the common voice of music: medicine for the soul [Re-Inventing Education - part 2]
The common voice of music …medicine for the soul
The professional musician in pursuit of excellence has much to be admired. Indeed, their creativity can touch our emotions and even motivate us into action. For the majority of us however, whose gifting lies in other areas, how can we engage with this powerful ‘common voice’, its connective power and its ability to transcend all languages ?
Like water, it can reach places as it flows …and as with water it can both nourish or erode a myriad of foundations. It can be both personal and truly universal in its impact . How do we embrace and focus the beauty of music into positive impact and change for good ?
UK , National treasures Morcambe and Wise provide some food for thought as the clip below shares and worth watching. How do we get all the right notes in all the right places and in the correct order for change? Education I believe holds the key.
Morecambe and Wise - Mr Preview
Fortunately for me, Scripture gives a little nod of direction. We are encouraged to make a joyful NOISE unto the Lord ( Psalm 100) . As one who has enjoyed Karaoke not so much for perfection of performance to say the least !! there is a space where music is about the fun, the enjoyment and the connection of people with joy…and all the conversations and interactions surrounding it . I don’t just mean as limited to the Karaoke bar,but much wider by far.
Education and music can collide with immeasurable reciprocal value ( planned lessons or otherwise) within and across the places and moments in which it happens; both physically and increasingly remotely . Music can create a joyful space and quite simultaneously become a ‘manna’ a medicine feeding our own soul , or those of many others deciphering the ‘common voice’, individually and or collectively. Notwithstanding all this positivity there are innovations and routes to employment in ideas not yet invented music has chance to highlight and connect .
Music is a powerful connecting force and one to be used for good.
Music is powerful connecting force and one to be used for good. Across this series of articles focussing on the stated creative ‘strands’ of music, art, dance , drama, sport, ICT and the environment — I will make reference to the connecting power of music across them all. Moving forwards, I share two previous projects to illustrate the reflection above then focus into a little medicine for the soul by Mike Mc Cartney and the Scaffold .
Medicine for the Soul: ‘Lily the Pink’, by Mike McCartney and The Scaffold
The ‘Journey for Peace’ project launched from Liverpool in 2020. It used creative comics to present seven key themes i.e. love, joy, peace, patience, faithfulness, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control .
Each theme was offered for refection by a number of iconic Liverpool statues including for example the ‘Liverbirds’ . I will explain this project in more detail in the ‘art’ article to follow this one .
Journey of Peace presentd seven key themes: love, joy, peace, patience, faithfulness, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control
Children from around the world of all faiths and none were invited to write songs around the seven key themes. A venue in Liverpool held a live performance night but joined those Countries who had written songs into a live streamed international event.
Young people joined us from Indonesia, Nepal , Malawi, Gambia and even across the border here in North Wales and over Hadrians wall in Scotland!!! Quite wonderfully Midge Ure gave the final comment to the event.
Unique within a uniqueness…
Take a moment to watch the celebration clip (journey of peace) below. What made the event unique within a uniqueness was that the entire project was led by visually impaired (VI)young people …pupils who ‘see’ things differently and have much to teach us.
Again, I will build on this VI and disability inclusion and leadership as we progress. The big questions remain:
What message would you give to such a wonderful connection of young people brought together through music?
What could you then give them to actively DO?
How could it relate to what they needed where they are such as opportunity and employment?
In education, scaffolding is the term used to describe things to put in place to make things happen.
In education, SCAFFOLDING is the term used to describe things we need to put in place to make things happen. How would you scaffold creativity? How would you put all the notes in order?
Journey for Peace
A more local project completed by visually impaired young people from ST Vincent’s in Liverpool may well in part answer the questions posed above from their view of the world. Entering the ‘Never such Innocence’ competition introduced by Lady Lucy French to commemorate the Great War their musical performance brought much light into a darkening world.
What do you take from the message in their song ‘I Believe, we can change’? Do please watch the clip below . Their notes of inclusion and hope resound locally and globally. In the order of things they did ‘their bit’ leading from the front and challenging the perception of needing to be led.
I Believe we can Change
Reflecting on scaffolding, creativity and the power of music ‘Lily the Pink’ offers some real medicine for soul . If this doesn’t make you smile, nothing will.
To conclude for this strand: We have a discussion underway to repeat the Journey for Peace with the Surabaya City Government in Indonesia applying for Rotary funding. Who wants to ‘play out’ and see if we can make this happen ? Are you in?
Together perhaps we can get
All the notes in the right order in making a better world.
Dr Patterson is a former engineer who retrained as a teacher. He has worked across public, private and voluntary sectors and Primary , Secondary and Higher Education including Senior Lecturer and Head of Physical Education at Liverpool Hope University and as a consultant to Objective One funding . He is a qualified specialist teacher for Visually Impaired (VI)having been Principal at St Vincent’s school for sensory impairment. He is internationally published on his MSc and PhD specialisms of citizenship, curricula generation service learning and entrepreneurial learning with innovations shared in over 20 countries. As a member of Liverpool City Region Task Force under ‘Sister Cities’, he has advised on visits to China and Indonesia . Currently he is leading on a Gubay Foundation environmental project.