Music as a field of concentration need not be confined to those intending to become professional musicians. As a purely cultural subject, or as an avocation, music is unexcelled. It is eminently a corporate and a sociable art. Enjoyment of music increases in direct proportion to the amount of training. Moreover, there is need of intelligent, trained, musical amateurs, if America is to develop a musical tradition comparable to that of Europe.

Courses in the Department of Music group themselves into three chief types, according to the men who give them; technical, appreciative, and scholastic. In the fast class are the materials of musical technique--Harmony, Counterpoint, and Composition. The instructors in this branch are Professor Piston and Mr. Merritt. Professor Piston is a man of great ability, in full command of his subject, and actually engaged in musical composition. No less capable as an instructor is Mr. Merritt, enthusiastic to the last degree, with an omnivorous musical appetite. The method of instruction in these courses is based on the French system, fundamental and thorough, but emphasis is laid upon the material as found in actual compositions, rather than as stuff for endless exercises.

Courses in the appreciative group are those given by Professors Hill and Ballantine. Beside the simple general courses, Music 3 and Music 4, additional courses are offered from time to time either in studies of the works of one man or of one nation.

The scholastic courses, those given by Dr. Davison and Mr. Woodworth, are especially valuable. Chief among these is Music 3a, The History of Choral Music. In this course the lectures are only a framework; the body of the work is a series of reports based on the examination of scores. The examinations are different from all others in the Department, stressing the "case method," in which the student makes out cases to identify excerpts from works of the composers and periods studied. This course is especially valuable, not only for the subject matter, but for the development of the scholastic point of view as a basis for discrimination. However, a relatively light schedule should be planned for the year in which 3a is to be taken, for, though it is not overdifficult, it demands an almost exorbitant amount of time. In this same class are the Bach courses given by Mr. Woodworth, who has adopted Dr. Davison's methods in toto.

All courses and the tutorial work stress one common point--acquaintance with actual compositions by analyses and reports, while the recently revised general examinations are designed to test the student's comprehensive knowledge of musical literature.

There are few fields of concentration where opportunities for immediate practical application of knowledge are equal to those available to Music students. Reside many concerts in Boston and Cambridge, there is the Glee Club, the college choir, the Pierian Sodality for those who play orchestral instruments, and informal groups organizing to learn particular works.

Study in this department is centralized in the Music Building. In the Music Library books required in courses are on reserve, and all the standard classic and modern literature is available, as well as books and a very complete collection of records, which may be played on the phonographs in the Building.