Production of Music for Life is brought to you by Kansas Music Educators Association, an organization of music educators committed to the concept that the study of music is a positive influence in the lives of individuals and society as a whole.

Senseney Music.

Supporting music education in our schools.

Because music plays an important role in the development of every child.

Southwestern College nurturing young musicians through its degree programs and through its community music school in Winfield.

Southwestern College proudly supports the arts in Kansas schools.

Bethany College in Lindsborg.

Educating Kansas musicians since 1881.

McClelland Sound, a family owned business committed to continuing our legacy of excellence and by Chamber Music at the Barn.

Mid-America Nazarene University and by Wichita State University.

Music fills your soul.

There is nothing that fills your soul like music and the other arts.

To be a part of a musical group enables you to be a part of something bigger than yourself that otherwise you would never experience.

And unless you set in the middle of a band or in the middle of an orchestra or sung in the middle of a choir, and felt that third space that is created between you and the music, not just between you and the printed music or you and the conductor, but you and the music.

You have no concept of what it could be.

Music fills your life with beauty.

It puts beauty in your soul.

And that's our mission as music educators, is to put beauty in kids souls, because that's the person that built those foundations that allowed that student to learn about music and fostered that learning that would make them love music for life.

Music is a thing, but there isn't any without the kids and they just make it possible.

And and the degree of how good they want to be determines how good my days are or aren't.

Any time you do anything like this music thing as a sports thing, things that are outside the normal, it gives the kids a chance to build themselves in many ways.

One of the most important things, of course, is self esteem, because I can do this and the amount of work they put into it or not will determine that level of self-esteem or not.

So in many ways, I think besides the fact that, of course, I think music is one of the most important things you can learn it.

It helps them develop that sense of what I can do.

And when they do, then of course, that sense of what I have accomplished.

I have achieved this either individually or as a group because we do a lot of both kids like to be part of groups, especially successful groups.

And since this group has had success over the years, that's that's a draw.

But a lot of them that's all the part that they want to go.

They just want to be part of the group.

They don't want to stand out.

And so that's that's a challenge that we have to deal with.

But it's hard for us to express to them how important it is that they be individuals.

You can't rely on somebody else to do it for you because it just doesn't get the job done.

Being that I had, you know, some piano playing background, some instrumental music background, you can tell your children what they can get out of it, what to expect, and that if you exude an interest in music, it's naturally going to pick up with them and great memories sitting on the piano bench next to your child, trying to help them get introduced to it and then find how quickly they surpass you and their abilities.

And I had an interest in percussion when I was getting into music education and seeing my son then pick that up.

And because he had some piano education background, it seemed that he had a preference for that or might be particularly good for it.

I think that's what they say they look for in a percussionist.

So yeah.

And then simply having the pride and seeing them get excited because you might have had something to do in pushing them along.

That factors into it.

I think the community benefits from the just the pride that they receive, seeing their young people work together to achieve great things.

We always had to work very hard individually in our in our schools.

You know, you were expected to be at your music lesson.

If you weren't there, you you could expect that your music teacher would come to study hall and bring you down to your music lesson.

You know, there is no way to get around that.

And and that was a good thing.

You know, sometimes it became frustrating as a student.

You know, it's the last thing I want to do is go to my band lesson today because I have a test, but all that individual work just really helped as a group.

And I.

Think that.

The things that the group can achieve are always remarkable.

You know, you have individuals that when they play individually, you're thinking this is going to be terrible.

When we put it all together.

But just to work on every little detail and and getting, you know, we used to have groups of of 80-90 people in band and getting that sound to be just what it should be.

And when we would perform, there was just such a high expectation that you couldn't be anything but proud of yourselves when you were finished.

And and I think our community benefits from that because they they know that for years we've had a strong education program in music and in that when they go to concerts, they can, you know, invite their friends.

They call people and tell them how great the concert was or invite people to the concert without any doubt that it's going to be anything but great.

And so I think that that helps kids individually with self esteem, but I think it helps the community pride also.

[band playing] I've been a teacher here at Robinson Middle School for and this is my fourth year and my fourth year of teaching in general.

I think these kids, especially being at the middle school age, they're just trying to find themselves and find out who they want to be and find out what kind of people they like to associate themselves with.

Being in a choral group really helps them because they're learning to work as a team and learning to put differences aside when they come into the rehearsal room.

