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“Learning about music is as important as learning
to read and write. We are all affected by music
even if we don’t perform for a living. Encouraging
a child to listen to music, or to learn how to play
an instrument, and teaching them about the lives
and experiences of artists inspires some to go on
to be singers, writers and performers, and for
others, it simply becomes a tool to express
themselves in their daily lives.”
-Trisha Yearwood, 3-time Grammny winner
In my last post I talked about the need to support and promote music education across the United States. In the time since then, I have compiled a small listing of sites that could be useful and have posted what I have on the page, “Music Resource Page“. Admittedly not comprehensive, I hope to make it much more so – with your help.. If you come across a site or a program that advocates for music education, please share it with us. If you have a site from outside the U.S. I will gladly include it in the list as long as I can personally verify what it says, and unfortunately I only read English fluently. Help me make this page into a valued asset in the music education community.
Two quick examples-
- Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation – This foundation was started in 1996 by the late Michael Kamen, composer for the film of the same name that told the story of a struggling composer who went to work as a high school music teacher and the impact he had on generations of students. The foundation provides instruments to schools and after-school programs that need help to continue providing music education to students who might not otherwise be able to afford it. It is my understanding that this group was a major player in getting school music programs in New Orleans back in operation post-Katrina.
- Discovery Through Music – The Grammy Foundation and Campbell Soup Company’s “Labels for Education” have partnered to make this 6-week K-6 curriculum available free to schools participating in the “Labels for Education” program. This curriculum will “provide sequential, creative and fun opportunities to understand and apply the basic elements of music (beat, tempo, rhythm, pitch, melody, harmony, dynamics, timbre, and texture) while integrating language arts, math, science, and technology into the curriculum.” This is a means for a school; to have a basic music education even if they can’t afford anything more.
I’m not able to donate money to these groups. Living on disability I do good to get my bills paid each month and keep food on the table. But I know how important music has been in my life and if I can help one other person know that joy and richness then I am more than happy to use this blog to spread the word.
Music even helped me find my wife. I was staff pianist in a small Southern Baptist church in the Texas Hill Country. As my wife tells the story, she and her little girl started attending this church and she fell in love with my playing before she actually met me – definitely before her daughter asked me to be her Daddy! As of this past June we have been “happily ever after” for 23 years.
Spread the word. If you know of a music program in jeopardy (from what I hear there are more each year) maybe something from one of these sites will help keep them going. If that happens I’d love to hear about it and I imagine your fellow readers would too, so please leave a comment. If you know of another site or program that I didn’t mention, please share. Leave a comment or send a message. Let’s work together to keep the music playing!!
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