Sean Penn, El Chapo, and the secret of our profession...
Sean Penn, El Chapo, and the secret of our profession...
Maybe it’s watching the stories about El Chapo and the young lives he ruined with drugs. Maybe it’s spending time this weekend with the incredible instrumental hip-hop duo Black Violin who serve as role models. Or, maybe it’s because today is Martin Luther King Day and his speech has been running through my mind. Whatever the reason, I think it’s time I said something out loud that I have been thinking for about for awhile, which is:
Music education is failing to help the kids who need it the most.
It's not anyone's fault, but it is happening. This is not to say that the educators who teach in such places are failing, because nothing could be further from the truth. These teachers are deserving of a Midwest Medal of Honor and Grammy Educator of the Year Award. These teachers are saints in my book.
I think we all know that where money is plentiful and diversity is limited, music education is alive and well. The suburbs are our sweet spot and the places where we revel in Ravelli, Mackey, and all things Grainger. But in the inner city, where free and reduced lunch rates hover near or above 75%, and the majority is what we call the minority, the student experience can be decidedly different. In places like these, the music participation rates are smaller and the retention rates are even less. Simply said, music education is struggling in the very place we need it to succeed.
Music is not alone in the problem, nor is it the source.
Where young people read English below grade level, they often read music below grade level. Where they struggle with issues of basic number counting, they often struggle with basic rhythms. In these challenging places, students' musical skills are not that different than their other academic skills. But, is that the bar we want to compare ourselves too?
If we REALLY believe in the power of music. If we TRULY think that it helps people, then we have a professional obligation to provide the best possible experiences we can for EVERY child!
Listen, I taught in East Los Angeles during the Rodney King riots and I spent most of my career in places that were as diverse as they were economically challenged. I have seen first hand the power that music can have in these places. And yet, I am also painfully aware that I am as guilty as anyone and could do more in this area with Be Part of the Music. I am working on this.
I am not writing this to get you to “do" anything. I am writing this to remind myself that I can do more... and WILL!
FYI: El Chapo called me first! You know, before Sean Penn. Yes, that’s right, I was his first choice. It just so happened that I was knee deep in score study and didn’t take the call!
STOP, DROP and enROLL
If you are a secondary music teacher you know that the fever pitch of recruiting is about to hit. You also know that young people along with their parents, armed with very little information, are about to make BIG decisions about their future.
Many students have a smoldering fire of doubt: "I wanna try something new in high school." It's important to be aggressive in putting this fire out before it gets out of control.
Let me be clear. This is not a “I smell burnt toast” situation, this is a “I’M ON FIRE… STOP, DROP, and ENROLL” situation.
There is nothing more important during the next six weeks than recruiting. Better enrollment is paramount to everything you and your program are trying to achieve, both musically and otherwise. Want better clarinets (and who doesn’t)? Enroll more kids! Want more staffing? Enroll more kids! Want a better budget? Enroll more kids!
Enrollment is the panacea to virtually every problem you face, so STOP what you are doing, DROP everything else, and do something to ENROLL more kids!
Listed below are some quick tips and ideas for putting out the fire efficiently and effectively.
Don't be embarrassed
Don’t ever be embarrassed to sell yourself and your program. If you believe in what you do and the benefit it has for someone, you should never shy away from who you are and what your program offers.
Recruiting is not an "event"
Recruitment is an ongoing campaign. They say it takes seven contacts to get someone to pull the trigger on a decision. Just doing a concert, a classroom visit, or sending a mailing is NOT ENOUGH! Make it a goal to contact a student/family member in seven different ways prior to the decision point.
Don't forget the parent
Recruit the parent as strongly as you recruit the child. Students may want to take or not take your class, but then again, they also want to stay up until two o’clock texting their friends. The parents are the real decision makers when it comes to scheduling, so don’t forget to recruit them also.
