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The National Bureau's
Part in Piano Sales Work
Organization Headed by C. M. Tremaine and Division of the Music In-
dustries Chamber of Commerce Big Factor in Spreading Information
on the Organization, Development and Carrying Out of Piano Contests
The campaigns being carried on are devoted
N agency that during its existence has
accomplished a tremendous amount of primarily to the musical advancement of the
good for the piano industry, both direct- child, for here again it is realized that as the
ly and indirectly, is the National Bureau for twig; is bent so will the tree grow. Efforts
the Advancement of Music, under the direction
of C. M. Tremaine, which from a program cal-
culated to promote interest in music generally,
as followed in the early days, has developed
activities which have to do with movements
designed to center interest upon particular
types of instruments as media for the produc-
tion of music.
The trade generally is too familiar with the
work of the Bureau to make necessary any
extended detailed description of its functions
and its activities, but, nevertheless, there are
various points that will well bear reiteration and
emphasizing. In the first place, the National
Bureau for the Advancement of Music was dc-
A
lines that permit of the work fitting in well with
the general campaign. Particular attention has
been given to the matter of piano-playing con-
tests, and one of the notable publications of
the Bureau has been an imposing volume de-
voted to detailed descriptions of the manner
in which the successful contests were planned
and carried on in Detroit, Chicago, San Fran-
cisco, Wisconsin, the latter contest, as has al-
ready been stated, having been based primarily
upon the group instruction plan.
In securing material for this booklet the
Bureau got in touch with those who were most
actively interested in the promotion of various
ventures as, for instance, Frank J. Bayley in
Detroit, Peter F. Meyer in Chicago and Shirley
S
TATE and NATIONAL
PIANO PLAYING
CONTESTS
DETROIT'S PIANO
PLAYING CONTEST FOR
SCHOOL CHILDREN
Terminating August 17, 1926
PnbUM by
NATIONAL BUREAU TOR THE
ADVANCEMENT OF MUSIC
-ti Weil 4!th Slreel, New York Citv
A Bureau Publication
signed to accomplish just what its name im-
plies, namely, the advancement of musical in-
terest, leaving it to the members of the various
divisions of the industry to capitalize that in-
terest to the point where it might be developed
into sales.
With limited funds at its disposal, particular-
ly in view of the nation-wide character of its
.work, the Bureau set out primarily to enlist the
support of outside factors in carrying on its
campaign. The results have been surprisingly
satisfactory. Not only has the movement for
the celebration of National Music Week de-
veloped to a point where this year some 1,500
cities and towns observed the occasion officially,
but the General Federation of Women's Clubs,
the National Federation of Music Clubs, the
Junior Music Clubs that are affiliated with that
organization, the National Organization of
Music Supervisors and many other bodies are
working in close touch and often under the
auspices of the Bureau in its musical work.
C. M. Tremaine
that are meeting with success are being de-
voted to the promotion of music study in the
elementary and high schools of the country as
a part of the regular curriculum, and progress
is also being made in the matter of having
proper credit given by schools for music study.
The resolution adopted by the music supervi-
sors at their recent convention in Texas urging
group-piano instruction in the schools is one
of the outstanding results of this work.
The Bureau serves a particularly valuable
purpose in an advisory capacity, and as a sup-
plier of information and suggestions for those
contemplating local musical activities. In this
connection there have been published and are
kept on hand for general distribution, either
without cost, or at a very small charge, several
hundred folders, pamphlets and booklets having
to do with music week celebrations, Christmas
caroling, organization of school bands and
orchestras, the mapping out of piano-playing
contests.
It is held by some that the work of the
National Bureau for the Advancement of
Music is more or less indirect and,
therefore, does not have the value from
a sales standpoint as some other promotion
activities. But it must be conceded that to
build up interest in any product or in anv art
there must first be provided a background and
a foundation for that interest, and in the case
of music the Bureau has provided, and is broad-
ening, this background. What it has done is to
arouse a wide interest in music as an art, and
has played an important part in the develop-
ment of musical appreciation in the nation to
a point never before approached in its history.
So far as the promotion of the piano itself
M concerned, the Bureau has rendered a nota-
ble service during the past year or so along
11
National Bureau Piano Contest Book
Walker in San Francisco. The result was not
in any sense the last word on contest operation,
but a vast fund of information relative to the
contests that had proven successful was com-
piled,
In addition to this general booklet on piano-
playing contests several folders were also
issued, one having to do with State and national
piano-playing contests in which the Bureau
offered a series of prizes for State contests
participated in by a minimum of ten commu-
nities, the prize being provided by the National
Association of Music Merchants. Another
folder has to do with the details of the Detroit
contest alone, the various forms used for the
entries, , the basis upon which prizes were
awarded and the other important details. A
survey of music study among the school chil-
dren of Springfield, Mo., was also printed,
showing that of a total high school enrolment
of 3,477, 739 children, or slightly over 21 per
cent, had studied music for at least six months,
and that 64 per cent were piano students.