Reading Reaction - Vermont MIDI Project

Reading about the Vermont MIDI Project was quite interesting and encouraging. It is definitely true that composition is neglected in music education outside of dedicated college programs. Even the composers I know who have gone on to study composition in college were primarily self taught until that point.

Composing is not easy. Compounding this, we teach in our general music classes very often a mythos of writers, composers, artists, creators in general as transcendent geniuses. While I am not saying that they are or are not, this certainly makes composing seem removed from the student. How could a mere student even think to approach the same type of art as such a mythic figure as Beethoven? And even if students do get past this, there is scant guidance for learning how to compose. Music theory exists, but unfortunately, in most cases, it is simple common practice theory that limits study to the music of specific period that could generously be said to cover 1600-1800 AD.

While technology was certainly an enabler for the Vermont MIDI project, what impressed me most, and what I have to believe was at the core of the project were the emphasis on teaching teachers about composition and bringing in professional composers as mentors.

Combined with network capabilities and notation software for digitizing music, not only did students have a way to share their music, they had access to experts who could provide guidance and feedback. Notation software and the ability to provide sonic feedback are hugely important, but so is actually teaching about compositional technique. Simply giving a student access to a notation program and telling them to go at it and express the inner workings of their soul is not that likely to produce a competent composer. Some students might figure it out or find an unusual niche(think mature John Cage), but in most cases, students will need to guidance to come to understand that compositional express lies at the crossroads of originality, structure, and history, as well as to develop their technique. Expert composers and educators trained in compositional technique can foster these skills by starting students out with rigorous structure and forcing them to develop various aspects of their compositional skill independently, moving to greater compositional freedom for the students as they build a repertory of skills and techniques that will increase their likelihood of producing interesting and coherent complex compositions.

However, while less related to technology or the Vermont MIDI project, I think it is also important to attack the mythos that makes composing seem so formidable. J.S. Bach may have been a brilliant composer, but he didn't waltz onto the scene circa 1700 and invent music. Nor did Beethoven enter the world a tragic and heroic genius whose spirit overcame all challenges. They both studied and learned from the past, and then built slowly upon it. Nor did they always have some spark of inspiration that caused everything they wrote to be infused with greatness. If we look at early Beethoven, there is not a lot original or innovative about his works. They don't sound at all like what we normally associate with him. J.S. Bach was throughout his career a stodgy old musician stuck in the past who refused to adapt to the changing musical world around him. His music remained largely in obscurity until Mendelssohn managed to catalyze a Bach revival by staging the St. Matthew Passion.

The point being: while history tells us that Bach and Beethoven ended up achieving greatness, they started out like the rest of us. They had to learn composition, and it took them time to develop maturity and their personal styles. We even have the evidence, but it is cast aside as "not worth studying" and ignored. Maybe if we really think about it, we know logically that this must be true, but on another level, the mythos of the "great persons" view of history is quite powerful and daunting. As educators, if we are to encourage participation and confidence in composition, this is a paradigm worth challenging and we are the ones positioned to challenge it.