"Music Teachers Have It All Wrong"

[Dan Schultz]

Neither would Gene Pokorny sound like he does if he had learned tuba playing for free ice cream.

You mean I could be playing for free ice cream? Where?

I got two cups of coffee and a donut for playing at a watering hole for a half-marathon race this morning. I coulda had a beer but it was 8am... a little too early for me! Does that make me a pro? ... or would accepting the beer taken me a little closer to pro status?

What's a half-marathon you ask?.... Well.... Evansville isn't big enough for a full 26+ mile marathon. They would have had to run in circles!

[Leland]

Great post --

It amazes me how many still want to consider some music "legitimate" while other music is... what? illegitimate?

The question that I always go back to is, "Don't people write music because it's fun?"

The entire reason music exists is to express having fun -- even if it's music designed to evoke sadness, because it's an escape from whatever dull drudgery you're having to deal with in real life.

If there's any music bordering on illegitimacy, I'd say that it would be stuff that's written purely for making money. Everything else, though, is written because it's fun, or sounds cool, rad, majestic, tragic, phat, LOUD, sweet, sappy, cheesy, glorious, tender, or any other legitimate sensation or emotion.

To me, then, Metallica's "Enter Sandman" is just as worthy of the label "music" as is J.S. Bach's "Contrapunctus IX". Also, nobody can tell me that Bach put together that ninth variation and groaned, "Ah, whatever, that sounds good enough to sell a couple hundred copies." He had to enjoy how it sounded.

[Stefan]

I am a middle school band and orchestra teacher. Just the other day, the music supervisor for my county was in to observe all the music teachers. The purpose of the observations was to determine if the teachers were teaching the curriculum. It was expected that you WERE teaching curricular material. If the teacher expects to keep his/her job, they better get with the program and do what the county or districts says. With that said, there are certainly different avenues to get the curriculum across. I think that many different techniques should be used, including what the author says. But don't forget, kids, parents, and administrators are going to expect a concert or two at some point. For those of you who have never taught at the k-12 level, the kids just don't learn the music as easily and as fast as we can. Much time has got to be spent on preparing for the concert. It is very easy for some of the other idealistic material to go by the wayside when you know you have to perform in front of an audience soon. Still, with thoughtful planning, you can teach the other stuff.

Stefan


Bloke - I can understand how you feel about your band teacher friend. But he just wasn't "with the program" According to your description, he only tolerated the few who were highly self motivated. The results of his methods were outstanding, according to you. Still, he "left children behind." These days, no children are to be left behind, even if they are not highly motivated.

[Stefan]

Now I see how it is, Bloke. I should have assumed it was sports related.

Stefan

[ThomasDodd]

It would make his tuba playing better, and frankly, he wasn't going to practice his band parts, but he would learn the Star Wars music.

Actually, I suspect playing Star Wars would improve he other playing even if he practiced both with the same level of intensity. Any challange is better than the boring crap a high school tuba get's to see. I still rember playing "Hey Baby" in high school my sophomore year (first year on tuba). Just 2 of us, but the soli was fun. That way a nice change from the 1 & 3 stuff we played the rest of the show. Wasn't hard, other than the 1 octave jump in it, but it was fun. And I practiced that part more than any other since. It improved my flexability, and showed me a reason to practice wide jumps. I would love to play something fun like that again, in a sit-down venue. 10 seconds of fun can make the 5 minutes of boring stuff worth the effort. Only then do you start to notice the import and oportunities for "music" in the other 5 minutes.

[ken k]

I usually make up melody sheets for all the songs we play in my elementary band so everyone can learn the melody and have something fun to play at home for grandma (and themselves).

My goal is to have the kid get the horn out of the case at home and play the darned thing. I don't really care if they practice their scales or not. (well maybe al little). Many of them do anyway. Once the horn is out they usually will try it anyway. We have a scale of the month and if they can memorize it they get a prize, nothing like bribery I know.

BUt I do try to make it fun.

ken k