Sara Bareilles & The Long Haul of Modern Learning

Yesterday I was giving a piano lesson to a high school student - and was quite nervous. In her lesson last week, she asked if I could teach her the Sara Bareilles tune "Love Song" and, of course, I said "yes". The issue was, I had never played the song and had to go get the music, listen, and re-listen, to the song (both the studio and live versions) and then try desperately to play it correctly all within seven days. This was all in preparation to teach it correctly. Needless to say, I managed to pull it off. My student asked if I could play one section for her and I even managed a compliment (phew!).

I tell this story because I've been reading a lot about modern education. The question we are constantly hearing is "What are we supposed to teach kids today?"

We live in a period where technological advance is eliminating jobs at an alarming rate. Things we took for granted as "regular" parts of life - like Sears - seem to be disappearing quickly, and with more frequency. Technology has changed the way we live in more ways than one. Self driving cars become more of a reality every day (eliminating more jobs). Amazon now has 45,000 robots working in its warehouses and plans on adding more. This is in addition to the drones that will soon be delivering your (and mine) packages. It appears that even the jobs of computer software developers aren't safe either because, apparently, there are robots for that too.

The speed at which technology changes is dizzying. It also begs the question: Will the jobs kids are being trained for be around in ten...or three years? To paraphrase the great education reformer and thinker, Sir Ken Robinson: We have no idea what the world is going to look like in ten years and yet, we're supposed to educate our children to work in it.

The question of what purpose music serves in education has puzzled humanity since the beginning of time. In Politics Aristotle wrestled with its role and wrote: "...it's not easy to determine the nature of music or why anyone should have a knowledge of it." After a lengthy dialogue, he concludes: "...music has a power of forming the character and should therefore be introduced into the education of the young." I believe Aristotle was (is) correct, and also believe the role music can play goes further.

I am 51 years old and have been playing the piano and drums for a combined 57 years. Despite my study of music in college, and years of playing professionally, I still had to go put my head down for a week to learn a new song so I could teach it properly. The thing is, this is nothing new for musicians. We are handed new parts all the time and asked to learn them for rehearsals and/or performances. We are also called on to reference various material, artists, and styles so we can inject them into other types of music. We need to have a kind of musical "database" at the ready whenever and wherever we play (As an example, I was at a rehearsal recently and was asked to give what I was playing more of "Texas shuffle" groove. It was just expected that I knew what a Texas shuffle even was). As musicians, we never stop learning. We practice, we listen, we read, we read about, we go see live performances, and we practice some more. Learning an instrument never ends. It just keeps going.

This, I believe, is what modern learning has become. We can no longer afford for our kids to believe that once they enter college (or go out to learn a trade), and complete their degree (or certificate), their education is finished. Those days are gone. We now have to prepare our kids for a mindset to help them understand they're entering a world that will demand they learn and re-learn constantly.

What better way to do this than through music?

When I was in college one of my professors told us to never focus on earning a living through one facet of music. We shouldn't focus solely on the playing of it. He reminded us we could teach it, write it, write about it, write about how to teach it, write for a technical publication, or even create curriculum. He also reminded us that first, and foremost, we were musicians and that in order to do anything with music, we had to always practice, and always learn. We also had to be willing to make mistakes, and ask others for help. And, best of all, we had to learn how to make music with others. This involved learning how to listen as well as communicate. The coolest part of all this is that music is aesthetic, so all of this work also involved (and still involves) being aware emotionally and socially.

I recently read an interview with a young man in Ohio who went to work in a factory when he was 18 years old. He was trained to work on a machine and was very proud of the fact that he was able to earn his machinist license by the time he was 20. He'd been working on that machine for the last 25 years. Eventually technology made his machine obsolete, and this young man is now out of work. The thing is, this guy (now in his mid 40's) is not obsolete. His machine may be, but he certainly isn't. He obviously possess intelligence and is able to learn a skill and do it well. The problem is, he was educated to believe that working that one machine was all he could ever do - the complete opposite of what I was taught. I fear this mindset is how most kids are taught today, and this is not good.

Having kids learn an instrument (or instruments) is the perfect way to create "modern students". It gets them ready for the long haul of modern learning. Because, in today's world, just when you think you know it all, someone is going to hand you the score for a Sara Bareilles tune.