artist do his best. And so I have never regretted giving cards the
go-by!"


HINTS TO THE SERIOUS VIOLIN STUDENT

Of late years Mr. Kneisel's activity as a teacher has added to his
reputation. Few teachers can point to a galaxy of artist pupils which
includes such names as Samuel Gardner, Sascha Jacobsen, Breskin, Helen
Jeffry and Olive Meade (who perpetuates the ideals of his great string
_ensemble_ in her own quartet). "What is the secret of your method?" I
asked him first of all. "Method is hardly the word," he told me. "It
sounds too cut-and-dried. I teach according to principles, which must,
of course, vary in individual cases; yet whose foundation is fixed. And
like Joachim, or Leschetiszky, I have preparatory teachers.


THE GENERAL FAULT

"My experience has shown me that the fundamental fault of most pupils is
that they do not know how to hold either the bow or the violin. Here in
America the violin student as a rule begins serious technical study too
late, contrary to the European practice. It is a great handicap to begin
really serious work at seventeen or eighteen, when the flexible bones
of childhood have hardened, and have not the pliability needed for
violin gymnastics. It is a case of not bending the twig as you want the
tree to grow in time. And those who study professionally are often more
interested in making money as soon as possible than in bending all their
energies on reaching the higher levels of their art. Many a promising
talent never develops because its possessor at seventeen or eighteen is