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Keepin’ it Real: Music [Education] in the Social and Digital Age
Companies large and small go in and out of business all the time, much like the ebb and flow of the tides each day. There is no sector of business immune to it, and sometimes there seems no rhyme or reason for it either. The business of sheet music is no different. Sheet music stores and sheet music publishers rise and fall, rise and fall, akin to a lilting melody in a song.
Some make it and some don’t. Take Carl Fischer sheet music, a tried-and-true music publisher that is celebrating 140 years of service this year to 1,400 sheet music retailers worldwide, Pender’s Music Co. being one of them. Consider this: when the founder of Carl Fischer first opened up for business, he didn’t sell sheet music at all. Carl Fischer, the business, was a musical instrument repair shop, and there is really little in common when comparing band instrument repair with the writing, designing, printing, publishing and distributing of a piece of sheet music.
But what about Southern Music Company, a business that was both a sheet music retailer and a music publisher, too? In February of this year, after 75 years of retailing and publishing, the San Antonio mainstay for music educators, performers and students everywhere closed its doors for good. Of course, it must be noted here that Lauren Keiser Music Publishing eventually took over the publishing division in June, but still, it’s the sign of the times — rise and fall, rise and fall.
Like Carl Fischer, Pender’s Music Co. is also celebrating an anniversary, albeit only 45 years and counting. And somewhat similar to them, our primary focus in the beginning wasn’t sheet music either. Think soda fountain, art supplies, school supplies and more (a little bit of music), sold right on campus to college students. But even more similar? The acceptance of change, and the willingness to adapt to it, with a little bit of risk-taking for good measure.
That’s what small business is best at. That’s what a family-owned business is best at: the germ of the idea, the drive to make it happen, the willingness to cut your losses when necessary, the stick-to-it-ive-ness to ride the rise and fall, the dare to dream big all over again.
And what does all of this have to do with music education, social media, and the digital age? Quite a lot. Over the past few days, we’ve seen the viral video of Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” as arranged and performed by the 3Penny Chorus and Orchestra. The 3Penny Chorus and Orchestra is a volunteer pickup ensemble conducted by Arianne Abela, a choral music conductor and educator who graduated from Yale’s School of Music Masters Program in choral conducting in 2010. And Colin Britt, who arranged the music for the group, was one of her classmates. He is now on the faculty at the Hartt School of Music.
We’ve also seen Korean singer’s Psy “Gangnum Style” as performed by the Ohio University Marching Band. These classically trained musicians, educators and students have put their own spin on popular music of today and shared it via social media to millions of people. Brilliant! It’s certainly a positive spotlight on choir, orchestra, and marching band.
As music educators, music makers, and the companies that supply needed goods and services to them move forward, it will be important for everyone to try and adapt to the changes of how media and information is transmitted nowadays. Embracing technology and its power of connecting people to people and products and services to people will be vital to staying strong both in education and in business. Sheet music, just as recorded music and published books before it, is rapidly transforming itself into a more digital-friendly medium — point of purchase digital downloads, online score and part perusal, streaming sample audio, etc. But let’s not forget that the content — that piece of sheet music with the lilting melody — remains the same, and the value of it is truly immeasurable.
Browse the new Carl Fischer Concert Band titles for 2012: listen to recordings, view full scores, shop online!
Brain Waves Stay Tuned to Early Lessons – NYTimes.com
New York Times Blog:
When children learn to play a musical instrument, they strengthen a range of auditory skills. Recent studies suggest that these benefits extend all through life, at least for those who continue to be engaged with music.
Read on… Brain Waves Stay Tuned to Early Lessons – NYTimes.com.
The Literary Essay & Its Similarity to Sheet Music
What is an essay? When you look up the word ‘essay’ in a dictionary or online, it’s actually somewhat fascinating how the definition and description about it is so similar to what you would assume you’d find when looking up the definition and description of ‘sheet music.’ It’s quite uncanny, really. With a simple word change here or there, or a twist of phrase, what can be said about an essay can be said about a piece of sheet music, or a music composition. Wait. What was that? A music ‘composition?’ Isn’t ‘composition’ a synonym for ‘essay?’ Well, there you go.
You see, according to Wikipedia, an essay is “a piece of writing which is often written from an author’s personal point of view.” That’s pretty much what a piece of sheet music is supposed to be, too. The best music is sheet music that is written from the composer’s point of view.
