![]() |
Submission to the National Review of School Music Education
Copy of Thomas Pinschof's submission to the National Review of School Music Education
Introduction
Whilst Australia is fortunate to have provisions for music education from an early age, the reality shows that the equality of access through the school system leaves much to be desired. The quality of school music education can be seen from the standards of people applying to study music at university. Part of problem we are facing today is the inability of experts to comment on the quality of teaching received by applicants auditioning for places at tertiary institutions. I believe people in such positions should not only be entitled but compelled to make young students aware if they have been taught badly. A minimum standard of teaching proficiency and an accreditation system needs to be in place for instrumental music teachers.
Equal to the importance of the quality of teaching is the quality of music studied to achieve musical literacy and develop a sense of culture in the community. It is important that all musical instruments are available to be learnt at all ages at all schools from as early an age as possible. The Kinder Harmony Program we propose for implementation fills this gap (see below).
Best practice is achieved only through the enthusiasm of highly dedicated individuals. General community effort through mass media is required, not just changes to the syllabus.
Music has been an important part of life in most cultures from an early stage of civilisation. Only recently, since the industrialisation of society, and in particular the computer-dominated environment we are in today, has it been somewhat pushed aside, very much to the detriment of the younger generation.
Music is multi-dimensional; it equally relates to mathematics, physics, architecture, art, aesthetics, sociology, as much as to athletics. Learning to play a musical instrument is like taking an intellectual multi-vitamin supplement.
Research
Research clearly points to the fact that the most benefit in terms of learning, discipline, enjoyment and general positive effects on children’s school results and behaviour is achieved where they are seriously learning to play a “classical" instrument and not from "hitting a few drums and screaming their heads off". From that point of view it is vital to not put "music" in to wide a basket i.e. "Hip Hop" is primarily not music but actually much more sophisticated on the level of poetry. I also strongly believe that one should not rely on music based on plagiarism like in most Lloyd Webber musicals but give kids a good understanding of the qualities of great Masters from Monteverdi to Mahler including Johann Strauss and high quality music of many genres such as The Beatles, Louis Armstrong or Keith Jarrett, but based on quality NOT on popularity!
Whilst in Germany recently, I found a very interesting book based on a six year study into Music Education in primary schools amongst 6 -12 year old children in Germany (Berlin) by Prof. Hans Günther Bastian entitled "Kinder optimal fördern - mit Musik" subtitle: "Intelligenz, Sozialverhalten und gute Schulleistungen durch Musikerziehung" which translates to something like "Optimum encouragement for children - with music" - "Intelligence, social behaviour and good school results through Music Education". What I find particularly interesting is that he stresses the importance of studying music that is not commercial, non violent and not of the "popular kind" as seen endlessly on TV. It is the intelligent involvement with serious music and its demand on co-ordination of both halves of the brain that bring so many benefits that improve the learning capability, the social behaviour, the child’s IQ and ultimately makes the person a better more fulfilled human being. He provides many quotes from Socrates to Adorno, Freud, Marcuse and Karl Krauss and warns that the "McDonaldisation" of music is a major threat and the search for thrills and being ‘cool’ is not productive in an environment full of noise pollution and violence. The danger of becoming a society of Xerox copies rather than individuals is too evident to be ignored. He also suggests that music is an ideal antidote to the PC addiction so many children are suffering.
Another interesting aspect is the fact that children previously violent and hostile become peaceful and lose their inclination to be aggressive through learning to play a musical instrument.
This study supports my own opinion, that achieving the benefits we seek from music education is dependent on studying music seriously, preferably by learning to play an instrument, and by developing musical literacy through exposure to the great musical masterpieces and not by merely giving in to the latest musical craze on TV.
My background
I arrived in Australia in 1976 as artist-in-residence at the Victorian College of the Arts and have since taught at the tertiary level and in the Victorian state school system. I am also fortunate to be able to have taught in master classes and summer courses in many countries and hence am able to compare standards from many parts of the world.