And they can they can just leave that at the door and come in and know that everybody is working towards the same goal, just as you would on an athletic team.

The social interaction gets kids that normally may not socialize outside of this classroom to socialize and learn about each other's and their differences.

When I wake up at 6:00 in the morning, at first I think, Oh, why am I waking up this early?

But then once I get ready, once I get in the car and get with my mom or dad to drive me here, I get excited because I love singing.

It's one of the things that I can do without just it blocks out everything else in my mind versus I just love singing.

It's a mental calmness for me.

I have a ton of friends in choir.

Last year I transferred here from a completely different school and choir helped me meet much of my friends that I have now.

So I think choir is a great way to meet new friends and it's a great way to connect with everyone else.

I just I think there's a lot of times where a kid may wake up in the morning and music their music classes or one of their exploratory classes, whether it is art or family, consumer science or physical education or girls choir.

And that may be the reason that they want to come to school.

And that's why music education is such an important part of our curriculum, is in teaching to the whole child.

I think that the girls know that being in a group that meets before school, they do not get a grade for it.

They were selected to sing.

It came here.

I mean, I don't know that teamwork and dedication needs to be taught.

I think that that's a hook enough and they know that they need to be here.

And they know that if they don't come to rehearsal, it's I mean, they won't be asked to come back to the next rehearsal.

So it's it's I don't think teamwork and dedication can necessarily be taught.

I don't ever say anything about teamwork and dedication.

It just happens.

And I think that's the result of when you have a group that meshes or gels like they do.

[choir singing] Being a part of a group, whether it's a large group, an orchestra, or we play a lot of chamber music, whether it's a small group, I think the language that kids learn on how to communicate with their instrument and how to make their different musical voices, maybe the cello part interact with the violin part according to what the music and the composer might be directing them is a pretty advanced skill, actually, and kids get more advanced, obviously, as their brains develop and they're more abstract.

Ideas are easier to to grasp.

But as far as chamber music goes, my kids do a pretty good job of interacting with each other and learning how to give body cues to each other and trying to match all their bows.

And it's a interesting idea for them to not have a teacher to lead them.

That's a whole new experience.

It's a little bit like they're learning how to drive.

There's no one there to solve the arguments or to be the final answer.

They have to figure it out for themselves, and that's a really great experience for kids.

Last year I went to the national convention and I heard a really interesting speaker who stood up and at the very beginning of his speech said, Our students can only progress as far as their posture or position will allow them to go.

And I think that really is so important, that foundation that kids get right at the beginning.

Since all music skills stack on top of each other, it's really important to start with the right foundation, especially in those muscle memory skills that you're giving kids.

It's very important.

I think the people who are music teachers, of course, are not in it for the money.

But the most fascinating part is watching the kids progress from the very beginning of that school year through the skills.

And then it's an ultimate sense of achievement to watch that student be successful at the end of the year.

That's the joy in being a music teacher.

It's my job as the teacher to choose a piece that's technically within their grasp enough that they can play all of the notes and the symbols on the page so that we can talk about really what those notes and symbols create.

And my orchestra kids are predominantly goal oriented overachiever types.

And the idea that there might not be a correct answer is an abstract new concept.

That's a little overwhelming, I think, at the beginning.

And one of the reasons that esthetic education is so important, there's not just one correct answer here.

Every answer in the room is correct.

And that's that's a hard concept for kids.

At the beginning, the thing that makes music different would maybe be two different things.

One is that music doesn't have a verbal vocabulary to limit the audience's experience.

When you have words, then the audience has a reaction to that set of words and vocabulary.

Or if you have a painting, that painting is limited to those colors that are on the canvas in those lines.

But music is, well, word free and it also happens in real time.

It changes.

So the idea that there won't be just one emotion that happens, but there will be changing emotions in real time, is something that's really powerful in music.

Basically, all the technique that we do is learning how to control the instrument so that we can play the music and not think about playing the instrument.

That is our final goal.

So as a teacher, it's my job to make sure that that music level is low enough that we can step outside the technique and play the music.

And then as far as introducing the esthetic, I think the easiest way is at the beginning is asking those questions and opening up that world of there are so many possibilities and the seventh grade cello player can have just as valid an idea as that eighth grade violinist.

And they're both correct [orchestra plays] [orchestra plays] My focus with general music is we're here to make lifelong consumers of music.

