EDUCATION AND DANCE MUSIC

New Zealand Listener, Volume 12, Issue 310, 1 June 1945, Page 24

EDUCATION AND DANCE MUSIC

Children Like It=Let’s Make Use of It!

(Written for "The Listener" by

RAY

CARR

RECENT reference to "cheap music" in the Listener has annoyed us with its futility. Beyond giving satisfaction to those in agreement such terminology is without beneficial effect — and we're not concerned with those in agreement. If we’re going to interest our young people in (for want of a better word) classical music, we'll never do it by belittling the sort of music ~ appeals to them so much.

It is only natural that dance music should appeal to the young; it’s sthythmical, and youngsters especially react enthusiastically to rhythm; it’s melodious — deny it who may — and surely there would be something wrong with a child who did not listen with pleasure to an appealing -melody? Dance music is here to stay, it’s universally popular, so what are we going to do about it? Disparagement is otiose; as well to attempt the conversion of a cannibal to vegetarianism by telling him the meat he -adores tastes nasty. Can we not find some way in which we can utilise this popular music to lay a foundation for the appreciation of the music of the Three B’s and Co.? Yes, we can-we'll make a friend of dance music!

Our pedagogues, our professors, seem to look upon dance music as the enemy of Good Music, so let us with true Christian cunning make a friend of our enemy; we'll use him to further our own ends in the best tactical tradition by broadcasting regular educational sessions telling the kids all about dance music. NOT patronisingly, NOT didactically will we broadcast these sessions, but with interest and enthusiasm -- more so because the popularity of them would be assured. Listening Intelligently We'll start off with such instrumentally simple orchestras as those of Victor Silvester and Josephine Bradley and point out which is the trumpet, saxophone, violin, etc., how the trumpet is sometimes muted and sometimes open, the pleasant effect of violin and saxophone playing in harmony; we’ll go on to explain all about the different sorts of dance music-"sweet" as compared with "Sweet swing" and the like; we’ll show them how. dance arranging has evolved in beauty and complexity by playing old and new versions of the same tune; we'll

have them noticing, more about dance music than they ever knew existed; they’ll learn to listen intelligently-we'll enhance their appreciation by making it intellectual as well as purely emotional. ‘ It should be obvious that if we want the young to appreciate classical music we must get them interested, for without interesting them we'll be wasting our time and perhaps sickening them of such music for the rest» of. their lives.

So throughout these sessions we will frequently and with studied casualness bring in cross references to classical music. It often happens that youngsters are repelled from classical music by the people who "like" it; so many of these people are poseurs as must be fearfully obvious to those who have surveyed an orchestral concert audience with discernment; and we’ve all known those gushing females-of either sex-who "just simply adore" this or that composer who happens to be the current rage. So we must talk about classical music with easy familiarity, as if it’s a real friend to us -and isn’t it? We must dispel the idea that classical music lovers are a pack of stuffshirts, and we’ll show them that the composers were pretty good fellows too: Beethoven and his hotted up minuet that became the scherzo should help to endear him to them for instance. Must Play Fair Concerning the composers, we must find a medium between idolatry and iconoclasm; we'll tell them about Beethoven’s fondness for jokes, bad puns; Wagner’s fad for silk underwear; Chopin’s keen sense of humour; Schubert

who forgot pieces he’d written-and so dh. But of course all this will come in very unobtrusively, for we are going to play fair; the children must not think that we are presenting alleged sessions of dance music merely as an excuse to ram our classical predilections down their necks. Swing will be an interesting study. We'll show them the difference between Dixieland and Benny Goodman, between Armstrong and the Duke; we'll give them a picture of the evolution of swing up to the sandblasting craze of the 30’s, and on to the less raucous "commercial swing" of the day. Jazz can be debunked a little too, of course; "improvised" solos that aré the Same every time, the crudeness of what it pleases some to call "righteous jazz,’ noise for its own sake, rather than its being an intrinsic feature of a well balanced arrangement. We will talk about the brilliant improvisations of Coleman Hawkins, the coloured saxophonist, whose variations on a theme are productions of genius; then we will introduce them to his opposite, one Ludwig van Beethoven, who also has some inspired variations to his name. See? Then there is our Friend boogie- woogie; we'll explain to them all about its ostinato bass -with improvisations in the treble, we'll show.the different types of boogie woogie bass; and then we'll bring along big brother passacaglia, boogie woogie in Sunday clothes. They’ll realise that these two apparently widely different types of music are really one and the same thing at the bottom of it all. Sorry about the pun. ‘ "This Pernicious Business" We have another friend up our sleeve too: this pernicious business of rhythmicising — not necessarily jazzing — the classics can be turned to good use. We'll play a record of-say-‘"Moon Love," and follow it up with its rendition as Tchaikovski meant it to sound; commenting suitably we may be able to suggest that perhaps after all Peter got more out of*the tune. The construction of most dance tunes is childishly simple, so we'll tell our flock all about A A B A, and by and *by they'll be able to notice when an accasional number develops instead of having the usual slavish repeat for the last 8 bars. As far as lyrics are concerned we'll make our kids very critical little listeners; after all, if they can be shown how trivial most lyrics are it will obviously‘Be better than our saying "tripe" and expecting them to take our word for it. Do you see what can be done in this way? Why, we'll have them listening with real interest to music which previously had merely titillated their ears; they'll be able to pick good arrangements from ordinary ones, they’ll know a trombone trio from a sax team, they'll note that Billy Cotton’s rhythm section sounds different from Count Basie’s, that Benny Goodman’s clarinet» makes. a different sort of noise from Harry Roy’s. So what? Well, wait a minute. Children Don’t Like to be Beaten We can be pretty sure that our ingenuous references to classical music will have started something; the tone colours of a dance orchestra are not very baffling, and once our children have mast them ‘it is surely not illogical to s t that they will develop an interest in the more complex colourings of the symphony orchestra? Children don’t like to be beaten by anything, j

and a few examples of symphonic colourings, coupled with appropriate teasing about being one up on them should awaken their interest — and isn’t that what we want? Is that not the whole secret? It’s up to us to awaken their interest in classical music, not tell them that such-an-such, opus whatnot, is by Brahms and thus Good, and they must like it! Perhaps some of them will remain staunch jazz fans to the bitter end. Good luck to them, and our work will not have been in vain-certainly not! We have helped them to take an intelligent interest in the music they love (and who are we to begrudge them that pleasure?) and if in the name of education we can help anyone to take an intelligent interest in anything is that not a worthwhile accomplishment?