Support
Looper's Delight
|
Support |
|
|
I applaud Joe's efforts to teach outside the mainstream. He should be commended for it. My own thoughts on the "classics vs avant-garde", even more so these days, is that the early pioneers of electronic music and electro-acoustic music ARE the classics for this age and are the appropriate masters todays kids should study. All the precedents for today's Art and music can be traced to turn-of-the-century movements like Dada, Cubism, Surrealism, the Lettrists - and later, the Beats and so on. One can point to a work from any of these movements and say "That led to THIS". > I'm very happy to here that many of us here were exposed to the outer edges > of art at an early age. The Cubist statement, made me laugh as I just > exposed some 10 year old kids to Surrealism today. I will say that as a > music teacher that attempts to open my kids' minds, the process is not as > easy as one would assume. First, I still feel a pressure from my colleagues > and from parents to teach more tradition subject material. Secondly, > sometimes the kids are not always willing to experience an art that is > "outside the box". Still, I continue : I have a couple classes > finishing up Acid pieces containing their own self-made loops > (just to be sort of on topic). > Think about Acid Loops, for example, the discontinuous "cut-up" methods of William Burrows influenced the later exploration of sampling and looping. But "cut-ups" was borrowed from Montage, a favorite tool of Dada and Surrealism. What kid didn't love making collages in art class. Now, what if you could make a coherent connection that runs from Dada to "cut-ups" to Eno to Hip Hop to Acid Loops. Music history and appreciation made fun! > Regardless, I think that we do have a responsibility on some small level to > expose the youth to different modes of thinking that may fly in the face of > what MTV tells them to think. Plus I think that beating the standard > notation system (as one example of traditional thought) into the minds of > kids who don't even play instruments is foolish (my opinion). It's helpful, > but definitely not the most important lesson these kids can learn. > The standard notation is fine for kids who are oriented toward a standard music education. But they can get that from Music Lessons. However, if the objective is primarily Music Appreciation then the most engaging method is through hands-on experience and getting the Big Picture. Back in school I hated Bach, Beethoven and and Mozart (who picked these guys anyway?). Now I find them quite tolerable in small doses. But had I embraced the "classics" too early, I probably never would have discovered the other less traditional musics. > I would ask that some musicians here volunteer some time to local schools to > demonstrate the possibilites. Or for the looping parents here, make sure > that art and music teachers show as many facets of art as possible. > Otherwise, music class becomes a sort of a break for kids and their teachers > (ultimately degrading music's value), which is far more damaging than any > anti-establishment message tha I may preach. Sorry for the rant. Just how I > feel. > Having no children of our own, I do all I can to expose my nephews and nieces to all kinds of music and art that they might not get in school. Most of my siblings home school their kids so I get to be the visiting music instructor and all-around art guy. I find this very rewarding. Funny thing is, my younger siblings *know me*, so it's even more satisfying that they appreciate my subversive tastes in the Arts. ;) Keep up the work Joe!