2. Monotone time tests, which should be quite short, as the constant
repetition of the same note in pitch is irritating to the more sensitive
ears in a class. This point is sometimes overlooked, with the result
that only the less musical children get any real benefit from the tests.

By the time that children can sing at sight in the key of D major they
will be ready to take down from dictation short melodic phrases in time
and tune. A useful plan is for the phrase to be played over three times,
the children listening carefully and beating time. They should then sing
the phrase once through to _lah_, and write it down.

This method of dictation is more satisfactory than that of dictating a
bar at a time, as it draws attention to musical phrases as a whole.
Later on it will be found possible to dictate in the same way longer and
longer phrases. Incidentally the memory is being trained as well as the
ear.

The class should be accustomed to write phrases which do not
necessarily begin on the first beat of the bar. The handwriting, exact
position of accidentals, &c., should be carefully watched. With young
children it is well to use manuscript books which have the lines ruled
very widely apart--a little child's hand soon gets cramped if it is made
to write in an ordinary manuscript book.

When a class can take down simple melodies correctly it is time to begin
two-part work. As a preliminary, get a child to play middle C on the
piano, then to combine with it each of the notes of the scale of C major
in turn. The class will decide which of these two-part chords are
pleasant to listen to. Opinion is generally unanimous in favour of the
third, sixth, and octave, which will therefore be the basis of the first