The State of Our Union

Article II, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution requires the President to periodically "give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.”

By the time you receive this email, our nation will be mired in demagoguery as politicians and pundits alike parse each and every word, gesture and inflection, of the President's speech. No detail is too small for a focus group and no nuance too sophisticated for a poll. For the next several days, our national airwaves will be filled with toxic dialogue by opinionated, and overly confident talk show hosts. 

When it comes to vicious and violent, the Super Bowl will place a distant second this week. 

In hopes of lightening the mood, I thought it might be fun to look back and read some of the most poignant State of the Union quotes and see how they might apply to our profession. 

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The first State of the Union address, given by George Washington in 1790, was only 833 words long, a precedent that has been long since eclipsed by nearly all of his successors. 

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President George Washington, Jan. 8, 1790: “The welfare of our country is the great object to which our cares and efforts ought to be directed…"

President Abraham Lincoln, Dec.. 1, 1862: “The trials we pass through will honor or dishonor us to the next generation. "

President John F. Kennedy, Jan. 11, 1962: “I have found that people everywhere look to us–not because of our wealth or power, but the splendor of our ideals. 

President Ronald Reagan, Feb. 6, 1985: There are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit, no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect.

I saved my favorite for last...

President Gerald Ford, Jan. 15, 1975: “I must say to you that the state of the Union is not good.” 

I choose each one of these quotes specifically as I believed there to be a (in)direct relationship to music education. At one point in writing this article, I attempted to parse out the meaning, but quickly realized that I was giving myself far too much and you far too little credit. 

So for now, I will leave for you to determine and decide, as today, the last thing any of us needs is ANOTHER talking head explaining what someone else said.

Too ALL of you I say with great confidence that the state of music education is well. And, if you need a focus group to prove it, just look at the smiling faces of your first period class.

Have a great day!

From One Lang (Lang) to Another!

Norwich is a sleepy little town in the central part of Vermont. The bedroom community is quiet and cozy and is not unlike hundreds, if not thousands, of other communities scattered across this country, except for when it comes to childhood sports. 

In Norwich, no parent presses for participation and no bar of excellence is set. In their community soccer league, after a kid scores two goals in a game he is sat down so that some other kid has a chance to score. Their approach to participation and competition is consistent across all leagues and ages. 

Why is this so noteworthy? Because it turns out that the sleepy little un-athletic town of Norwich continually sends athletes to the Olympics and other significant international competitions in numbers ridiculously disproportionate to its size. 

Like every parent, I want what’s best for my children. I approach parenting, piano, and coaching in the same way that I taught, with structure and rigor. It’s not that I expect, or even want, them to choose music or sports as a career, but I want them to understand that in all things, excellence is achieved through diligence, commitment, and dedication. 

But what if I’m wrong? What if my approach is inhibiting their growth? What if, in all my attempts to help them grow and succeed, I am keeping them from flourishing? What if, in an effort to do EVERYTHING right, it turns out that I may have done everything wrong and at times make myself and my kids miserable in the process? 

In a recent article in the New Yorker Magazine author Adam Gopnik goes in search of what it takes to raise a prodigy. He examines extraordinary individuals from all walks off life in hopes of finding a common thread in their upbringing, some consistent experience or approach that might explain their extraordinary skills. 

What did Gopnik discover was the secret sauce? What did he find to be the key differentiator for savants? Was it rigor? Was it structure? Was it dedication, rigor, and commitment, as I had suspected? 

Nope.

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Gopnik states that, "What typically emerges from looking at kids, gifted and ordinary, is that, from the kids’ point of view, accomplishment, that is, the private sense of mastery, the hard thing suddenly made easy, counts for far more in their inner lives than does the achievement—the competition won, the reward secured." 

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In short, Gopnik believes that genius is not fostered, and is in fact inhibited, by competition. 

Famed pianist Lang Lang explains that the brutal pressures placed on him by his father were over stressing him. He says he was saved because he had, “carved out space for a version of the ‘autotelic experience’—absorption in an activity purely for its own sake, a specialty of childhood.” 

