September 12, 2022
“Music is a more potent instrument than any other for education because rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul.” – Plato
In this week’s email:
- The Big Idea: A look at the state of music education in the U.K.
- Deep Dive: The science behind music and studying
- Issues: Housing solutions for touring musicians
- Meme of the week
- Around the web: Roger Norrington figures out how to play Mozart, music for the birds, the rise of Corn Kid and the internet’s catchiest song, and more internet finds.
THE BIG IDEA
UK Music Exams Drop to Lowest Ever
A recent report out of England has been raising concerns over a decline in the number of students taking music GCSE across the UK. The 2022 numbers show students completing a music GCSE is at an all-time low.
The GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) is a UK education designation that equates to a basic High School Diploma.
The exams require students to pass five subjects with a grade C or higher to graduate. It's compulsory for students to study the theory of a subject, together with some investigative work, while subjects like music require practical study.
The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) reported music entry figures have fallen by 3.8 percent since 2021. In the last decade, this has marked a 19 percent decline, and a 27 percent drop since 2010.
Why this matters
A Music GCSE is an essential first step towards more professional music studies. The exam requires students to demonstrate the ability to perform music, compose music, apply music knowledge, and show the ability to evaluate scores.
What is behind the decline?
1: Increased focus on more applied programs. Some believe students are discouraged from taking creative subjects as they are seen as less valuable than subjects that form part of the English Baccalaureate (EBacc). The program was introduced in 2010 and has had a significant impact on music education.
2: Music education has been slowly declining across the UK for decades, with some state schools dropping music altogether. Rising cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, asserted in an interview that students are not receiving a proper music education, which has led to a lack of diversity and opportunities in music education. Nicola Benedetti and Lang Lang have also joined the call to maintain music education in schools
Some good news
New data released in a report by the JCQ show that A-level music exams are on the rise by 4 percent. (NB: A-Level exams in the U.K. are the rough equivalent of SAT exams in the U.S.)
The data showed a modest increase from 5,686 students in A-level exams in 2021 to 2022’s 5,916. The increase marked the first in over a decade.
THE LATEST
The death of Queen Elizabeth II prompted the cancellation of classical concerts around the world, including the Last Night of the Proms 2022.
In Memoriam: Well-loved German pianist and conductor Lars Vogt has died aged 51. Watch his last encore here.
Jaap van Zweden announced he will become music director of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra starting 2024.
Hollywood treatment: The new film “Tár,” has a rare 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The film features Cate Blanchett as Lydia Tár, an ambitious rising-star conductor of a major German Orchestra.
Plácido Domingo has apologized following last week’s disastrous concert at Verona di Arena that included the orchestra refusing to stand for him.
21 antiquities have been seized by the Manhattan District Attorney from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They will be returned to Italy.
Stage director claims Chicago’s Lyric Opera fired him for being a male. He's written a public letter calling them out for gender discrimination.
Yannick Nézet-Séguin hass been named Officer of Arts & Letters at Philharmonie de Paris.
DEEP DIVE
The Science Behind Music and Studying
What’s the best music to listen to as you study? It’s an interesting question and one with multiple possible solutions. Research into music and brain function has been growing over the last couple of decades, which points the way towards answers.
But, the results aren’t as clear-cut as they may seem.
Your brain on music
In a 2007 study, a research team at the Stanford University School of Medicine looked at how the brain is engaged when you listen to music. Using MRI tests, the study found that music activated certain areas of the brain, namely those specifically involved with:
- Attention and concentration;
- Making predictions;
- Updating events in memory.
Interestingly, peak brain activity was observed during the silences between movements of music. That reaction is synchronized across multiple test subjects while listening to the same music. The music of English baroque composer William Boyce was used because it was familiar in structure, but not well known.
Classical music in particular
The effects of classical music on brain functions related to learning, in particular, have been the subject of numerous studies.
- One French study found that listening to classical music during a lecture improved marks on a quiz based on that lecture.
- Listening to classical music can reduce anxiety, as discovered by researchers at the Duke Cancer Institute.