Use every weapon at your disposal
Work with your feeder teachers, student leaders, and parents to have multiple points and ways of contact with every possible student and his or her family. Use students to recruit students and parents to recruit parents. Use every tool at your disposal and every opportunity to make your case of why music is important to their future development.
Don't forget to re-recruit the kids you already have
In pursuit of new members, sometimes we forget to re-recruit the kids we already have! It's natural for them to feel some element of "been there/done that" and it's important that you remind them what music has done for them and how it has impacted them.
Listen, we know that you have way too much to do and not enough time to do it so WE’VE GOT YOUR BACK. We have everything you need to recruit and retain your students at Stay in Music and it’s FREE, easy to use, and is sure to have an impact on your enrollment. All you have to do is point, click, print, and show! Let us do what we do best, so you can do what you do best, TEACH!
These materials that are individually adapted for band, orchestra, and choir. So, be sure to share them with all of your middle and high school colleagues!
Remember, for the next six weeks, your job is to STOP, DROP and ENROLL… After all, being a great teacher to an empty chair doesn't do anybody any good.
Have a great week!
Michael Markowski and our elevator adventures...
Michael Markowski is more than one of my favorite composers, he is one of my favorite people. He’s as thoughtful as he is thought provoking and has more integrity than most people twice his age. For years I have been trying to get him to sit down and film a webisode with me and this is the year we made it happen! Well, sort of...
We started filming in the lobby of the 19th floor at the Chicago Hilton and Towers, where it proved to be too stuffy for either of our likings, so we left our gear, I grabbed my iPhone, and said, “Follow me."
What followed was ten minutes of hilarity as we filmed our webisode riding the elevator from floor to floor involving whomever wandered in. Trust me, these are webisodes worth watching. Click on the links below to watch and giggle.
Webisode 1: Tone clusters, the composition process, and Michael’s good looks
Webisode 2: Fellow composers Larry Clark and Tyler Grant share their advice
There, don’t you feel better? You achieved one of your New Year's goals, you finished reading my e-zine! Now, go celebrate by hiding a pair of drummers sticks. Heck, let’s really celebrate, hide them all!
Have a great week, I missed all of you!
Education is the new immigration!
By now, you likely have already blown through your New Year’s resolution and are ready to move on to goals less lofty and more achievable… Like reading my weekly e-zine. Having not written for a couple of weeks, I have a lot to share, which is why you should set a goal of finishing this e-zine.
I recently overheard a VERY heated discussion at a restaurant that I can only assume was about immigration. I didn’t write it down, but it went something like this:
Person 1: We can get others to do the job. There are plenty of people who are looking for work and would be happy to do that job.
Person 2: These people work twelve hours a day in conditions that most of us would find unimaginable. They work from dawn till dusk, behind fenced walls, six days a week. We pay them horrible wages, treat them like second class citizens, and scorn them while we use their cheap labor to make our lives easier. They need our help, not our condemnation.
I say I can only assume they were talking about immigration, because from what I heard, I thought they were talking about education. Yep, I said EDUCATION!
To my way of thinking, education is the new immigration and teachers are the new migrant workers. Don’t believe me? Re-read the conversation above and tell me that those statements are not applicable to our profession.
Like immigration, education is a hot button issue for politicians and pundits alike. They bloviate about it because it is an easy punching bag filled with people too pre-occupied with doing good work to fight back. Critics use inflammatory rhetoric and generalities to simplify and demean a complex problem that they likely do not understand, a profession they are not experienced in, and a job they have never done! Their ideas and opinions flow much freer than the money needed to implement them.
They do this because it's easy. They do this to make themselves appear better. They do this because they are ignorant.
You do this because it's hard. You do this to make others better. You do this because you are educated.
They may have the bully pulpit, but we know how to handle school yard bullies.
The Case for Less Math
It’s been awhile since I stirred the hornets nest, but an article I read this morning has me FIRED UP, so here it goes.
I believe some students in America should take less math.
