In my latest Facebook feed someone forwarded a Huffington Post article by Peter Greene called "Stop Defending Music Education." Greene argues that by linking music education to other subjects, we essentially say that it's not worth learning for its own sake. Anyone who has been in music education for more than a year knows that this is an old argument
In fact, Google the article (here): https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#safe=strict&q=huffington+post+peter+greene+stop+defending+music+education
and you will see a number of replies both for and against his position. As one of my goals is to assist people in advocating for music education, I tend to disagree with Greene. I believe linking music education to other subjects is not simply politically expedient or helpful, but necessary.
There was a time when we did things because that's what we did. The British peasants practiced archery because the King told them to. Musicians played music because they knew music and had no other means of changing their position in society.
Today in the United States, we have far many more choices about how we spend our time. Just in the realm of music alone we can play songs with our friends in a garage, go to a concert, or download an album and play it in our car. And if we don't care much for music, there are twenty other things we can do to fill up our time.
As a result, we need compelling reasons to learn about something. And let me stress that Music Education is about learning to make music, not just making it. Please do not believe that music classes resemble that scene with Zooey Deschanel in The Bridge to Terebithia where she sings songs with her class but doesn't teach them how to sing.
Humans may have a compelling need to make music, and there have been cultural traditions that satisfied that need (community music making, religious music making, political music making) so that we didn't really have to talk about it. With those traditions competing with absolutely everything else, we as music educators are no longer simply required to teach our students. Our job is now to remind our world what purpose music serves and why we do it.
If there are music teachers who believe that simply making wonderful music is sufficient to remind people of its purpose, then I invite them to continue their great work. I, on the other hand, prefer to wake people up to the astounding connections music makes between all subjects. To me, that is too valuable a tool to keep in the toolbox.
Because people are no longer compelled to go to church, because they can choose to attend five sporting events instead of a concert, I will explain to them not only what I do as a musician, but what they stand to lose by choosing something else. Because what I do through music instruction powerfully connects the work of every other teacher in the building, strengthening their efforts and concretizing learning, I will make sure my teachers and parents know so that I can continue to devote my teaching time to those aims and not others. When I advocate for music education and not just music, I advocate for learning, ensuring that people value what I do rather than simply appreciate it.
In fact, Google the article (here): https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#safe=strict&q=huffington+post+peter+greene+stop+defending+music+education
and you will see a number of replies both for and against his position. As one of my goals is to assist people in advocating for music education, I tend to disagree with Greene. I believe linking music education to other subjects is not simply politically expedient or helpful, but necessary.
There was a time when we did things because that's what we did. The British peasants practiced archery because the King told them to. Musicians played music because they knew music and had no other means of changing their position in society.
Today in the United States, we have far many more choices about how we spend our time. Just in the realm of music alone we can play songs with our friends in a garage, go to a concert, or download an album and play it in our car. And if we don't care much for music, there are twenty other things we can do to fill up our time.
As a result, we need compelling reasons to learn about something. And let me stress that Music Education is about learning to make music, not just making it. Please do not believe that music classes resemble that scene with Zooey Deschanel in The Bridge to Terebithia where she sings songs with her class but doesn't teach them how to sing.
Humans may have a compelling need to make music, and there have been cultural traditions that satisfied that need (community music making, religious music making, political music making) so that we didn't really have to talk about it. With those traditions competing with absolutely everything else, we as music educators are no longer simply required to teach our students. Our job is now to remind our world what purpose music serves and why we do it.
If there are music teachers who believe that simply making wonderful music is sufficient to remind people of its purpose, then I invite them to continue their great work. I, on the other hand, prefer to wake people up to the astounding connections music makes between all subjects. To me, that is too valuable a tool to keep in the toolbox.
Because people are no longer compelled to go to church, because they can choose to attend five sporting events instead of a concert, I will explain to them not only what I do as a musician, but what they stand to lose by choosing something else. Because what I do through music instruction powerfully connects the work of every other teacher in the building, strengthening their efforts and concretizing learning, I will make sure my teachers and parents know so that I can continue to devote my teaching time to those aims and not others. When I advocate for music education and not just music, I advocate for learning, ensuring that people value what I do rather than simply appreciate it.