Socialization and the Importance of Music

In a 2002 article, Kristen Ferguson, reporter for the Metroland, highlighted some of the importance of music in an article titled "Songs for the Soul: The Carondelet Music Center Stresses the Importance of Music Education in Nurturing Childhood Development and Building Community". The article supports the claim that  music has an alleviating power to the effects of melancholia, or what Ferguson states is a "natural Prozac for the soul".  The report uses the Carondelet Music Center, to exemplify this concept among others. 

The center, which is located in Latham in the provincial house of St. John's church, has a mission statement that aims to"foster, preserve and improve the state of music education for all people aesthetically, socially and spiritually." The article quotes sister Patricia St. John's testament to the power of music: "[Children] walk away from here with so much more than being able to play the piano. Music is important for building confidence and self-esteem. It helps [children] with discipline, it's a healthy outlet, and it promotes engagement rather than passivity. It's wonderful to see a child skip out of here." The Carondelet Music Center, however, is not the first to comment on the positive effects of music. Another article supporting this claim, titled "Making Music Can Help Overcome Depression", in The Telegraph reported on a study led by Professor Jaakko Erkkilä at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, which tracked the progress of adults diagnosed with depression when given music therapy sessions. (It may be noted that this the music therapy was in combination with other treatments the patients had been receiving). Overall, the research showed that the adults had fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression  

 Both articles also noted music's importance because of its ability to socialize. Patricia St. John (from the Carondelet Music Center) testifies that "One of the neat things that happens here is that this whole wing [houses] retired sisters. The sisters come down [to the center] and the old and the young meet. It's been a wonderful interaction and benefit for everyone." The study of the depressed Adults in Finland also implied that music was a socializing factor: out of 20 sessions, at least 18 were attended by most of the group, which would suggest that music holds people's interest, bringing them together on many occasions.

 I can also testify, from firsthand experience, to the fact that music is a strong socializing force. Being a music major at Michigan State University, a university of over 50,000 people, I see examples every day of how music brings people together. Generally, the music school at MSU has a small town feel, where everybody knows everybody, and people look out for one another. It's a community thriving with connections inside and out. Though all professional musicians must learn the ability of being a soloist, working with a group and coming together are much more important skills -- especially considering that is what any ensemble must do to perform. Music socializes in this way, but as much as it brings people together on the inside, it does outwardly too: an individual does not have to be part of the music school at a university to witness how music socializes. Go to any concert, and the ability of music bringing people together can be viewed in the array of people sitting in the audience.

Why is this socialization aspect so important? In the most extreme cases, lack of socializing an individual can deplete a human of the ability to perform civilized actions and interactions. This can be seen in the case of a 16 year old girl who was named Genie and had suffered severe social isolation. The effects of her isolation resulted in only being able to retain a miniscule vocabulary. Of course this is an extreme case, but it certainly highlights the basic human need for interaction and socialization. Though many things have the ability to socialize, music is a particularly effective socializing force because it has a positive, enjoyable impact. As noted above, it lifts spirits and lessens the effects of depression. At the Carondelet center, music improved attitudes of children as well. Ultimately, music is not just a pastime, but a highly functional agent in improving the life quality of those who participate in it.

Works Cited: 

          Ferguson, Kirsten. "Songs for the Soul: The Carondelet Music Center Stresses the Importance of Music Education in Nurturing Childhood Development and Building Community." Metroland: 36. Feb 07 2002. Alt-PressWatch. Web. 24 Oct. 2012 .

"Making Music Can Help Overcome Depression," Telegraph.co.uk. Telegraph Media Group Limited. 01 Aug, 2011. Web. 24 Oct. 2012.     

Fromkin, Victori. "The Development of Language in Genie: A Case of Language Acquisition Beyond the "Critical Period."." Brain and language 1.1 (1974): 81-107. PsycINFO. Web. 31 Oct. 2012.

Reed Making: Learning Styles

Music is an art that requires you to learn almost everything hands on. Rarely is there a textbook for what you need to do, and everything you learn by watching or doing.  The task of reed making (all oboists make their own reeds) is one of the best examples of this.

In my reed making class, however, my professor has written out, in a very detailed manner, exactly what to do. This is also paired with having to do the skill hands on, of course, but the written out instructions for reed making add a twist to the learning process.

I’m finding I like this process – it tells you exactly what to do. The way my professor learned to make reeds was much less descript: her teacher would do a demo of how to make a reed and then she had to make a reed. This method puts a lot of guesswork into reed making. The point of the written lectures is to take the guesswork out. However, this must be paired with hands on learning experience as well, which is still a very large aspect of learning to make reeds. 

