Is the Choice Music?

Is seems that those in music education and those who advocate for the musical arts in our culture are always complaining about the general public's apathy towards participation in music. After all, music is an enjoyable part of our lives, why can't the rest of the country get on the band wagon? Could it be that the general public has already been on the band wagon and took the first chance it could to jump off? If music is a band wagon, then getting on the wagon represents a choice. Likewise, deciding to jump off is also a choice. Do we need to reconsider musical participation from the standpoint of choice?

From where does music emanate? Is it external or internal? Is it an external action or an internal choice? Without choice there is no action. Without action there is no voice, only silence. Action is not a given; it is a choice. The choice we all make is whether or not to participate in music or to make music. It is the choices that people ultimately make about music in their lives that are a testament to our efficacy as musicians who serve our art. Consider my adaptation of one of Shakespeare’s famous soliloquies:

Sir Laurence Olivier
as Hamlet

      To choose or not to choose: that is the question:
      Whether ‘tis nobler in their minds to suffer
      The slings and arrows of short-lived perfection
      Or to walk away from a sea of troubles,
      And through distance end them? To make music,
      No more; and by this say they end
      The heart-ache and the thousand emotional shocks
      That soul is heir to, ‘tis a consummation
      Devoutly to be wish’d. To make music, no more.




Choose Music and You're Saddled with Perfection 

Music is akin to sport and sport is akin to dance or theater. All of these require a demonstration of competence or excellence. In sport we judge performances against a norm. On any given day the best team will have a superior performance and will win that competition. Even if the two worst teams competed against one another, one of them will win. However, the standard for evaluating the performing arts is not a norm but a criterion. Excellence is the standard in the arts. Winning is the standard in sports. Therefore, if four mediocre baseball teams compete, one of them will eventually win. However, if four musical ensembles present mediocre performances, they all lose in their quest for excellence. For you see, when we compete against fallible humans, there is a good chance we will win. But when we compare our performances against a perfect art, eventually,we all lose.

There is nothing inherently wrong with striving for excellence. Pushing ourselves to perform better than we have ever performed has many benefits, which include persistence, patience, and dogged determination, to name a few. And yet, when striving for a personal best is equated with perfection, the chances of turning someone away from every wanting anything to do with music increase dramatically. And because involvement in music in secondary school and throughout a lifetime is a choice, there is an excellent chance that the choice will be to avoid the emotional pain of musical participation at all cost; to make music, no more.

 A Different Road to Follow, A Path Less Traveled

Whether anyone embraces the notion that a rich and varied life should include musical action will depend on many things. Realistically, most of the things that will influence and impinge on musical decisions are out of our control. And yet, to throw our hands in the air and wash them of any responsibility for the musical future of our culture is untenable. We can make a difference if we choose to think about things differently. The central message here is choice—theirs and ours. A road ahead for us is to use “choice” as our watchword. Since we can’t force anyone to participate or make music, it makes sense that we musically educate others about the choices that can be made, and that they can choose to make, about music.

It’s a choice as to the types and styles of music we listen to, move to, or participate in making. You can get through life quite easily without interacting with music. Therefore, from an early age, children need to know that they can make decisions about the music they actively participate in. Music is about choice. A lifetime of active musical involvement is not a given; it’s a choice. The question that we must ask ourselves each and every day is “Will the music they make today make it more likely or less likely that they will choose to participate in music when they are 43?”

An Education by Choice

In the world of music, choices are neither black nor white. The appropriateness of a choice depends on many different things, such as style, context, and musical resources, to name a few. Educating students to make more appropriate choices is a matter of degree or successive approximation. Over time, and with support and guidance, students’ choices will gradually adhere to the standards of a particular style of music. However, they must recognize that 1) they are making choices, 2) they control the music that they make, and, in the end analysis, 3) they are responsible for the music that comes from their minds and through their bodies.

Active participation in music is a choice we can only make for ourselves. Choice is a personal decision. If we hope to alter the choices the public makes about music, might we want to consider limiting the number of musical choices we make for them when they are in our classes? Perhaps allowing students to make choices throughout their music education will inspire them to participate in music for the rest of their lives.