We're not here to make performers.

It's my job to make them give them something they can have for the rest of their life.

And so with general music, I just feel like I almost trick them into learning because we're having so much fun and they leave going, That was so fun.

And then I stop and say, Now what did we learn?

And they can tell me that it's not just me relying on whether or not my students are going to be there on time, but their parents are going to commit to have them there on time and and the concerts, you know, we play so much focus on that because that's what the community sees.

But really, the concerts are just a snapshot of what goes on every day and what they're able to learn.

But I think of state assessments for reading and math, that's the concert is my state assessment.

Only instead of paper pencil, I have to put the kids out in front and say, Look what we learn to do.

And there's so many things that go beyond just the music that we make, but the fact that we can sit still while another group is performing and that we can come on and off the risers, or when the band teacher puts his arms up, everybody's instrument goes up at the same time.

All those little discipline things that, you know, they're being part of this giant team and they don't even realize it.

And just that having the parental support to get them there so that it's important to them.

So they say, Mom, I have got to be there next week.

And, you know, and I played up our Christmas concert.

I want you to look as pretty as you can.

And I had the sparkly, most beautiful fifth graders up there.

And it just all the work we put in it, they were proud enough of it and the family was proud enough of it to get them there and get them looking pretty.

And they sing well when they are excited about it.

So we sing a Latin piece in fifth grade and it was their favorite song.

And I thought, What in the world they're begging me can sing the Benidictus, please?

You know?

But it was just that exposure.

That's what we started with.

And I never gave them the choice of It's in a foreign language.

You might not like it.

It was just, I love this song.

Will you sing it for me?

And I think exposing them that way about every type of music is just what's going to get it done.

If we if we have enthusiasm about it, if you're passionate about it, share that no matter what kind it is, because music is music.

And like I said, we're making consumers, we're not making performers.

So they have to be able to appreciate it no matter what kind of music is.

[choir sings] band is giving the students a piece of music and then taking that music and smoothing it out, getting all the rough edges off of it, smoothing it out, make it more relaxing to play, be more enjoyable for the listening audience, but just taking it, tearing it apart and rebuilding it with jazz music.

And I mean all music, especially jazz music, when you're trying to maybe speak from your soul.

And there might be times in life where you know you're sad or you're happy and see through jazz music, you can you can let that inner feeling out and you can maybe explore with it.

You can talk to students about, you know, when they're having they feel bad and maybe we'll play some blues and we'll talk about how the blues got started as a chance to just let your soul speak and sing.

And so it can get kind of deep.

And so we we don't get too deep with them, but I think they feel it and understand it.

What I enjoy.

As far as playing with jazz instead of other genres of music is it's very technically based, but it's also very freeform.

You have to know the rules, but you can also can, you know, bend the rules, especially in drums, because there's such a wide variety of things you can do when you're playing jazz drums.

And it's not structured, but it is structured at the same time.

So you can experiment a lot, and I like that.

There's definitely a lot of room for creativity in the scores for drums and the music for drums in the jazz room, because it's a very broad.

It's just a lot of repeat signs.

So what you do is you express yourself and you express what other members of the band are feeling within the confines of the drum set.

And you have to listen to people more, I think, than other musicians would within the group.

And you have to really carry the group, and I like to have that responsibility back there.

Music really connect you with other people by you're all working together to make something come out of the notes and that are just sitting there on the paper.

You have to listen to each other.

You have to interact with each other, you have to talk to each other.

You help each other through it.

It's just something you really bond with one another.

I definitely think music helps in other areas of academia, you learning music is like learning another language.

It's you have to learn how to read it.

You have to learn how to play it.

With music, you learn.

You have to be able to concentrate on what you're playing and concentrate on what's coming up.

You have to be able to read the notes, know the notes, be able to finger the notes all at the same time.

You have to be able to watch out for different accidentals or things coming up.

So it really keeps your mind sharp and aware of what the surroundings are.

Everywhere you go in this world, there's music.

When you turn on the television, there's music when you get in the car, the first thing people do is they turn on their dial.

You go in stores, there's music playing everywhere you go.

There's music that's got to come from somewhere.

And I think that there are enough people around that.

If something like this would occur where the red flag comes up, they're going to ax music.

The people will be screaming because everywhere we go now I know neonatal wards now they have music playing for the newborns too to help them.

