As kids, playing was essential to life. Playing outside, playing sports, playing video games, playing hide and seek and many more. Outside of music, mine were playing basketball, GI Joes and Transformers. Of course, my sister was 18 months younger than I, so I ended up playing a lot of Barbies, My Little Pony, and things like that. Thankfully, I think it was preparation for 2 daughters!
But this idea of “playing” music is something that gets talked about quite often. What instrument do you play? How long have you played? These are questions that we get asked. And before I continue any further, I want to thank my “anytime piano teacher friend” Christina Whitlock for sharing her thoughts on this to spur my own thinking as well.
In the dictionary, the two definitions of the verb play are 1) engage in activity for enjoyment and recreation rather than a serious or practical purpose. and 2) take part in (a sport). I’ll come back to the first definition in a bit, because that’s going to be the main thrust of this post. But taking part in music, taking part in a group, an ensemble, whatever the case, that’s play when it comes to music. It’s essentially participation. And yes, participating in the world of music, the language of music, the discipline of music are all beneficial things to the individual playing the music, the audience listening to the music and overall, it helps make the world a better place. So that definition tracks quite well.
But this first definition? There’s some baggage in a way attached here. This definition of play seems to be more for enjoyment and fun, recreation as opposed to serious and focused study. Many musicians and music educators would bristle at this definition. But I don’t. I think there may need to be a bit of nuancing here, but let’s start on the surface. Is music enjoyable and fun? The answer is absolutely yes! There is, no doubt, a process to learning the language and concepts of music that help you learn the music, which gives you the tools enjoy it. So yes, there’s work to do to get to the enjoyable and fun part.
Let’s think about this practically. A student starts working on a musical instrument. I’ll use my example back in 5th grade of learning to play the trumpet. I had to figure out how to make my lips make a sound on the mouthpiece, then learn what the fingerings were as well as how to adjust my lips to go higher or lower. I was given a method book that used all of the standard songs that beginning students learn. “Hot Cross Buns”, “Go Tell Aunt Rhody” and others were part of this repertoire. Did I have fun playing them? Not one bit! But they were a means to an end. As I improved on the trumpet and in band, music was played that gave me glimpses of the fun that music brings. When I got into high school, pep band for football and basketball games was fun! But I had done the work and put in the time, so I enjoyed playing.
One of the recent things that I’ve done in my studio this year is go away from method books. They’re fine and serve a practical purpose. But the reality is……they’re not fun. I noticed a lack of growth, practice and ultimately improvement from my students. And as Michael Jordan said:
I took it personally because as their teacher, I’m responsible. I asked myself the tough question. “If I want lessons to be fun and engaging, am I doing that to the best of my ability?” The answer was no. I had become engulfed in routine. And my students were showing me the consequences. And this fall, I changed things up. I moved out of lesson books into student led repertoire. So now I have students playing “Piano Man” by Billy Joel (her coach said he’d give her $100 if she learned it!); music from Minecraft and Halo; “Ordinary” by Alex Warren; “Your Way’s Better” by Forrest Frank (arranged by me). That’s just a few. And guess what has happened? Playing at home has increased!
While taking away the lesson method books, I also took away formal theory. Shocking, I know. So how are my students going to learn all of the details of music theory, if there’s not a curriculum to help them learn? Easy. They learn it from their music. They learn it from activities that I’ve created and use with them to improvise and create music. They learn it from games. Playing games. Yes. And it’s worked wonderfully. I have physical games that I’ve purchased from Music Game Club, Keys to Imagination and more. I have Boom card decks that I’ve purchased. Apps on the studio iPad to help students learn. And guess what they look forward to playing most at their lesson? Games!
But let’s deal with the elephant in the room here. Those 4 words “Serious and focused study”. Yes, that is important. Focus is essential for learning. And some studios produce excellent musicians who go on to bigger and better things, whether that’s college or professional musician life. And there is nothing wrong with that whatsoever. In my studio, I don’t expect to train concert pianists. Could I do it? Sure. But my students want to play. And what I realized along the way is that giving them the opportunity to be creative, play, learn in unique ways and learning music they wanted to would help them enjoy music. If you’re not enjoying what you’re doing, it’s not going to be very long that you’re going to choose to do it. And music is something that can (and should!) last a whole life long. So why not make it fun?
There is a delicate balance to strike between play and seriousness. Just like there is a time to balance homework, chores and play. I think we’re all capable of it, it’s just a matter of unlocking the play inside of us.