After the rudiments were mastered, it could easily be
decided which pupils had a natural bent demanding special training.
Where music study becomes compulsory the blunder of permitting the
compulsion to be felt must be avoided. Socrates of old, in Plato's
Republic, advised making early education a sort of amusement. Those who
heed his counsel should not forget that in turning music study
altogether into play work there is danger of weakening the will. The
tottering footsteps should be guided wisely, as well as tenderly, in the
first approach to the Temple of Art, that the pupil may learn to walk,
as well as to observe and think independently. We most prize beauty that
we are able to discern for ourselves. We gain strength by intelligently
conquering our own problems and perplexities. "Nothing is impossible,"
as Mirabeau has said, "for one who can will."
The aim of music study is to know music, to gain a correct conception of
how it should sound, and so, as far as possible, to make it sound.
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