choral


Stephen M. Demorest, music education professor at Northwestern University, published a blog titled, “Everyone Can Sing: Obsessing Over Talent Might Hurt Your Kids Later In Life” (http:// www.salon.com/2017/04/23/everyone- can-sing-obsessing-over-talent-might- hurt-your-kids-later-in-life_partner/). He referenced the movie Sing (Not the animated one!), a Hungarian movie that won the 2017 Oscar for best short film. The movie is about Zsofi, a new girl to a school with an acclaimed choral program preparing for a competition. There is a scene at the piano when the teacher pulls Zsofi aside, assesses her voice, asks her to “sing in her head” and sends her out of the room with a piece of candy.


Heartbroken.


(I don’t want to give any movie spoilers in this issue’s article, but I recommend you seek out this 20-minute film. Your response to the film may differ from mine, and I plan to discuss it in the next issue.) Go to http://www.singshortfilm.com/. It’s available on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, etc.


I do not know the criteria for what makes a movie win the Oscar for best animated


short film. I am honestly afraid that the subject of the film may have resonated with a lot of its viewers on some level. I imagine that all of us have had a Gretchen in our lives, but more importantly, have we had a Zsofi? Have I been that teacher who asked someone not to sing? I don’t recall ever saying the words, but I know I have had students that sing out of tune, or too loudly, or at the wrong time. Perhaps my actions or responses to them were taken as “I can’t sing” by that student. I plan to start the school year fresh with strategies to help me encourage all students to sing. I will share my findings in the next issue.


Back to Gretchen, how would you re- spond? Please feel free to share with me any ideas not listed below. My response to her was one I have crafted carefully over the past 20 years of teaching:


“Have you heard of this Zimbabwean proverb? If you can walk you can dance. If you can talk you can sing. Do you think that’s true? I usually assume that people who tell me they can’t sing probably are not using enough breath. Would you try to breathe with me?”


So there at the cafeteria kiosk, I asked Gretchen to breathe. A deep breath in and a long sustained hiss out. Her shoulders down and her arms lifted at her side. A fist to her mouth and an exhalation of air with so much resistance she got a little giddy. Then I asked her to try this at home, alone, where she’s comfortable, and then to “siren” on a pitch, descending from her top range to her bottom range. I demon- strated. She laughed a little and said she’d give it a try.


Gretchen was a stranger. I spoke with her for a total of 15 minutes that week. I don’t know when I will ever get the chance to eat at the Concordia Cafeteria again and to speak with her about her singing. But I know she went home and tried to sing that night. And I know that I did what I could to undo the hurt caused in her music class 40 years ago. And, now more than ever, I am motivated to make certain that the roughly 4,800 minutes I will get to spend with my students will be filled with joyful music making because everyone can and should sing!


Marcia Russell teaches general music and choir at Platteville Middle School, grades 4-8, and is a member of the Wisconsin CMP Committee. Email: russell@platteville.k12.wi.us


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