During our recent Australian Tour of "Lipizzaners with the Stars", as conductor of the Mozart Orchestra and musical director of the show, we performed a wide range of music from about 1600 to 1890 (Biber, Bach, Handel, Mozart, Rossini, Schubert Brahms and Johann Strauss). Through this very unusual medium and vastly increased by the appeal of the magnificent Lipizzaner horses we had the opportunity to play for some 50.000 people including many children (and even babies) with no previous classical music experience. We had a tremendous feedback from many horse enthusiasts who were initially scared of the music as an unknown quantity but were extremely positive after the show, saying that they enjoyed the music tremendously and will now definitely listen to some more! Can you imagine how many more concertgoers we would have if children were introduced to classical music during their schooling?
Implications
But education has to go further: The time has now come when the great classics need to be protected from becoming an extinct beast. To be effective in educating our next generation we must start with the press and mass media. Just consider how successful the campaign against smoking was (20 years ago just about everybody smoked, now hardly anybody does) and how this was achieved. We need more music critics and every paper should feel obliged to print write-ups of every major concert and most of the smaller concerts. It does not surprise anybody that politicians get excited when some 90% of the population considers music a vital part of education and subsequently of life, so would you not think that the press and mass media should share this interest? It would not be too much to ask and it would cost them very little and could provide good educational value as well as a form of sponsorship of the arts. Why should only the good old ABC and SBS be cultural educators. Let’s get our elected representatives to put some pressure on the media and start a culture campaign: “Don’t beat around the Bush, get stuck into Bach” or “Mozart makes you feel good” or “A valse a day helps you work, rest and play AND keeps the doctor away”… Perhaps one could run a competition in all schools to come up with some winning slogans?
Radio & TV could also be able to help by presenting a little more culture and a little less violence and American (ir)reality TV. Lets face it, most of us are not American and programs such as Oprah are full of the most ridiculous situations that are simply irrelevant in Australia. We need to educate people and guide them in the direction of the culture that in Europe everybody grows up with and is surrounded by. In Australia we need to make up for this and "multiculturalism" and "ethnic" content does nothing in this respect. The art of Leonardo da Vinci or W.A. Mozart has nothing "ethnic" about it, it is simply "art" at the highest level and is in every respect international rather than the cultural property of a particular ethnic group.
Commercial TV advertising has an increasing tendency to use classical music as an accompaniment. Doesn’t this commercial use of classical music prove its relevance for the public in general? (Mozart Requiem for Formula 1, Mozart Clarinet Concerto for the ANZ Bank, Orff’s Carmena Burana for Nescafe, not to mention Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and Pachelbel’s Canon…)
If Australia is to become of age as a nation culturally we must introduce our children to the great works of art that in countries where the population lives surrounded by hundreds of years of cultural tradition can be taken for granted. Here in Australia we don't have many such things and those we have are barely a couple of hundred years old at the best of times, with the exception of the early forms of culture that we have in abundance. Whilst it is possible for the well-off to go to these places to visit all the ancient sites etc. music is much more accessible by nature and is the key to many art forms and knows no geographical boundaries.
We need more music critics and every paper should feel obliged to print write ups of every major concert and most of the smaller concerts. It is not too much to ask and it costs them very little and provides good educational value as well as a form of sponsorship of the arts. With a little gentle pressure from the government via “cultural content” requirements as part of licensing this should be quite easy to achieve. It may eventually help us to keep our own talent in the country instead of them going to live overseas.
Just to take Vienna as an example, because I grew up there and have much contact with the music scene there, let me tell you that Vienna is full of Australian musicians who play in leading positions in major orchestras such as the Vienna Symphony (Hector MacDonald - principal Horn) and even the Vienna Philharmonic, have their own string quartets etc. I even recall meeting up with the "Neue Wiener Solisten", a leading string orchestra consisting of 16 Australians and one Rumanian, albeit with an Austrian conductor! And yes, it is partly my fault because I started the trend for young Australian musicians to undertake further study in Vienna by convincing the Austrian government that Australians deserve a special music scholarship; and the trend continues…
A solution to a longstanding problem –
The Kinder Harmony Program
I would also like to put to your consideration a program that will allow children to learn Bassoon, Clarinet and Oboe at a much earlier age than previously possible which would solve the worldwide problem of a notorious shortage of accomplished players. Its implementation will at the same time guarantee children equal access to training in these instruments as early as all the other instruments. Unlike Wind Band programs the Kinder Harmony Program trains children to think and play “in harmony” virtually from the start and gives them a far better basis to play in tune and together with others.