This past week, we had to learn a certain scrape named “chips fly”. (I’d also like to note that the name of this stroke is only specific to the reed making system the oboe studio at MSU uses.) “Chips Fly” is the first scrape done on a reed after tying the cane onto a staple (a metal tube surrounded with cork).  Just like everything else in music, words cannot quite encapsulate everything about reed making either. Reading about how to do the “chips fly” scrape paints a clear picture in your head of what is supposed to happen, but when you attempt the stroke and find you can’t perform the skill as imagined, it gets frustrating. Even though, with the now written lectures, it takes a lot of guesswork out, there is still a lot of firsthand experience and detail you must incorporate into the scrape you are trying to perform on a reed – and that can only be learned by practicing it yourself.  

Another difference in hands on versus learning by direction is that reading about how to perform a scrape only trains your brain how to perform a task; performing the task hands on trains your muscles to as well as connects the two modes of learning. This is much harder. This is also exemplified by the different quizzes we are given each week on the scrapes we must learn in reed making class. There are always two different kinds of testing: one is a multiple choice quiz on the lecture, and another is an in class evaluation of your ability to do the scrape.  It is much easier to do the multiple choice quiz – it’s only testing your ability to memorize and understand written language. Performing the scrape for evaluation requires you to really understand how to do the task, not just recite words. 

 

An Emergency Fix

This week in my lesson, I learned “a bit” about repair. 

Originally, my professor was supposed to help me perform a small repair on my oboe, but one repair turned into several others. Originally, we were going to place a small circle of cork under a key to even out the amount of lift on two keys, but upon taking apart and off some of the rods and keys to be able to perform this repair, we discovered how rusty and sludgy the reaction on a lot of these rods and keys were.  (This rust is all on the inside – just to clarify to those who are not musicians\oboists.)

This called for further maintenance. Normally, a key should rotate freely around the rod. On my oboe? The keys had to be given a bit more than a nudge to spin. To clean the keys, the screws and rods had to  be taken out and cleaned of the rust. To do this, friction is created between the rods\screws\keys to loosen the rust, and then a piece of paper towel is used to wipe the rust off. When all these bits and pieces are assembled back on the oboe, a bit of oil is usually applied to the screws.

This process was going well, but my keys were in fact so rusty that a spring snapped. My professor did not have a replacement spring at the time, so we had to resort to an emergency repair – the sort equivalent to a bucket under a leak in the roof. In the world of oboe, this means taking a rubber band and tying it around your oboe to hold a key up or down (depending on the key) so that it has the same tension of a spring, allowing the key to be lifted up or pushed down.

Luckily I got my spring fixed later that day. Not so fortunate was showing up to my ensemble rehearsal a bit late since the repair took so long. Even more unfortunate was discovering my professor had forgotten to attach my left F key to my oboe, but that was put back on later that day when I went to get the spring repaired.

Josef v. L'oree

I have been looking into buying a new oboe recently. I have a professional model l'oree oboe, which has been the standard professional brand of oboe in the music world. This is beggining to change, however, since a new maker of oboes has come along: Josef. The change is slow to happen however, since many musicians get stuck up on tradition, and many oboists are still bias towards l'orees and skeptical of Josef oboes.

This weekend I got to try Josef oboes first hand and see for myself how they compared. I loved Josef. Granted, my l'oree is 10 years old (and for those of you that do not know, that is pretty old), and it is beginning to blow out. Even though I may be bias towards a new oboe versus my old oboe, I still believe Josefs are a wonderful make of oboe, and I can see why the oboe community is slowly transitioning.

Josefs are much more consistent. Every l'oree is different in feel and tone it seems, but Josef's have a consistency not only within each model but all models share similar features. My professor pointed out that with l'orees, she could go through a batch of twenty oboes and come out with four. Josef oboes? It's much harder to pick one since each instrument varies less.

L'oree oboes often have a flat higher register, a saggy f sharp, a sharp 'e', and various other tuning difficulties. Josef oboes do not have as much variance in the tuning. Josefs are also made so that the fingers of the right hand are not spread as far apart, allowing for more technical ease. I also loved the tone quality in the lower register, which was very resonant.

The choice seems obvious then: Josef is better than L'oree. However, many oboists are traditionalists and want to stick with L'oree, because that is the way it has been: if you play oboe, you buy a l'oree. But the times are changing. L'oree used to be the best around, and they do still make good oboes!, it's just that Josef has made oboes that are more up to date, thus overpowering the monopoly L'oree used to hold.

Music Piracy: the Controversy

One of the bigger controversies, both in the music world as well as in the general public, is the issue of downloading music. Many discussions, political and ethical, have been had about what is legal or right and what is not.  