This morning (9 years ago) in an article in the New York Times discussing a decline in math scores published five sample questions from the Algebra 1 section of the New York State Regents exam. I have copied one of the questions below.
The graph of f(x) is shown below. Which function could represent the graph of f(x)?
Interesting Image
a) f(x) = (x+2) (x2 + 3x - 4)
b) f(x) = (x-2) (x2 + 3x - 4)
c) f(x) = (x+2) (x2 + 3x + 4)
d) f(x) = (x-2) (x2 + 3x +4)
Did you know the right answer? Are you certain?
If so, good for you! I didn’t, and frankly I’m not surprised. Math and I have had an Ike and Tina Turner type relationship for years. Heck, I think we are solving for “x,” but the other letter is effing me up.
You should know that I am 56 years old, have a couple of college degrees and have owned and four businesses for over two decades. All of this is to say that barring any unforeseen radical turns in my life (such as suddenly deciding to become an astrophysicist), I have a pretty good understanding of the amount of math needed to be successful in my endeavors. Having said that, I have never needed the skill sets required to solve the problem listed above. In other words, I took (and struggled) too much math in high school.
Last week, we visited with my 8th grade son’s counselor, where even he “supposed” that the numbers around teaching numbers were trending downward. For example, because my son is taking Algebra in middle school, his required four year journey through analytics will include:
Geometry
Algebra 2/Trigonometry
Pre-Calculus
Calculus
This means in order to just graduate high school my son will need to (according to Wikipedia) “Understand a branch of mathematics focused on limits, functions, derivatives, integrals, and infinite series in preparation for a scientific career related to space exploration, telecommunications systems, computer science, engineering, medicine, pharmacology, business, meteorology, and music.”
Music? I don’t know where Wikipedia went to music school, but I assure you, if accurate, had very few tuba players and exactly ZERO drummers.
We keep hearing, "In order to maintain competitiveness in a global economy, we need more science, math and technology.” but with the confines of time (scheduling), testing, and costs, we have had to establish a hierarchy of learning that leaves me very uncomfortable regarding the expectations it sets and the message it delivers. I am not saying math isn’t important. I think math is important. In fact, very important.
I think math teaches analytical thought processes.
I think we need mathematicians and scientists in our society to be successful.
I think math is an appropriate and important benchmark for learning.
I believe numerical literacy will benefit every American.
I understand that math is important in many critical professions.
And let me be abundantly clear - I too want our American scientists and mathematicians to be the best educated people on the planet. I just don’t believe it needs to be EVERY child.
But, I want to know; when did we decide that:
Every child needs to know advanced math to be successful in life?
Math should be a primary benchmark of success for every child?
Should be required at the expense of all other classes?
Math would be the key analytic for determining our national success?
Decide that every child needs to be successful at math to be successful in life?
When did this happen? Was there a vote that I missed? Was there a national consensus reached of which I was not a part of? Was there a groundbreaking study show math = a life time of success and happiness? (See what I did there with the equal thingy?) What numbers were used to justify twelve years of numbers? I know the numbers associated with participation in music show higher GPA’s graduation rates, college acceptance/graduation rates, lower truancy, depression, and drug and alcohol use. How do those numbers sound?
If I had been at that meeting, or involved in that discussion, I would have told people that math IS important in fact very important. But not MORE important that music.
Music teaches individual and group analytical thinking processes that aren’t taught anywhere else during the school day. I also believe that music:
Teaches grit, determination, and selflessness that will make someone more successful at whatever they do.
Teachers (foreign) language, science, physical education, history, and art at the same time.
Challenges every individual student to rise to their personal potential but does so in an inclusive environment that is safe and welcoming.
Integrates students of differing ages, genders, country of origin, skill sets, etc. in meaningful ways.
Creates a more balanced, safe, and vibrant school community.
Serves to attract and retain the type of students we want other students to model.
Gives every child a greater chance at happiness and success not just in high school, but for the rest of their lives.