Fills the gap by providing equal opportunity in instrument choice
For many years now there has been a shortage of oboe and bassoon players both on professional and amateur level. The main reason for this is that not enough children can take up these instruments at the same early age, as it is possible with other instruments, simply because they are too heavy and/or too large or there has been no specific "children’s size" available as for string instruments. These other instruments have had special children's programs for many years such as the Suzuki Method.
The three instruments that the Suzuki Method does not include are the clarinet, the oboe and the bassoon. This is where the Kinder Harmony Instrumental Program is now able to fill the gap. Kinder Harmony instruments have not previously been available in Australia. These instruments have been specially developed for the purpose and are now available in Australia individually and in sets complementing the program. There is a wide range of printed and downloadable music for all levels of proficiency.
The other reason for the shortage of players of these instruments is the fact that, when they become old enough to actually cope with the weight and size of these instruments in their common form, they are at an age when kids have other priorities and the teenage mania breaks loose with all its peer pressures and demands from a change in the "hormone household" of their body.
Learning child-sized versions of these instruments would give the children time to become proficient enough, well before the teenage years, to allow them to even stop playing for a period without losing their abilities and virtually pick up where they left off!
Builds fundamentals in musical literacy and ensemble playing
Another very important effect is that initially teaching very young children these instruments in an ensemble environment ensures the availability of a full set of woodwind players who are well experienced in playing with perfect intonation and in groups. In wind bands most parts are played by multiple players and children tend to try to play as loud as possible to be able to hear themselves which does not encourage a great sense of ensemble playing. Obviously as the children progress individual tuition will be essential but the “Harmony Ensemble” remains an integer part of the program because each player has an independent part of their own and is trained to perform his specific role in the overall context of the harmony and structure of each work. Subsequently professional, amateur and school orchestras will not have to struggle, as they do now, to find proficient oboe, bassoon and clarinet players.
Conclusion
We now have the unique chance to make Australia musically more relevant and entice our talent to come back home to a more musically motivated Australia. Let's not forget that learning to play a musical instrument requires very much the same sort of training and discipline that is required in an athletic pursuit and this is where Australia knows how to excel. It's simply about wanting to do it and sticking with it and last but not least to be allowed to do so and if possible assisted by a team of faithful supporters. Get the mass media involved to help in educating the general public. Like sports, music is all about time and it's all over in a flash and once a mistake has been made it is out there for all to see and can't be undone. Could you imagine that through lack of education Aussie Rules football would cease to exist? Let's not let that happen to classical music. The benefits of training traditionally in classical music are too evident to be ignored and just think of the potential positive side effects in the community overall: going to a concert to get drunk on Mozart, driving home elated rather than being thrown out of the pub and getting booked for drink driving! So let’s make it happen... Make music our new culture! Unlike many sports, music has another big thing going for it: Music is non-violent, it deals in harmony, it can be addictive like a drug but it is completely harmless! It can also help overcome depression without negative side effects. It brings people together regardless of the language they speak because it is an international language that everybody understands.
Make music more "in"! The times when a boy playing a flute was a "sissy" are over.
Playing the flute is just as athletic as running 5000 m, playing the tuba is just as exhausting.
I would like to see equal rights for music in education and for this training to be based on learning to play a musical instrument, singing madrigals and being introduced to the history of music in no less depth than any other subject in the secondary education syllabus.
MUSIC MATTERS! MAKE MUSIC OUR NEW CULTURE.
|
![]() |
