Musicing

I’m at the 5th International Symposium on the Sociology of Music Education in Newfoundland. What a beautiful place! John Kratus just gave an excellent, moving presentation about a songwriting class that he teaches at his university. From the quotes that he shared, the students valued this experience immensely to the point of ignoring their other coursework. I recommend to anyone ‘out there’ to find some of John’s published articles and learn more. I think that songwriting classes in K-12 courses could be very appropriate, too. Bernadette Colley talked about alternative ensembles including Mariachi and bluegrass. I know that Mariachi is gaining popularity in schools, but I don’t think bluegrass ensembles have and I wonder why not given their popularity. Maybe we don’t want to do popular things in school. I think that we should do those things in school that our students will likely find joy in doing long term. Someone mentioned a study done in Texas that measured what percent of all-state band members (the best of the best) continued to play after graduating from high school. It was only 7%! Interesting . . .

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