Inspired by "Musical Futures"

One of my teachers, the outstanding Russian violinist Grigory Zhislin (http://youtu.be/xfXujVPhbzM) used to say about Mozart's music: "Every measure should sound like a surprise." Nowadays it takes 0.17 seconds to Google-search whether Mozart’s Third Violin Concerto is full of surprises, but before the Internet era Zhislin’s approach appeared to me as a revelation. Throughout my music career I have come to many discoveries and it is my turn to give my students the opportunity to feel at home in the world of music.

The times have changed. The context of my musical upbringing cannot be more different from that of the children with whom I work. I grew up in Siberia in the land of blini (Russian pancakes). My students, in contrast, are becoming adults on the coast of New England. While I usually sound like Arnold Schwarzenegger in "Red Heat," my students emphasize their r's  or drop them altogether which gives us plenty of chances to laugh at each other. There is one quality that makes us alike: we all love music. Whereas my music interests spiral through J.S. Bach (http://www.jsbach.org/biography.html) and Michael Daugherty (http://www.michaeldaugherty.net/) to Hank Williams (http://youtu.be/-Lza3NVH6Ig) and Amy Winehouse (http://www.amywinehouse.com/), my students' preferences range from Justin Bieber (http://www.justinbiebermusic.com/) and Andy Byrd (http://www.andrewbird.net/)  to Belinda (http://www.belindaonline.org/) and Sufjan Stevens (http://www.sufjan.com/).

Enjoyment in learning is a major motivational factor. As old-fashioned music education in public schools rapidly runs out of gas, we must find a different way to incite students’ affection and lifelong involvement in music by including different traditions and cultures. “Musical Futures; An approach to teaching and learning” gives such opportunity.  One of the principal goals of this program supported by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation (http://www.phf.org.uk/), is to let students explore and discover music and music-making independently with teachers functioning as leaders and facilitators in “non-formal teaching” (MF, p. 44). It is imperative to differentiate between the three approaches in pedagogy discussed in “Musical Futures.”  One is “formal,” where the aims are clearly set and the student purposefully gathers information. Conversely, “informal” learning occurs involuntarily, without a goal in sight. Finally, in “non-formal” learning, the process may or may not be initiated by the student and is relatively structured (http://www.oecd.org/document/25/0,3746,en_2649_39263238_37136921_1_1_1_1,00.html).

In my brief reflection on “Musical Futures” I would like to share a little discovery that provided a bit of levity to my learning experience. On page 53, the authors present a music sample:




which instantly reminded me of another excerpt:




As I continued, on page 116, minimalism appeared as a technique which invokes students’ enthusiasm as well as develops their instrumental command.
Just a few days ago, working with a student orchestra, we rehearsed and performed Terry Riley’s “in C.”  Since our time frame was limited to five days, we practiced only twenty out of fifty three patterns in the piece. The students’ experimentation with freedom offered by Riley transformed from bewilderment through curiosity to a sincere astonishment and culminated in a performance accompanied by an abstract art slide show. “Music Futures” in action!