Isaac Asimov Saw the Future of (Music) Education

Portrait by Wil Rohan

Could it be that Isaac Asimov was a prophet as well as being a biochemist, science fiction writer, and oh by the way, longtime Vice President of Mensa International?  The video below is part of an interview conducted by Bill Moyers back in 1988. 

The men talked about many subjects including overpopulation, economics, and science.  But in one particularly interesting segment Asimov began musing about the coming technological explosion of connectivity and learning. He surmised that computers would "transform education" and indeed personalize it away from the “industrial model” where everyone learns the same thing at the same time from the same model, to a more personalized experience. 

There will be a time in the future when computers will be hooked up to "enormous libraries where anyone can ask any question and be given answers, be given reference material."  He continues, "From an early age, however silly it may seem to someone else, that's what you're interested in . And you ask, and you can find out and you can follow it up. And you can do it in your own home, at your own speed, in your own direction, on your own time.  And everyone will enjoy learning." 

This idea is one of the main reasons why we created MusickEd.com and discoverlearnandplay.com.  We knew that the internet was an ideal way to access and relay information and musical concepts were no exception.  We simply needed to package and deliver our brand of music education smartly so that people of all ages, in all locations, and at all levels of ability could gain access and start learning!

"Our brand" of music education is simply that which we have been providing here at DSM for the past 20 years. Through thousands of one on one sessions with our students, we've learned to organize and present quality music education information in plain language using no gimmicks.

Here's hoping Isaac would approve and that he is looking down and smiling!

Watch the segment below or access the entire interview at Bill Moyers Journal. 

Meet Lisa Canning of Entrepreneur The Arts

Meet Lisa Canning; artist, musician, passionate educator and entrepreneur!  I happened upon Lisa via Twitter and began reading her blog Entrepreneur The Arts.  It was like finding a cousin I never knew existed.  After a gaggle of e-mail correspondence, Lisa asked me to tell our story as a guest blogger and I wrote Create The Check Box.  I thought it would be fun to share her story with our readers.

"I started ETA for ALL ARTISTIC disciplines. The focus was on changing a mindset about what it means to be an artist."

"Entrepreneur  comes from 2 french verbs. The first Entre - to Enter and the Second Prendre- to Take.  Enter To Take The Arts (someplace you want them to go) is the intended translation for the name of the site."

That's music to our ears!

"Too often in the arts it is about what WE, as artists, want to accomplish" she says, "and not about what WE CAN DELIVER to our audiences. Entrepreneurship makes this flip possible."

Lisa actually started writing her blog about 4 years ago and the ideas that she expressed eventually grew into a school.  "I just had to link them together" she says.  The Institute for Arts Entrepreneurship was born and she hopes to turn the original ETA blog "into a technical services center for arts entrepreneurship with resources for funding.

Lisa has recently been visiting colleges and presenting workshops in and around Chicago with a program called Discover Your Why? Her battle cry "People don't buy WHAT you create, they buy WHY you create it" really strikes a chord with us, and I imagine, with anyone is daring enough to be both creative and entrepreneurial.

The IAE launched 2 years ago and now attracts a wide variety of artists including those in disciplines like film, dance, visual arts, music and more.

"We will officially open in Sept 2011 with our 2 year program. We are running short term classes and events now. Our program will launch in Chicago and North Africa through teleconferencing software. We were selected by The Aspen Institute and The State Department to be part of Partners for A New Beginning. The best part of this is really the international connectivity it will bring for artists building businesses in the arts with us! Very exciting stuff!"

As busy as she has been with her businesses, Lisa remains a passionate musician.  Her musical bio is impressive and quite extensive. I asked her to share with us a little about her background.

"I do still play! Everyday." she says, "I can't imagine life without my baby..." (she is referring to her Buffet clarinet). Through my clarinet shop I sell every clarinet they make, Bb's, A's, Eb's, C's, and Basses. Personally I own a Bb, A, Eb and Bass!"

"My clarinet shop is www.LisasClarinetShop.com and I have been in business for 30 years this coming January. I started when I was 17. The business has supported the development of the IAE school.  I sell ONLY Buffet Clarinets - they have 87% of the entire professional market share!"

 "As far as playing, I attended the Interlochen Arts Academy as a youngster and received a Bachelor of Arts from Northwestern University in 1981. I kept a robust solo and ensemble performance schedule until recently and remain a member of my local Musicians Union."

We think she is quite an interesting lady.  We'll continue to stay in touch and perhaps bump into each other down the road a piece.  Until then, continued success Lisa... and keep musicking!

Create the "Check" Box

Note:This blog was originally written as a guest post for a fantastic web site called Entrepreneur The Arts (the title alone makes it a worthy read). We will be writing more about them in an upcoming blog.  In the mean time you can see the post as it originally appears here.

What's our check box?  We are entrepreneurs in music education. Yes, you heard me right. I'll give you a moment to re-read that one more time. We're used to it.

We began our endeavor in 1992 by opening a for-profit music education "firm" called The Dallas School of Music, Inc.  It's the brain-child of Dr. Bob Lawrence who thought that music education could and should stand alone, outside of academia, if packaged and marketed correctly. 20 years later we are going strong and many consider us to be the benchmark for music education in our area. Although all of us have degrees in music, we have no academic affiliation – we are not part of a college or university program, no national affiliation, (as nearly all community music schools are non-profit organizations) and we are not part of a traditional “music store”. Our product is simply quality music education.

By 1994 the power and promise of the internet did not go unnoticed and we soon began to formulate a way to use technology to bring our brand of music education to the world.  In 1996 we decided that MusickEd.com (which is an homage to philosopher Chris Small's hypothesis that 'music is a verb rather than a noun; it is something one does and is valid at every level') was born.  Although we were not exactly certain at that time how it would manifest itself, we had exciting ideas and and set out to create an online presence. 

