Excerpt from First Theory Book
Object
The object of this Theory Book is to provide the student with such a background of musical experience, through his sense of hearing, as well as through his intelligence, as shall enable him to study to some purpose Form, Harmony, and the other branches of Musical Theory.
The work covered in this book is, therefore, distinctly preparatory, and is intended to precede, not to replace, more formal study.
Method of Study
The subject-matter of all theory books is approximately the same. The differences between them are largely in the order and manner of presentation of the various topics. In this book, the explanations and directions for practising the Exercises may seem unnecessarily detailed; but, at the risk of being tedious, the author has endeavored to write out the consecutive steps that most students must take in mastering the different subjects.
In the opinion of the author, phrasing should be introduced in music-study at the earliest possible moment; hence its place at the beginning of the book. The experienced teacher will, of course, teach two topics, such as Phrasing and Scales, or Note-Values and Scales, at the same lesson, if it seems advisable to do so.
Ear-Training
The most vital part of the whole subject of Theory teaching is Ear-training. It is impossible to overstate the importance which the training of the ear should occupy in the minds of both teacher and pupil.
It is much more necessary that a pupil shall recognize scale-degrees, intervals, chords, etc., by hearing, than that he shall know them merely by name, or when he sees them on paper.
As far as possible, everything that the pupil learns as an intellectual fact, should first have been registered through his sense of hearing.
Dictation, oral and written, is the surest way for a teacher to discover just how much a pupil hears. It is almost impossible to spend too much time on dictation exercises.
The pupil can train his own ear to a large extent by singing. Therefore, many of the exercises are to be sung.
It is so very possible for a pupil to write a correct exercise without having the vaguest idea of what it sounds like, that the author suggests that the pupil shall sing aloud the pitch of every note while he writes it. All writing should, of course, be done away from the piano.
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