Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 39, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 June 1896 — PRACTICAL. [ARTICLE]

PRACTICAL.

Value of a Good Efer for Music Apart from Music. V It is probable that a good ear for music has some value apart from music, but it is not great. In the management of rapidly moving machinery a musical ear, which quickly detects variation of pitch, and, therefore, of speed—for the pitch of the sound depends on the speed—is of considerable use. A farmer with a_good ear can detect at once if the thrashing-machine is improperly “fed,” for its speed increases and the sound it emits is of higher pitch when an insufficient amount of corn is supplied, and in the same way the electrician can tell if an electric motor is running at Its due speed. With a musical ear the physician more readily interprets the sounds elicited by percussing the chest, and the potter more easily separates the sound from the unsound. It is a moot point whether the musical are naturally the better readers and speakers, but there is no doubt that they improve more quickly when taught elocution, for they can appreciate the pitch of their own voices and so correct their errors. A good ear includes an acute appreciation of time or rhythm, and this is of use to, for example, the stroke of a boat or a drill-sergeant.