Colin Hemmingsen's Column

Rip It Up, Issue 4, 1 September 1977, Page 13

Colin Hemmingsen's Column

Popular Music In Schools?

On a breakdown of the programme ratings for the various radio stations in Auckland, it can be seen that the main percentage of the listening audience prefers music other than classical, and yet an education in popular music is almost unobtainable in New Zealand. In my last article, I talked about music education in relation to music reading, and I would like to take this subject further and discuss how the government in its various bodies and forms, supports music education. As also mentioned in my last article, "so long as our schools and universities spend 95% of our monies on a musical style which supports only 6% of our working musicians, then they are not serving us properly”. In high schools, for example, Jazz is the only concession to popular music, and in the University Entrance exam, it is an optional question worth only two marks. In the actual syllabus, it is represented by studying three works, the most up-to-date of which is the Modern Jazz Quartet. What about Herbie Hancock, Dave Sanbourn, Stanley Clark etc? Will we have to wait another ten years before this music is included in the syllabus? Wellington Polytech has a part-time Jazz course run by Roger Fox, and this would qualify as the only state supported popular music education in New Zealand. Now for universities. A clearer picture is gained by comparing what a classical musician is given with what a popular musician is not given. Firstly it must be established that traditional harmony is not the same thing as modern harmony. It has different values, terminology and points of view, so a modern musician would find much that is irrelevant to his field, and so it can be said that universities do not provide an education for the popular musician. If you wish to study guitar, saxophone or electric bass for example, you will find that universities do not even offer tuition in these instruments.

The classical musician is supported by public funding of his education and of his orchestras, operas etc, and he may further his studies overseas by gaining a government grant (Arts Council). It seems then, that support can be obtained from the Arts Council for advanced study, but since there is no education available for the popular musician on the rudimentary level, it would be difficult for him to obtain a grant for advanced study, unless he first spends time at

a university, studying a curriculum totally unsuited to his needs. I think it is accurate to say that the Arts Council has spent around SBOO in the popular music field since its inception and yet according to an article in the Listener a month or so back, music receives a generous slice of the total money allocated by the Arts Council. Popular musicians miss out once again. I had applied to the Arts Council for a grant to help run the Music School I have established on a limited basis in Auckland, but was turned down as the Arts Council deems it within the realms of the Education Department rather than themselves. I find that reasonable to a point, but the wheels of bureaucracy turn slowly, and in the

meantime what happens to those who want education now; where do we find the teachers, qualified theoretically and practically to fill these positions? I know personally, of several musicians who are seriously thinking of taking the trip across the Tasman to join the thriving Jazz course offered at The Conservatorium of Music in Sydney. The question to ask now is, “will they return, or is this just another part of the 'brain drain'?" There are many misunderstandings and prejudices, both by the -classical’ and 'popular' musician, but having studied and performed in both areas, I know that there are worthwhile intellectual and artistic satisfactions in both. I can therefore see no real justification for placing educational emphasis on the music of the past, while at the same time neglecting to educate for the future. Like any other art or science, music evolves, and if we neglect to educate for the future, we will continue to be dissatisfied with the standard of innovation and creativity in popular music. It seems that it is now up to you, the Musician, to start demanding the right to a music education, the right which is long overdue. Write to your local university requesting a course in modern harmony and improvisation, in arranging and modern composition, in electronic music (related to the modern idiom) and film writing. Ask for tuition in guitar, electric bass and saxophone, and any other instrument you wish to study. In my experience in New Zealand, classical musicians are treated as artists and popular musicians are treated as labourers. Until you, the musicians, make your needs known, standards and conditions will remain the same, not only musically but also professionally.