I make both my boys play piano, and trust me when I say more frequently than not, forcing them to practice has left everyone less than inspired. 

Maybe this Lang should take a cue from the other Lang (Lang) and chill out a bit. Maybe I need to be less competitive and more supportive. Maybe I need to guide less and let them explore more. Maybe I need to force less and let them explore more. Maybe, just maybe, in music and sports, they need less time practicing and more time playing. 

For the sake of me and my boys, I am willing to try. Plus, it’s too cold for me to move to Vermont. 

Have a great week!

PRE PRE PRE PRE-MED

 

With greater rigor comes a greater education. This has been the mantra and formula used by reformists and political pundits for almost two decades. Through it all, America’s youth have been pushed, pulled, prodded, and cajoled through dizzying levels of sleep deprivation and stress, often leading to depression, angst, and academic burnout. 

Since 2010, schools across this country have turned to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) based curricula in hopes of feeding the frenzy of helicopter parents who crave competition and rigor. Needing proof that their children are prepared for college and a global marketplace, schools are being forced to drive curricula towards technical skills that have an ever decreasing shelf life of relevance and usability.

Are we pushing kids too far too fast? Is it possible that in an effort to do good, we are actually doing long-term damage? Where will it stop? When will it end? How long before preschool becomes pre-med? 

Gone are teaching and training of soft skills. Gone are the days of teaching of requisite and important social skills. Gone are the days of exploration and discovery. 

Through it all, there is some evidence that STEM is not driving innovation but is in fact inhibiting it.

As a part of a major initiative to analyze its workforce, Google undertook a comprehensive and long ranging study of its employees and what makes them successful or not. What they found shook not just Google but the entirety of Silicon Valley, akin to the earthquakes they have become accustomed to. 

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Project Oxygen concluded that, "among the eight most important qualities of Google’s top employees, STEM expertise came in dead last. The seven top characteristics of success at Google are all soft skills: being a good coach; communicating and listening well; possessing insights into others, valuing different points of view; having empathy toward and being supportive of one’s colleagues; being a good critical thinker and problem solver; and being able to make connections across complex ideas."

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Those traits sound more like what one gains as an English or music major than as a computer programmer. Could it be that top Google employees were succeeding despitetheir technical training, not because of it? 

After bringing in anthropologists and ethnographers to dive even deeper into the data, the company enlarged its previous hiring practices to include humanities majors, musicians, artists, and even the MBAs and company founders once viewed with disdain.

Yes, science, technology, and math are important. We need engineers to understand schematics. We need architects to understand blueprints. We need programmers to understand code. But, we also need humans who understand humans. 

And the arts, music in particular, makes people more human and help us to understand what it is to be human.

Have a great week!

p.s. This weekend, my very intelligent middle school son proclaimed that one of our household lights was broken and needed to be replaced. When I informed him that it was just a burnt out light bulb, he exclaimed, “What’s that? You mean lights don’t last forever or at least 40 years?” So yeah, maybe the Lang household could use a little more STEM.

A Stradivarius must be played!

Antonius Stradivarius is a name known through the annals of time and across the globe as THE preeminent luthier and purveyor of stringed instruments. While he is mostly known for his violins, he also created and crafted incredible violas, cellos, mandolins, harps, and guitars. 

Throughout time, others have tried to replicate his creations, but to no avail. Counterfeiters and copycats alike have copied his exact specifications, but are unable to match it's beauty, tone, and resonance, making his instruments among the most sought after objects in the modern world. Sadly, due to theft, loss, and damage, of his 1200 creations, only 650 remain, where they valued in the tens of millions of dollars. 

What's his secret? What's the special technique or raw material that separates his creations from all others?

The answer may lie in a story from the past... 

Legend has it (I have been unable to source the material) that in the 1950’s an instrument made by Antonio Stradivari was purchased by an investor for a sizable sum. The man placed the instrument in an airtight vault and kept it there for 10 years expecting its value to dramatically increase during that time.

