Thoughts on Building an Audience

    I believe I heard the sentiment expressed that YouTube is taking our audiences away, or that it somehow fulfills a need for live music with today’s youth.  If this is true, than it is a sad truth indeed.  I do believe that one negative side to all the social media out there is the fact that in many instances it serves to isolate people, giving them a false sense of connection without the intimacy of face to face contact.  If our mission is to educate students in music, it seems to me that part of that mission should be to teach students the importance of listening actively as audience members, as well as how to perform effectively on stage.  In a school community it is true that we will always have a sizable audience in the parents of our students, however it would also be wise for our student body’s sake to widen the audience they play for, showing them that there are performance opportunities beyond the school auditorium.  Exposing them to such opportunities may also re-enforce their understanding of music’s unique ability to connect people in a real way.  These performances could be in nursing homes, or perhaps in churches, wherever people are getting together to share company.  One possibility may even be playing outdoors in a park or on the street.  Bringing the music out to the audience rather than always expecting the audience come to us seems to be an effective way of building a connection to people beyond the school community.  So building an audience has two important aspects to it.  It should be a part of our students’ musical education to listen actively, to learn how to be a supportive audience member as well as a good performer.  But if we want to widen the audience for our school musicians, then we also need to bring our ensembles out of the school environment and get the music out into the community.

Some Thoughts on Funding

When considering the issue of funding in a BOCJ program, and especially the issue of outside funding, including parental contributions, I feel it is important to note a few things right off the bat.  First, there are several parties that have a vested interest in such a program and how it is run; most importantly these include the music teacher(s), the students, the administration, and of course the parents.   Adding to the complexity of funding is the fact that these groups are not always on the same page as to the priorities and goals for a BOCJ program, although if the program is to be successful, the music teacher(s) will need to co-ordinate these parties as much as possible.  Second, we should look at what the goals of such a program are/should be.  One important goal is for the students to build their understanding of music through playing, listening, discussing, and otherwise actively engaging in the music process.  From this standpoint music seems very similar to other subjects, and if this were the only issue at play one might legitimately ask the question “Why should there be a necessity for outside funding to a music program?  Math teachers don’t run bake sales to get funds for books and supplies, why should music teachers need to do so?” 
                I believe one answer lies in a BOCJ program’s potential to cross boundaries in and beyond school for a connection to the community at large; a potential that doesn’t exist for most academic classes.  We can see an example of this potential in the Kashmere Highschool stage band that was highlighted in the movie “Thunder Soul.”  Outside funding was certainly an integral part of the stageband’s success as it developed under Conrad Johnson, and the positive outcome of that success lifted many other aspects of the school’s student life, both academic and otherwise.  Unfortunately when some factions of the school’s administration turned against Johnson, he was not able to navigate the waves of school politics as skillfully as he had led his band.  This shows that it is not just funding or musical talent alone that determines a program’s long-term success.  Regardless, we can see that there is a reciprocal relationship between the BOCJ program’s connection to the community and the necessity for parental/outside financial support.  This kind of connection represents the program’s potential to grow beyond a mere academic class.  Thus perhaps funding itself is not the most important issue; it is the connection with the community coming through this outside funding process that is especially important.

Thunder Soul Review

Movie Review:
Thunder Soul

I enjoyed this movie immensely, and it provided me inspiration as to what music can do for us as teenagers and adults alike.  Thunder Soul relates the events surrounding the reunion in 2008 of stageband members from Kashmere High-school, an inner-city predominantly black school in Houston, Texas.  The band members had performed together 35 years earlier as students in the mid-1970s under the leadership of director Conrad “Prof” Johnson, who turned the ensemble into a powerhouse of funk music that rivaled professional bands performing at the highest level.  The movie also artfully intertwines the story of Johnson, who had the skills in his early twenties to pursue a professional career as a jazz saxophonist, and instead followed a different path as a high-school band teacher.   The themes presented relate directly to the issues we are dealing with in the Secondary Methods class: What does it mean to teach music to students?  What are our goals as music teachers?  What exactly is it that we want our students to know?  How do we as teachers relate to our students, to our administrators, to our community at large?  These are just a few of the questions we are mulling over that I found weaving in and out of the events presented in Thunder Soul (the title comes from the name the students gave their band).  Conrad Johnson gave his own insight to these questions during interviews presented in the movie:  “My whole desire is to train and shape the mind of each individual I come in contact with from the standpoint of teaching them . . . When they first come to me, regardless as to what kind of tone they have, I work to develop that tone, and that’s the first step: learn to play the instrument, then the music.”

I recommend this movie highly; I believe it to be quite motivational, instructional, and insightful for teachers and students alike.  I know I’ll be showing it to my students at some point before the end of the year.  Here is a link to this movie’s trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-bSBqgJbTQ and here is another youtube link to a tune called Scorpio that the band recorded in the 70s so you can get an idea of their awesome sound: www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3sEW9-RVh8

Quick, tell us the history of the world in Ten Minutes!

Well, that's really what it felt like when I was up there trying to tell J.S Bach's life story.  Of course afterward I realized that I should have focused in on one small aspect of my material and develop it, as well as build in student activities and discussion to use as assessment tools.  If I did it over again I might focus on what a fugue is and look a fugue by Bach.  As an introduction I might have had students sing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat," and compare that to the little fugue in g minor that I didn't have a chance to play.  Then I could have also used the cool examples of modern jazz interpretations of that fugue as a springboard for more class discussion. I guess I knew in the back of my mind I had too much stuff, however I get so into the history behind the music and wanting to share all of it.  We should remember that these lessons aren't about us, though, they should be about what the students' needs are.  Brandt asked: What do students really need to know about Bach?   Certainly not everything that I had, although I do believe supplying context to music is important.  Got to find a balance.
       Looking back on class today I really wonder about using You-Tube videos, they seem so unwieldy.  Everyone (including me) interrupted that flow of presentation by waiting for an advertisement to finish, or allowing a video to load, etc.  When you only have ten minutes that interruption can seem catastrophic.  Is there a way around this and still include all the neat audio-visuals the You-tube can contribute?  Any ideas?

