Seeing the video demonstrating Soundbeam and reading about the effects this and other musical experiences have had on children, I found myself asking a question: what is it about music that makes it such a powerful experience even for those who, because of their circumstances, have usual difficulty experiencing or being involved in creating music? And why do certain types of music seem more influential in this regard?
Anyone with hearing can choose to experience 4:33 without aid. Anyone capable of movement can probably create percussive effects and hear and/or feel vibrations, thus creating music. Almost everyone should be capable of perceiving the sounds of their environment and creating and organizing some sort of sound of their own creation(and if they are not, Soundbeam won't do a whole lot to help them): thus music.
Still, it seems these experiences are either less powerful or at least less ballyhooed than having small children listen to Mozart or Soundbeam. Is there some aspect of the way in which Mozart and Bach are organized that resonates with the human mind? Does cultural indoctrination through the music we hear in our early lives make music that fits our organizational sensibilities more influential to us?
These questions are important when thinking about something like Soundbeam. Sure, it's cool, but it may not really be necessary. If someone can understand, on any level, the concept of organizing sound, then there is basically no way they can fail to create and experience music if they so choose and are guided, even with extreme limitations. If they cannot, then Soundbeam is just a really fancy toy that makes interesting noises.
Unfortunately, Soundbeam may not be available or a budget option for some educational settings. I think in this case, it is the task of the educator to find a way to involve students in music regardless. Taking away Josh Smith's flute does not cause him to stop being a musician. Soundbeam is just one instrument, and really, anything that can create sound and vibrations is an instrument. That's a lot of possibilities.
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I believe SoundBeam is the first of many technologies that will emerge in the coming years to allow those who are mentally or physically challenged to engage in musical experiences. Any instrument could be construed as not much more than a "toy." Like all aspects of education, how the teacher utilizes the resources s/he has available makes all the difference. The teacher is the most influential part of any classroom.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, new assistive technologies are allowing individuals to more fully participate in life, enabling them to accomplish tasks that you and I take for granted. As music educators, we need to stay abreast of these innovations and determine if they have pedagogical application in our classrooms and rehearsals.
My point was not to be negative or dismissive but to recognize that, yes, any type of instrument-Soundbeam, a flute, a piano, our own voices, etc-is just a device which we use to create music. We ourselves are the musicians, and even for those with disabilities, there are infinitely many ways to participate. I think we, as educators, should not limit ourselves and think that participation in music requires, say, pitches, and thus decide that, if Soundbeam or some other technology that would help disabled music students create music more within our common conventions and perceptions of "normal" music is not available in a given case, that someone cannot participate or can only participate in a lesser or limited role. They might not be able to experience certain repertory as a performer that requires pitches, but music goes beyond that. Really, it is a conscious choice to organize sound and perceive sound as organized. Fortunately, the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have brought much more music in which composers have sought to expand our ideas and concepts of what music is and can be: for example Cage's 4:33.
ReplyDeleteI believe that if we encourage students to think of musicianship as something internal, many will come not to be disabled musicians needing assistance to engage in music so much as just musicians who simply have an obstacle that prevents them from using particular conventional musical devices.