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On the day of the auction, the violin was taken out of the vault and handed to one of the world’s greatest violinists to demonstrate its authenticity. The Stradivarius was tuned and the auction house became hushed to hear the tones of this musical treasure. But what came from the instrument was worse than the music from a cheap, beat up, children’s violin. The legend has it that a Stradivarius will only reach its potential if it is played regularly and not simply kept hidden. 

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The story reminds us that an instrument without a musician is a depreciating asset. It may have monetary value in and of itself, but art absent purpose is nothing more than an artifact.

Perhaps the greatness of a Stradivarius that has eluded copycats and counterfeiters is not located in the dimensions and details of the instrument, but is his understanding of musicians and why they play his instruments.

We all want our students to master the techniques and fundamentals necessary to perform at the highest levels. We all want to give our students the tools, musical and otherwise, to be successful long after they are gone from our rehearsal halls. But, what's the best way to do that? 

Perhaps the answer of both goals is the same: nurture the musician as much as you nurture the music. 

Just as a Stradivarius requires consistent time and attention to allow it to speak with its truest and purest voice, so does the musician playing it. After all, no one is moved by an artifact!

Have a great (and warm) week!

Nature/Nurture and the Lasting Impact of Leroy Anderson

In the Bolivian Rain Forest at the base of the Andes Mountains lives an indigenous people know as the Tsimane’ people (pronounced ‘chee-MAH-ney’). These villagers are so remote that they are virtually untouched by modern civilization and Western culture, including our music. One of the results is that these people sing largely in monophonic tones and with no harmony. 

Recently, a team of scientists traveled to Bolivia to study these people and their musical preferences (and you thought ethnomusicologists had no fun?). The scientists tested the villagers musical preferences in regards to melodies, harmonies, and dissonance. 

The results of the test? 

It turns out the that the villagers had NO PREFERENCE WHATSOEVER about music. 

Whereas, people raised on “Western” music have a strong preference for melodies, harmonies, and the resolution of dissonance, their South American counterparts did not. They did not hear harmonies as any more or less pleasing than monophony and found no discomfort with dissonance when compared to its resolution. 

The conclusion… 

Musical preferences are a force of nurture and not nature. In other words, our environment, not our genetics, dictates our musical tastes and preferences both now and in the future. 

As a teacher, I have always innately believed this but never been able to quantify it. Show me a teacher whose excited about Ives Variation on America and I will show you students who embrace dissonance. Find me a teacher who truly understands a ii(min7)-V7-I(maj7) progression and I will show you young people who dig Dizzy Gillespie. Find me a choir that understands the difference between a chromatic and diatonic scale and I will show you a group that will embrace Eric Whitacre’s Sleep. 

As music educators we expose our students to different sounds and styles each and every day. In doing so, we are altering their musical tastes on an almost organic level. Long after they leave our classrooms our choices in programming and choosing ensembles will have an effect on their (musical) lives and likely those of their children. 

The above mentioned study makes clear the point that your students’ appreciation and consumption of music are significantly altered by the music they are playing each and every day in your classroom. 

Sure makes you rethink the horse whinny at the end of Sleigh Ride, doesn’t it? 

Have a great week. Some exciting stuff is coming your way next week. 

p.s. A couple of Christmases ago, my mother gave my wife and I tickets to Yanni. So, um… Yeah. Let’s just say that my musical growth was as stunted as my physical growth. 

Instruments, IKEA, and the Chinese Water(less) Torture!

 

Whether you realize it or not, the Chinese are killing it in the music manufacturing industry.

LITERALLY... They are killing the industry! 

Is it their artificially deflated currency? 
Is it their endless supply of cheap labor? 
Is it the stealing of intellectual property? 
Is it flooding the market with low cost, low quality instruments? 

NOPE! It’s their furniture. 

Yep, you read it correctly. Chinese coffee tables and Lazy-Boy recliners (do they have either of those?) are killing it.

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It turns out that in China, demand for furniture made of rosewood (hongmu) has spiked so significantly that it has spawned an entire black market industry. Think of it like the drug trade, but with tone wood. 

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During the past year in Thailand more than 150 people have been killed fighting over rosewood. And you thought the south side of Chicago was rough! Sheesh. If this keeps up, instrument manufacturers are going to have to attach a warning label to their claves and clarinets that reads: “Use at your own risk!" 

