Condensed Methods
Is there any such thing as a shortcut in voice training? The only one I know anything about is finding out exactly what the pupil needs, and giving it to him. In this way some time might be saved in getting started properly, but beyond that it is a matter of growth, and an attempt to shorten the time by forcing the growth means failure.
The phenomenal growth of American industry has worked a hardship to American art. The spirit of American enterprise has taken possession of the American student and follows him on his excursions into the realm of art. The result is that he is in a hurry. He wants to work fast and get through with it. If it is possible to shorten the process he wants it done. Modern machinery and methods have reduced to a minimum the effort of producing almost everything, and it seems only natural that the same principle should be carried into educational processes. When a man becomes a millionaire over night it is easy for him to believe there is a similar method by which he may have his voice trained.
To meet this demand various condensed methods have been evolved with the evident intention of catching the unwary. I always associate condensed methods with condensed milk, and I abominate them equally.
The condemning feature of the condensed method is its deception. Pupils are led to misapprehend totally the nature and substance of music. They come to think of it as a problem in mathematics, the solution of which is the end. Two and two are four. When that conclusion is reached that particular subject is exhausted. Music is a problem, the solution of which is eternal. It is a form of thinking entirely distinct from every other. It is a medium for the transfer of feeling, hence a language. If one would express himself in this language he must learn to think in it. It has a grammar, a rhetoric and a logic which require a vast deal of time to master. Its substance is mental. Its boundaries are yet to be discovered. Its source is in the infinite mind, of which man is a growing expression.
It was a favorite saying of Mr. Plutarch that "Perseverance is more prevailing than violence;" but the student who has read somewhere that "The kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it by force" is inclined to storm the citadels of art and have done with it. He chafes at delay, and wants to reap all of the rewards of the finished artist without going through the long process of development necessary.
Many lasting failures have been made by going before the public too soon. A considerable amount of cool judgment and self restraint are necessary on the part of both teacher and student to counteract this tendency. Many students expect the teacher to push them forward and get them opportunities to sing. If he does not do it and is inclined to hold them back until he feels that they are thoroughly prepared, he is very likely to be misunderstood, and it oftentimes costs him the pupil.
American music will be as good as American musicians; no better. The thing that should concern every one of us is how to make better musicians of ourselves and our students. In this process there is no place for condensed methods, short courses, "music made easy" systems.