And it's just it's a therapy for people.

It's it's a tremendous therapy for for people music, whether it's whether they're ill or if they're just, you know, they feel good.

It makes them feel better.

But it's such a need for it.

It's a way of our life.

[jazz band plays] First of all, music is important unto itself.

It can help a child develop in so many, many different kinds of ways.

It can help him emotionally.

It can help with the thinking process, the cognitive kinds of things.

I found with my own kids and grandchildren.

It can help with their self-esteem.

You know, a child, a person really is not whole unless at least music or the arts in general are part of their life.

And it's a hard concept to sort of get across to a lot of people, but it's one that we constantly work at and we appreciate having a chance to talk about it.

It especially for young children, music is a way for them to start learning how to communicate in a different way and I think music is a safe way for children to communicate and a healthy way to start learning how to be creative.

You can do things when you're singing and playing, clapping that you might not normally do.

And I also like the fact that music is a way for young children to get to experience culture from many different perspectives because there's so much music from around the world that it's easy to learn about that culture in interacting in music and it doesn't have to stop at your childhood either.

I think enjoying music for the rest of your life is an important, important aspect.

Some some kids may do great and some of the other basic academics.

But for some children, music and the arts might be the way they excel best in life.

And so for them, it's a wonderful outlet.

I think it really helps build a child's self-esteem.

And looking back at my kids and my grandchildren, so forth, I think if anybody, not just a child, but if a child feels really good about himself having accomplished something, whether that's singing in a group chorus or playing in a band or an orchestra.

I mean, they're going to come home just three feet off the ground, and that's how they're going to start the next morning when they wake up, they're going to feel good about themselves.

You know, there's all these statistics that kids involved in music have the lowest throughout life, the lowest use of alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs, because this is such a wonderful other part of their life.

So it's another whole tool that kids can use to to grow in so many, many different kinds of ways.

I mean, just in simple from the young child's point of view, it's a great way for kids to learn new vocabulary.

And if it's involved with action songs, if they're clapping, you know, it's not just saying clap on a board and saying, this is this is clap.

It becomes internalized as part of their their whole body.

We learn in many different ways.

We don't just learn by reading or writing.

We learn by singing and acting.

And many students who don't learn in a traditional way find that music is a way that they can take in the information and feed the information back.

So I think that's important.

I think students learn a lot of things in music, and some of it is just a pure joy, right?

The feeling you get that I don't know how to put in words.

If we I guess if we could put it in words, we wouldn't have to have music.

But there's some things you can't do except through the arts.

And then there are other things that you, by being part of the music group, is that say you're in a performing group, in a high school, in a choir, band or orchestra.

They don't pick the top five kids or the starting 11.

If you're in a choir, band or orchestra, you're either contributing or you're not to the group.

And I think you learn an important lesson in that.

I've never known a band director who would say, Janey, third clarinet, you're out.

Jimmy, youre in.

You know, you missed that note.

The kids know.

They've got to practice their part, do their part, and when they do that well, they make music.

And when they make music, they feel different about themselves.

Absolutely.

[band playing] I have had a wonderful experience all of my life.

Music has been just what I've lived for.

And if I can convey that, that's really that that's my gift.

That's what's been given to me.

And I just feel that that's the thing I need to pass on.

I think that a lot of times people think that music education is only for those kids that are those kids that are going to go on.

But the reality is, is that I don't teach for those those few those just you know, I've taught for 25 years now and there's just a handful that you can look at that are really in the music business.

But the reason I teach is because of the letters that you get from kids that say what a difference music has made.

Just they appreciate going to concerts.

I'll get emails from kids who have gone to see Broadway shows and they want to let me know that they saw this on Broadway and it was just awesome.

Or, you know, I think that this choir could have done a better job with their vowels or something like that.

And I still get emails and that's really the thing that is the most, the thing that really makes you feel like, well, you've really accomplished something.

It's wonderful to see these kids that go ahead and make music a career.

But the real reason that we are all in music kids music education is so that we can preserve music performance in the future and so that this art form that is so vital to all of us can live on.

Just know a lot of times and even myself growing up, I was not exposed to that many different genres of music.

I didn't have a real wide background.

What I did have, I knew quite well, and it has served me, served me well through the years, but I think it is so important with the world we live in, for the kids to be so exposed to everything that is around them, not just the things that they appreciate and that they enjoy and they listen to every day.

