commentary

Why Music Education Matters to Me…

Why Music Education Matters to Me…

The first percussion students I taught were at Upper Darby High School in 1990. Since then - twenty nine years ago - I’ve worked with a lot of young people to perfect their musical skills and watched them go on to college/university and do great things later in life.

There is a core set of capabilities that students develop when they apply themselves to their practice and their pursuit of musical excellence. These are not just capabilities that young people develop, I’ve witnessed this in adult students also. Most importantly, and this goes without saying, these skills directly translate to all other phases of life.

Creativity in Decline?

Creativity in Decline?

There can be no reasonable dispute that creativity is an integral part of innovation and of entrepreneurship. One of the problems with thinking about creativity as a life skill is that creativity is difficult to quantify and measure. More on that in a minute.

The “traditional” advice that kids should study hard in school, get good grades so that they can “get a good job” misses a very large point. I use the quotation marks to show some disdain for traditional thinking. Traditional thinking is a good way to get suck in a rut and put yourself far away from your goals if you aren’t careful.

Here is the point that the traditional advice misses: the effort of the students is only one aspect of the development of creativity.

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Book Review: Creative Quest, by Questlove

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Book Review: Creative Quest, by Questlove

Perhaps one of the most prolific creators of today is Amir K. Thompson, who is better known as Questlove to the millions of people who see him lead The Roots every weeknight on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.  For most performers, The Tonight Show gig would be the capstone achievement in a career. Not so here. The Tonight Show gig is really only one of a handful of Questlove’s simultaneous creative pursuits that seemingly defy human capacity.  How does he do all those projects, and do them all at such a high level?  

The mind reels when you consider that in addition to co-leading The Roots with Tariq Trotter, Questlove: 1) teaches at New York University; 2) has published multiple books, and several of those of those books (including Creative Quest) have landed on the New York Times Best Seller List, which I’d argue is still the gold standard of legitimacy (or at least commercial viability - more on that later); 3) gigs extensively as a DJ and 4) runs The Roots Picnic, an annual summer music festival in Philadelphia that is hugely popular.  This list is non-exhaustive, and omits the radio show, the podcast and quite a few other things, but you get the picture.