In 1998 the partners agreed to send my colleague and I to the National Association for Music Education's national conference as representatives of DSM and MusickEd.com.  As stated on their site, MENC is "proudly among the world's largest arts education organizations" and we were very excited to finally meet our colleagues and tell our story.  With nervous anticipation we arrived in Phoenix; its mountains rising abruptly out of the flat dessert and giant cacti lining sunny streets.  We made our way to the convention center and to the check-in booth.  The following account is what took place as we met our greeter, pen in hand, ready to plug us in to the conference:

  

MENC Welcome to MENC, how can I help you?

US  We are The Dallas School of Music and we're attending the conference!

MENC So you are in the DISD? (Dallas Independent School District)

US No, we are a private school.

MENC About to confidently check the box....Oh, are you member of TAPPS? (Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools)

US No, we are a private, for-profit music school.

MENC Confused stare at paper...pen moving from box to box...Ah, so you are a vendor!

US No we are attending as educators!

MENC Hmmm, OK.  I don't know what category you fit into then.  So I am going to just draw a little box at the bottom here, put "other" and  then check that.  

And so it went... and so it goes.

We've been drawing and checking the 'other' box ever since that day as it seems there is no precedent for entrepreneurial music education. We learned a lot about who we are and who we are not at that convention.  And we realized there was a gaping hole that we felt needed to be filled. We came home to share our stories with our colleagues and with a message that basically said, "we are either very smart for thinking of this, or very dumb for trying it...maybe both?"

We continued to develop MusickEd.com with even more intensity and in a few years had a clearer vision of what it could become.  While teaching daily and running the DSM campus of 400 families each week, we somehow managed to complete our Kore Series software in 2008.  This PMLP (Personal Music Learning Program) currently encompasses 20 Lessons developed for 39 instruments. It is being used by individual music enthusiasts, church groups and even public and private schools here in the states. In 2011 we will launch a Jazz Series and begin work on the Kore Series II.

One of the little ironies of this story is that next year we plan to attend the TMEA (Texas Music Educators Association) convention as members, vendors, and possible presenters.  I know there will be many more boxes drawn and checked along the way as we cross every hurdle of being music education entrepreneurs. That's OK, we're used to it...

Theta Music Trainer - Get Your Game On!

Theta Music Trainer is a subscription based site that features several specially designed games for musicians to improve their 'musical sense'.  We recently ran it by the staff and  students of varying ages on campus at MusickEd. One of the first nice things about TMT is the ease of getting each game started. There's no need to hunt around - everything is laid out clearly on the home page and the 'START TRAINING' button invites you to try the games immediately. 

One of our favorites was Channel Match which works on identifying the sounds of instruments on a simulated mixing board. This game is particularly effective because you get to hear the instruments blended together before (and after) they are isolated. This can be especially helpful for youngsters or novice musicians who do not often have the opportunity to play in a group setting.

Jose Carlos Rivera 'owning' Paddle Pitch

Students also enjoyed Rhythm Puzzles, a rhythm identification game with a little bit of a twist. You must identify a small part of a large rhythmic phrase by matching the sounds with the written music....and you're being timed! Good stuff.

There are 10 games in all.   They fall into the categories of Melody, Harmony, Rhythm, and Sound.  All the games load quickly and include a FAQ page to help you get the idea.  Of course, most of the students who tried the games simply chose 'PLAY' and somehow innately knew how to operate everything....our wired kids!

There are many levels of play and some can get quite challenging, but the beginning stages work well enough with just about any age group that can operate a computer. Some are more tricky to navigate than they are musically difficult (note: my lousy score on Chord Locks was because I couldn't figure out how to change the combinations - I swear!).  Other games like "Parrot Phrases" and "Tone Trees" may seem a little too 'cutesy' for older students though the concepts are solid. And still others are slightly nostalgic and addicting, (try the Atari flavored "Paddle Pitch" for instance).

*Note to the designers: The staff thought the guitar fretboard was a really nice option.  Now, if we can get those darned guitarists to actually read music...

A full subscription allows you to play the games at all levels and they can get quite demanding.  Note to players: be sure to choose/click accurately as the system is keeping track of your answers! The "Training" and "Progress" reports are a nice touch and this program can be a fun supplement to a solid curriculum (like the Kore Series!), especially for students who enjoy the challenge of playing games on the PC.

Visit Theta Music Trainer for more information and to create your free account.

Unplugged at MusickEd.com

Kirk Baker "Unplugged"

Our Lesson Support video production continues on campus at DSM/MusickEd.com.  The process is running smoothly and we are confident that the results are in keeping with the overall style and philosophy of our curriculum. We present terrific information and content with little if any 'fluff'.

Here's the process we use with all performers:

The studio looks a bit like the set of 'unplugged'.  The backdrop and lighting, volume, and acoustics have been set to be consistent from video to video. The performer hears the actual play along through ear-buds so only the purest sound of each instrument is recorded into the Rode Podcaster microphone. A relatively simple Logitech webcam captures the entire process.

Next, the video is imported into Camtasia Studio (by TechSmith) and synced up with the actual mp3 play-along. This process keeps all the nuances of each performance in tact (dynamics, articulations, breathing, phrasing etc.) while creating a clear separation for the final product. 

Emphasis is placed both on capturing the musical concepts that are presented in each song as well as instrument specific characteristics such as embouchure, fingering, bowing, hand position etc. Careful attention is placed on framing each performance so that the end user gets a clear sense of these techniques used relative to their chosen instrument.

Click here for a sample video from the Kore Series - Lesson 3, A New Twist 2, - cello.