Pierre Galin
Encyclopedia
Pierre Galin was a French music educator, and developer of what became the Galin-Paris-Chevé system.
Galin studied mathematics and commerce, and became a mathematics teacher in Bourdeaux
, at a school for children with speech and hearing difficulties. He studied music on his own, but had difficulty understanding his textbooks until he discovered the principles of movable do solfège
. He advised separate study of pitch and rhythm, and devised a numbered musical notation
similar to that of Rousseau, although he recommended students learn staff notation as well.
After success teaching with his ideas in Bourdeaux, he moved to Paris
where he led a group of enthusiastic students, especially Aimé Paris
. Paris ended up plagiarizing his ideas in print, and later claimed never to have known him. Galin became sick, though he continued teaching up to his death.
but only a keynote indicated, from which he pointed tunes with a stick for the students to sing. For rhythm, he advocated a chronomerist, a table of note values all clearly related to a single unit, which makes clear the accentual patterns.
Galin studied mathematics and commerce, and became a mathematics teacher in Bourdeaux
Bourdeaux
Bourdeaux is a commune in the Drôme department in southeastern France.-Population:...
, at a school for children with speech and hearing difficulties. He studied music on his own, but had difficulty understanding his textbooks until he discovered the principles of movable do solfège
Solfege
In music, solfège is a pedagogical solmization technique for the teaching of sight-singing in which each note of the score is sung to a special syllable, called a solfège syllable...
. He advised separate study of pitch and rhythm, and devised a numbered musical notation
Numbered musical notation
The numbered musical notation, better known as in Chinese, is a musical notation system widely used among the Chinese people. Some people call it the numeric notation or numerical notation, but it is not to be confused with the integer notation...
similar to that of Rousseau, although he recommended students learn staff notation as well.
After success teaching with his ideas in Bourdeaux, he moved to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
where he led a group of enthusiastic students, especially Aimé Paris
Aimé Paris
Aimé Paris was a French scholar. He was the developer of a method of stenography, and co-developer and propagator of what became the Galin-Paris-Chevé system of music notation.Paris studied mathematics and law, and became a lawyer...
. Paris ended up plagiarizing his ideas in print, and later claimed never to have known him. Galin became sick, though he continued teaching up to his death.
System
He never published an explanation of his teaching system, although Explanation of a New Way of Teaching Music (1818), addressed to the teacher, sets out many of his ideas. In addition to his new notation, he advocated the use of meloplast ("song-shaper"), a staff with no clefClef
A clef is a musical symbol used to indicate the pitch of written notes. Placed on one of the lines at the beginning of the staff, it indicates the name and pitch of the notes on that line. This line serves as a reference point by which the names of the notes on any other line or space of the staff...
but only a keynote indicated, from which he pointed tunes with a stick for the students to sing. For rhythm, he advocated a chronomerist, a table of note values all clearly related to a single unit, which makes clear the accentual patterns.
Reference
- Kenneth Simpson. Some Great Music Educators. Borough Green: Novello, 1976. Pages 20–22.