It was one of the most memorable editions of ABC’s Dancing With The Stars, at least for me. During the last season, one episode had all of the dances set to classical musicâ┚¬â€Âcompositions you don’t hear much unless you’re someone who frequents your local symphony or opera.
“They’re doing all the music from Bugs Bunny, my partner remarked. After I stopped laughing, I started thinking about how many of us grew up with that influence in Saturday morning cartoons. I considered with sadness, how many kids today don’t even get that much of a taste of classical music.
Musical tastes are shaped at a very early age, and what kids like is usually what’s mass-marketed to them on TV, radio, and more so now, through internet services like iTunes. What all of that means is that the next generation isn’t likely to have much appreciation for the diversity of music in the world.
I was raised in a very musical family. In this case, “musical” actually means musicâ┚¬â€Ânot a euphemism for “gay.”
My Dad played the tuba growing up. In fact, he had a tuba for many years later in our living room. He loves Dixieland Jazz. My brother played the trombone and he loves progressive jazz. I also played the trombone (jokes aside please). I find myself attracted to all kinds of music.
What do all three of us have in common? We all had the support, encouragement and enrichment of being in school music programs. From day one, playing in school teaches you an appreciation for all music as art, as culture, as part of what makes a rich society. You learn music’s connection to math, and the role music has played in our world’s history.
Sadly, with budgets being cut, school music programs are disappearing at an alarming rate. Our lawmakers seem to see music as an “extra.” It’s something the perceive as unnecessary to advance learning, something that won’t help the test scores.
On the contrary, the Music Education Advocacy Group “School Music Matters,” found that children from “arts-rich” public schools score higher on expression, risk-taking, creativity-imagination, cooperative learning, and academic self-concept than children in “arts poor” systems.
Music is still more than all of that- it’s about values.
I am proud to say I was part of the Lincoln High School Trojan Marching Band in Stockton, Calif. Playing in a high school band, you learn the values of patience, hard work, repetition, practice, and manners.
Patience because you are often doing nothing while the kinks are worked out of other sections of the band. Hard work because you sometimes practice the music and the marching for up to five hours per day, three days per week. Repetition because you are often practicing the same march for a parade/street competition over and over and over for months. Practice because you know that your individual performance mattersâ┚¬â€Âeven among a group of 100. You must practice on your own to be your best. Manners because even when someone isn’t as talented as you may be, you learn to respect their effort and interest in becoming a better musician.
Being gay and overweight made most of high school more than horrible for me. With that said, there was one oasis during my days of being bullied and tortured, and that was band period. My band instructor was hardcore and did not tolerate any ill behavior from anyone. He was all about getting the job done. Band was also one place where it didn’t matter how heavy you were or how gay you were perceived to be, if you played well, even teenagers (immature as they may be), paid you some measure of respect, if only for that hour.
All these years later, I still love a great march and a great marching band, but my music education taught me to appreciate virtually all types of music. I found myself going to the symphony when I was 15, the opera when I was 17, and to this day, I love virtually every musical (go figure). The idea that people can tell a story through song and dance amazes me every time. Away from the stage, I also appreciate pop, country, jazz, and even some rap from time to time. I love Lady Gaga as much as the next homo, but there is a whole wide world of songs and notes and spirituality in other types of music. Much like food, how sad it is that anyone would not experience all that is out there to sample.
We have to keep music education alive to keep that going. Otherwise, as older generations pass away, so will the music. If you look around at the audience at any symphony, any opera, and even many musicals, the average age is mid-40s. Musical diversity is too valuable to let it just fade away into being something an adult remembers hearing only in the background of an old cartoon on Saturday morning.
