Nurture them young uns

[losthobos]

Put away your earplugs … UK children are ditching screeching recorders for mellifluous melodicas

We’ve all suffered through cacophonous school assembles. Now the rise of the melodica, as recently adopted by 20 Yorkshire primaries, could turn discord to harmony

www.theguardian.com

@saundersbp this anywhere near your department

 

[saundersbp]

@saundersbp this anywhere near your department

Well spotted, yes it's us and one of my more barmy ideas which seems to have caught some attention in the press. The idea is that they then progress to classical accordion, piano and then some on to organ, so you have a whole family of related keyboard instruments.

 

[losthobos]

This is brilliant....my school music lessons comprised of a glockenspiel and the 7 gifted kids got a one note block and hammer each and had to play the melody line between them whilst the rest of us made fa so lah shapes with our hands...
Oh and a scratched copy of Peter and the Wolf...
No wonder I'm musically inept with that foundation

 

[Pipemajor]

This is brilliant....my school music lessons comprised of a glockenspiel and the 7 gifted kids got a one note block and hammer each and had to play the melody line between them whilst the rest of us made fa so lah shapes with our hands...
Oh and a scratched copy of Peter and the Wolf...
No wonder I'm musically inept with that foundation

In my primary school in the village in north east Scotland in the 1940s ,we had no musical instruments.
Theory was on the blackboard in chalk and we made notes on our slates with slate pencils.
We learned our "doh ,ray me's by singing.
I remember at the age of 8 or 9, going to the town with the school to compete in the local eisteddfod (?).
We came second.
Also, in high school, we had no school instruments, but the music teacher, Mr. Mordecai (a Welshman) played piano.
Luckily my parents sent me for piano lessons from the age of about 9.
Also my dad had founded a Boys Brigade in the village had started a bugle band.
In amongst the bugles there was an old trumpet which I tried but wasn't strong enough to blow it properly.
I picked it up a couple of years later and kept at it, having worked out by trial and error how to play it.
Eventually I formed a high school band with some of my classmates, playing at local dances, and, after leaving school, played with a local band for some time.
The pipes and accordion came a little later.

 

[Dingo40]

in high school, we had no school instruments, but the music teacher, Mr. Mordecai (a Welshman) played piano.

At my high school we were short of a mathematics teacher, needed to present a special, bridging maths course to senior students intending to take maths 101 at university the following year.
So, naturally, the school's music teacher was co-opted (much to his displeasure) to plug the gap!
In the event, the course stood no chance and soon folded as the attendance quickly fell away.
When people talk of the "good old days" in education, they are not strictly accurate .
For me, personally, mathematics was always a mystery (just as it was for many of my "maths" teachers)
One of my good friends, recently migrated from Holland, claimed our maths course was two years behind that he himself had undergone in Holland, before emigrating.
He spent much of his class time comparing notes and solutions with our maths teacher. When they could not agree, the school's senior maths master was consulted during recess.
My classmate went on to a PhD in mathematics, and an assistant professorship in one of the Raleigh, North Carolina universities (where he spent his academic career, "publishing or perishing!").
Only three other students in this class passed the examination in matriculation mathematics at the end of the year (out of a total of 60)
I was one of these, not that it did me any good.
I recall our lecturer taking the mathematics 101 class. His modus operandi was to firmly face the class with his back and then to cover the blackboard with miniscule notes whilst muttering an exposition sotto voce, to himself. below anyone's threshold of hearing
(In retrospect, I now wonder if several of my lecturers weren't actually on the autism spectrum.)
Ah well... the best days of your lives...some say!

 

[John M]

For higher education, I would recommend going to a university that is recognized in your field of interest. Not necessarily "the best school in the country". When I went to college, back in the 60's, my Dad said go to Case Institute of Technology (now Case Western University). It's the best school for engineering and as long as you pass, you will get the best education. I had many friends that went to Fenn College (now, Cleveland State University) for engineering and received a good education. I did go to Case and graduated with degrees in Engineering. Boy, was it a tough school -- the most painful 4 years of my life -- many hours of study -- but, I have no regrets -- "no pain no gain". What made it tough, was not the professors, but the students. I really didn't learn that much from the Prof's. Many of them couldn't be understood. Many were from a foreign country, China, etc. Their main goal was "publish or perish", and that's what they did. The exams were very hard -- most had only 4 problems to solve. The highest grade on an exam many times was 50%. Of course, you didn't know what grade that would be. The Prof's knew they had good students so they would "grade on the curve". So, 50% on an exam, could be an "A". Basically, the Prof's guide was to flunk 1/3 of the Freshman class. My learning/education was "digging out" problem solutions from many books. I will always remember, at my freshman orientation, the speaker said, "look to the left, look to the right, one of you will not be here next year". And that, was how it was.

