Music, Appreciation, Spectators & Sports

Here is a musical Miller's Analogy-esc question for you to consider:

spectators : sports :: music : _____________.

1. composition
2. measures
3. appreciation
4. musicians

I suppose the title of this post might provide a hint as to my thinking. Spectators are to sports as appreciation is to music.

For many in the fine arts education, sports and athletic events are the bane of their existence. "Why are our positions cut when there are seven full-time coaches for a team that hasn't had a winning season in twenty-five years?" The disparity between the public's support of sport and their support of the arts is disheartening. So much time, energy, money, and moral is given to a very few, even when their performance is dismal.

Tempting as it may be, it is unfair to saddle physical education with the baggage of football, basketball, and soccer, to name a few, because sports and athletics are not synonymous with physical education. In truth, music education and physical education have more similarities than differences. Consider one of the most basic goals of a quality physical education, maintaining an active physically fit body.

Let's consider typical college or professional football fans. There are millions of people who can dissect a specific play and tell you why it worked perfectly or who missed his block, or can tell you what personnel should be on the field for a third and ten situation, or can predict what "move" can get the safety running the wrong way. There are millions of people who study and analyze scouting reports and injury lists, who read everything available on the Internet, who follow their teams on-line, on the television, and on the field. In one sense of the word, they are actively involved in sports and athletics. And yet, is this the activity that those in physical education advocate? I would say not really. I think we could agree that active participation in team sports or individual sports should be physical and it involves individual action. Watching a game from the comfort of an easy chair or a local bar or at a stadium is a spectator sport that requires little physical exertion and this may not be the same kind of active involvement in athletics that the Presidential Fitness Challenge hopes to influence.

But what about a fan of music? There are millions of people who can dissect a performance of a selection and tell you how it compares to the definitive performance, or tell you which parts were out of tune or out of time with the ensemble, or how they might have adjusted the tempo here or added a bit more rubato there, or how the choir's diction could have been improved. They can also rattle of a list of compositions by other composers that are far superior, or inferior, to the one that was just performed. There are millions of people who follow their favorite performing artists or composers on-line or on the radio or on the television. They can tell you their evolution as musicians and can compare and contrast an up-and-coming artist to a legend from the past. They even support their favorite musicians by purchasing concert tickets and audio recordings. So are they actively involved in music?

On the one hand, yes, anyone who alters their behavior to read, or attend, or buy something makes active decisions and can be said to be actively involved. Therefore, reading about musical artists or attending concerts or buying recordings is active involvement. On the other hand, these activities are similar to sports fans who support their team with their attendance. Therefore, should we reconsider what it means to be actively involved in music? If the Presidential Fitness Challenge encourages everyone to become active, to exert themselves for their overall physical health, then is it logical to challenge others to become active makers of music for their overall musical health? Could changing the way we envision our nation as consumers of music to a nation of active recreational music makers alter the way we promote lifelong involvement in music in our PK-12 compulsory educational system?