It is well known that music affects our lives, though it might not have been decided whether some kinds of music have a better effect on us than others! What I do know is that some of the most delightful times in my teaching career were when I was either training a choir or teaching songs to a class of kids. Learning to read is one thing, but what about learning to enjoy music?
We have all got different tastes in music, but if we are able to be concerned in a sort of music-making with others, there may be a great deal of benefit in various ways for all concerned.
At perhaps its simplest level, if we are a part of a group of vocalists, we do not have to be especially good at singing to enjoy ourselves. Joining together to produce a reasonably good result's satisfying and therefore , enjoyable. (Whether or not it is delightful to others could be hard to determine) But the 'togetherness ' is good, at least. With children, the benefit of getting together to provide a good song is useful. I've seen the shyest children 'come out of their shell ' when they know they're accepted as a part of a choir and the naughtiest kid forget to misbehave because they are engrossed in the music.
For several years I taught seriously emotionally troubled children - who were so traumatised that they had no reserves left to learn in a normal school situation. It was my job to make some try to continue the children's education while the resident psychoanalyst tried to help them mend their lives.
Teaching normal lessons was really hard, but when emotions - and tempers - became impossible to control, the only thing that worked to revive order, was singing. They were always willing to sit around the piano together and sing and if it is a comic song, so much the better! At these times, abused, damaged and heart-broken children could giggle happily and sing joyfully, in spite of everything. 'Bananas in Pyjamas' will always bring to me the memory of babies giggling and singing, while the remainder of their lives were in total disarray.
So I suspect that filling the high-school curriculum so full that there is no room for music is a retrograde step. Why is it that youngsters find singing so uncool these days? - probably because they no longer experience the excitement of singing in primary school, because it isn't considered vital any more. They have no chance to sing together exclusively for pleasure. These days the X Factor and similar Reality TV shows demand a totally different kind of music "and only the most talented performers are selected - with the public, on the whole, deciding who are the most accomplished. Consequently there is no room for the musically ungifted to just enjoy music. If you know you aren't good at it, then you avoid it "even though there are very few people who are truly 'tone deaf.' In fact nearly everybody can sing a little and this can be inspired if given the chance.
Music gives confidence to the timid; peace to the unsettled and delight to the disillusioned and they don't have to be especially talented. Surely these benefits should be the root of learning in all our schools, for if our kids remain shy, agitated or disillusioned, they'll never be well placed to attain their potential whatever we try to teach them.
We have all got different tastes in music, but if we are able to be concerned in a sort of music-making with others, there may be a great deal of benefit in various ways for all concerned.
At perhaps its simplest level, if we are a part of a group of vocalists, we do not have to be especially good at singing to enjoy ourselves. Joining together to produce a reasonably good result's satisfying and therefore , enjoyable. (Whether or not it is delightful to others could be hard to determine) But the 'togetherness ' is good, at least. With children, the benefit of getting together to provide a good song is useful. I've seen the shyest children 'come out of their shell ' when they know they're accepted as a part of a choir and the naughtiest kid forget to misbehave because they are engrossed in the music.
For several years I taught seriously emotionally troubled children - who were so traumatised that they had no reserves left to learn in a normal school situation. It was my job to make some try to continue the children's education while the resident psychoanalyst tried to help them mend their lives.
Teaching normal lessons was really hard, but when emotions - and tempers - became impossible to control, the only thing that worked to revive order, was singing. They were always willing to sit around the piano together and sing and if it is a comic song, so much the better! At these times, abused, damaged and heart-broken children could giggle happily and sing joyfully, in spite of everything. 'Bananas in Pyjamas' will always bring to me the memory of babies giggling and singing, while the remainder of their lives were in total disarray.
So I suspect that filling the high-school curriculum so full that there is no room for music is a retrograde step. Why is it that youngsters find singing so uncool these days? - probably because they no longer experience the excitement of singing in primary school, because it isn't considered vital any more. They have no chance to sing together exclusively for pleasure. These days the X Factor and similar Reality TV shows demand a totally different kind of music "and only the most talented performers are selected - with the public, on the whole, deciding who are the most accomplished. Consequently there is no room for the musically ungifted to just enjoy music. If you know you aren't good at it, then you avoid it "even though there are very few people who are truly 'tone deaf.' In fact nearly everybody can sing a little and this can be inspired if given the chance.
Music gives confidence to the timid; peace to the unsettled and delight to the disillusioned and they don't have to be especially talented. Surely these benefits should be the root of learning in all our schools, for if our kids remain shy, agitated or disillusioned, they'll never be well placed to attain their potential whatever we try to teach them.
About the Author:
Helena Rogers has been a teacher for more than 30 years and is well known for her hugely successful Reading Revival method that helps youngsters learn to read using reading games.
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