Music Appreciation by Television

Abstract

E ARLY in the 1951-1952 Winter Semester, the Music Division of Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, was approached by the University Broadcasting Council to consider the possibility of offering over television a three-hour credit course in Music Appreciation. Since September 1951, the University had been offering over television two credit courses, General Psychology and Comparative Literature, which were to be followed in December by a second series, Child Psychology and Physical Geography. Each series, presenting two courses, adhered to the thirteen-week units common to television production. A third series, General Economics and Music Appreciation, was scheduled to begin March 18, 1952. The idea of a telecourse, as these offerings came to be designated, was therefore not entirely unknown to members of the Music Division. Challenged by the prospect of reaching thousands of viewers daily in this comparatively new field and in part flattered by the proffered opportunity, the members of the Music Division attempted to crystallize notions hitherto unarticulated in regard to the teaching of music appreciation and to arrive at a sound philosophy with regard to basic objectives, methodology, and procedures.