The wide spread and excessive violence has lead to an international crackdown on the movement of rosewood, and it is having an impact all up and down the music industry. Want a guitar, clarinet, or cello? Needs rosewood. Looking for new strings for your guitar? Costs are up because less guitars are being made. Hoping to find an affordable marimba or cello for the holiday season? FOOORRRGEETTTAAABBBOUUUTTIIITTT! 

It turns out that not only is sourcing this precious natural wood increasingly difficult, but instruments containing rosewood can, in fact, be confiscated in certain situations and countries. Apparently, when Nancy Reagan said, “Just Say No!” she was referring to getting high on a marimba and not marijuana. 

This issue reminds me that our industry is bigger than a single classroom or program. It reminds me that if I want an industry partner to understand my struggles as a teacher, perhaps I should try to understand their struggles in return. It reminds me to appreciate ALL of the people who help to bring music to a classroom and to the life of a young person. 

It also reminds me that China needs an IKEA in the worst way. That would be the Chinese Torture that didn’t require any water! 

Have a great week!

I Wouldn't Be So Positive If I Were You!

 

The $12 Billion dollar pop psychology industry is filled with self-help concepts that have a shelf life shorter than most produce items. Almost daily a new blockbuster arrives to help us reach for the stars, achieve our goals, and live our lives to the fullest. 

Truly, there is a book to help you achieve every dream and overcome every obstacle., no matter how ridiculous. Don’t believe me? 

Interested in… Channeling the love of your lost pet by knitting a sweater out of her fur? 
Ever dream of… Becoming Pope? 
Got too many friends and looking for... A way to be LESS interesting in 10 seconds or less?Wanna Write a Book on.. How to write a book about writing a book? 
Looking for help on… Dealing with urges to paint your cat (and who doesn’t)?

THERE’S A BOOK FOR ALL OF THESE ISSUES AND MORE! 

According to a recent analysis of the self-improvement industry some $549 million a year is spent on self-help books in America and it all started with one man and one book: The Power of Positive Thinking.

Published in 1952, Norman Vincent Peale's seminal work spent 186 weeks on the New York Times best seller list and sold over seven million copies in fifteen different languages. And how could it not? I mean, we ALL agree on the power of positive thought, right?

Well, it turns out that not everyone is so positive about being positive.

I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, “Where’s the self-help section?” She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose. 

— Steven Wright. 

In a recent book, Rethinking Positive Thinking, author Gabrielle Ottingen noted that participants who were invested in positive thinking were observed to have had less life satisfaction and less success in actually achieving their goals than those who thought more negatively. It seems that there was a strong correlation between positive ideas and poor performance. The study went on to cite that thinking positively releases endorphins, lowers blood pressure, and reduces energy levels as if the goal had already been achieved, thus lowering the drive to ACTUALLY achieve it. 

This is good news for us music teachers!

When you think about it, music teachers are among the most cranky and critical educators on campus. As a general rule, we live in a perpetual state of performance angst while using the words “no” and “wrong” the way other teachers use oxygen. We never met a rehearsal we couldn’t improve upon and a musical phrase we didn’t judge. We’ve perfected “the look,” tested the aerodynamic properties of every piece of equipment within reach, and can throw a tantrum that would leave any three year old envious. At least this is true for me.

Yes, my former students or any workshop attendees would tell you, that despite my years of experience as a “motivational speaker," I am NO Norman Vincent Peale.

But maybe that's because good ole' Norman had it all wrong.

Maybe endorphins are not meant to come from actually being good. Maybe the rush of success was meant to come AFTER actually achieving it. Maybe affirmations were meant for actual actions. Maybe, just maybe Norman had everything backwards and that thinking positive comes AFTER being positive. 

So I say, “YES!" to holding young people accountable. I say, “Continue to raise the bar and maintain a higher standard." I affirm the occasional bark and celebrate letting the blood boil a bit. I say this in the name of progress. I say this in the name of teaching and learning. I say this in the name of actual achievement. And according to Ms. Ottingen, I say this in the name of happiness, both for you and your students. 

