neat coördination. But now observe a beginner; you will notice tensions all over his body-not only in the fingers that are being used, but in the fingers that are not used, and even in the toes. One who has made no observations along this line will be surprised to note how extensively the muscles throughout the body are made tense when a child of five is just starting to write with a pen, or even with a hard lead-pencil.

I agree with the lecturer quoted, that young children ought to write a large, free hand; and if we Developing the ideas of lightness and rapidity in the place of power and effort

can do so we ought to prevent their making small, cramped letters in the beginning. But how can we accomplish this? When I received the above letter, I began an experiment with a girl of six years of age, who had been having little lessons in writing for three or four weeks. She wrote in the small, cramped way described in the letter. She had learned to write several words, like "hen", "wig", and "pig". When I would ask her to write one of these words, she would grasp her pencil tensely and bend over her paper. Her body would become rigid, her head would go around with her fingers; and she would write slowly and with muscular effort. She illustrated exactly the typical child who

is permitted to follow his own course in a matter of this kind. That is to say, she accentuated effort instead of coördination.

This particular child had used a pencil of very small diameter, which aggravated the tendency to grasp it in a tense way. I substituted for the small, hard pencil one of soft lead and large diameter. Then I asked the child to take the pencil without any tension, simply holding it in her fingers. Next, taking her hand in my own, I asked her to swing it around lightly with me on the letter h. (We were practising on the word "hen".) I called attention to the light-looking line we had made compared with the heavy-looking one she had been making, and said to her that we wanted to make as light a line as we could. After we had written the letter rapidly and lightly, I asked her to try it herself. Of course, when she felt the full responsibility of the task, her tendency was to grip the pencil, and "bear on" in the execution of the task. By observing her and taking her hand again, and emphasizing the idea of writing quickly and making a light line, it was not long before I was able to impress upon her the idea of rapidity and lightness, so that when I would release her hand she would tend to move rapidly and lightly; though, of course, she would easily slip back into her original practice.

We kept at this for five minutes and then let it go. In the afternoon we had another exercise extending over ten minutes, in which first the letter h was written, and then the whole word "hen", in a rapid way, with the idea of making lightness and rapidity prominent. It should be said that the purpose of emphasizing the idea of a light line was to counteract the tendency to make a heavy one. I knew if I could establish the notion of making a very light line, that this would be the best way to release the tensions, and to resist the impulse to apply great muscular power. A child of six can control his muscles in writing if he can only get the idea of doing the thing rapidly and lightly. And if once he can gain the feeling for lightness of line, later on he can make it heavier if this be thought desirable. But what we want to do in the beginning is to give the pupil a set in the direction of making light marks, and running them off swiftly. The last point should be impressed. It is practically certain that if a child works slowly, tensions will develop, and he will "bear on". He will become too conscious of the details of his task, which he will endeavor to execute by giving attention to each element thereof.

CHAPTER VII

TEACHING PUPILS TO EXECUTE-CONCLUDED

THE writer has for several years been following the method used in the teaching of a girl, now fourAn illustration from teen years of age, to play the instruction in music piano. She began her lessons at the age of ten, and has been faithfully practising up until her fourteenth year. She had had no experience in playing previous to beginning instruction with her present instructor, who impressed upon her at the outset the notion that the first requirement was to gain facility in the use of the fingers. The teacher insisted from the start that correct habits must be gained in the control of the hand, the fingers, the wrist, the elbow, the arm, and the body as a whole. The novice was not permitted to practise any exercise in the teacher's presence unless she observed all the technical details mentioned. At the end of the first year, the pupil could play only two or three simple airs; and her chief aim in these was to maintain correct bodily positions, and to exhibit the approved sort of technique in execution. It would be

apparent to any observer that she did not feel the spirit of the thing she was executing. She did not play her selections mainly because she enjoyed them, but rather because they gave opportunity to practise on technique. Her own consciousness was concerned more with accuracy in technical execution than with the spirit, life, and color of the music itself. At the end of the first year of instruction, nothing could induce the pupil to take liberties with the mechanics of playing; and at the end of the fourth year, while some freedom has been gained in execution, nevertheless the thing that looms up in consciousness as of chief value is correct technique. At no point in this girl's instruction has she been made clearly to appreciate that the sole reason for observing mechanical rules at all is to enable her to secure the effects which she desires in her musical expression. She does not view her technique as a means to an end, so much as a thing of value in itself and for its own sake.

Let us now glance at a method of teaching singing in which technique is exalted to the place of Execution chief importance. In a certain eastern in singing city, the supervisor of music not long since issued instructions to the teachers regarding certain details in the teaching of vocal music. First, he complained of the lack of order and self-control