How Can We Keep Them Singing?

#43, March 31, 2000

"One of these days, you're gonna rise up singing. You're gonna spread your little wings, and take to the sky. But…"

But here in Petaluma, it's not summertime yet, the livin' isn't easy, and the Petaluma School District is considering cuts in the elementary music program. It's got me singin' the blues.

First, in fairness to the District, I'll tell you that declining enrollment has reduced their State funding, and they have to find ways to reduce expenses. Sorry, I don't have the expertise to offer any recommendations for alternative cuts that are within District control. The root of the problem is that Sacramento hands down far more mandates than manna. California's per student spending is still below the national average, despite the State's prosperity and a batch of successful school funding ballot measures.

So my goal here is merely to give more weight to the cause of music education, with an emphasis on its "practical" results.

Music is the common language of humanity, an inviting portal to exploration and appreciation of cultural diversity. It gives young people a means to boost their self esteem. Making music can take people into the most euphoric of drug-free zones, and bring them back full of vitality. It can give them a safe and supportive place to go when they are down. The result: reduced violence, anti-social behavior, and drug abuse.

Making music is an ecologically sustainable practice. Music was and is big with the earth-based cultures. The Celtic Druids of medieval France, for instance, greeted every day with group singing. Even today, most musical instruments are made to last for decades, if not generations. Voices can last a lifetime. For the most part, this musical machinery is powered by food. The result: like our earth-loving ancestors, we need less from our planet to be happy.

There's strong evidence that music makes you better at other more marketable skills, notably science and engineering. The high incidence of musicians among my Telecom Valley techie colleagues seems to confirm this. Sure, you can pump the left brain full of math concepts. But it's that funky right brain, well exercised from working out new riffs and rhythms, which leaps onto the breakthrough algorithm to fix the showstopper bug. And when the workday is done, music becomes the outlet for the stresses of business success. The result: better products and bottom lines without the worker burnout.

The schools need to build their music programs, not butcher them. Parents, please support music education in word and deed. Help the District obtain resources to keep the Elementary Music Specialists going. Volunteer your time and money. Talk with teachers, principals, Site Councils, and the Governor. Bring your instrument and your passion for music into the classrooms.

Music is too vital to leave music education solely to the schools. Start up a band at home. My sons are the rhythm section --bass and drums-- for my daughter's singing and my harmonica. Nothing is more rewarding than jamming with your kids. Get good enough, then take it to the streets, the neighborhood parties, the nursing homes.

Another local venue: COTS. Kids at the shelter love to have musical visitors, all the better if you can get them to join in. It's a joy to watch them open up and discover the magic of music. Then there's the Phoenix, where our older young'uns stomp in the footsteps of Primus and Green Day. The flaming P has been saved from cube-farm obscurity, but needs more dough to beat the earthquake rehab deadline. If you'd like to help with a "Telecom Valley Jam" fundraiser concert, featuring some of our local professional and don't-quit-your-day-job musicians, contact me at bruce.hagen@iname.com .

For inspiration, I'll leave you with words from a Shaker hymn: "My life goes on in endless song / above earth's lamentations, / I hear the real, though far-off hymn / that echoes a new creation. // Through all the tumult and the strife / I hear its music ringing. / It sounds an echo in my soul. / How can I keep from singing?"