Sure, you're no Norman Vincent Peale, but then again, he was no music teacher. 

Have a great week!

Anderson Cooper, Fake News, and #54!

Right now news, political and otherwise is so hot, we don’t need an oven to cook the turkey. 

I read that 40% of American’s will avoid discussing politics this holiday season for fear of it escalating into a fight. Heck, my family doesn’t call it Thanksgiving UNLESS there’s a political argument and a fight. 

Yes, politics gets my family going. We have some tree hugging liberals, constitutional conservatives, and everything in between. You name it, we got it, and there is NEVER a dull moment during a Lang family gathering and I suspect tomorrow will be no different. 

I don’t care where you stand on the spectrum, we can all agree that the news is questionable at times! Forget Russia. Forget Gropegate (I just make that up, you can use it if you like). Forget MSNBC, FOX News, and CNN. Yes, especially CNN! Sure Anderson Cooper is unusually handsome and has a boy next door quality to him, but you still can’t trust him! Don’t believe me? 

Just yesterday, the Coop (another original) and CNN reported on the top 100 jobs in America. Do you know where "Music Teacher” landed? FIFTY-FOUR! Yep, smack dab in middles-ville! Talk about FAKE NEWS! 

Apparently, despite our lack of ability to telecommute, CNN gave us high marks for "personal satisfaction, benefit to society", and wait for it... "lack of stress?" 

WHAT? Lack of Stress? What music person did they interview? Jerry Garcia? Bob Marley? 

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By November, every teacher I know looks like a cast member of The Walking Dead. What was it that made music jobs seem so carefree? Was it the 90 hour work week? Was it the lack of personal time and space? Was it the abject humiliation of being rated and reviewed in front of an entire community? Was it dealing with dozens of emotionally stunted, pre-pubescent, half-grown persons that made what we do so appealing? 

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#54? FAKE NEWS! 

Yes, of course it’s fake news, because REAL news wouldn’t be talking about the bad behavior of a few over the good behavior by the many. REAL news would focus on our real and overwhelming successes in America’s public schools. REAL news would highlight the people like YOU who teach our children each and every day, who give them a creative outlet and a reason to smile. It would talk about teachers who provide opportunities to connect with something other than technology, who challenge their minds and nurture their students' souls.

Another thought, as I look at that list: 

• How many of those jobs get to change people's lives?
• How many of those jobs positively impact their society at large?
• How many of those jobs have their workers go home knowing they made a real difference?
• How many of those jobs promise kids will learn better, have better life coping skills, have a better chance at further education, have a real impact on graduation rates? 
• How many of those jobs lower drugs, alcohol and crime in their communities? 

How many of those jobs have kids come back to them 30 years later to say, “Thank you, Mr. Smith, for being my database administrator. It changed my life!" 

Listen, I can easily make a case why teaching music should rank #1 on the list of America’s Best Jobs. The impact we have and opportunities we provide young people are life changing. Our profession leaves a legacy of impact that is unrivaled and cannot, and should not, be underestimated. But to be clear, I can also make just as good of a case that we should be dead last. This profession is a personal, emotional, and physical beat down that also should not and cannot be underestimated. 

I have always said, “Teaching music is a life-draining, soul sucking activity… That’s because participating in music is a life-changing, soul enriching activity.” You can’t have one without the other. 

Yes, on our good days this profession is certainly #1! And on bad days, we are likely dead last.

But we sure as heck aren't #54! 

Now someone go get my musket and gun powder, cause it’s Thanksgiving and I got a score to settle with Coop! 

Happy Thanksgiving, my friends. 

Pay for Pun and My Onshore Outsourcing Idea!

 

Teachers have long hung their financial hat on the adage that “money can’t buy happiness.” Given their dismal salary, it's hard to know whether they did this out of true belief, cognitive dissonance, or to maintain some semblance of sanity. 

And while the sentiment is admirable and hopefully rooted in truth, there are some exceptions. 

