sy to teach a pupil to strike certain piano keys
in such a way as to produce the correct melody, harmony, and rhythm of
a certain composition; but who would venture, even in these days of
frenzied advertising, to promise that in so many lessons he could
teach a pupil to play it as a Hofmann or a Paderewski would? Here
again we see clearly the contrast between science and art, matters of
science being always susceptible of organization into a body of
principles and laws _which will work in every case_, while art is
intangible, subtle, and ever-varying.

The application of our illustration to conducting should now be clear.
We may teach a beginner how to wield a baton according to conventional
practice, how to secure firm attacks and prompt releases, and possibly
a few other definitely established facts about conducting; but unless
our would-be leader has musical feeling within him and musicianship
back of him, it will be utterly futile for him to peruse these pages
further, or to make any other kind of an attempt to learn to conduct;
for, as stated above, only a very small part of conducting can be
codified into rules, directions, and formulae, by far the larger part
of our task being based upon each individual's own innate musical
feeling, and upon the general musical training that he has undergone.
All this may be discouraging, but on the other hand, granting a fair
degree of native musical ability, coupled with a large amount of solid
music study, any one possessing a sense of leadership can, after a
reasonable amount of intelligent practice, learn to handle a chorus or
even an orchestra in a fairly satisfactory manner. It is our purpose
in general to treat the scientific rather than the artistic side of
conducting, and we are taking for granted, therefore, that the reader
is endowed with musical feeling at least in a fair degree, and has
acquired the rudiments of musical scholarship as the result of an
extensive study of piano, organ, singing, ear-training, music history,
harmony, _et cetera_, and especially by attentive listening to a very
large amount of good music with score in hand. As a result of
combining such musical ability with a careful reading of these pages
and with a large amount of practice in actually wielding the baton, it
is hoped that the beginner will arrive at his goal somewhat earlier
than he would if he depended entirely upon what the psychologist calls
the "trial-and-error" method of learning.