According to About.com, “Essays are brief, non-fiction compositions that describe, clarify, argue, or analyze a subject.” Wow. [Sheet] music is much the same. A music composition should come from the heart and be honest and true. And certainly there’s no one out there that would argue that music is not a descriptive medium. Additionally, what serious, upper-level music student hasn’t been required at times to analyze a piece of sheet music? And let’s not forget the element of clarity that music can bring to just about any situation. Hence, the existence of love songs, silly songs, sad songs, children’s songs, love gone wrong songs, and more. Music makes going through everyday life better.
The primary definition of essay at Dictionary.com states that it is “a short [literary] composition on a particular theme or subject, usually in prose and generally analytic, speculative, or interpretive. Again, wow. Sheet music primarily begins with a theme, and certainly music can be very regimented and analytical, yet its speculative elements and how it is interpreted are big components, too. It’s all relative to the composer and the listener, of course, and it’s different for everyone. But that’s exactly why music has such value. Sheet music is limitless.
Essays are an important educational tool as well, and can be written in various forms and styles, like compare and contrast, cause and effect, descriptive, narrative — the list goes on. To wit, sheet music takes on many forms and styles, too. Some we understand, and some we don’t. And therein lies part of the mystery of it all. Whether sheet music is written in an analytical style, or whether it is written in a myriad of contrasts, it really doesn’t matter. What matters is that the creative endeavor was entered into at all. The process of writing a piece of sheet music includes forming an introduction, developing a body, and a conclusion. Wait. What was that? Introduction…body…conclusion. Sounds like the three primary elements of a good essay.
Enter the Morty Manus “What Music Means to Me” Essay Competition. Deadline is March 25th.
Where Sheet Music, Competition & Creativity Collide (in TX)
If you live in the state of Texas, and you’re involved in music and education in the schools, then the two acronyms TX UIL and TX PML likely spill freely and frequently from your lips. And even if you’re not from Texas, but are involved in music education somewhere in this great country of ours, then you probably know what they mean, right? Just in case you don’t, though, here’s the information in a nutshell taken from the UIL home page: “The University Interscholastic League (UIL) exists to provide educational extracurricular academic, athletic, and music contests for schools in Texas.”
As it pertains to UIL music, of course, this includes marching band, concert band, full and string orchestra, both instrumental and vocal solo and ensemble, and choir. Solo and Ensemble music events in band, choir and orchestra are scheduled in 28 TX UIL Music Regions, and portions of the choral and instrumental sheet music to be performed must come from the Prescribed Music List (PML).
Hence, since the performance at least in part must come from the UIL music list that is not of your own making, the sheet music selection itself is a very important part of the process, because no individual soloist or music performance group wants to play sheet music that is either too easy or too difficult. Nor do they want to play from just any sheet music that is on the UIL music list. It needs to be sheet music that is specifically relevant to their group. Picking out what sheet music is to be played at a competition (or in essence, at a mini concert), is perhaps one of the most difficult parts of the TX UIL music process. That PML piece must be representative of the overall performance level of either that one person (in a solo), or the entire group of musicians involved. Because it’s all about the competition, right? Or is it?
Students want to earn that Division One Rating at the region competitions, so that they are eligible to advance to the TX UIL State Solo and Ensemble Contest that is traditionally hosted in Austin every year on Memorial Day Weekend. The annual trek is to Austin, because it was the University of Texas at Austin that created the TX UIL in first place in 1910. So consider that. What has grown into the largest inter-school organization of its kind in the world, has a more than one hundred year history, and the model from which it was created here in Texas is now emulated all over the country.
But is it really all for just the competition? Most certainly not. Yet in almost any music circle, you’ll find there is usually a constant debate about competition, its merits, and how it relates to music and the arts. There is a school of thought that since music and the arts are creative pursuits, why must competition or the participation in music contests be an integral part of it, particularly in the school classroom? It almost seems contradictory doesn’t it? Music | Creativity | Expression. What is competitive in that? How can you measure creativity? Expression?
Yet (again from the internet pages of the TX UIL), “the Music Program [specifically]…is designed to support and enrich the teaching of music as an integral component of the public school curriculum in the state of Texas.” Support…enrich…compete, too…and don’t forget to play or sing that choral octavo or instrumental sheet music as creatively and expressively as you can. Because luckily for us, UIL music and competition have and will continue to coexist beautifully together, because as anyone knows, the heart and soul of a school’s music organization is its concert ensemble, whether it be the top-level choral group, or the elite wind ensemble in the concert band program. It is by no coincidence at all that the best marching band programs are a direct reflection of the best concert bands; that the best a cappella choral groups are an extension of the premiere choir in the school; that the wind trios, brass quartets, and percussion ensembles that compete in the TX UIL music contests are usually formed from the top players of their respective programs.
