MUSIC TEACHING

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 20, 25 January 1938, Page 7

MUSIC TEACHING

• THE CLASS METHOD

SIR PERCY BUCK A CONVERT

(From "The Post's" Representative.) LONDON, January 1.

The class method of teaching instruinental music is' advocated by Sir Percy Buck,, the King Edward Professor of Music at the London Univer-

$*y-i '.■■":; ■■■ ;;'r':yil t. ;- '-"''■ ';? At'the annual conference of the Incorporated Society'of Musicians, he declare^ : that he-had been "converted." At one'time he had thougnt the method to, be, impossible.. Now . he believed that there were millions of school cfiildfen.alloyer England who.could.be taught.'.'•/Ih" most cases'they were! not being; taught because many' musicians did not believe .in .class.teaching, tri-; vate music teachers should realis'e^that such classes,- far from competing with. their own :work,' provided .them'iwithJ private/pupils.'they.perhaps' would not get otherwise.' ' V .'. .:: ■ ' ■.' ' ,'.. Describing his. "coriyersion," Sir Percy-told; the .cbrifererice that' one' day,.about', 10 irears ago,' the ; headmaster of ;a Londop County-; Council boys' school asked him if he. would like to hear the school's -violin- class" atprac-1 tice. It was the last thirig in .the world that he : wished .to hear.' He im'agi^d that a. certa^h; number:of boys Would bring.outjyiolins; all,out of tune,;.and w'puld^play "something like Handel's Largo-which ', was "all minims and crochets..". \ ../ ■ -; . ....

'What -.he.fpund; was an ordinary school"'.fojr poor boys! About 40.boys came into the classroom with violins, and one boy went to the harmonium and another to the piano. The master brought out a long list of music and asked what he would hear. He looked down the list, which seemed to consist of music which was absolutely impossible for ordinary-schoolboys to play. Tpwards the end of the'list appeared Bach's double Concerto in D Minor.

.■Thinking.it might have been slipped in as "eye-wash," he said, "I. would like to hear the Bach." Two boys stepped out to play the solo parts and the other boys played the first and second violin parts, while the piano and harmonium put in the rest The result was so extraordinarily good that he could never have conceived it possible. ■It was so good.that he said to :Sir Hugh Allen, Director of the Royal College -of Music, the next day, "Will you come and hear an L.C.C. boys' school play the Bach double Concerto" and he replied. "No, I won't." (Laughter.) The next week, however, he consented to go to the school, very much against his will, and sat there looking as. if he were expecting to be attacked by some virulent disease. (Laughter.) When.' the boys had played about two bars he suddenly sat up and took notice.

At the end of the first movement he stopped the playing, went up to the two soloists and said: "I will give you two boys scholarships at the Royal College of Music now if you like to take them." The boys said "Yes," and next term they went to the college. One of them was now first violin to the Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra, and the other was violin master to a public school. That was the.sort-of thing that could be done by class teaching.