Thursday, September 15, 2016

Live Music

Those who know me, know that I love music. I love listening to music, playing music, and most of all enjoying music performed live.  In high school and later in college, I went to more concerts than I can count. Later, my venue of live music broadened from Rock Concerts to include Folk, Jazz, and even Opera. I just love live music. Anyone who has listened to a favorite recording time and again and then seen the musician live, you know that the sound is quite different. I remember my first concerts in high school thinking, this doesn't sound much like the album and "They sang that song much differently". It was an acquired taste, but I eventually came to love the live sound more than the "perfection" of studio recordings. Then I came to find the recordings of live performances like Eric Clapton's "24 Nights" and Johnny Cash's "Live at Folsom Prison".  You could hear the energy and the spontaneity. They captured all that's best in a live performance.

I think one of the things I like about live music is the fact that anything can happen. There is an intimacy with seeing the artist perform their work and knowing that each show is unique. They may change up their roster, they may do something original, and they can even mess up. I remember reading an article about Bruce Springsteen forgetting his lyrics at a concert and the crowd singing the song to get him back on track. Even "The Boss" makes mistakes! But I bet it's something that crowd will be talking about with fond memories. Live music isn't about perfection, it's about being in the moment and playing your heart out with every last bit of energy.

As educators, we perform live every school day to a group students. We present at assemblies, we teach lessons in the classroom, and we facilitate discussions among our students. Like music artists, we don't strive for perfection, but rather live in the moment and change direction as we see fit for the needs of our students. We also "play our hearts out" and give everything we have to make each day a unique learning experience for our students. Yes, I love my favorite records of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and so many others, but I'll take a live performance any day. It's not about getting the music right, it's about getting right with the music!
Some of the amazing artists I have had the pleasure to see! 

PEARLS OF WISDOM

"Where words fail, music speaks." - Hans Christian Andersen

"Music in the soul can be heard by the universe." - Lao Tzu

"Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy." - Ludwig van Beethoven

UPCOMING EVENTS

Monday, September 19: Celebrate Monday Assembly 9:05-9:25
Tuesday, September 20: REED 8:15 am (Casucci)
Wednesday, September 21: Lock Down Drill 1:30 pm
Thursday, September 22: Extended Staff Meeting 7:50 am
Friday, September 23: PBIS Committee 8:05 am

Monday, September 26: Celebrate Monday Assembly 9:05-9:25
                                        Tornado Drill 1:30 pm
Tuesday, September 27: Administrator Training for 5D at CTC
Wednesday, September 28: Achievement Team Meeting 8:15 am
                                           IEP 3:15 pm (Merchant)
Thursday, September 29: Staff Meeting 8:05 am with Andrea Oquist
                                         Fire Drill 2:30 pm (run by Joe Libtow)
                                        Elementary Principals Meeting 1:00-4:30 pm
Friday, September 30: Jon in Lansing for MEMSPA board meeting / Sandi Benson in Office


"The Thrill is Gone" - BB King live!

 GREAT EDUCATORS TO FOLLOW ON TWITTER

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2 comments:

  1. Gary KiddSeptember 16, 2016 at 8:29 AM

    As a brother musician, I can certainly relate to listening to studio recordings (manufactured music) and live performances (captured music.) There is a classic live recording of Ella Fitzgerald at a club in Berlin in 1963, forgot the lyrics to Mack the Knife, but had to keep singing. In my days as a staff developer, it was a performance every day. Theme song became Turn the Page by Bob Segar, had been on the road for three weeks either training or presenting, driving back to Atlanta from Ft. Bragg through massive rain from a tropical storm. Could certainly relate to that tune...Spot on that we are competing for our kids attention/engagement with trained professionals, and it is a captured performance every day. Like good musicians everywhere, the tune goes on, and once in a great while, we have to fake it until we make it, just like Ella did in 1963.

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