ABSTRACT
The musical side of national education was obviously bound up with the growth of this and other mass movements. During the 1830s and 1840s a number of educationalists urged that more serious attention should be given to the teaching of vocal music in junior and infant schools. Hullah was not, of course, the only experimenter in the field of class-singing instruction. Rev. John Curwen was the leading advocate of the Tonic Sol-Fa method, so called from its use of the gamut together with a system of signs to denote time values. The Tonic Sol-Fa method of instruction was in use long before Curwen’s time. Originally intended for the purpose of promoting musical instruction in Sunday schools, Tonic Sol-Fa soon came to be used by teachers in other institutions such as day schools and Mechanics’ Institutes. Amongst the numerous references to music made in Government publications in this period one calls for particular mention.