But they need to be aware of music that's in Africa.

They need to be aware of the blues and the tradition that they have grown up with in the United States.

Just they need to be aware of the classics and how they came about.

The more experience that they have with that, not only are they more culturally relevant, but also they can relate to so many different individuals.

And when in the global economy that we have, they just have such a broad experience that will help them in our world.

I actually have to change as a person.

I have to adapt to situations in dance.

I am, I'm told, choreography.

I have to remember I have to really be on my listening cap on and I have to really understand and then perform in that way.

I have to show that I understand singing, coming, coming to choir.

It's kind of the same thing, but it's more I need to listen to people around me.

I have to.

It's just I think that in life, being able to accept change is so important.

Life is full of change and it's, you know, it just happens all the time.

And so especially high school, you know, it's just like school equals change.

And so being able, I think really being able for me to just literally go to four different rehearsals and one day being able to change and change mindset, change songs, change shows, change outfits.

I mean, just really kind of be be a different person each.

It's kind of shown me how to be adaptable in different situations.

I have some friends that are not involved in music, you know, and all they know is, let's just say, you know, the rap on the radio and then it's harder for them if they aren't exposed to it, to appreciate it.

A lot of people are so myopic and close minded when it comes to new things.

But but I think that's a really great thing about about being so exposed to so many different things is I'm open to change.

And I love I love appreciating new things.

You know, I'm very I think it's taught me to be less judgmental, you know, try, try, try it with an open mind, you know.

Let's listen again and see if you can, you know, appreciate it in some way.

So, yeah, it definitely makes you open your eyes and realize how much is out there.

[choir singing] I was really fortunate to have an incredible music education from the time I started taking piano lessons in the fifth grade to going to Robinson Junior High with Ann Allen as a teacher and Southeast High School with Vernon Nicholson.

And WSU and I was I was mentored all my life.

And I think that through my peers and the mentors and my teachers, I was given incredible opportunities that they basically took that little spark of whatever talent they saw and helped me make it grow.

So I think that they're largely responsible for anything that I have become.

I think I was held at very high standards when I was growing up, and I hope that I can pass some of those standards on to my students.

And I'm really hoping that this is all a reflection of the education that I got.

I feel like that this school teacher is the first step for students to first be exposed to the arts, to music.

I think for a hand, for a student to learn, to grow and to flourish.

Under that, several things have to take place.

The music teacher first inspires and helps them to create this art for the first time, helps them to learn the techniques of an instrument for the first time and to start to experience what plain and ensemble would be like.

I mean, they are after that point, I think it's important that they experience a private teacher.

Private teacher helps them to to grow and become stronger in their art and to maybe become one of the best in their school.

I think to be involved in a summer music program is a way for them to be to dove into their art, to even more in depth and to be around other students that enjoy their particular instrument as much as they do.

And then to be able to prepare for for college, they have to be able to be very proficient, both on a solo level and as an ensemble musician.

To be a team player, I think it's important to share with with our students that, you know, a passion for what you do is very important to every day.

If you're going to go to a job 24, seven and live it most often on weekends as well, you might as well love what you do.

And to be able to to share that with students is so important for them to be able to to grow and learn to flourish, to be part of the team player, to be comfortable in a public setting, to be able to be up in front.

It's it's a wonderful experience to see when students actually understand that when.

Those kids who are are in that class don't know what's in for them, they don't know that they have the ability deep inside them.

They don't really believe it until a music teacher sparks that love of music that makes them want to achieve that same level of expertise in their own playing or singing.

Most people who their favorite teacher was when they were in school, they're going to say it was a music educator because that's the person that built those foundations, layer upon layer that allowed that student to learn about music and fostered that learning that would make them love music for life.

Production of Music for Life is brought to you by Kansas Music Educators Association, an organization of music educators committed to the concept that the study of music is a positive influence in the lives of individuals and society as a whole.

Since any music supporting music education in schools, because music plays an important role in the development of every child.

Southwestern College nurturing young musicians through its degree programs and through its community music school in Winfield Southwestern College, proudly supports the arts in Kansas schools.

Bethany College in Lindsborg, educating Kansas musicians since 1881, McClelland Sound, a family owned business committed to continuing our legacy of excellence and by Chamber Music at the Barn, Mid-America Nazarene University and by Wichita State University.