As someone who has loved music for as long as I can remember, I can't find an easy answer for how to create a love of music in others. One concept I truly believe in is meeting the students where they are, by using music as a means of personal expression and not as a primarily academic exercise. A great example of this concept can be found in the documentary film Thunder Soul.
In the late 1960s, Conrad Johnson met the students where they were when he took the job of music director at Kashmere High School in Houston, Texas. For almost 10 years straight, the group he conducted, composed, and arranged for was the band to beat in competitions, and was even asked to perform in Asia and Europe. While he infused the band's repertoire with a funk sound popular in the day, he also inspired respect and confidence in his students that would change their lives. In the film, Johnson says of his band's success, "it wasn't just playing, it was what you put into it." By teaching the core values of what it took to overcome adversity and become a great musician and person, along with appealing to the students' personal expression and creativity, he was able to touch almost a decade's worth of students in very meaningful ways.
So after watching this film, I'm not sure if I have any new ideas on how to create a love for music and performing in a music program. I did, however, get some confirmation of how music can change someone's life if you bring it to them and let them find their own way in. Once they are a part of a bigger community, then new experiences and collective successes inspire pride and continuous hard work that you can build a legacy on. Along with that, you're giving their soul a voice.
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