 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
The Establishment of String Education in the Public Schools
Charles Farnsworth went to England in 1908. While he was there he observed teachers of the Maidstone Movement. The Maidstone Movement (MM) in England was a program of classroom string instruction in the schools which was developed by T. Mee Pattison of the G. Murdoch company of London in around 1890. The Murdoch company published a method book for use in string class instruction and provided instruments for the students for a small rental price. Farnsworth was greatly impressed by what he saw, and upon his return delivered a speech to the 1908 MTNA annual meeting. Farnsworth reported that over 500,000 stringed instruments had been sold to students in over 5,000 schools in England and that the MM was very successful.Albert Mitchell was apparently impressed by Farnsworth speech. In 1910 Mitchell took a leave of absence from the Boston Public Schools to go to England and observe the MM. Upon his return in 1911 he established the first public school violin class, in the Boston Public Schools. By 1914 Mitchell's classes were included in the regular curriculum and by 1920 was permitted to expand his offerings to flute, clarinet, and percussion. Mitchell also authored his own class method for violin instruction, appropriately titled, Class Method for the Violin. Mitchell's pedagogy differed greatly from the MM, but he did retain many of the ideas of the MM. Among Mitchell's important developments were 1) non-slipping friction pegs for easier tuning, 2) a fingerboard chart which was pasted over the fingerboard, 3) a shoulder rest, 4) a wire E-string, and 5) the use of a "dummy" silent violin and bow.
Other music educators at this time were developing string education in the public schools. Glenn Woods in Oakland, CA, J.W. Beattie in Grand Rapids, and Paul Hurfurth in East Orange, NJ, who wrote his own method book, A Tune a Day, which remains published today.
Copyright © 1996-2006, Michael Hopkins. All Rights Reserved.