute. Copies of
this edition are furnished in the box with the
recording. These recordings will be ready with-
in a month's time.
In speaking of his recording for the Ampico,
Mr. Miessner makes the following statement:
"It is indeed gratifying to see the realization of
an educational plan which has been identified
with my Melody Way System of class piano
instruction since its first inception. This idea
embodies the use of the reproducing piano, not
only in the study of music appreciation, and as
a model for interpretative guidance, but I feel,
most important of all, as the ever-present teach-
er in the home. The Ampico makes this possi-
ble through the use of specially prepared re-
cordings. With the use of these recordings the
child is stimulated and assisted in learning to
play the piano manually. Attractive folk melo-
dies with suitable song words assure the child's
interest from the start. Furthermore, the Am-
pico becomes an educational factor in the direct
meaning of the term.
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Diamond
"In choosing the Ampico, I have in mind the
fidelity with which it re-enacts the playing of
the artist, and I feel that I can literally be at the
side of thousands of my Melody Way pupils.
"The Miessner Institute is prepared to fa-
miliarize its affiliated teachers with those new
JANUARY 22, 1927
selections, by well-known Coast artists, and
manufactured in tlit* mu Columbia Coast fac-
tory at Oakland, Cal.
Friedman Records Both
Parts of "Marche
Makes Duo-Art Roll of Four-Hand Composition
of Schubert, Recording Both Parts Himself
The vigorous "Marche Heroique" of Franz
Schubert, originally written as a piano duet,
has been recorded for the Duo-Art by Ignaz
Friedman and appears in the current Duo-Art
bulletin. The number requires four hands to
play it as Schubert wrote it and its recording
was achieved by Mr. Friedman, unassisted by
any other pianist. The composition was not
arranged as a piano solo by Mr. Friedman, but
was recorded in original two parts, which were
synchronized to make a complete record of the
composition as Schubert conceived it and as
Mr. Friedman interprets it.
Schiller Piano Go. Holds
Annual Meeting at Oregon
President Edgar B. Jones, Vice-president F. M.
Hood, Secretary B. F. Shelly and Treasurer C.
F. Jones Re-elected
W. Otto Miessner
and important developments in the use of
Melody Way. The dealer can become "a vital
factor in this educational work by making per-
sonal calls on school officials and impressing
them with the social importance of the music
in the home and of the piano in particular as
the fundamental instrument for self-expression
in music."
Presents Portland Mayor
With New Columbia Record
The annual meeting of the Schiller Piano Co.
was held in Oregon, 111., Wednesday, January
12. The same officers were re-elected for the
new year as follows: Edgar B. Jones, Presi-
dent; F. M. Hood, Vice-president; B. F. Shelly,
Secretary, and C. F. Jones, Treasurer. The
annual reports for 1926 showed that the Schil-
ler Piano Co. enjoyed one of the most satis-
factory years in the history of its business. The
many improvements that have been made in the
plant during the past year have enabled the com-
pany to take care of an increased production
especially in grands, which showed over 50 per
cent increase. It is reported that an important
announcement will be made shortly regarding
new finishes which the plant is working on in
addition to the popular high-lighted effects and
Japanese case ornamentation.
Cole McElroy Thus Introduces New Pacific
Coast Recordings of Columbia Co. to Port-
land Public.
W. N. Van Matre
Leaves for Hawaii
Cole McElroy, leader of McElroy's Spanish
Hall Room Hand, famous Pacific Coast organi-
W. N. Van Matre, Sr., chairman of the board
of directors of the Schumann Piano Co., Rock-
ford, Til., who resides at Lake Bluff, a suburb
Cole McElroy
and the
Mayor
of Portland,
Ore.
/ation, recently presented to George L. Baker,
Mayor of Portland, a Columbia New Process
Record of a recent exclusive Columbia record-
ing. The presentation served as an introduc-
tion to Portland's citizens for the special Pacific
Coast records now being made of popular Coast
PIANO
SCARFS
of Chicago, left last week to spend a vacation
in Hawaii.
Consult the Universal Want Directory of
The Review. In it advertisements are inserted
free of charge for men who desire positions.
PIANO
COVERS and BENCH-CUSHIONS
0. SIMMS MFG. CO., 103-5 West 14th St.
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