y
not, for music is composed of a small number of elements, which are
found for the most part in any popular air, and almost every person
can sing one or more of these airs correctly. It is not, then, the
musical ear nor the sense of time which is wanting. Neither is the
cause to be attributed to the fact that few study music; for, although
the teaching of music is by no means so general as it should be, still
it is taught in our schools, public and private, singing-schools are
common even in our small villages, and there is no lack of teachers
both of vocal and instrumental music. And yet out of every hundred
who take up the study of music, it is safe to say that about
ninety abandon it after a short time, discouraged by the almost
insurmountable difficulties presented at every turn. Only those
succeed who are endowed with rare natural aptitude, an indomitable
will, and time--four or five years at least--to devote to an art which
is as yet a luxury to the masses of the people.

M. Galin, his pupil M. Cheve and other advocates of reform in musical
notation declare that the people are deprived of this grand source of
culture because of the blind, inconsistent and wholly unscientific
nature of the ordinary musical notation. At first this seems
incredible, but one has only to compare this notation with that
elaborated by Emile Cheve after Galin's theory to become convinced
that the statement is true. People are apt to say, "Why, it cannot
be that our system of writing music is so defective: in this age of
improvements and scientific precision gross inconsistencies would have
been eliminated long ago." And so, indeed, they would have been but
for the fact that the very basis of the system is altogether at
fault. How are the Chinese, for example, to "improve" their system of
writing? It is simply impossible. They have some thousands of abstract
characters, hieroglyphs standing for things or thoughts. All these
must be swept away, and in their place must come an alphabet where
each letter stands for an elementary sound. These elementary sounds
are few in number in any language. So of our musical notation. It is
doubtful if it can be materially improved; it must be discarded for a
system of fewer elements and a more clear and precise combination of
them.

No, it is not strange that we have not adopted a better method of
musical notation before this. Think how long a struggle it required to
abandon the cumbersome Roman notat