Writing a New Song
If I'm honest, Christmas and New Year didn't feel all that festive. It kind of felt, to some extent, a bit like I was just going through the motions so other people didn't have cause to worry. But the truth of it is my heart just wasn't in it. Then on the fourth of January I was watching a comedy program on television (a rerun of a show that was years old - the Christmas special) and at the end, the cast sang a Christmas Carol, Silent Night, and then I felt festive!
Music has always had a way of speaking to me throughout my life. It can warm my cold heart on a winters evening. It can make me laugh, it can make me cry, it can make me want to get up and dance, it can say all of the things that I want to say but can't find the words. Suddenly, watching this silly program on TV, there I was remembering people, places, thinking of loved ones present and those who are no longer with us. And I cried.
It seemed silly at the time, suddenly feeling festive and emotional when all of the festivities were almost over. But I realised something important in that moment, something I knew but had forgotten - the power of music.
On hearing music, most people can recite the lyrics of pop songs they learned years ago and connect it with a person, place, event and it reminds them of how they felt at the time. Music can stir up social unrest, it can make you fall in love and it can teach you lessons. My late mum, if there's one thing I will always remember about her, it is that she had a song for everything. A moment, a word, a picture... it really didn't take much to inspire her to sing. And she knew all the lyrics to all of the songs ever written I'm sure.
Reflecting on this I've realised that, my students can recite the lyrics from songs that are almost 20 years old. But they can't remember what I taught them last week. So what lessons can teachers learn from musicians? What magical power do musicians have that makes their music so impactful and memorable? I can't help wondering that, if teachers could bottle some of that secret ingredient, then the impact on learning and teaching could be transformational. What's the key to their success?
1. Is it the musicians themselves?
I hear regularly how young people I work with identify with the experiences that popular musicians have been through. Many have expressed these stories and the associated emotions through their art work. Some have conquered adversity and others have survived some terrible experiences. The very act of sharing what they have learned through their music, shared experiences connect people. Moreover, music and video streaming platforms make music content perhaps more accessible than any other time in history. Popular musicians certainly seem to have made good use of social media to this effect.
While I wouldn't necessarily go as far as saying that musician have perhaps mastered the art of open education, they've done a damn fine job. And they've done so by being willing to share part of themselves with the world. For some, that has come at a cost. The price of fame and fortune has taken its toll on many artists over time. But those same artists have left a lasting legacy in music that generations will enjoy, relate to and connect with. Perhaps the challenge for those artists was in finding that balance between managing their personal and their professional identities (Cronin, 2017).
2. Is it in the skill of the musician?
I remember growing up and studying music in school. Learning slowly the skill of reading sheet music, playing the recorder, then translating my knowledge to electronic keyboards and finally to double bass. I remember enduring hours of practice and subjecting my parents to a decade or more of sonic torture. I remember sitting in my theory and composition classes learning about harmony and counterpoint and looking back I realise now that I was learning the craft of music.
I remember being very discouraged at one point in my teenage years when I was told that I wasn't a natural musician, but rather a trained musician, a statement that I didn't quite understand at the time. Now in reflection, I'm kind of less surprised because, existing in an education system where I had been taught scales, finger techniques, patterns, rules... is it any surprise that my own performances were "unnatural", "rehearsed" or "trained".
Now don't get me wrong. I completely appreciate the skill of a violin or piano virtuoso. Myself, having performed in a number of chamber orchestras when I was younger, I always marvelled at the skill of the lead violinist or the soprano soloist who would mesmorise the audience into a magical kind of silence that is very difficult to replicate under any other circumstance. But even then I think I was in awe of their skill, not their art. I was appreciating what they were doing, not how it made me feel. Indeed more often than not, watching skilled performances like that often made me feel quite inferior. Their performance engaged my mind, not my heart.
Perhaps that's a lesson we can learn right there. As teachers it is all too easy to engage in discussions of the abstract and the intellectual. I listened to a recording recently between Dr. Bernice A. King and Lady Gaga (2021) in which Lady Gaga talks about the danger of hiding behind concepts and theories and not translating that knowledge into tangible, impactful, positive action for change. If we talk rules and systems with our students then is it any wonder that the students don't engage? Or worse still our learners become just mindless followers of rules? For me the challenge here is to worry less about crafting a well designed lesson, but instead to aim for that heart level engagement first. The refinement can come later.
3. Is it in the marketing?
The popular music industry relies largely on two things, the skill of the artist and the brand image.
Some of the world's most talented artists never get a big break because they don't have the backing of a powerful record label to help them sell and establish a brand identity. Equally some artists get that big break, not necessarily because they have any kind of major musical talent, but because of their popularity, their look, their overall image.
A recent reflection by Maha Bali (2021) got me thinking about my legacy as a teacher. How do I want to be remembered? That too got me thinking. How many musicians are remembered for their talent rather than their brand image? How much of that brand is influenced by the artist rather than the corporate identity of the record label?
The truth is that education can be viewed in the same way as a product, manufactured and packaged, a commodity to be bought and sold in much the same way as music. But in doing so we must be careful not to lose the intention and the message of the artist.
All this made me realise that perhaps that is my legacy. Not to be remembered and adored by thousands of adoring fans, but perhaps to have made a lasting impact on a few keen listeners.
So, I'm finishing this blog entry in much the same way as I started - late! I finally worked out what my new year's resolution is. I want to do things diffently. I want to write a new song and I'll share it with whoever wants to listen. Maybe I will have the backing of a big brand label, or maybe I will have a few followers here on my blog.
But in sharing a little bit of myself with my readers, maybe I can make an impact.
References
Bali, M. (2021) For Yasser [Online]. Available at: https://blog.mahabali.me/writing/for-yasser/ (Accessed 21st January 2022)
Cronin, C. (2017). Openness and Praxis: Exploring the Use of Open Educational Practices in Higher Education. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 18(5). https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v18i5.3096
King, B. A. (2021) Lady Gaga - Beloved Community Talks (The Power of Unlearning) [Online]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnxdKCDOi1k&t=910s (Accessed 20th January 2022).
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