Music and Imagination

From the readings by Aaron Copland, I enjoyed the quote, “when a gifted listener lends himself to the power of music, he gets both the “event and the idealization of the event; he is inside the event”.  Having our students inside the event is an amazing thing.  This is the point at which the imagination is ruling the brain and creativity flows.  They seem like rare moments in the classroom and to build my bridge this week, I need to ask why these moments of being “inside the event” escape us?    I love the quote that that “mere professionalism is not a guarantee of intelligent listening [or of instinct in judgment]”.   Some of the “smartest and best trained” students have difficulty letting their creative energies flow.  Copland suggests that the “ideal listener would combine a preparation of the trained professional and the innocence of the intuitive amateur”.  Taking liberty with the word amateur, I think that if students are challenged or pushed outside of their comfort zone, they become amateurs.  By being amateurs they may rely on a different intelligence and become more creative.  This part reminded me of taking this class.  The modules have pushed me outside of my comfort zone more than once with learning new technology and creating compelling projects.  Having no formal training in the arts, these projects have caused some distress but they have also caused the greatest sense of accomplishment.  To have my students become gifted listeners I need to know if I am being understood.  Once I have the student absorbed, “he/she  is no longer anything but expectation and attention and that would be amazing.