An article in PC magazine, titled "More Squabbles over Digital Music; the Controversy Over Digital Music Downloads", covered more on this issue. Writer Michael J. Miller discussed the cases of a few students who " were sued by the Recording Industry Association of America for administering services that let students search the campus network for files and for hosting MP3s on their PCs. The RIAA sought $150,000 per file that could have been downloaded, and settled for $12,000 to $17,000 from each student" 

Many people believing downloading music without paying is theft (including the author of this article). However, Miller points out that an easier and cheaper way of downloading music needs to be developed so there is no excuse for stealing music.  

This article was written in 2003, but that was only a begging of what would continue on the controversy. 2003 was around the time iTunes first opened its music store with .99 cent songs. Easy and relatively cheap, like Miller suggested. This wasn't enough to stop music downloading, however -- an article in the New York Times in 2010 (titled Music Industry counts the cost of Piracy) suggested 95% of all music was illegally downloaded.  

Most people think of downloading illegal music as a minor offense, but when everybody is downloading illegally, it adds up. So record companies are at a loss at what to do, so cases arise like the students sued for large sums of money in 2003. Even recently, May 2012, CBS news reported a man was sued for about $700,000 for illegally downloaded music -- which was mostly pirated in his high school years. (The article can be read here: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505270_162-57438933/supreme-court-silent-on-illegal-music-downloads/). 

The targeted individuals for music piracy by record companies are meant to send a message to others that music piracy is wrong. It seems most people agree that piracy is not ideal, but these lawsuits don't gain many supporters.

Works Cited: 

Brown, Terrell.  "Supreme Court silent on illegal music downloads". cbsnews.com CBS. 22, May 2012. Web. 18 October, 2012.

Miller, Michael J. "More Squabbles Over Digital Music ; the Controversy Over Digital Music Downloads  

has Reached Fever Pitch, Indicating that some Big Changes are Imminent." PC Magazine Jun 17 2003: 7-. ABI/INFORM Complete; ProQuest Research Library. Web. 18 Oct. 2012 .  \

pfanner, Eric. "Music Industry Counts the Cost of Piracy" nytimes.com New York Times.

Articulating on Oboe

There is a lot of physical control that goes into being a musician. And the control that must be exerted is usually in very small areas, such as individual fingers or wrists as I briefly covered in an earlier post about hand position and tendinitis.

Another one of these areas is the tounge.

For wind instruments, the tounge is used to articulate notes. For non musicians, this is similar to how you articulate speech. When you say a sentence, the tounge touches (or doesn't touch) at different places around the mouth to create a certain sound. The tounge works in a similar way to create certain sounds on an instrument.

On oboe, there is a desired method of where and how the tounge should hit.

Generally, all wind instruments emphasize a light tounge when articulating notes. Having a heavy tounge is the equivalent of trying to talk while sticking your tounge out of your mouth.

Tounging on oboe requires the middle of the tounge to hit the side of the reed.

To the left is a few examples of oboe reeds -- oboe reeds are made of two blades of cane tied together on a metal tube.  

In order to tounge lightly on oboe, the tounge must touch the smallest opening of the two blades. The smallest opening, then, is on the right or left corners where the two blades meet.

Great Musicians and Great Intellect

In an earlier post I talked about the correlation between musicians and bipolar disorder. This post will cover another connection between the mind and the musician: intelligence.

I recently read this scholarly article:

http://search.proquest.com.proxy2.cl.msu.edu.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/docview/916872402/fulltextPDF/139A1C7CE6B1B630E40/4?accountid=12598

Titled, "Correlation Between Intelligence and Musical Talent Among University Students", the article covers what role intelligence plays in musicians. It has not been the first time I've heard of this connection. I have heard many times that learning a musical instrument increases intelligence, especially in science and math. 

Many people would assume that intelligence and musicianship went hand in hand -- if an individual has a high IQ, they are cut out to be a good musician, and if an individual is a good musician, they were very intelligent as well. The study shows this is not the case, however. 

The focus of the essay was on college age students. The students were divided up into IQ groups between 70 and 134. They were given general intelligence tests to determine these IQs and then music tests that focused on six groups ( pitch, intensity, time, consonance, tonal memory, and rhythm) were also given.  The correlations between IQ and test results were not clear. The biggest correlation between intelligence and IQ was found in the "pitch" test.

The best words about the findings were those of  C.E. Seashore, that it is "possible for a person, strong in other capacities, but with relatively low intellectual powers, to assume fairly important roles in music within restricted areas or fields of music activity, but the great musician is always a person of great intellect."  