So play on and compete. Seek and find the best band sheet music, choir sheet music, and instrumental sheet music which speak not only to you, but to your students as well. The time to do it is now. Christmas is right around the corner and the TX UIL music competitions will be here before you know it. Therefore, let the sheet music, competition and creativity collide, and trust Pender’s Music Co. to help you. The result will be worth it.
Helpful links:
Band PML | New Selections for 2011 | Texas UIL (slideshow)
New Texas UIL | PML Concert Band Additions for 2011-2012 (pdf)
Choral PML | New Selections for 2011 | Texas UIL (slideshow)
New Texas UIL | PML Choral Additions for 2011-2012 (pdf)
Orchestra PML | New Selections for 2011 | Texas UIL (slideshow)
New Texas UIL | PML Full & String Orchestra Additions for 2011-2012 (pdf)
Texas UIL | PML Vocal
Texas UIL | PML Instrumental
Texas UIL | PML String
Elementary Music & Reading: A Perfect Christmas Combo
Now that Halloween has passed, thoughts move on to the holidays of fall and winter: Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas and New Year’s. And of course, it’s a natural progression that gift-giving (and buying) become high-priority items on many to-do lists.
As an elementary music educator, if you want to encourage the young ones in your life outside of the elementary music classroom to value not only music, but reading as well, there’s no better combination than a beautifully illustrated picture book with an accompanying CD that can be read and listened to over and over again. Studies show that arts education directly correlates with improvements in children’s reading abilities.
It’s best to begin early, and while your elementary music classroom is a great place to encourage music and reading, it’s always nice to think beyond the school setting and the elementary music classroom itself. Get parents involved. Even if a child can’t read, the parent reading to them is a huge stepping stone to developing that child into a lifelong reader.
Lifelong readers become lifelong learners. According to the Children’s Reading Foundation “Without the ability to read, excellence in…school and beyond is unattainable.” That’s a pretty powerful statement, right? We think so, too, and if there’s ever a way to bring music, reading, and lifelong learning into the same equation, we’re all for it. Consider a music [education] picture book/CD for all those little learners on your Holiday gift list!
For more great book/CD ideas, browse the latest edition of our Pender’s Music Co. Elementary Music catalog curriculum section.
Tuesday’s Tidbits: UIL Orchestra (PML)
While we realize that everyone is not as invested in the Texas UIL Prescribed Music List (PML) as we are, since two of our stores are in Texas, it still merits mention that this year there were many new titles added to the list(s), including music for full orchestra and string orchestra.
And while your particular situation may not require that you perform music from the list, that doesn’t mean that the list, in and of itself, is not indeed still a good resource when you’re simply looking for festival or competition music for other uses. That’s why we highlight it here and on our website, as well as across some of our other media channels (Slideshare, Flickr, Facebook, etc).
Just think about it….some great folks in Texas have done a lot of the work for you: reviewing, listening, and critiquing music, looking for only the best of the best in all levels for orchestra and strings. There are other states around the country that simply adopt the Texas UIL/PML list as their own, and call it day. Now, some people might call that robbery, and some people might just call it knowing when to take advantage of a good thing…..we’ll let you decide that for yourself. In the meantime, view the slideshow, download the pdf, and take a look at some great music for full orchestra and string orchestra.
Texas UIL Orchestra Sheet Music (PML): New Additions for 2011
The full orchestra/string orchestra sheet music titles that were recently added to the Texas UIL Prescribed Music List (PML) [2011].
View more presentations from Pender’s Music Co.
And here is a link to the pdf brochure, which is on our website (also interactive):
Remembering the Santa Maria
Columbus Day has been celebrated all over the world in one form or another, since the colonial period, when European nation states established colonies on other continents. It was during the 400th anniversary of the United States observing and celebrating Columbus Day (1892) that teachers, preachers, poets and politicians really began using Columbus Day as an overall catalyst in teaching the ideals of patriotism to the masses.
War effort support and national loyalty to one’s country were popular themes that were used to encompass the celebration. Perhaps you made it a point to do something special and patriotic in your classroom last week, leading up to this day (since many schools were closed today); or maybe you’ll consider doing something in the coming days.
It’s always nice to remember where we came from, to reflect upon the sweet journeys of our lives, and to be thankful and proud of what we have, and what we’ve accomplished, either as individuals or collectively – as a classroom, a school, a state, a nation, a people.