On writing songs and making life fun

Just before leaving for a lesson, I got an e-mail from the student’s mom: “We somehow misplaced a copy of ‘Chant to the Moon’ this week.  We actually think the dog ate it, but that sounds like a really silly excuse!” Reading this message, I felt a nice buzz of self-appreciation going through my head as one may have from getting the feeling of being able to respond to any unpredictable events by having the recipes from the past. “Dog ate the music” happened to me before, once supported by the proudly presented evidence of a half-chewed, mauled beyond taping, Rolland’s young people’s Method of playing violin. The solution was as simple as making a copy of the music!

Despite the previous wisdom of ‘know-how’ in many teaching situations, I have never been asked to get involved in writing a rock violin song with a student, therefore limiting my contribution to zero of raising a new Vanessa Mays or all other sorts of hiding under the kitchen table for hours, trying to fit the lyrics over riffs and harmonies, awesomely crazy violinists.

Attracting students to the world of “sweet emotion” of music (well, not too sweet in Aerosmith’s version) by involving them in enjoyable music-making practices, is becoming quite popular among music teachers.  Little people’s passion (though sometimes hammered away by schooling experience) to invent, make and use all sorts of things is well known. Would not it be logical to employ such human traits in the music pedagogy process?  While the most common teaching approach among classically trained musicians is to expose students (often very effectively) to the world of re-creating the written word of music ranging from Go Tell Aunt Rhody to Sibelius, it obviously lacks the innate creativity of improvising or composing music yourself.  It is not unusual that teachers’ faith in following “the letter” and structured practice techniques shifts students’ pleasure of making stuff up into the realm of uninspired and dreary experience of “doing” music. 

On the other hand, fully diving into the unknown to many professional folks remains the dominion of popular music, and may cause teachers’ reluctance due to their unfamiliarity with its construct.  Finding the way of making all involved parties to enjoy and be satisfied, we have to forge connections among the differing elements of the musical universe. In this respect, composing and performing a song may very well be a medium in which teachers and students can interact mutually, be critical, use imagination and learn both conventional and unorthodox ways of music making.

In my own experience as a teacher, I see that all of my public school students come to the elective string class as music enjoyers. Some love the sound of it, some like being with friends, and some are curious to try new things. No one ever joined the group because they hated it from the start.  Most children come with their own idea of what music is; they have a goal, they don’t always have the means to accomplish it.  I won’t hide the fact that my aspirations of being a music teacher include expanding my students’ horizons through the world I am the most accustomed with, but am I really that dim-witted and encapsulated in my own inclinations that I am ready to lose these inquiring minds to turning away from experiencing and savoring the full taste of music?  I hope, not.

Readings:

Allsup, R.E. (2011). Popular Music and Classical Musicians. Music Educators Journal, 97 (3), 30-34.

Jaffurs, S. E. (2004).The impact of informal music learning practices in the classroom, or how I learned

how to teach from a garage band. International Journal of Music Education, 22(3), 189-200.

Paul Hamlyn Foundation Special Project. (2009) Musical Futures, An Approach to Teaching and Learning. (Resource pack, 2^nd ed.). Compiled and Edited by A. D’Amore, ISBN: 978-1-905500-19-2.