Great Expectations for The Daily OrchestraFridays at the Daily Orchestra Program: the best of times, the worst of times. The students are tired, hungry, and hyped. If you wonder what you were like when you were seven, come over on Friday and see for yourself. The decibel level at Federal Hill House can be rock-concert loud, but the energy is positive. Here it is the end of the week, and Miss Adrienne and Miss Lisa are asking twenty five kids to line up! Not only line up, but then sit in a circle quietly, in name-tag-identified places, and wait for the class to begin. How do they do it? My answer is this: not only are Adrienne and Lisa talented teachers, but these kids already know the power of music – that its alluring, it’s an achievement, and it’s fun. Fridays are turned over to the latter, and it succeeds more often than it fails. What happens on Fridays? Who wants to play rhythm machine? Who wants to go first? 25 hands are up. Who wants to end it? 25 hands. Which instrument section is calm enough to deserve retrieving their instruments? “Ok cellos, you can get your instruments. “ “Not so fast, violins!” I have the privilege of being part of the Daily Orchestra Program on occasional Fridays. I started by simply bringing in instruments I have managed to scavenge and hold on to for years: African drums, keyboards, theramin, penny whistle, shaker eggs, harmonica, clarinet , kazoo, bongos. I try to introduce these instruments as credible music makers, and we talk a little each time about rhythm, melody, or harmony. Where does sound come from? How did people first make sound? Does silence exist? What if you only had yourself to make music? What if you have a friend to make music?
A major step forward last this year was their willingness to “face the music”…..sit in small groups – trios or quartets – look each other in the eye, and take responsibility for contributing music they made and listening to each other.
Of course, rules are important to any group of 25 or so. The “Constitution” in this case includes simple acts of kindness: never criticize a friend, no such thing as a mistake, and more. Another is the growing respect they have toward music as a language of its own, that contains all the tensions and resolutions, that are part of all of their lives. What keeps me coming back? A constant is the boundless energy these kids devote to finding out who they are, where they end, and where the world starts. Gradually, concepts of music and technique on their instruments sink in. Will they be great musicians someday? Who knows. I hope some will. But I do know that they will become young adults with more than average openness to the sounds of their neighborhood, the music around them, and maybe even to the voices and feelings of their families and friends. Sounds like a good first step in being part of a bigger community. –Mark Hinkley –Photos of Mark with Daily Orchestra Program students by Lisa Barksdale |