Music, being somewhat unique to America, should be a benchmark in determining national success in education as it expands challenges students in all ways and creates a more balanced human being.
Again, I am not advocating zero math and all music, just less math and more music. And, there is plenty of numbers that supports my theory. So, why are people so good with numbers, having trouble understanding my numbers numbers?
As I said, I’m not good at math. But even I can see these numbers don’t add up.
Don Quixote and my holiday lights.
Christmas lights are my nemesis. They are the windmills to my Don Quixote. They are the Frazier to my Muhammad Ali. They are the Doofenshmirtz to my Perry the Platypus (You have to watch Phineas & Ferb, my favorite kids show). Hanging holiday lights should be a joyous time filled with the Christmas spirit, and yet for me, it somehow turns out to be more akin to the furnace fighting scene from A Christmas Story.
It wasn’t always this way. We used to be tight, holiday lights and me. I used to look forward to hanging them up every year. I would blare holiday music while joyfully hanging my illuminated decorations from every conceivable nook and cranny. Think Christmas Vacation on steroids, and yes, I would be Chevy Chase. Yep, I loved me some holiday lights… well, that was until our falling out four years ago. "What happened?” you ask.
I switched to some new fangled computer controlled LED bulbs.
I could tell you I did it for the environment. I could tell you I did it because it was getting harder to find replacement bulbs. Yes, I could tell you this and more, but it would be a lie.
I did it because I love holiday lights and these were SUPER cool! They did all sorts of nifty stuff and were pre-programmed by what I must assume were the people who developed the space shuttle, TIVO, and Tickle Me Elmo. I was drawn to them like a raccoon to a shiny object. And for the last four years I have been paying for it in spades.
This annual struggle has become an annual source of mockery from the neighbors as I do battle with all things LED, but it does not deter me. I stand resolute. I stand strong. I will emerge victorious and light the way for other to follow… literally.
This year after nearly three days and several hissy fits, my neighbor, John, the same one I once called a thief, came over and vowed not to leave my side until they were working CORRECTLY. His first question, “Did you read the directions?”
"Of course I did!” I replied indignantly.
“Where are they?”
"On the back of the box,” I said.
"No, Scott, those are not directions, those are features. I want the directions."
“The directions are inside the box… Why would you need those? It’s like twelve pages of gobbledy gook in six different languages. They are just lights. You just plug them in and hang them up. It's not rocket science,” I said resentfully.
While he read the instructions, I continued my battle and stewed about the different ways I could repay Home Depot for my multi-year torture when Jim looked at me and said, “It says right here that if you use more than four connector strings with these lights they won’t function correctly. How many connector strings did you use?”
I paused and counted in my head...
“Seventeen!” I replied triumphantly. "After all, more is better, right?”
John laughed and said, “You know you’re an idiot, right?”
“I think we all know that, John.” I said with a sense of pride.
John and I spent the next three hours removing, restringing, and rehanging every single light in the correct manner and I must say, they look pretty darn snazzy. The neighbors even came out and celebrated the achievement with some some bubbly. After all, it has been FOUR years.
You should know that I am not a “direction” type of guy. Oh, I am fine giving them, not too bad at taking them, but reading them… not so much. This is probably why I became a teacher.
Lighting up a houses and lighting up teenage minds are two very different things. Unlike lights, when dealing with teenagers there are few rules and even fewer absolutes. There are no step by step directions and no 1-800 help line to call to help trouble shoot the problem. Light bulbs can be dealt with through logical and sequential thinking, that's not always the case with young people.
While pundits and politicians try and convince our country that our education system and the students in it are a step by step, fill in the blank, over-simplified easy to solve problem, you and I both know that nothing could be farther from the truth. Even if it was, we all know that teenagers don’t come with directions.
As a teacher you know that lighting up a house is far different than lighting up the young people who live in it. Thank goodness you're used to not following directions.
Have a great week!
Short and sweet!
