Performance as a Means to an End

Taken from Fowler's "Finding the Way to be Basic:"

"In music the goal has not been edcucation through performance so much as performance as an end in itself. The goal has not been to teach all students their musical heritage, but rather to teach production to the talented" (11).

So I know that we all know that often cases such as the above are true. Many music teachers drill notes into students' heads to get through a piece so it is performance ready for a concert. After all, looking and sounding good at the concert is all that counts. But I cannot express my anger at this--a teacher will teach notes, all the while not mentioning anything about the composer, the historical setting or context of a piece, how the students perceive it to be (how the piece makes them feel, how they think they should sing it--many Langer-esque qualities can be applied to any music lesson!). Should we not be using the performance as a means to foster music literacy, music fundamentals (rhythm, dynamics, etc.), a relationship among other disciplines such as history (wouldn't your students be interested to know why Beethoven wrote the Eroica symphony?!), and desire for students to take learning into their own hands? All these things should be considered, and introduced and discussed throughout the learning of the piece so students can draw connections (because we know that it takes more than one class period for students to begin to understand concepts and connect them). This stream of learning experiences should never end, nor should the connections they made never be applied to anything else once the piece they are learning is finished.

Perhaps it is my naivety being a new teacher and thinking so idealistically that we can promote all sorts of things through the music while also singing the notes, but I feel there is no end to learning in any discipline, especially music. It should be an ongoing process that is seen through many lenses, as we discussed in class this morning. Students will become much more thoughtful and articulate in the way they perceive things both inside and outside of the music realm if they are introduced to this idea of teaching. And is just frustrates me to see teachers that teach notes for the sake of a good sound, rather than focusing of fostering students' appreciation and respect for the Arts. Don't you think?