Absolute Music

Beyond all boundaries, we all navigate through a world filled with sounds; instinctively we identify them. We know that there is something magical that occurs when we begin putting the pieces together, when we weed out the noise from the notes. ‘Absolute music’ as Schaffer describes it is the term used to describe a work “whose content its composer has given no guiding caption”. This definition frees us to negotiate the conventions of every day living, to compose with sounds found in our sensory environment. This concept lends itself well to the very foundation of our course: Music as A Way of Knowing for it enjoins us all to take part in the creation of a composition simply by listening to the world around us. As Louise Pascale put it in her article, Dispelling the Myth of the Non-singer “it is easy to get caught up in the main text of life”; consequently forgetting that melody moves as freely as the wind across the bay.
We are used to defining this melody in a certain way as Westerners, listening for the upward and downward swoops it makes on its path toward some recognizable piece or final product. The heavenly rhythms can be identified as sounds that ascend upward and the notes that descend, particularly in classical music are often considered to represent the underworld. We must not forget as educators to introduce our students to the polyrhythmic, process oriented music that the drummers many countries in Africa have made their own, as well as the free flowing form of Eastern music. Performing, playing, composing and teaching such music feeds the individual teacher, while allowing for creativity to exist within the parameters of the every day life. As a result, the daily routines, habits, duties and all of the obligations that we too often feel we have little control over suddenly, if we are lucky, become all the more bearable (Pascale, p. 1). For children, performing music offers up an avenue for them to channel their emotions in a safe manner, one that allows them enough creative control to feel ‘in charge and comfortable.’ As a teacher and artist, I have come to realize that classroom time is a sacred time for my students. In order for them to feel confident enough to practice their art, the atmosphere must be charged with a certain spark, an acknowledgement of sorts that their passions are to be respected when presented with care. Such an atmosphere breeds creativity. As Mozart put it “the silence between the notes” that’s where the music sings. For the students, although they may not even know it, it is often in moments of supervised imprecision that they truly feel free enough to access their most creative thoughts and imaginative feelings. Consequently, it is important to communicate the message that although they will never live their lives completely devoid of musical sounds and compositions that they all have the capacity to be the composers of their own work.

In class, although a bit reticent at first, I felt deeply enlivened by the singing that we did together as a group. These activities brought me back to a time in my life growing up when I attended theater camp and everybody sang! The camp counselors were all professional actors and actresses from New York, and they worked with us as we practiced and performed musicals like ‘Annie’ and ‘Godspell’. During this time in my life, I felt free to discover my own musical talents. A feeling of sadness touched me though when on the first night of the first class we were asked to think about music in today’s entertainment culture. As notable musician Wynton Marsalis states “our culture is dying from the inside” (Miller and Cohen, p. 459). Cornell Reagan, an eighteen year old organizer and African American singer states “it is important to be fluent in history and not hide from it, for this is how the healing takes place” (Kernan, p. 33). Somehow, over the past few years we have allowed ourselves as a nation to move away from the soulful music that once enlivened the heart of this country and moved us all to take direct social action. Of course, this idea can be countered. Musicians today do reach out to the youth of America and the world at large; but have the technological advances that allow artists today to become players on the global stage also stripped away some of the authenticity that once grew at the root of a social movement? As we discussed in our small groups, I wonder if we are feeding an isolationist movement when we begin to rely on technology to such a degree. Only time will tell.

“If history tells us anything, it tells us that the United States, like other nations,
will be measured in the eyes of posterity not by its economic power nor by
its military might…but by its character and achievement as a civilization.”
-Historian Arthur Schlesinger
(from The Case for Music in Schools)

One thing is for sure, music study brings us closer as human beings promoting socialized discipline and civil behavior. We learn from each other and the artists what moves match what genre and we move in time with these artists as they sing their songs. As people, we know that we have the essential ingredients to work with to create a positive future. The effort it takes to live a disciplined, civil, passionate and soulful existence is right at our finger tips. All we have to do is put our minds to use and figure out what each word means in relation to the individual goals and objectives that we set for ourselves in our own private lives. Although I never played a musical instrument myself, I have grown to respect and revere the discipline that playing one fosters, as well as the general reverence for humanity that a melody moving in full freedom evokes in the human heart. While a student at Bates College, I did have the opportunity to sing in the choir. When we performed The Messiah, I was not ‘myself’, rather an instrument, a part of a movement, something larger.

