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portunity to find out whether each one has outstanding
talent. Our great music foundations have done a pretty
good job of selecting and developing outstanding talent,
and it is doubtful whether they can substantially improve
their job until we bring about a broader base of selection
by more universal music instruction on the elementary level.
Every American citizen should have a chance to play
the piano according to his interest and ability, and with
adequate instruction most citizens will find that they have
a lot of fun in store for them. Under proper conditions,
the chances that the average person can learn to play the
piano for pleasure are at least as great as his chances for
learning to drive a car or read a good book.
Outstanding Talent in a Democracy
The growing conviction that a new type of piano teach-
ing will meet the needs of all comers instead of catering
to a chosen few has given rise in some quarters to an
unfounded fear that so democratic a procedure will op-
erate to the detriment of the most talented and will tend
to hamper the development of outstanding American com-
posers and performers. Even those who admit that we
have formerly sacrificed the many for the few, fear that
we will now sacrifice the gifted few for the many average
and less than average musicians.
Such a fear will disappear when two important points
become clear. First, the broader musical development that
favors the average student is also the best beginning for
the talented specialist. The narrow emphasis on technic
for its own sake not only scared away the great mass of
pianists who had no professional ambitions, but it was
actually less desirable for the future artist than a broad
background of musicianship upon which attention to
technical detail can later be built.
The second point which requires clarification is the
need for more elementary musicians if we are to have
higher standards for the most advanced. The development
of national culture, or of world culture, may be compared
to building a pyramid. Paying attention only to the gifted
is like trying to force a great tower into the air without
a broad foundation. The democratic procedure of giving
opportunity to all recognizes the fact that the broader the
base of the pyramid of culture, the higher the peak can
rise. When everyone has a knowledge and appreciation of
music, we will have the finest artists and composers.
The Radio and the Piano
Some observers thought that the wide dissemination of
the finest musical performances through the radio, phono-
graph and sound film would reduce the demand for mu-
sical performance in the home. Such, however, is not the
case. In the early days of radio, many seldom-used pianos
were discarded from family living rooms, but the present
great demand for pianos and other musical instruments
is evidence of the fact that hearing good music makes one
want to produce it himself. The joy which music offers
is never so complete as when some element of participa-
tion is present. Americans are learning that even a modest
ability at the piano can be a pleasure to the performer
and his friends, and can increase the pleasure found in
listening to professional performances.
What To Teach
What kind of piano teaching does this domestic goal
of universal opportunity require? Surely we need some-
thing different from the old technical drill with an unrelated
presentation of one or more annual "recital" pieces.
Sight reading is of foremost importance. The American
child or adult wants to be able to pick up any piece of
music, popular or classical, frivolous or serious, and get
some idea of how it sounds from his first reading. This
important skill has many uses. The player can amuse
himself with musical reading as with reading a book or
magazine, he can read to accompany singing or playing
on other instruments, he can read materials to select
something for detailed study, he can read music he ex-
pects to hear at a concert or on a radio program, and when
he is beginning to add a new piece to his repertory, he
can read it well enough to grasp its musical and technical
problems quickly.
Improvisation at the piano is an almost lost art which
should be revised for both amateurs and professionals.
It should be just as natural for those who know the
language of piano to play extemporaneously as for those
who know English or French to speak fluently in those
languages. Experience has shown that children and adults
can learn to improvise from the very beginning of their
study. Such activity gives them a natural satisfaction in
direct self-expression as well as one of the best means of
increasing general keyboard facility. Improvisation often
leads to written composition, and teachers who are equipped
to guide this development find that even average pupils
can compose their own music up to a standard at least as
high as that of many published teaching pieces.
Playing well known melodies by ear is a form of piano
playing which used to be considered a matter of snecial
talent, but is now recognized as a skill that can be devel-
oped under guidance. Some teachers used to discourage
ear-playing for fear of carelessness or lack of development
in reading, but it is now understood that carefully guided
playing by ear can be a help to both sight reading and
memorization. The modern piano pupil can reasonably
expect to go to an opera, symphony, or musical comedy
and come home to play the tunes he has heard.
The piano repertory itself takes on a new nature in the
democratic framework. If piano playing is to be part of the
social life of an average student, he must have a repertory
of pieces he likes to play for himself and for his friends.
This means more short pieces, more pieces of an immediate
appeal, and repertory easy enough so that new numbers
may be undertaken frequently. Too often a piano student
has been asked to play, when the only number at hand
is a Ions; complicated selection which is one half-learned,
and might not appeal to the listener even when mastered.
Piano teaching in a democracy means piano teaching
for all who want it. Universal opportunity means a kind
of instruction which will have something to offer each
individual taste. The right kind of instruction will pave
the way for the development of great artists and composers,
and more important, will create a nation of music lovers
and music participants.
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW, OCTOBER, 1945