Why I Teach More Than Beethoven And Bach

There's been a lot of talk around the internet the past few weeks about one of my least favorite subjects: how to interest kids in classical music.

I have to admit, this is a really sore subject with me, one that makes my teeth ache in every possible way. Not because I think classical music doesn't have merit, but because it's always the same old hackneyed argument about a subject that has been turning in circles trying to catch its own tail for years and years and years. It's part of a larger conversation that's just beginning to come to a definite sense of reality about the state of classical music and its place in the arts pantheon: in the ongoing tide of orchestras going bankrupt and restructuring, the argument seems to be, as always, the pawn of a lot of people with a lot of vested interest in seeing classical music performance continue in its same old patterns. What inevitably comes up as a solution is "learning to play music!!!!!" with all the attendant sparkle and head-nodding and congratulating each other on finding a solution that helps us all.

The shocking part considering I'm a music teacher?

I don't buy it.

You know why?

Kids are smart, and kids are mostly pretty savvy. They know what speaks to them, and they know what doesn't.

I have one vested interest as a music teacher: to make sure kids understand and come to love music. Not just one kind of music, ALL kinds of music. Not to create classical virtuosos, though I've helped to do that in my time. Not to create highbrow conformist parrots who tout classical music as the most-cultured and highest facet of the art form without knowing why and believing what they're saying. Not to support a musical system which increasingly is proving in spades that its delivery is highly irrelevant while disparaging every artist working in even a slightly different genre. And certainly not to pass that kind of disparaging attitude on to my students. I'm not saying it's not important to know things about classical music in order to inform our worldview about the history and progression of musical development, but what I am saying is that we need to be careful about treating it as if it's some sort of golden-age perfection in design that nothing has ever surpassed beyond the age of Stravinsky, or in most peoples' estimation, Verdi. I find as much merit in the compositions of Sting as I do in Bach or Mozart, and the writings of the Beatles can have as much resonance with my thoughts on existence and the human experience as the works as life experience of Beethoven. Not to mention new classical stuff that employs many of the same beats, processes, and cultural relevance as anything by Cee Lo Green, Colbie Caillat or The White Stripes.

I've been teaching music in some form for about 18 years at this point. (Yes, some of you who know me know that as of today I'm 34 years old-- I did, in fact, start teaching at the green young age of 16. More on that learning experience at a later date.) I have weekly conversations with any number of my kids about what music they're listening to, what inspires them, what they really find to be the best and most interesting stuff they've found around and about in music. Do you know what seems to be the number one early reason if (which admittedly happens fairly rarely) they come in enthused about some piece of classical lit ?

It was something their parents were listening to.

Do you want to inspire your children to love Bach, Beethoven, or Brahms? Why? Is it something that you enjoy listening to? Because if it's not, chances are your young kids aren't going to be super enthused about it either (which may or may not be a bad thing, depending on how you handle it otherwise.) Think about it: how did you learn to love the music you first remember liking? Odds are that your parents listened to it and you heard it, not because they forced you to listen to it in your preschool or elementary school years, and because they liked it too. Sure, it may have been a passing fancy based on some random facet of the music in question-- maybe you loved the drums lines in Adam Ant's "Goody Two Shoes" or Led Zeppelin's "Moby Dick", or the guitar riff from "Smoke On The Water", or the words to "I Shot The Sherriff." Maybe you danced around the room to Rite of Spring or The Sorcerer's Apprentice, or M. C. Hammer's "Can't Touch This." Maybe in your own way you sang along to "Mr. Tambourine Man" or the melody in Miles Davis's "All Blues." I know it's not nearly the only way kids learn what they like, but it does make an impression, especially when they're really young.

To get back to my point, what also makes an impression is when parents try to force-feed their kids stuff that they themselves don't listen to for fun. If you're not playing classical tunes in the background throughout your day, taking your kid to a kiddie concert where they get frowned at for making noise, forced to sit down and not jump on the seats, or shushed incessantly then punished for not being able to toe the line at three years old isn't going to necessarily inspire rapturous memories. (Believe me, I'm a performing musician-- I know the drill at most kiddie concerts, and it needs to change.) If they associate that kind of thing with Mozart or Wagner there's not much that can dissociate it from any pleasure in that sound for the rest of their life. Forcing them to listen to Mozart while they untangle gnarly math problems? Yeah. Also not so productive. Similarly, restricting musical study to all classical pieces that cause weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth has the same effect. Sure, they may learn Mozart under duress, but if what really makes them happy is playing  "Yellow Submarine" on the clarinet, you may be able to teach the same ideas without all of the insane resistance. They might even WANT to practice and get better. And isn't that what we want?

I've had far more success as a teacher when I follow that model with my kids: they do what I ask in order to hone their skills and know that's exactly why they're doing it, but they also have a bye to choose music which really entertains them for the remainder of their assignment. It's amazing what a difference it makes in the speed of their progress, too. All of the sudden they take off and start improving by leaps, because they're motivated by something other than what someone else thinks is "good music" for them to like. Some of them like Mozart, Debussy, and Stravinsky, but it's also true that some like Disney, Owl City, The Beatles, and Cee Lo. What's important is letting them decide what they think is good enough to be worth their time to learn the skills they'll use to later maybe play Beethoven, Brahms and Bach, because if they're not inspired to learn those skills they'll never be able to keep working long enough to do it.

This isn't to say you should all-of-the-sudden start listening to classical music at home all of the time, but what I do recommend is listening to your child when they tell you what they like-- though you might not like it yourself, there's probably a reason they like it that will surprise you and harnessing that can be the most powerful tool in their arsenal for learning to play and love music of all sorts.