Measures of Musical Talents of Selected Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Grade Pupils of the West District School, Galveston, Texas

Author

Thelma Theresa Bailey, Prairie View State Normal and Industrial College

Date of Award

8-1938

Document Type

Undergraduate Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Degree Discipline

Music

Abstract

In the large cities the most natural solution is the employment of a consulting supervisor of music, who shall be given general charge of the organization of surveys, the adjustment of the curriculum for the introduction of the tests and exercises, the planning of follow-up work, the giving of individual counsel and more intensive examinations, and the adjustment of groupings for instruction in the public schools on the basis of ascertained talent.

In the smaller cities, towns and communities we must trust to the leadership of some one or more teachers who take on those responsibilities in addition to their other duties.

We have found that the Fifth Grade is the best stage for this survey because the children, as a class, are able to take a responsible attitude at that age, and it is early enough to start them in a musical education in the event it had been neglected up to that time.

The child feces another turning point In the Eighth Grade. Here a limited group will transfer to the high school and trade schools and enter upon a new adjustment of studies marked by the beginning of elections. The majority will, however, leave school to work and the avocation for life is probably chosen more frequently in this pre-adolescent year then in any other year. For both of these classes of pupils the claims of music, particularly as an avocation, should be presented in the most attractive form and on specific knowledge about natural endowment of the pupil for music.

It is, therefore, recognized that these six tests, and others which may be added from time to time, should be repeated in the Eighth Grade throughout the city.

In addition to these mesurements we should have at this stage an analyzed rating by teachers which might be the result of gradually accumulating observations and records of performances in the entire class in the grammar school. This should embrace primarily sight reading, voice register, quality of voice, and record and rating of musical activities, musical interests, and musical progress.

Except for the pedagogical value of the exercises, there is no object in making these measurements unless they are to he taken into account for the counsel and discriminating encouragement of children, parents, and music teachers. Different methods must be followed in different schools according to the personalities of teachers and supervisors and the prevailing activities in the city.

The tests may also serve as a clinical purpose in that persons who have entered seriously upon a musical education and have struck difficulties may have the situation analyzed and diagnosed so that the exact nature of the difficulty may be known.¹

1 C. E. Seashore, The Psychology of Musical Talent.

Committee Chair/Advisor

O. Anderson Fuller

Publisher

Prairie View State Normal and Industrial College

Rights

Date of Digitization

8-27-2021

Contributing Institution

John B Coleman Library

City of Publication

Prairie View

MIME Type

Application/PDF

Recommended Citation

Bailey, T. T. (1938). Measures of Musical Talents of Selected Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Grade Pupils of the West District School, Galveston, Texas. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.pvamu.edu/pvamu-theses/310