It's 11:23 p.m. on Tuesday night. The newsletter should be done, but it's not. I am sitting here pondering different ways to give thanks to you, but I am struggling to find something that is neither formulaic or trite. After all, most of us have been together for over a decade and you already know how much I appreciate you. But how do I express that in a meaningful way? My wife says to keep in short and simple (much like myself).
So, here it goes.
Thank you for putting the needs of young people above your own.
Thank you for giving students a creative outlet in their day.
Thank you for making students laugh, cry, feel, and think in ways no other subject can.
Thank you for keeping music alive in our country and in our lives.
Thank you for sacrificing your days, nights, weekends, and summers.
Thank you for being the standard bearer of excellence, both in and out of school.
Thank you for being a role model to young people and adults alike.
Simply stated... Thank you.
This week will be filled with many opportunities to give thanks for all of the blessings we experience each and every day. In that same spirit of giving, I wanted to share with you a small part of our upcoming release Stay In Music.
The message of gratitude shared by parents in this video is as timely as it is heartwarming. We hope you enjoy watching it as much as we enjoyed making it. Please share it with all of your colleagues, parents, and anyone else who might enjoy.
click here or on the image below to watch
Finally, I wanted to let each and every one of you know how honored and thankful I am that you allow me to be a part of your life. In the coming weeks we will be sharing lots of amazing new stuff, but for now, please accept my most sincere wishes for a restful and relaxing Thanksgiving holiday.
With great sincerity and gratitude...
Congratulations!
I want to extend my most sincere congratulations to ALL of the young people who participated in Bands of America (MFA) Grand National Championships. I was particularly excited to see my good friends at Keller, William Mason, Carmel and Broken Arrow high schools for standing tall among the other finalists. They are all living proof that good guys (and gals) do finish on top.
I would also like to send a HUGE shout out to the folks at Music for All for doing such an extraordinary job of celebrating the accomplishments of music education and the young people we serve. Your tireless efforts are greatly appreciated by the tens of thousands of young people you impact!
I am a musical snob!
This is the third and final installment of my series on practicing
I have two brothers, one older and one younger. To protect their privacy from my massive database of readers (my mom and my golden retriever, Rexi), I will disguise their names (John and Kevin).
I love both of them very much and am confident they love me. Although we live in different places, have different jobs, and lead very different lives, we are connected through music. Yes, both of my brothers love music as much, if not more, than I do.
I am not sure where our shared passion for music comes from as both our parents are tone deaf. Our grandparents, you ask? Well, one had a tin ear and the other owned an organ. You know the kind that if you pressed one key it would play an entire song. That is the entirety of the Lang musical heritage. So yeah, it’s entirely possible we were all adopted.
Like I said, we all love music very much. But I believed I was the only musician in the family.
I earned the title of musician. After all, I went to college and received a couple of degrees. I performed in hundreds of ensembles and studied privately from the finest teachers. I regularly attended master classes, clinics, and workshops and I studied music history for an entire year! Yes, they may love music, but I was sure I was the only MUSICIAN in the family.
My brothers, well, they play guitar and think tablature is the way music was meant to be read. I can only assume they also believe War and Peace would have been better off as a comic book. They’ve never meet a chord they didn’t like and there no such thing as a bad key when you have a capo. Life is good when every song can be sang in the key of G!
To my way of thinking, my brothers couldn’t be musicians. Loving music is not enough, you must sacrifice. You must practice endless hours alone in a 6x6 foot practice room. You must master melodic minor scales and use terms like Phrygian and Locrian. You must be able to write a figured bass line, harmonize in four parts and take melodic dictation. Above all, you must suffer and anguish. This is how TRUE musicians are forged. There is no joy in music. There is only art!
When did I become such a musical snob? When did I become the curator of all things music and the patent holder on the term “musician?” When did all of this happen?
