None of us live in a vacuum. Regardless of how much formal musical training our students may have experienced, every child walks into our classrooms with lived musical experiences. It is important for us to recognize and validate those experiences, wherever they may come from for two reasons. Most importantly, doing so honors our students musical identities and helps us to forge lasting and trusting relationships with them. Secondly, it is important to connect our instruction to what our students already know and love. They are more likely to follow us to new places when they trust that we know and appreciate where they are coming from.
my musical background
I am a conservatory-trained, white, female violinist, raised in Southern and Midwestern suburbia, who teaches in a Bronx Middle School, where the population is 66% Black and 25% LatinX, many of Caribbean descent. I think it is fair to say that my musical background when I was growing up was starkly different from that of my students. In fact, my musical upbringing was very different from that of my peers, as my mother was a music teacher. Daily practice, playing music together as a family, listening to Classical music (particularly pieces I was studying) was part of my family life growing up. You would never hear Top 40 or anything resembling popular music in our house until I became a teenager. Not that it was forbidden, it just wasn't preferred. My musical life was nurtured, supported, and encouraged, and eventually I found myself on a full ride at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music with a double major in Violin Performance and Music Education.
I recognize that because of my upbringing, I have a very different perspective on what daily musical life can look like for children than most people do. My students do not have the same kind of background I had at their age, and let's be honest, most of them probably aren't interested in the kind of musical training I undertook. But that doesn't mean that they have NO musical training, or are completely devoid of any music knowledge. Their understanding and perception of music may be different from mine, but it is equally valid.
A bronx tale
I would like to introduce you to a student of mine who we will call Joe. Joe has a congenital condition where his left hand did not form, and so his left arm is short. The only working digit on his left arm is a short thumb, much like the picture to the right.
Joe is a character with a strong personality, who was determined to play viola. Our first accommodation was to set the viola up left-handed. This would enable him to use his right hand on the fingerboard, and we devised a strap for the bow so he could secure it to his left hand. I assumed this would be easiest for him because:
I identify the placement of all notes on the fingerboard by finger number in the beginning and I assumed he would need that guidance.
I assumed he would want or need to play sixteenth-notes and fast tempi at some point.
But every time I turned around, Joe had swapped his hands around and was using his left thumb to slide up and down the strings like a dulcimer, while he bowed with his right hand. He supported the scroll of the instrument on his lap while he did so. Try as I might to get him to reverse the roles of his hands, he would swap right back immediately. In our first concert, we played a Blues where students took improvised solos. Joe stood up to take his solo, and nearly dropped his viola on stage. We got through it, but he felt embarrassed.
The following year, Joe asked if he could try cello, citing the embarrassing viola incident. Normally I don't allow students to switch instruments mid-stream, but his idea was a really good one since he could more comfortably use his left thumb in the way he was most comfortable with. I was initially concerned about his ability to adjust pitch and match intonation because I knew he was struggling to identify the letter names of pitches on the fingerboard, and didn't even bother to look at the sheet music. But somehow despite his deficiencies in identifying notes, he knew exactly where to place his thumb on the fingerboard, he was ALWAYS in tune, and he was able to keep up and even surpass other cellists in the section at learning new music. What was going on?!
It turns out that Joe, like many of his peers, has a rich musical life in the black church. In fact, he is following in the footsteps of many of our most beloved American musicians and pop icons. If you are unfamiliar with how children experience and learn music in the black church, I encourage you to check out this blog: https://gospelchops.com/how-gospel-musicians-learn-music/ for an explanation of how children are taught music in that context.
Below is a brief comparison of my musical upbringing to Joe's experience.
My background: (Suzuki Method, Classical) | Joe's background: (Black Church) |
Early start: immersive experiences when language acquisition is at its peak (age3-4). | Early start: immersive experiences when language acquisition is at its peak (age3-4). |
Focused training on one instrument (some side experience with piano and voice). | Exploration of multiple instruments, starting with percussion/drums, and moving through the band. |
Emphasis on technical development on the instrument. | Emphasis on ear training (particularly on chords/harmonic language) on multiple instruments, including voice. |
Emphasis on notation and reading as technical skill develops. | Emphasis on improvisation and developing chops as ear training develops. |
Joe's experiences in church gave him skills and abilities that we often call having a "natural
ear." But these abilities stem from a wealth of music making over the course of his entire life. Joe struggles to read music, but he doesn't need to in order to be able to play. His musical experience has taught him to learn musical phrases by ear so quickly that it is faster than de-coding the page. He can quickly fill any memory gaps he has with his innate understanding of harmony and the underlying chord structure. This well-developed ear is what enables Joe to play the cello successfully with his condition.
The recognition of his well-developed ability has been a topic of conversation between Joe and me, but also between Joe and several guest cellists. That recognition has become a source of pride and confidence for Joe, and has spurred his desire to take on the task of learning to read music, an endeavor that is currently in-process and improving every day.
reflection
It is easy for many of us music teachers in urban schools to be frustrated with the lack of continuity in our school systems' music education. It is challenging for us to try to live up to the expectations those of us who grew up in the 'burbs have when it comes to adjudications, festivals, and the level of training we expect our students to have, both when they come to us and when they leave. But our students DO have a wealth of understanding of music that comes from their own upbringing. Church is only one example in a myriad of musical experiences children have. When we get to know our students and begin to understand not just what, but HOW they understand music, it enables us to fully know where they are. Only then can we show them how to learn something new.
for your consideration
What musical experiences do your students have outside of school? How do you know? How can you find out?
Have you ever tried to learn music from another culture as it is traditionally taught? Try learning something new on an instrument you don't yet play as explained by someone from that culture. Youtube is a great resource for this. Challenge your mind to process music in a different way. Try to learn guitar with tablature, or to drum with beat cycles (instead of subdivisions), or to improvise with a raga (including quarter tones). Stepping far out of our comfort zones is what we ask our students to do every day.
There are many ways of understanding, learning, and processing music. What ways are you most comfortable with? What makes you uncomfortable? Do you know what processes are most comfortable for your students? How can you find out?
How can you include the music from your students' cultural backgrounds, life experiences, and favorite channels into your curriculum in a meaningful way?