Pierre Galin (16 December 1786–31 August 1821) was a French
music educator
Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do origina ...
, and developer of what became the
Galin-Paris-Chevé system
The Galin-Paris-Chevé system is a method of reading music, based on the ideas of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, founded by Pierre Galin (1786–1821) and developed by Aimé Paris (1798–1866), his sister Nanine Paris (1800–1868), and her husband à ...
.
Life and career
Galin studied mathematics and commerce, and became a mathematics teacher in
Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...
, 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
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher ('' philosophe''), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects ...
, although he recommended students learn staff notation as well.
After success teaching with his ideas in Bordeaux, he moved to
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
where he led a group of enthusiastic students, especially
Aimé Paris
Aimé Paris (1798–1866) 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 l ...
. 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. He is buried in
Père Lachaise Cemetery
Père Lachaise Cemetery (, , formerly , ) is the largest cemetery in Paris, France, at . With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world.
Buried at Père Lachaise are many famous figures in the ...
.
System
He never published an explanation of his teaching system, although his ''Exposition d’une nouvelle méthode pour l’enseignement de la musique'' or ''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 ''méloplaste'' ("song-shaper"), a staff with no
clef
A clef (from French: 'key') is a musical symbol used to indicate which notes are represented by the lines and spaces on a musical staff. Placing a clef on a staff assigns a particular pitch to one of the five lines or four spaces, whic ...
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.
Works
* ''Exposition d’une nouvelle méthode pour l’enseignement de la musique / Explanation of a New Way of Teaching Music'' (3 eds.: 1818, 1835, 1862)
Notes
References
* Kenneth Simpson. ''Some Great Music Educators''. Borough Green: Novello, 1976. Pages 20–22.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Galin, Pierre
1786 births
1822 deaths
French music educators
Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery