Music is a powerful force that unites us and keeps our heritage alive. It's more than just pleasant sounds—it ties us together and highlights what we share. However, even our state and national music organizations have song lists that come and go, underscoring the challenge in defining our collective repertoire of songs.
Think about students learning music. What songs should they sing and play? These songs should inspire and carry essential themes for generations. Singing brings us together across borders and cultures. So, our song collection should include folk tunes from every country, pop and jazz standards, patriotic songs, and melodies that speak to everyone.
Recently, I, an elementary school music teacher, received an email from a secondary music teacher in my district. They were surprised that their students hadn't heard of "My Country 'Tis of Thee." Yet last year, my students in every grade sang “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” for ten weeks until it was memorized. Singing a song just once isn't enough. For it to truly stick, it must find meaning in life and community.
Teaching the songs that students should know for life isn't solely the responsibility of elementary music teachers. Middle and high school teachers are equally crucial. Sometimes, secondary teachers focus on standard music literature and miss practicing a shared repertoire of songs. However, even in middle and high school, we can celebrate these songs while exploring rich musical literature.
When teachers revisit songs students know, it revives something special from the past. We need our beautiful musical literature at the secondary level, but we need more. We need connections to our past, families, communities, our nation, and the world we belong to.
Communities also play a vital role in celebrating a song list. Patriotic songs used to be sung in churches or community events. The National Anthem was meant to be sung together, not as a solo performance. We need to be more than spectators in our community's music. It's time for us to sing together again—in families, communities, and across cultural barriers.
Some people say students in upper elementary and middle schools won't sing, but that's only because a teacher stopped singing with them along the way. Students at every grade level should sing and never stop. Students in secondary instrumental music ensembles should sing. All students should sing. All people should sing. We should grow into adults who sing to our children and at community events.
Imagine teachers from different levels and community leaders working together to create a song list. This flexible list, practiced at every grade, connects generations and cultures. It shows our society's diversity while bringing us closer together.
In conclusion, without a common song list, we miss out on preserving our culture and uniting our society. Elementary and secondary teachers must collaborate to create a song list that celebrates diversity, fosters understanding, and keeps our cultural heritage alive. Let's build a musical legacy that connects us all through the power of music.
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