Lowell Mason's "The Song Garden" (1864-66): Its Background, Content, and Comparison to a Twentieth-Century Series

Lowell Mason's The Song Garden (1864-66) is a progressively arranged set of three volumes that may be regarded as the first music series books for schoolchildren. According to the publisher, the series is a "systematic, intelligible, and thorough course of teaching vocal music" (p. ii). Following Pestalozzian principles, Mason believed that students should first learn by rote before actually reading music. Following the singing-school tradition, each book began with a strong theoretical introduction in addition to singing exercises and literature for practice. A comparison with Audrey Snyder's The Sight-Singer (1993-94) reveals both similarities and differences in their approaches to vocal instruction.