 

[Rosie C]

At my junior school we sang and one of the teachers played piano - both in morning assembly and once a week for a lesson. For a while there was a lunchtime recorder club where if parents could afford the instrument, we learned recorder. Those who passed an aptitude test also got free violin lessons with a loan instrument. So looking back it was actually a fairly rich musical environment.

My high school was different, with nothing really on offer other than formally studying music for written exams. In comparison, skipping forward 40+ years, our local high school has a fantastic provision with orchestra, jazz band, lessons in a dozen instruments, practice rooms, recording studio, drama department etc.

 

[Dingo40]

skipping forward 40+ years, our local high school has a fantastic provision with orchestra, jazz band, lessons in a dozen instruments, practice rooms, recording studio, drama department etc.

By the time my own girls went to high school, they had similar provisions to these you have described, including 9 dedicated music teachers with their own senior teacher and a stand alone music suite etc.
Alas, fashion in education is as fickle as elsewhere and things only went downhill from there.
But, who knows, perhaps things have recovered once more?

 

[JKJ]

I read that article elsewhere and immediately bought two melodicas, one for the grandsons and one for me. Good fun, especially with a recent left shoulder injury.

I applaud those behind that program. I feel sad for kids who have no access to some kind of musical program. My mother believed that a foundation in music is as important as reading, writing, and math literacy. We all started on piano then added other instruments as they caught our interest. We had little money but somehow they found a way for all seven kids to take piano lessons. Too bad I didn’t get my hands on an accordion at age 7 instead of 73!

The primary school my kids attended had an excellent music program. An option offered to every fourth grader was the strings program. My middle son started then on the cello (a very small one!) and stuck with it. A highlight of my life is when we played piano and cello together for friends’ weddings. Good clean fun!

JKJ

 

[Dingo40]

Actually , from 1920 to 1940 it was mandatory to teach every American grade school child the humble harmonica (mouth organ) as part of the regular school curriculum.
This initiative fell by rhe wayside only as a side effect of ww2.
See here:

https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4730&context=doctoral

Some more background information :

Harmonica Bands | Encyclopedia.com

Harmonica BandsAlthough harmonica bands and orchestras have generally been forgotten, the harmonica was one of the most popular musical instruments from the 1920s through the 1940s. Its cheapness made it an ideal instrument for teaching music to children during the Depression, and the harmonica...

www.encyclopedia.com

 

[saundersbp]

I read that article elsewhere and immediately bought two melodicas, one for the grandsons and one for me. Good fun, especially with a recent left shoulder injury.

Thanks, it's proved a hit in schools because it has good transition routes to other instruments and can be taught in whole -class groups with a structured curriculum with a strong notation base. The economics are also helped because the unit price of a melodica (unlike an accordion) is very low once you buy them in bulk and they don't present a storage problem for schools.

I got the idea from the model in Japan where every child has a melodica as their first instrument to learn the basics of pitch, rhythm, music reading and of course breath control.

 

[JKJ]

John Batiste might be my most favorite musician, in part due to his piano jaz style but also his fluency in a variety of styles AND instruments. I just read this about his love of the melodica:

Jon Batiste's Marvelous Melodicas

The musical renaissance man can trace his life in music with an impressive collection

gardenandgun.com

There are youtube videos worth watching. He talks about the instrument starting at about 12:13 in this video, “10 Things John Batiste Can‘t Live Without”:



I like what he says about taking it with him when he can’t take his piano…

JKJ

 

[saundersbp]

John Batiste might be my most favorite musician, in part due to his piano jaz style but also his fluency in a variety of styles AND instruments. I just read this about his love of the melodica:

Great article. He shows what an amazing instrument it is, averse to pomposity and complication!

 

[Tom]

……and you gotta love “Soul” the movie, where I learned of him, yeah, great musician, thanks!

 

[JKJ]

……and you gotta love “Soul” the movie, where I learned of him, yeah, great musician, thanks!

When I watched “Soul” I didn’t realize Jon B. wrote the music as well as performed it. What an amazing artist - I could listen to him improvise all day.

During the pandemic I used to watch the Colbert Late Show mostly to catch his incredible piano snippets.

 

[JKJ]

Just a head’s up - while describing the melodica to my brother in Ohio and he decided to buy an inexpensive one for his granddaughter to experiment with I looked up the one I bought for a grandson and found the price on Amazon had just dropped significantly to $20. (My brother also plays the piano and has been introducing the 5-yr old granddaughter to the piano)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0728GCXFK

CAHAYA Melodica 32 Keys Double Tubes Mouthpiece Air Piano Keyboard Musical Instrument with Carrying Bag 32 Keys, Black, CY0050-1​

Disclosure: I have no stock in Amazon or any company related to this instrument and can’t vouch for it except to say I tried the one I bought and got music from it. At that price I ordered a second to give to some other kid, maybe one I haven’t met yet. (for myself I bought a Suzuki M-37c)

JKJ

(edit: fixed typo)