Myers, D. (2007).

Freeing music education from schooling: Towards a lifespan

perspective on music teaching and learning. International Journal of Community Music
1(1): 49-61
Freeing Music Education from Schooling: Toward a Lifespan of Perspective on
Music Learning and Teaching brings up the important issue of how does one promote
lifelong involvement in music. Myers (2007) uses statistics from the Americans for the
Arts survey with the result being that ninety percent of parents believed arts were
essential to a well-rounded education. Though it seems we are very supportive of arts in
the school system, even with budget cuts, it is the societal norm to put less emphasis on
the importance of arts education after grade school. The notion of Freeing Music
Education from Schooling means that Myers (2007) wants equal opportunities for
Music Education to be available for everyone in the community.
I really enjoyed reading this article since its my goal in life, and as an educator to
promote involvement in the arts no matter the age. Last year, I have the pleasure of
working with a woman named Anthea. She was 48 years old and had quit piano at 14
years old after having a horrible experience with a piano teacher. She started lessons
again at 45 years old with her two teenage daughters. I became her teacher in her third
year of lessons and we automatically had a great relationship. It was a great learning
experience for me; a twenty year old who just received her Diploma of Music teaching
someone who could easily be her mother. I quickly learned that unlike teaching children,
working with adults was more of collaboration than anything else. I was able to find out
what I could push her further in and what I had to be more patient in because of her
ability to voice her opinion. One of my advantages in music is that I have a very natural
sense of rhythm, and difficult rhythms are not an issue for me. On the other hand,
rhythm was Antheas weakest skill as a musician. We were able to develop that aspect
of her musicianship while working together because she was able to tell me what
exactly did not make sense to her. On the other hand, I was lenient with practicing
because I could understand that this was just her hobby after being a mother and an
accountant all day. It didnt matter than we went over the same polyrhythm for a couple
weeks because she was just so excited to sit down and try again. I was truly proud of
her for starting lessons again as she told me after a stressful day in the office, she was
relieved that she could sit down at the piano and relief her stress by playing beautiful
music. She is my inspirational for promoting a music education that does not stop after
childhood.