Music as a Living Organism
One of the compelling aims of musical education is captured in the metaphor of the living organism, in the sense of vitality that pervades its every aspect. (Jorgensen, pg. 123)
I think of all the things to wonder over in this book, no other can better bring this class full circle than this one. Music truly is alive, in every sense of the word. What a better display of celebration and heartbreak, tradition and innovation, culture and humanity, than music itself. Music has grown with us, evolved with us, been there to comfort us and helped us to celebrate. It’s almost as if music is a companion that doesn’t leave our side, much like the puppy Amanda and I adopted last week.
So I wonder what it means, as music educators, that music is a living thing? Let’s attack this from a few different perspectives:
We need to be proud of it.
We need to treat music with as much care as we would our own child. We need to show a love and respect for it. We need to advocate for it, not just when our program is on the chopping block, but at all times. We need to show off the music that lives inside of our programs not just at our concerts, but we should be taking pictures of our music, making recordings, making videos and sharing it with our community at all times. We want to see our music growing up, not just seeing it twice a year at our “family reunions.” Oh look! Music came for Christmas! Ok, see you for the Pops Concert in May!”
We need to let it grow up.
Just like a good parent knows when to give a child space and let him make his own mistakes, so do we with music. When we grow up, we seek to acquire knowledge, and with that knowledge we become better individuals. When our child passes fifth grade, what do we do next fall? Send him to sixth grade. I think in the same regard, we can’t keep sending music back to the 20th century. It’s time for music to learn some new tricks. While there will be some embarrassing moments for music this century, there will be far more moments of pure genius. We need to embrace keyboards, guitars and computers. Technology and innovation are good things for music. As my colleague once told me: If Bach had indoor plumbing, he would have used it.
We need to keep it healthy.
Music survives on humanity’s own passion for it. The more people seek out musical experiences, the more alive and well music becomes. In that regard, the only way to keep music healthy is to keep supplying it with aficionados, amateurs and professionals who intelligently seek out ways to spend time with it. If we provide our students with curricula and programs that stifle or even eradicate their love of music, it becomes a weaker entity. If we have curricula that increases that passion, we will create a society of music advocates that will ensure music a long, healthy life.
With this transformation, I think it comes down to a much more individual level. Just for one example, I think music programs would be far more appreciated if we each had a website that documented how our music grows. Think about this: on the first day of school, in the first five minutes of class, record your band or chorus sight reading a piece. Halfway between that day and the concert, record again. Then, before you perform that song live, play a part of both recordings. Imagine how captivated the audience will be when they see what beauty has grown from your first day with the students. How can they not love that?
So better documentation of the music growing process is one thing. I was recently tipped off to a website from Dr. Campbell called EdModo. This website is a lot like Facebook, except it’s completely run by the teacher, very secure, no advertisements, etc. Here’s what’s awesome: your students can have a discussion about what’s going on in your class, upload recordings, assignments and Blogs. You can distribute special parent codes so parents can login and look at special pages where students upload their work. Parents can see the entire creative process for themselves. They can see how much discussion, planning and work is required for each musical endeavor their child takes on.
Now, how about our reluctance to admit it’s 2011? I’m not saying we should embrace every rock and rap song on the radio, but how about think about how actual musicians learn and interact today? It’s been fifty plus years since the advent of the rock band, and it’s just now trickling into schools. If I had to guess (and I am), I would say that jazz bands didn’t start in public schools concurrently with the jazz movement itself. Yet look where it is today. Every school has a jazz band!
Sure, it’s scary to think that uJam lets a student create a full song in minutes. But that’s only if we think of all people as professional musicians. Why can’t music just be fun? Why can’t we let someone express their feelings through music, just because they can’t play guitar? What if (gasp!) writing a song in uJam inspires them to learn that very song they wrote on the guitar? Then is it a bad thing?
Finally, the health of music. Although we may find scapegoats for declining numbers and student apathy, ultimately it’s our job to make music a subject our students are excited about. We may be dealt a tough deck, too. I understand that someone may walk into a program following a terrible teacher, with low numbers and no appreciation for music. I think, though, that if you have a classroom and you have the passion and initiative, that classroom can and will turn around. You have the option of filling that room with students, eager to learn. You need to go out there and sell your program.
So Estelle Jorgensen, I agree with you. Music is a living thing. And as such, we need to start treating it like one.
