At 06:01 PM 5/25/2007 -0400, Andrew Stiller wrote: >I was once invited to talk about electronic music to an elementary >school assembly. I played Varèse's _Poème électronique_ and the kids >loved it. So did the teachers.
I taught elementary school music for six years. There was nothing the kids didn't get enthusiastic about -- and this was a poor rural district. There are a thousand stories to tell, but they're all based on my one rule: Try to invent every day. Kids play, and so they know that almost biologically. They all composed by the end of my six years, just as they all could write or draw, whether it was for piano or kitchen mixer and vacuum cleaner. It was notated traditionally or, as with the mixer & vacuum cleaner, in a grid of their own devising. And it was performed and recorded by other kids 'hired' as performers and recording engineers. Beyond that, imagine eight-year-olds watching the complete ballet version of "Rite of Spring" (on video) or going to a performance of "A Soldier's Tale" -- both attended in rapt silence. Imagine a kid walking down the hall hearing a younger group listening, and sticking his head in and saying "Bartok!". Or four of them performing Larry Austin's "Square" as best their young skills would let them. Kids aren't fixed. Maybe later, when inundated with tonality, their aural view will narrow. But it doesn't start out that way. Dennis _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
