This Common Core stuff sounds a little strange. Our educational institutions have seemed a little strange to me for a while anyway. The educational message in the U.S. seems to be: “You need money.”
You need to go to college . . . so you can make more money. You don’t want to major in literature . . . think of the job opportunities and the salaries of those with finance degrees. Nursing is great to go into; there will always be nice-paying jobs there. You want to study art? No, no, lawyers make great money. You need to know math . . . so you can count your change.
If I were ever the secretary of education or a school principal—(which I don’t really see happening, but it’s good to be prepared, right?)—I would take a little different approach.
I would replace money with music.
Really, we could teach every subject as an extension of music education. Geography, easy. Watch Béla Fleck go to Africa; talk about the sitar a little. History? Did you know Beethoven originally dedicated his Third Symphony to Napoleon, but then changed his mind when he discovered the tyranny he was up to? (Oh, getting into ethics a little now.) Poetry and language, certainly. Electrical engineering, build an amp.
Which course will lead to a more fulfilling life for the next generation, the study of interest rates or the study of music? There’s lots of math in music: so, a tone that vibrates 440 times in one second may indeed sound harmonious with another that vibrates 220 times per second. How many quarter coins make a dollar? How about how many quarter notes make a measure? What about an eighth, dotted quarter, four sixteenths and a quarter? Now you’re calculating! Keep the change.
We can memorize the state capitals, or we can listen to every Grateful Dead song, as they reference every city in America, while teaching exploration, skill, collaboration and imagination. Should I want my child to know how to tune a guitar, or why the mortgage-backed security is a useful instrument?
I think Gloria and the Macon Music bunch are a step ahead of me on this. They are demonstrating some live music styles in local schools at least, if not plotting a massive overhaul of the establishment. Thanks for everyone going out of their way to teach music to our kids!
At any rate, we have a packed issue for you, Murfreesboro; there’s something for everyone in March. Go on and turn the page; there’s some motorcycle show news, metal up on Hippie Hill, piano and painting and Liquid Smoke, the Center for the Arts’ annual spring gala, and some Gatsby-themed partying. Check out celebratory in-store performances at the Music Stop and Media Rerun, the hard work and entrepreneurship of the Shoe Fixer and Mr. Harris, the creativity and short deadline of the Fifty-Four Film Fest, tabouli talk, MTSU basketball . . . and more words about music than about money.
Peace,
Bracken Mayo
Editor in Chief
