Music Teachers Blog

It’s a joyous time of year, a counterpoint to also being the darkest time of year. When I grew up, in a religiously diverse community, the Christmas spirit was about peace and good will to all. There were the school choruses singing a lot of Christmas songs, the concerts that included Christmas music and usually a Hanukah song, and some wintry ones about snow and sleighs.

Now music teachers have to contend with parents and students who are a little more polarized by the politicians. Some want to make stores say “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Holidays”. This seems more of a political overlay than a real concern. We always used to sing “We wish-sh-shyu a merry Chris-s-s-s-sms-s-s and a Happy New Year!”–and our vacations and plans have never been just about Christmas, but also New Year’s–and for about 1 of 4 Americans, other holidays.

Although I teach at two music schools, they are not public schools, so I don’t feel much pressure from my students about this issue, but I know many teachers do. I hope you can share your thoughts on this by adding a comment below.

Before discussing some teaching ideas for the holidays, I’d like first to pose a purely musical question that arose for me when my kids participated in a piano recital one December. Their teacher at the time was excellent, but that concert, I recall, simply didn’t contain the quality of music the kids performed in the spring recital, because many of the Christmas arrangements are more about familiarity than about the music. How do music teachers balance the quality of music against seasonal expectations?

In my own teaching, I offer Christmas songs when students ask for them, but mostly I keep to my usual teaching plans, and use popular seasonal melodies as a bonus, allowing students to teach themselves music from a different angle. Most of the time, they learn music they didn’t know before–well, here’s a chance for them to figure out how to play music they already know. They can experiment with finding a good starting note and try to figure out the intervals and rhythms of the songs. Some students aren’t interested in Christmas songs (either not their religion, or too much muzak!), so I don’t limit their choices to holiday music but suggest they choose any song they know well, such as Happy Birthday, or Frere Jacques, etc.

I don’t do big student recitals at holiday time but if you do, you have to consider the balance of Christmas music. For those who teach primarily kids, the holiday music can be very important to the parents, and teachers need to respond to this thoughtfully, since one goal of teaching music is for students to enjoy it, so that it will sustain their interest for years to come.

And yet, I think the question of how much to acknowledge Christmas vs other traditions and secular music has been skewed in public discussion. It’s usually posed as a dilemma between commitment and compromise, but that seems a false choice. In music, we are enriched by the variety of different composers, traditions, and cultures, so it should be a plus to include variety. More than that, as authority figures, teachers model mature behavior by showing that we know who we are, and are not threatened or compromised by other traditions, but can also respect and honor and learn about them. Being totally focused on oneself and one’s own needs and beliefs is the very definition of immaturity.

If your student population is diverse, acknowledging their traditions is respectful to them and enhances everyone’s respect for you. And if you can do it with quality music, everybody wins and learns at the same time.

Posted in Studio Management, Teaching Tips |