Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,600 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 27 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

The premise of the article was how users of smart phones and other techno gadgetry can create and play music in a variety of ways that is user friendly as well as engaging. The author Rob Walker notes that at the turn of the 20th century, “the principal way of distributing songs was on sheet music and piano rolls. The principal machine for rendering them was an educated daughter.” This resonates with me, since the Conservatory where I work, began in 1867 specifically to offer piano training for young women! And back then so many people made music in order to experience music.

Flash forward to 2011. Perhaps today, despite declining arts education in schools, some will find their way into the arts via these electronic instruments. When someone is actively engaged in an experience, they understand it and support it. And that’s what we all need to nourish the arts and our spirits.

So everyone has to learn to push the button (or strike the key, or move the bow) before they can make music. Learning music definitely builds patience in a student. But to my dismay (along with other teachers) often music learning stops with the button pushing. Once a student becomes skilled at playing fast, slow, high, low, and playing songs and tunes, the music learning ends.

They are playing the mechanics of music, just like machine operators work machines that produce objects. They are producing sounds. But music learning is so much more than this. It is about listening – to yourself and others, in all sorts of settings. It is about really understanding the theory of music – why a note is spelled as a G# and not an A flat when everyone knows bands don’t play in sharp keys! And also a critical part of music learning – that of understanding the context and history of the piece of music.

Much of this lies with the marching band craze. I get it – schools need marching bands as a mechanism to support music in the schools. But after marching band is over, often the students are doing the same thing they did for three months on the practice field, just sitting down. And that is pushing buttons.

Time is to blame too. In addition to private lessons and rehearsals, students should take classes in musicianship and theory. They should be attending concerts of music that they might not play themselves. We should be helping them become well rounded musicians.
But this takes time.

The answer? I wish I knew. I think I know though. Choices need to be made. At our school we recognize that many have little time but sorely want to learn music. We compromise and do the best we can, and often go beyond pushing the buttons. But we know how much more there is to learn. Parents must make choices that are the best for their children. And adult students – I love them! They often come into music lessons because they have a well-rounded understanding of music in the broadest sense and now want to do it themselves.

Yes, good musicians do so much more than push buttons and make sounds. They experience, create and understand music in a holistic sense, and it shows and sounds!

But I work in one of the major training schools for musicians, dancers, and actors. I use my rudimentary mathematical skills to estimate how many aspiring artists graduate each year and how many jobs are available. If five oboists graduated from CCM next year and there were 500 other colleges graduating five oboists each, there would be 2,500 oboists looking for playing jobs. There may be a hundred available a year? My point is not to spout statistics justifying the difficult obstacles us oboists face, but rather to show that in the arts, one can expect the supply to exceed the demand.

But let’s look at this from a different perspective – that of the young burgeoning musician. A musician who may be in her 3rd or 4th year of playing an instrument and ready to perform in an ensemble. WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

In our community, there are at least 20, yes 20, ensembles that young string players can play in, that are outside of any school program. These are for students anywhere from 8 years through high school. Cincinnati is blessed to be a culturally rich city; arts education opportunities for students reflect this social value that makes us very proud.
BUT WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Who is introducing music to young children? Whose responsibility is it? Why are some students able to access the arts and many aren’t? We should be able to populate these 20 ensembles easily and fill 20 more, if music education was a core value in individual families and in schools. Years ago, schools had orchestra and band programs. Kids would get introduced to music by general music teachers and then given the opportunity to choose to study an instrument at an affordable price for the family. Today, few string programs exist in elementary schools and as one goes up the arts food chain, fewer and fewer musicians are products of the public schools, but rather of those families with a commitment to the arts and the income to pay for it.

We are already experienciing the negative impact on diminishing arts education in the schools. It won’t be too long, before higher education institutions will also find it nearly impossible to fill their classes with the best and brightest performers. And there may be a time when there won’t be a surplus of musicians because there will be no demand, because orchestras won’t exist.

I can’t think of a better way for a child to experience learning, in its most fundamental shape, than by learning to play an instrument. The physicality of playing, the muscle and mind memory training, the group dynamics, the responsibility and independent learning that is expected are invaluable. So when are we going to insist that schools bring back strong arts programs?

Be an advocate for the arts. Go to www.cincyartsalliance.org where a bunch of arts educators in Cincinnati are committed to ensuring that we do what we can to get kids and the arts connected. Help us ensure that we keep a healthy supply of artists in our country. For artists are resourceful – they may not find a “job” as we know it, but they will survive and they will be satisfied in a way that many of us only dream about.

My official hire date was ten years ago on 9/11/01. What an incomprehensible event that no one who was around on that date will ever forget. A tragedy of this magnitude and the aftermath that has evolved from it has changed our world and how we live.

How do we balance the reality of our everyday world with the world of the arts?
Do the arts solve the problems of the world? Do the arts provide jobs to those who need work? Do the arts help resolve personal conflicts that we have? Do the arts make us smarter?

My personal belief is that the arts do not need to answer these questions. The arts exist solely as the arts and should be respected and honored as such. The arts are ethereal; they are transient; they are confusing; and they are complicated. But they are art.
And that is where we come in. Arts education exists to assist people in their own personal arts journey. The journey can be a straight forward path, or it can be replete with bumps, hills, missed entrances and one way streets. The journey may be filled with colorful and exciting landscapes that capture your imagination or it may be colorless or dull.

It’s our job to help our students find the smoothest and most imaginative journey through the arts. That’s called motivation.

So what does this have to do with that fateful day 10 years ago?

