_Music and speech._ Speech has the same media as music; namely, pitch, loudness, time, and timbre which result in such musical forms as tonal and dynamic inflection, rhythm, articulation, and vowel quality. A child is, of course, not conscious of any of these as such, and yet, under favorable circumstances, will quickly develop beautiful speech, which means that it is well inflected, well modulated in loudness, beautifully rhythmic, rich and clear in vowel qualities. If the child has a good ear, instinctive liking for these aspects of speech will develop surprisingly early. To give the child musical environment means therefore not only exposure to formal music but rather a motivation for hearing musically all sounds around him, for acting rhythmically, and feeling the rhythmic impulse in all forms of activity, for responding by imitation or other forms of appreciation to all sounds beautiful. These acquisitions naturally take the form of beautiful speech. Musical education in the nursery, therefore, comes most effectively through informal education toward beautiful speech. The child becomes proficient in speech long before he becomes correspondingly proficient in musical performance and appreciation. It is therefore very important to recognize that music and speech employ the same medium; namely, sounds which vary in pitch, loudness, duration, and kind. The child reveals flexibility, richness, rhythm, and all other forms of meaningful inflection in speech earlier than he does in music. Indeed, by the time the child leaves the nursery, even at the age of five, his characteristic form and command of speech are fairly crystallized. The command of elements of beautiful speech is the first step in a beautiful singing voice. Speech is an index to character, and the means for the development of character. Beautiful speech is musical speech. Genuinely beautiful speech is a revelation of beautiful character. Let the mother who worries about early piano or violin lessons first give thought to formal sympathetic cultivation of a beautiful speaking voice. Unfortunately, the child's speech is very largely determined by imitation of those around him. How few mothers and fathers, how few teachers, how few older children have beautiful speech! The young child as a rule, therefore, encounters unfavorable speech environment. The civilized world is just awakening to the possibilities and significance of beautiful and effective speech. Train the young child to the appreciation and development of power in beautiful and effective speech, and you will have laid the best foundations for musical appreciation and formal entrance upon musical training.