I don’t remember the day I decided that music had to equal suffering. I don’t remember making the actual decision that music had to be so serious and that being a musician was a binary state, all in or all out. I’m not sure when I decided that outside of the ten hours a week my students were in my rehearsal that they should practice more. I don’t remember making a conscious decision on any of this, but somewhere along the line, I did. I am convinced that along with that decision I lost some good student musicians.
On a recent trip to Denver I stayed with my little brother Kevin. As I headed out the front door to my workshop I passed him on the porch strumming his guitar and made the snarky remark, “Hey, while I go teach kids about commitment, sacrifice, dedication and what it takes to be a REAL musician, why don’t you just sit here and play your guitar.”
His reply… "Someone has to keep the joy alive while you run around the country trying to motivate band camp refugees."
Yes, I used to believe that I was the only musician in the family. That was until I saw my two brothers making music and having way too much fun.
Is it too late for me to learn guitar? My voice sounds good in the key of G!
Hey Teachers! Leave Them Kids Alone! Part 2
This is part two in a series about getting kids to practice
As I have mentioned last week, I struggle with the concept of students and practicing. Maybe I struggle with this because I struggle to practice myself, not just as a musician but also as a teacher. If I am going to be honest, I should start by asking myself:
How often did I actually practice my craft as a teacher?
How often did I listen to professional recordings?
How often did I attend live concerts?
How often did I study my scores?
How often did I practice my own instrument?
If I were to be TRULY honest, I might have to admit to a little hypocrisy when I asked and implored my students to practice.
Like you, I worked hard at my job…VERY hard. Twelve hour days and eighty hour work weeks were more the norm than the outlier. But I can also remember many a time when I would be leaving school at dusk and see my students still on a at school with their after school team or club. I can remember grabbing dinner on the way home and having it served by a student working an after-school job. I can remember gulping down my early morning coffee as students walked by and talked about doing homework until two o’clock in the morning.
Again, I do believe that individual ownership and accountability are part of any person’s musical and personal growth, but with increased academic rigors and outside of school demands, the solution is often times not as simple, "take your home and practice!"
Let me just offer a couple of my favorite ideas from my teaching days that might spark your creative teaching juices. Consider the following:
Band camp week: One week each concert cycle I would push the kids extra hard. Practice records, before school rehearsals, after school sectionals. I would ask them to eat, breathe, and sleep band. If they would give me this one week, I would accomplish everything else in class for the next six week with no outside class time required.
Targeted tape testing: I know the “tape” part is antiquated, but you get the gist. I would make students submit recordings of specific four measure phrases. I would pick the hardest four measures for each section and ask them to submit a tape test. The students would not only practice for the test, but would usually make 5-10 recordings of it and pick the best one (hint, that just meant more reps). They had to submit a form with a grade they gave themselves and a parent signature. The students were ALWAYS harder on themselves than I was.
Practice bursts: As a way of breaking up the monotony of rehearsal I would allow for one minute “practice bursts.” I would set my stop watch and ask the kids to fix one thing in a given section in sixty-seconds or less. Think about it, with sixty students in class, I got sixty “man-minutes” of practice and only gave up one minute of class time.
Macro/micro block: I would divide the class period and the ensemble in half (usually low reeds would stay with low brass). I would spend the first have of the period doing “macro-block” with the brass while the woodwinds would leave and do “micro-block” (sectional or individual practice). At the midway point of the class, I would switch up the sections.
These are just a couple of different ideas to get you thinking creatively about how we get kids to practice in an effective AND efficient way. But this is just the beginning. I am attaching to this email ALL of the responses I received last week. It was almost overwhelming. I have left the name of the sender so as to give credit and have not edited their suggestions. Grab a cup of coffee and enjoy all of the incredible ideas your peers provided you.
It’s moments like these that I really do feel like we (you the readers and I) are a merry band of brothers traveling together in search of excellence.
Thank you for bringing me along on your journey. Have a great week!
p.s. Don't forget to download the attachment below.
Practiceideas.pdf