Technologies in the classroom - Yes!

                I’m a relative newcomer to new technology in music instruction, but even with the little that I’ve been able to incorporate in my classes, I’ve been amazed at the possibilities it has presented.  Most recently I’ve been searching for music that students in a wind sextet that I am coaching can play.  It’s a rather odd combination of instruments: two oboes, horn, clarinet, bass clarinet, and bassoon, and the musicians show a wide range of backgrounds and abilities.  On Youtube I came across a three-voice fugue by Paul Hindemith that a former bassist from Frank Zappa’s band had arranged for an ensemble of three rock guitars, bass, and drums (www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiPp_iFYcLY), and I thought here’s something I can definitely make use of: modern sounding music with a potential to cross a lot of musical boundaries.  It took me two weeks using the original piano score from Hindemith’s Ludus Tonalis and the Finale music notation program to come up with a version suitable for my students to play.  I paired the instruments on each of the fugue’s three voices so that stronger musicians played together with those that may need support in navigating the music’s new sound, and now we are working to perform it on our spring concert, perhaps alternating with the version for rock band.

            This rather winding story presents a test of sorts that I feel we need to keep in mind when using new technologies: are these technologies promoting connection among the young musicians in our classrooms?   Are they bringing students together in our endeavor to understand, appreciate, and ultimately play music in a group?  I’ve encountered both sides of the coin here:  with the right guidance from teachers I’ve seen students at my school do amazing things with Macbooks in composition classes.  On the other hand I’ve also seen the potential for isolation that technology has among students, and the difficulty some students face in putting aside their phones to come together as a group to learn.   I believe this is our obligation as music educators: it goes without question that new technologies pose great benefits for the classroom, however we must understand them with enough facility (perhaps more facility than our students) so we can utilize them effectively in the classroom.  Technology should not become the goal in itself, it should be used to achieve greater musical understanding among our students.  Otherwise we may find administrators who are all too happy to save on budgets by using technology to replace instructional time with real live teachers.

Choir Warm-up Reflection

One thing I tried to keep in mind while I warmed the choir up was that this is a High-school level ensemble, and thus the exercise did not require an in-depth lesson in vocal technique, especially verbal description of how to sing properly.  Looking back on it, I realize that I am no master of multi-tasking, and thus if I am going to use piano in the warm-up, or for any other class demonstration for that matter, I need better keyboard skills; I need to practice more.  Not having to think so much about what my hands are doing on the keyboard will open my awareness more to what the students are doing, and so allow me to offer better comments than “Very Good” and other not so meaningful verbiage.  Brandt offered an excellent suggestion: at the high-school level, a strong student should be able to run the warm-up, or aspects of the warm-up.  This would again offer the opportunity to concentrate more fully on what the students are doing, and then add an appropriate exercise at the end of the session, based on what the student’s needs are.  All in all I really enjoyed learning from everyone else, and getting to know some other vocal warm-ups.  This experience also suggested to me the importance of getting some voice lessons before attempting this in a real school setting.

Three Traits for the Music Educator

 

                In considering skills and traits that a music teacher should have, we should consider the fact that even in general music instruction, not to mention ensemble instruction, the teacher will be guiding students in making music.  Battisti notes that Leonard Bernstein believed that teaching was “. . . the essence of (his) function as a conductor.”  With this relationship between teaching and conducting in mind, I believe three important traits that music teachers should have include a high level of musicianship, in-depth knowledge about the music being taught, as well as strong leadership skills.

                Musicianship includes “sight-reading and inner hearing skills, superior rhythmic skills, acute external listening skills . . . , knowledge and understanding of music theory, harmony, and compositional practices, [and] highly developed analytical skills.” (Battisti, p 3).  Musicianship allows the teacher to create an inner aural image of the music they wish to portray, without which it would be impossible to convey musical understanding to students.  Musicianship is the vehicle through which a music teacher expresses the grammar and vocabulary of the musical language.  While this ability assists in score study and other modes of preparation, it also helps the educator-conductor during rehearsal in that the aural image provides a means of comparison to student performance, thus allowing the conductor to suggest possibilities for student improvement.

                In-depth knowledge of the music being taught allows the educator to provide musical context to the students.  In order to gain such a context the conductor should have “Contact and interaction with other arts, other cultures, and nature . . . Reading books by great authors, poets, and philosophers, visiting museums, going to plays/theatre productions . . . all provide stimulation for the artist’s mind and imagination.” (Battisti, p 5).  Battisti goes on to say “Zoltan Kodaly, one of the twentieth century’s important composer-music educators, stated that ‘Children should be taught with only the most musically valuable materials . . . For the young only the best is good enough.  They should be led to masterpieces by means of masterpieces.’ The musical values and appreciation students develop are directly linked to the quality of the music they study, create, recreate, and consume.” (p 142).  Thus an educator’s choice of repertoire to teach, as well as the depth of his knowledge of that music and its context, translates directly to the student’s level of appreciation for fine art.

                Finally leadership shows our ability to use our musical skill and knowledge as a vehicle to inspire students to learn.  How to do this?  Peter Boonshaft suggests: “A sentiment from Socrates says it best: Excite me and I will learn anything, make me curious and I will learn even more.  Our enthusiasm must excite our students to be curious, to want to learn, to explore, to try, to follow, and to learn that learning itself is amazing.”  (Boonshaft, p 49).  In the end our passion for music and how we convey that passion is the fuel students need in order to grow as musicians themselves.