The arts are transforming. They transform one by one. The arts don’t magically make the world a better place and cause all of us to get along with each other. Rather, it is a personal journey. And our personal journey through art transforms us and gives us space to regroup and catch our breath before we go out to face the challenges of the world. Even our young students know this. I read the essays our students write for our scholarship program and over and over they describe how their art helps calm them or makes them happy or excited. As one nine year stated, “what keeps me going is the wonderful feeling I sometimes get when I’m playing the violin.”

And that is why we need the arts so desperately today.

I think the problem is we get too invested in ideology and pedagogy. We find the “ideal” approach and develop a structure and expectations on the process, and forget to include the most critical issue – the human relationship.

At its core, teaching the arts is passing on and sharing knowledge between people. There may be online programs, skyping, and other technological approaches, but I see the magic happen in the arts a lot. And it is because of the student whose light bulb goes off because the teacher has pulled the right cord. This isn’t rocket science. All good teachers have this ability and it happens all the time. It doesn’t happen because of testing, curriculum choices, required hours of classwork or the type of school. It happens because of a relationship between two people.

How do we so easily veer from this basic credo of teaching? How can we remember this everyday we are in this business? Because the most important thing we can do is bring students and teachers together and then let the magic happen.

So summer is a time of rest and relaxation, right? Yes, but we can mix a little business with pleasure! Consistency is one of the main keys to gaining and improving skills. A little practice every day produces more effective results than cramming in one big practice time a week. And our faculty who work with young children know that an element of fun and enjoyment is critical to keep little ones engaged.

So in the summer, arts camps are a great way to mix business with pleasure. In our summer camps, the students are relaxed and the social aspect plays an important role in the learning process. Our campers mix learning with engaging activities and related craft projects. High school students learn important skills by “apprenticing” with the camps. Campers get to visit other areas of the school they don’t normally work in at these camps. The intensity of singing, playing, or dancing consistently for five days goes far in the development of artistic skills.

So kids can wear a wacky hat, invent an instrument and have band rehearsal for several hours each day. They may not remember the practices (but their school band director will thank you!) but they will not forget those freezer pops!

So I was watching the game the other day and got to thinking about the coaches on the bases. If the batter gets to first base, there’s a coach there to assist him with the goal of making it home that inning and score one for the team.

Flashback to our last student recital. Where is the coach on stage prompting the beginning six year old pianist as to what to do? How can he be up there all alone on stage with no one to help him? Now granted, some of our very young Suzuki students have their mom or teacher adjust the piano seat or hand the child the bow. But from early on, part of the learning process in the arts is about taking care of yourself and becoming independent. Every year at this time I see hundreds of our students on stage in end of the year performances. And time and time again, I am just as blown away with the student’s control of the situation as to what comes out of their mouth or their fingers.

Arts education goes way beyond the technical skills of singing, acting, or dancing. Students learn early on how to be responsible for their own actions and take command of situations.

And that’s just one of the many benefits of arts education. So, back to rooting for the players, whether on the stage or the field!

“No, No” I say as fast as I can, before they move on to the next booth. We offer programs in the arts for everyone – young and old, beginner or advanced, novice or career focused. You see, everyone has to start somewhere. And there is no timeline attached to that entry point.

Children are natural sponges and will try anything. As Pablo Picasso stated, “every child is an artist, the problem is how to remain one when we grow up.” At CCM Prep we encourage everyone to explore their artistic side. On Saturday, May 21, you’ll be able to try out classes yourself here at CCM. We have acting and voice classes, dance classes, theory classes and stage combat classes for students from age four through high school to try out. You’ll also have the chance to hear our music students in several different recitals happening during the day, as well as meet everyone at a free picnic sponsored by CCM Prep staff. You’ll even be able to preregister for fall classes or register for summer camps that day.

So join us and let your child explore the arts in a friendly, accessible way on May 21. Visit our website at www.ccm.uc.edu/prep for our complete schedule.

I’ve blogged before about the music in New Orleans and I will again. Music in the Big Easy defines what we as advocates of the arts envision for all communities. Music in New Orleans blurs the color line, the age line and the economic line. Music brings people together and brings enjoyment to everyone who hears it. And it’s hard not to hear it wherever you are.

I was there for just a few days, but this is what I heard:

A group of young adults playing traditional jazz near Jackson Square. There was a trumpet (girl), clarinet, tuba, trombone, guitar, banjo and washboard/tin cup player. They set up shop with their latest cd’s a tip cup, and commenced to play. If you didn’t see them, you would swear they were seasoned professionals who had played together for 50 years! The music is memorized, played expertly, and they clearly love what they do.

A lone flute player in front of Café du Monde in the French Market. His flute was hooked up to a small amplifier and he was playing some pretty hot jazz. Best of all his flute was purple and gold, no doubt a flute that started life at LSU!

The Gypsy Swing Club at the Bacchanal, a wine bar in the Ninth ward. A warm, beautiful evening, sitting outside in the courtyard with a bottle of wine and listening to two incredible guitarists and bass. Just like the city itself, the music was pure fusion – traditional jazz, pop, folk, world and original music.

And walking down the street in a local neighborhood, a sousaphone player walking to his gig with his instrument wrapped around him, while also observing a biker riding home after his gig with his drum in the front basket.

Because it was Easter, there had to be parades! Enter two marching bands to heighten the fun!

What if? What if we shared our music with others in settings other than the acceptable venues? What if we took all our students and had them practice outside on the sidewalks? What if we sang as we walked instead of tuning our music inward with our ipods? Music is a gift to be shared and that’s when music becomes magical.