To Whom It May Concern:

In our technical time, music – once the most spiritual art of mankind – is in danger of becoming a mechanical skill of highly technical perfection and precision.

Miss McClintock’s way of teaching goes back to the original sources of music. Among many stunning features, I just want to mention a few:

1)    By introducing the weight technique from the very beginning, she supplies the pupil with the essence of musical playing: a beautiful tone.

2)    The keyboard concealer gives the pupil a mastery of the keyboard, which is the best preparation for a very neglected skill: good sight reading.

3)    One of the greatest chapters in the book – the one on rhythm and dynamics – refers to the proper breathing in music. This reminds me of the European training, where every instrumentalist – voice or no voice – had to take singing lessons. Thus a phrase gets – naturally – the musical expression. Rhythm and rubato are explained by physical laws as well as by a proper breathing control which, needless to say, forms such an important part of Indian philosophy.

4)      Theory and harmony are introduced in a way that the pupil learns it without going through hundreds of tiring exercises. In the Course, the pupil is able to harmonize a given melody and to play a basso continuo.

The whole method is a wonderful way not only to teach individuals, but especially large groups without ever slipping into mechanical training.

Lotte Cardinal, O.R.M.T.A.
(Ontario Registered Music Teachers Association)