- Classical music also results in lower systolic blood pressure in one study, in contrast to those listening to jazz or pop.
- A Russian study found that children who listened to classical music for one hour a day over six months showed changes in brain activity related to relaxation.
The Mozart effect
A study from the University of Tsukuba in Japan looked at the effects of music on concentration, reviewing several previous studies.
A 1993 research paper, for example, found performance on spatial tests was higher when subjects listened to Mozart. A lively Mozart sonata was compared to a slow Albinoni adagio. In that study, music aided the completion of spatial tasks — but only for those listening to the Mozart piece.
However, the Japanese researchers decided to differentiate between the music participants liked, and music they were not already familiar with. The findings were interesting.
- Music alone, familiar or not, does improve concentration;
- Listening to music that you like adds to the effect.
- Music with lyrics can actually have a negative effect on concentration and attention levels.
- Music with what were called high energy levels likewise had a distracting effect that took away from concentration.
- Music can help you remember what you have learned.
There’s no one-size-fits-all
While music can have a positive effect on cognition, memory, and attention, results seem to be individual on some level.
“There isn’t a recipe for everyone,” Nathalie Gosselin from Université de Montréal’s BRAMS International Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research told the CBC in 2019. “It would be great if there was a magic type of music that allowed everyone to focus. Unfortunately, what might work for one individual could be annoying or even distracting for someone else.”
A piece in Popular Science, for example, suggests listening to music written for video games, specifically because it is written as background for the action that takes place on the screen.
While there have been many, the various studies use different approaches and tests, making it difficult to compare results. A couple of key concepts do emerge.
- Music with a slower tempo promotes relaxation and can aid in concentration.
- When it comes to classical music, the key is to avoid orchestral pieces with a big dynamic range and a lot of emotional power. That can be distracting.
- Solo piano or guitar pieces are recommended by many.
Instrumental music that you enjoy, but that isn’t too lively to distract from study — that should do the trick.
ISSUES
Potential Solutions for Housing Touring Musicians
Besides the cost of travel, the rising cost of accommodations has been a hot topic for touring musicians.
The average price of hotel rooms in the U.S. is reaching $137 per night. That number is almost double in major cities like Los Angeles and Seattle.
The summer festival producers and regional orchestras try and ease the costs by providing musicians with some more affordable solutions options. These usually include preferential hotel rates and some good-hearted billets willing to take them in.
But with a housing crunch in centres like Toronto, New York, and San Francisco only getting worse, expecting the goodwill of festival patrons to house artists in a spare bedroom is not a long-term solution.
Artist-only hotels
Green Rooms is a 20-room not-for-profit hotel with adjoining space geared to artist needs in London UK. Rooms are an affordable $26 per night.
Baked-in housing
The Berkeley Repertory Theatre's new Medak Center has decided to build its artist housing as part of the venue, saving itself hundreds of thousands of dollars in hotel costs annually.
“Berkeley Rep’s outgoing managing director, Susie Medak, the center’s namesake and the driving force behind its construction, remembers when housing out-of-town artists cost the company $300,000 to $400,000 per year. These days it’s more like $2 million. Before the pandemic postponed the most recent season-opening, Berkeley Rep had committed to paying for 7,000 nights at a nearby Marriott hotel for this past year.”
AROUND THE WEB
📅 On this day: Gustav Mahler's 8th Symphony ("Symphony of A Thousand") premieres in Munich in 1910.
🐦 For the birds: A new project has been released featuring music built around birdsongs. Artists include Laurie Anderson, Yo-Yo Ma, Beck, and of course Andrew Bird and Jeff Tweedy. Check it out here.
🎹 Interesting: After 60 years, conductor Roger Norrington thinks he’s figured out how to play Mozart.
🌽 It’s corn! The story behind Tariq, a 7-year-old kid whose interview about corn turned into the biggest song on TikTok.
🦌 Aww: Fawn plays with kids in the sprinkler
MEME OF THE WEEK
(Source: Imgur)
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