them. sound ; 
- and this of mine which after all is 
REPORTS FROM THE SECTIONS. 291 
People might almost as well say, “ But then Sydney harbour is so 
lovely !” No, the music-hall is not what most presses! But there 
are some other persons who suggest having practices of orchestral 
and vocal music. This scheme, though in principle better than 
the other, is practically, in my opinion, as powerless to serve the 
five or six of these persons attend ; at the next meeting perhaps a 
few more, or a few less ; and this is your average luck throu 
the season. Now, of these serious members— say serious 
because they are in earnest and attend—few know enough to 
execute their parts even roughly. Dubious tune, fantastic time, 
indescribable bowing, é&c., are among their characteristics—an 
is from no fault, mind you, of their own. ey cannot do 
as 
the necessity of sound grounding in an art they imagin 
merely of pastime and a fair ; 
Knowing little more than the rudiments of music, they have 
they seek to be. Learning was, perhaps, not to their tastes. 
yet learning alone is the way to progress ; it is by trouble and 
learning we can alone hope to see music flourishing in our midst. 
It is useless to go singing in choruses if you do not know your 
solfége and the management of your voice—it is useless to sit in 
i stiff and heavy, and your 
rt and asa whole more than 
school for music as we have for drawing. : Let us teach boys and 
girls in preference to men and women, and thus sow what we may 
T have seen or known to be done 
_ One, though perhaps its carrying out here might meet with a few 