I will note that this is a study from 1928 -- pretty outdated. But it seems to me and my experiences to be still valid. The best musicians I have met are usually very intellectual, intelligent people. They read and write. They are literature or history buffs. Have photographic, uncanny memories. Sometimes they're extremely good at math or science as well, but I find more of a correlation between history\English\literature and musicians rather than the sciences or maths. The science and math type have the capacity to be good at music, but I find that those types of people do not have much of an emotional attraction to music.  I have also, reversely, met people who were highly intelligent but were not good musicians or did not care for music. 

However, the grey area of this study is, what even is intelligence? There are many types of intelligences, and I include music as one of them. A more accurate and apropriate study may be the correlation between musical intelligence and word intelligence or number intelligence.  Or, this study could be redone with a specific definition of what intelligence means in this case.

Works Cited: 

Fracker et al, "Correlation betwen Intelligence and Musical Talent Among University Students." Psychological Monographs. 39.2 1928. 157-161 print.

Injury as a Musician: Tendinitis

Like athletes, even musicians face injury and risking damage to their bodies. 

The most common of these is tendinitis.

What is tendinitis?  Tendinitis is an inflammation of the tendons (tendons are what attaches muscles to the bone -- they're a thick and fibered cord ), and this inflammation usually results from a repeated stress on a particular area over time. For musicians, this usually happens in the wrist due to handhold of the instrument. Tendinitis is marked by a tenderness, sometimes swelling, and an overall irritation when moving\using the inflamed area.

Luckily tendinitis is not serious -- but it can lead to a higher risk of tedon rupture, which is something serious. Luckily there are ways to combat tendinitis -- because nobody wants a tendon rupture or to have ache-y wrists while they play. 

The best way to combat it? Reduce as much tension as you can. In my weekly oboe lessons, handhold and release of tension has been a crucial aspect. (The release of this tension is not only good for reducing risk of tendinitis, but also makes for better playing!)

Reducing the tension means putting your hand in as much of a relaxed position as you can -- curve fingers. Curved fingers take less effort to move. To demonstrate this point, lay your fingers flat and try to move them as fast as you can. Now curve your fingers and do the same thing. The curved fingers move much faster and with less tension.

 

However, hand grip is much more complicated -- I can certainly attest: I spent almost a whole hour lesson on handhold alone last week. Depending on the instrument and player, the tension and sources of caused tendinitis vary. I tend to leave my fourth fingers flat, press down the pinky keys with too much force, and grip the oboe with the left thumb. All of that not only increases tension and risk of tendinitis, but slows down my playing and technique. I have invested a lot of time into relearning my handhold, but overall it has benefited my playing abilities. It's a tedious process to change  how you hold the instrument, but in the end it works out for the better! 

 

Works Cited:  

 

"tendinitis" mayoclinic.com Mayo Clinic. 8 Nov, 2011. Web. Oct. 3, 2012. 





Ethics in Music

"Professional musicians contribute through their performance of music to the public in promoting the enjoyment and understanding of music. This Code is principally concerned with this role, though professional musicians also contribute by providing music for weddings, funerals, and religious ceremonies."

All job fields have their own code of ethics, and even among professionals in that field, the ethics vary. The above quote is an ethical statement from the National Association for Music Education. (I am going to just focus on this bit, but you can view everything they have to say about their code of ethics, you can see it here: http://musiced.nafme.org/about/position-statements/the-music-code-of-ethics/ .) 

For me, this is only a shallow shade of how I look at music -- it's a very formal, educational view. Of course, since this is a statement from the "National association for Music education", this makes sense -- a statement on ethics from a group of performing musicians would probably focus on different aspects of music.

As a music performance major myself, I agree with this statement, but I find it is not enough. It covers the smaller portion of what I do as a musician. As a performer, I view music as something very spiritual. It is not simply about mastery or enjoyment -- music is what strengthens me as a person, makes me most productive in this world, and gives me purpose.  It is then my duty to present this to the world -- to share the power music has with me with others in my performance. Performance is about being true to the music and presenting these deeper, spiritual feelings contained in it to others. 

Going to college for music, I am helping to complete this mission -- I'm learning how to portray music correctly. I'm learning how to be the best performer I can be. I'm learning how to deliver the messages music has to offer.  Because music is a language words can't grasp, I can't present these messages in any other way but music.  But perhaps that is one of the best aspects of music -- you are forced to stop talking and start listening to the world around you. You are pulled into a realm that connects musicians and non musicians alike. You are brought into world that breeds connection and understanding among its listeners by what each individual hears and feels.

Works Cited: 

 

MENC (et al), "The Music Code of Ethics (Position Statement)". NAFME. National association for Music Education. 2012. Web. 1 Oct. 2012.