Last time, I believe I made a big deal of several grand factors, such as the advertising campaigns of multinational corporations – or the lack thereof. The solution to our little problem is simple if you happen to be sitting on a few hundred million: I do not necessarily expect all of you to. My advice for those who are not is either to invent a time machine and invest in bitcoin, or to engage in some sort of political campaigning. Seeing as I have a general disdain for politics, in all its needless complexity, we will in this instance be casting our gaze away from the grand.
Instead, the all-important question of what teachers can do arises. To take a leaf out of the book of these corporate fellows, persona is quite the marketing tool. While there is often interest in Ariana Grande's clothes, Beethoven remains a cold bronze statue in a Viennese courtyard, or perhaps a better-heated clay replica sitting on your Jalsāghar* mantlepiece. Beethoven was not the dullest of characters – a stinking tattered mess who was known to have kept his defecations under his piano and poured hot broth over the head of a waiter who got lippy with him. And yes, consider the use of ‘youth words’ – not artificially, but when it is called upon for the purpose of better understanding. For example: Beethoven was a bit ‘mental’.
Secondly, anyone seems to respond to a good tune, whether because they are pretty or dramatic. I've noticed that in grade books, in terms of classical music, you get entries like Haydn Piano Sonata No. 67, or John Heathcoat's 12th Gallop.
The more eagle-eyed among you may have spotted that these are all quite fictional, as Haydn only wrote 62, and John Heathcoat is the bloke who invented the lace machine.
In terms of the real world, this year's ABRSM Grade 5 Piano has a pitiful tune haul of one, in my view – a solitary movement from the Kinderszenen. If you get your students playing good tunes (that are not Für Elise), then the affection you build in them for these pieces will become a stepping stone into the less accessible majority.
Watching scrolling-score videos should not be underestimated as a tool. Though the student must first have well-polished reading – I consider that a priority regardless.
These few thoughts are not going to revolutionise your student's preferences overnight, if even at all, as people are people. Rather, a multi-pronged approach, entwined with an extra swig of your natural passion, will work for some. Such gains are nonetheless laudable, and for them, may I pre-emptively pass on my congratulations.
*Jalsāghar means ‘place of music’ or ‘music room’ in Bangla.
Self-portrait by Noah
