Music education it is achangin'

Last Friday I attended an honour concert for the local music festival and was plunged again into the world of classical music competition.  Except for one or two, the performances were solid, some even brilliant.  There were kids who you could tell had a great practice ethic and an enjoyment of the end result.

I was disappointed at the difficulty level and the technique of the performer who was supposed to be the best of the oldest age group, but as I thought about it I wondered if there was just not that much competition any more at that level.

I'm seeing a change in the attitude of families toward their children learning music.  I know I'm stating the obvious, but most of the students who performed Friday were from families that had immigrated from Europe or Asia in this generation and had brought their cultural music learning ethic with them.

In our school, we just closed down our band program.  Now, my husband started and sustained the band program and is a fantastic band instructor, besides being the principal of the school.  He has taught prize winning bands for 37 years, and started bands in every school he taught in to great success.  But now we find that parents are not willing (or possibly even are not able) to insist their kids practice consistently, so the young instrumentalists never get to the place where they are no longer struggling with the instrument and just enjoying it.

However, when digging a little deeper we found many of these kids not practicing their flute or trombone were taking drum, guitar, bass or piano lessons on the side, and were practicing those instruments with vigor.  So we changed this year to a worship band format for our instrumental instruction, and the participation is full and enthusiastic.

Inside of me, I feel we have lost something; the experience of being part of a big, loud, moving music machine that carries the players and the audience to a different place inside.  That was my band experience.
But look what we have gained; players who are enthusiastic, more likely to get together and make music with their friends, gaining skill on instruments they will play until they die, having fun, making new friends and worshiping God.

I'm thankful that piano students still walk through my picket fence, up the path, knock on the door and come into my living room for a private lesson on my mother's walnut grand piano.  Somedays I wonder if I've time traveled back to the 1930's.  But these days, I better make sure that the lesson is an enjoyable experience, that my practice expectations for them are realistic and that the music is relatable to their lives, or this too shall pass.