Perhaps this is why I feel particularly disheartened by the news that I hear now from the Naval Academy, from my brother. The Academy has ushered in a new Superintendent who (most likely in an attempt to cut costs for the war) has cut back many of the schools programs: including cutting back on funding for their well known Glee Club. In my heart, I have known for quite sometime what such measures mean. We are in danger of not only failing to nurture the creativity and humanity of our children; but we are forgetting the natural avenues we once used to do so. Much akin to the ways in which many citizens have grown so alienated from one another and their natural surroundings. As I step back into by own natural rhythm here in Maine however; it has been wonderful to become a part of a greater design once again. The dynamics created by this Lesley course have been amazingly uplifting and hopeful. After viewing all of the interview presentations I feel inspired to paint again, sing (even if only in the shower) and tune in to the magic that so many Native American songs hold hidden in their lyrics. I am intrigued by these cases that describe instances where “the words” in their tribal songs “hold beauties of inarticulate emotion. (Schaffer, p. 198).

In our class, I was particularly impressed by the attention to detail that so many of the presenters took with their work and just how in depth the musical inquiry interviews were. So many teachers took the time to interview an important family member or interesting member in their community. We are lucky to have had the opportunity to share our creative work with each other in such a supportive environment. As far as the course requirements were concerned, I have to say that I enjoyed the sound journal activities tremendously! What a great tool to incorporate into the classroom on occasion. For me, I found that in silent moments, I felt most inclined to write poetry. It will be interesting to watch future students experiment with this activity. What fun it was to listen to and examine the instruments that people brought in and to learn a bit about creating our own group composition pieces. After the second workshop, I felt confident enough to apply the information that I learned directly to a lesson that I had planned for our yacht club here in town. I invited a group of students to come down with their instruments to attend my workshop entitled: Discover the Sounds of the Penobscot Bay. A group of six showed up and I was able to test out the one minute composition piece that we experimented with in class. I also led them in a brief series of charades and asked them to identify some of the sounds they hear in and around the Penobscot Bay.
In the future, I plan to refer to the many of the materials and websites provided in the course packet; especially the exercises found in the articles When Words Sing and Ear Cleaning. I agree that every teacher should allow for a bit more ‘Melismas’ in the midst of their well thought out, structured lesson plans (Schaffer, p. 176). ‘Melismas’ as they were characterized by the Greeks are jubilant outbursts. In the future I imagine myself utilizing this theory wherever I go. Yes, it is the teacher’s responsibility to enliven the curriculum a bit. I plan to enjoy introducing my future students to the art of playing with words and trusting their own creative voices: onomatopoeics for kids. I am sure that they will find it interesting to play with the frequency of words once they make the connection that there is a parallel between the way a particular word sounds and the way it is written upon the page. With the middle school students I plan to help them work through tough feelings of guilt and general adolescent angst using a personal approach that has always worked for me. I plan to continue to use story telling, play writing, role playing, drawing, listening, recognition and identification of songs all as a part of my bag of tricks to inspire them. My hope is with a little more experience and passionate interest in the subject material that I will be able to inspire the kids to work; thus minimizing the amount of class time that I have to spend with discipline. Now that I realize, after teaching and reading Pellitten’s article Music and the Sounds of Emotional Intelligence, that children are often the most rebellious and then consequently feel guilty after they have violated a particular rule or standard. It should become easier for me to identify the issues as they present themselves and help students find the proper creative outlets for their frustrated or blocked emotion, music being a main avenue for this activity. I hope that such youngsters will learn to take charge and flow with their own life experiences independently utilizing music as a means of expression. We shall see. Now more than ever before in history, we must awaken to the fact that we are all part of this great ‘global village’ (Fung, p. 67). Here at home in our classrooms we are the instruments singing loud and clear. We have the potential to introduce our students to the sonic world that immediately surrounds them, and then to the world at large all through the songs that we sing, play, present and create. Process vs. product oriented music, eastern vs. western, it makes no difference. We all share in this show together…absolutely!

Bibliography available upon request.