Leth at Unir, Exhibit,
- Chroago, 1893
The Introduction of the
Study of Music
into the Public Schools
of America.
By James C. Johnson.
THE INTRODUCTION
OF THE
STUDY OF MUSIC
INTO THE
PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF AMERICA
BY
JAMES C. JOHNSON
1893
CHICAGO.
KINDERGARTEN LITERATURE CO
WOMAN'S TEMPLE.
Columbia, thou strong land! Columbia, thou song-land!
Awake to thy greatness; rejoice in this day!
Unsealed are the lips that were dumb in the morning,
The noontide is on thee; awake the glad lay.
Sing praise to the Giver! sing joy to the nation!
Sing, sing on our way to that future so bright.
No one dare foretell it; the years shall reveal it-
This kingdom of music, of joy, and of light!
- James C. Johnson.
HISTORY OF THE INTRODUCTION OF THE
STUDY OF MUSIC INTO THE COMMON
SCHOOLS OF AMERICA.
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About the year 1832 (the exact date cannot here be
given) the Boston public was electrified by the announce-
ment of a concert, by a juvenile choir of two hundred
members, under the charge of Lowell Mason. At the
present time it is hard to realize the then prevalent belief
about singing,- that it was a gift confined to a certain
limited number of people. Others, who had no "musical
ear," could not learn. Lowell Mason was the apostle of
a new dispensation, holding that everyone who could
talk could sing. The writer attended the concert. He
beheld the galleries of the Bowdoin-street church entirely
filled with happy girls and boys. Lowell Mason was at
the organ. Dr. Lyman Beecher and a great body of in-
fluential ladies and gentlemen were in the pulpit and the
pews. The singing was heavenly,—such as had never
before been heard in America. The occasion is worth
noting, as the first public event that gave the impulse to
a new departure in the study of song.
The choir whose public effort was so successful met
for rehearsal in the underground vestry of Bowdoin-
street church, which place may be regarded as the birth-
place of American popular musical instruction. The
choir consisted of a large number of girls and twenty to
thirty boys. A large proportion of its members in after
years became music teachers or noted singers. Lowell
* Mason, in his inimitable way, taught us the elements of
music, and wrote on the blackboard the exercises, which
are substantially the same as those now used in schools.
We gave various public performances: one in the old
Brattle-street church and one in old Trinity church. The
choir is thus described, as it gained the favor of the pub-
lic, and made possible the introduction of the new branch
of instruction into the school curriculum.
The exact date of the first music lesson in the public
schools cannot be given. The writer's impression is that
the experiment was tried in one or two schools and then
extended to the others. Probably lessons had already
been given in Alcott's Mt. Vernon School and in the
Chauncy Hall School, both private institutions. In 1842
the system was in full operation, under the superintend-
ence of Lowell Mason. A. M. Johnson, Geo. F. Root,
Albert Denke, and the writer were Boston public school
music teachers.
One or two lessons per week were given. The
school's master was always present, to preserve order.
Usually about two hundred, including the older scholars
of each school, received the lesson. As the pupils were
of different ages and belonged to different classes, and
as there was no study of music between lessons, it may
well be believed that the teacher's task was a difficult
one. Lowell Mason, however, was fully competent, and
his followers imitated him to the best of their ability.
A lesson program was as follows: (1) Scale singing,
in all sorts of measure, beating time; (2) Blackboard
lesson on the elements, which were gone through with
once a year; (3) Blackboard exercises in note reading,
including simple songs. About mid-year came the for-
midable transposition of the scale. There were also
drill in song singing, and singing of hymn tunes. As
during an average school life a pupil went through this
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course three or four times, the teaching was reasonably
thorough.
Under the auspices of the Boston Acadeny there
were assembled in those days great musical conventions,
attended by large numbers of music teachers and choir
leaders from all parts of the country. These people,
whose thundering choruses will long be remembered,
carried back to their own regions Boston notions about
music, and among the other notions that of music in
schools.
A movement of the greatest value to musical progress
was the immense increase in the number of teachers in
the schools who could sing. The visiting music teacher
was no longer the sole dependence. He now could set
the music lesson, which was, like a geography or arithme-
tic lesson, to be studied daily and recited weekly or fort-
nightly to the music teacher. It became possible to ex-
tend the area of musical study to the lower grammar and
primary grades. In 1850 music had become a common
branch of study in many cities and large towns. In
smaller places there was delay.
Allusion has been made to the “Juvenile Choir of the
Boston Academy of Music.” This continued its good
work, continually winning friends to the cause, and raising
up active young singers and teachers, until, in 1842, it
came under the care of the writer, and in "Anniversary
Week” of that year gave its annual concert, for the bene-
fit of the throng of ministers who attended the religious
meetings of that week. The concert was in the form of
a May festival, and the stage of the Odeum (then under
the control of the “Academy”) was decorated with
flowers, festoons, statuary, etc. It is believed that this
was the first, and the origin of all the cantata concerts,
and from similar exhibitions in ensuing years, under the
same leadership, came the harvest concerts common to
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schools and Sunday schools, and the school and Sunday-
school Christmas festivals. Similar classes in towns and
cities, in connection with some free music teaching in
schools, aided or resulted in the introduction of regular
musical instruction.
It remains to speak of some peculiar obstacles that
were in the way of the new movement in musical in-
struction. It was to be expected that want of time and
want of money would be pleaded, and it was not sur-
prising that head masters were not zealous for the
addition of a new branch of study, with increased care for
teachers. The strange thing was, that there was a preva-
lent feeling among men and boys that singing was.wom-
anish, or girlish, and boys were ashamed to sing. It
required many years of effort to overcome this nonsensi-
cal feeling.
Now, thank God, the victory is accomplished, and
voiceless Columbia has become a land of song!
JAMES C. JOHNSON.
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