In a recent experiment conducted by Harvard University and the University of British Columbia, 6,000 study participants from seven countries were give $40.00 to do with as they chose as long as they used it to provide themselves with some semblance of happiness. After spending the money, the participants were asked to complete a survey about their purchase(s) and their general level of satisfaction thereafter. 

What did these blissful people buy? Fine wine? Tech gadgets? Clothing? Well, some people did, just not the happy ones. 

It turns out that the key to answering this much-debated question lies in whether you used the money to buy products or services. Researchers discovered that those persons who spent their money paying someone else to do something they didn’t want to do achieved a much higher level of satisfaction than those who bought things. 

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Your new mantra: 
“If it doesn’t take a Bachelors Degree in Music to complete the task, then it shouldn’t be done by someone who has a Bachelors Degree in music." 

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In other words, people who used the money to hire someone to mow their yard or clean their house were much happier than those who bought a new shirt or bluetooth headphones. 

The lesson learned here applies to our profession and our jobs. 

We all have part of our jobs that we dislike. And as unappealing as those parts may be, they still need to be done. No one signed up to be a music teacher to copy stand tunes. No one ever went to college dreaming of inventory management spreadsheets or successfully completed bus requests. But these things have to be done. However, that does not necessarily mean that it has to be done by YOU!

As music teachers, we may not have access to a large pool of money, but we do have access to eager workers who are wanting and willing to help. In the coming days and weeks I encourage you to think through the many simple tasks that add tedium to your day. Think of the things that, while not monstrous in nature, turn you into a monster and then assign them to someone else! It’s not child labor, it’s onshore outsourcing (I should trademark that).

So to the answer to the age-old question, “Can money buy you happiness?” The answer is a resounding YES! That is, if you know how to spend it.

Speaking of which, if I paid you $40.00 would you write next week's headline pun?

Expense Accounts, Envy, and My LinkedOut Profile

My buddies are all highly successful people. Mergers & acquisitions are a part of their regular vocabulary and they are well skilled in the art of corporate speak. 

They are good guys, great friends, and have been a valuable sounding board for me on many occasions. They are the very model of professional success. 

I must say though, that I amazed by how often they change jobs. Truly, it seems that every time I talk to them they have a new title. new job, or even a new company. With each new opportunity comes a bump in salary, better benefits, and “unlimited growth potential.” Yep, the sky’s the limit... That is, until the phone rings again. 

I am amazed how often they are contacted by recruiters who found them on LinkedIn or some other such site. They are sought after because of their experience, their skills and what they "bring to the table.”

It all seems a bit icky to me, this constant pursuit of something better. It's like Tinder for jobs. It's hard for me to understand because in my seventeen years on the podium, the only people who ever sought me out were people I was trying to get away from! 

To be honest, part of me is a little envious. Their world seems so exotic and interesting. While they attend corporate events in five star hotels, dining in fine restaurants located by the ocean, I am staying at the Hampton Inn, next to the freeway, eating a Subway sandwich. 

Yes, in some respects, they have what I want. They are the “it” people and sit at the corporate "cool table." They are at the top of their game and are highly sought after. 

So if they have it so good, why do they hate their jobs so much? 

As I write this, I am wearing a tee shirt and jeans. I am unshaven, and not for a cause. I am unshaven because I didn’t want to shave. My calendar this month does not contain a single conference call and I have not sent or received anything that contains the word “memorandum” or “360 review” well... EVER. 

I have work to do, but it is work I created and in a field I choose to be in. 

True, I don’t have an expense account but, then again, eating with my family does not require one. I don’t have a car allowance because I don’t drive anywhere that I don’t want to. I don't have car service to the airport, but I don't have to travel unless I choose to. And yes, while my buddies are by the ocean, they are likely stuck in a conference room with cranky adults, while I will work in a concert hall crafting a musical phrases with some really nice kids. 

It occurs to me that maybe the reason my buddies are always changing titles, jobs and companies is because they don’t like the ones they have. And conversely, maybe I should stop chasing what they want and appreciate what I already have... HAPPINESS. 

Perhaps it's time for me to understand that my worst day on the podium is better than their best day in an office and that while they are LinkedIn, I would much rather be LinkedOut!

Enjoy making music today.