impossible to show exactly how certain touches
produce certain effects. The ear, however, hears these effects, and if
the pupil has the right kind of persistence he will work and work until
he is able to reproduce the same effect that he has heard. Then it will
be found that the touch he employs will be very similar to that used by
the virtuoso he has heard. It may take weeks to show a certain pupil a
kind of touch. The pupil with the trained ear and the willingness to
work might be able to pick up the same touch and produce the same effect
after a few days. A highly developed sense of hearing is of immense
value to the student who attends concerts for the purpose of promoting
his musical knowledge.

THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE TEACHER

"The more one contemplates this subject the more one realizes the
responsibilities of the teacher in the first years of music study. Of
all the pupils who commence in the art there are but few who make it a
part of their lives; many of those who do continue find themselves
handicapped when they reach the more advanced stages of the journey,
owing to inefficient early training. At the period when their time is
the most valuable to them they have to take up studies which should have
been mastered eight or ten years before. The elementary teachers all
over the world have a big responsibility. If they belittle their work
with children and pine for the kind of teaching which the virtuosos
attempt to do, let them realize that they are in a sense the foundation
of the structure, and although perhaps not as conspicuous as the spire
which towers up into the skies, they are certainly of equal importance."

QUESTIONS IN STYLE, INTERPRETATION, EXPRESSION
AND TECHNIC OF PIANOFORTE PLAYING

SERIES IX

KATHARINE GOODSON

1. Is analysis natural to children?

2. When should the first steps in analysis be made?

3. Why is a knowledge of the different dance forms desirable?

4. What may be said of the poetic idea of the piece?

5. What indicates a finely balanced musician?

6. Should phrase analysis be taught at an early age?

7. Is the ability to identify a chord by hearing more important than the
ability to identify it by sight?

8. Does a trained ear help in the acquisition of touch?

9. What may the pupil learn from concerts?

10. When is the teacher's responsibility greatest?

JOSEF HOFMANN

BIOGRAPHICAL

Josef Hofmann was born at Cracow, Russia, January 20, 1877. Hi