Stick your neck out - In Unison - getting involved in your music association

American Music Teacher, August-Sept, 2003 by Phyllis I. Pieffer

Throughout our country for the last decade or so, all of us have read about individuals, groups and organizations that have participated in "Make a Difference" programs. These programs recognize acts and events that take place and make a difference in peoples' lives, in our society and in our environment.

As we "gear up" for the beginning of school and our fall lesson programs, let's consider some ways that we can make a difference: 1) on a personal level; 2) on the independent studio/ college level; 3) on the local association level; 4) on the state association level; and 5) on the national level.

Now, all of us are busy! That goes without saying! How can we juggle one more responsibility or volunteer activity in our lives? Perhaps we need to reevaluate and prioritize differently. First, each of us has different priorities at different times in our lives. Since my children are now on their own and have spouses, children and careers, my relationship with them is on a different level than parents who are in the midst of raising their children and involved with school activities and so forth. Each of us must look first at our personal lives and determine how we can best spend the time we have.

Second, as professional musicians and teachers, we should evaluate our career goals, business management of our studios, teaching goals for our studios, competitive and noncompetitive activities for our students, college course syllabi and so on. Personally, I am always looking for ways to streamline the business management of my studio, ways to motivate my students to accomplish more during their music study and ways of evaluating my college course syllabi, dropping those ideas that don't seem to work well and searching for new ways to teach a concept. Is there a way I can accomplish a task with less work, more enthusiasm and more interest on the part of the students? How can I make a difference? For example, one way in which I have developed interest in rhythmic reading and understanding in my ear-training classes is to have groups of students write and perform "rap" compositions. Their ideas were great! By actually deciding and writing out the rhythms and words themselves, they learned much more about rhythm than I could tell them. What activities do you have on the local and state levels that students could participate in? Have you considered using the MTNA Music Study Awards and Achievement Awards in your studio or perhaps holding a Studio Festival? One of my young boys came up to me after the spring recital and proudly showed me his MTNA Achievement Award Pin, placed on his tie as a tie tack!

Making a difference often means taking a chance or a risk. In a recent issue of the Frontline Employee, a newsletter from the Employee Advisory Service for Washington State employees, the following vignette appeared:

   "Ask people who have
   advanced in their careers and
   you will hear that taking risks
   was one of the secrets to their
   success. You will also hear that
   some paid off, while others did
   not. Are you passing up high-yield,
   safe risks that can help get
   you where you want to go in
   your job? Classic opportunities
   missed include raising your hand
   to lead that committee, writing
   a trade journal article, presenting
   at a conference, and taking
   the initiative to solve or propose
   solutions to problems that have
   stumped everyone else."

As members of your local and state associations, raise your hand and become involved in your association. Involvement does not have to mean huge amounts of time, especially if each of us does just a little. Do you know of a new teacher in your community who you could invite to the local association meeting? Or contact a colleague that has not attended meetings in a long time. Do you have a special interest that could be developed into a program for your local or state association, even national, or an article for the newsletter or for American Music Teacher? Any amount of help would be greatly appreciated by local and state association leaders. Become an "insider," rather than an "outsider" looking in.

As part of the restructuring of MTNA that began with the approval of the revised MTNA Bylaws in March 2001, the Board of Directors has reorganized six committees into Forums, chaired by the directors from the Board. The word "forum" originated as the public square or marketplace of an ancient Roman city or town where legal and political business was conducted. Hence, today, it refers to a public meeting for open discussion of ideas, topics and questions. Each year, Forums--open meetings for all our members in attendance--will be held at the MTNA National Conference in the following areas: Arts Awareness and Advocacy, Collaborative Performance, Collegiate Chapters, College Faculty, Independent Music Teachers and Local Associations. The first sessions were held at the 2003 Salt Lake City Conference. This is the opportunity for all MTNA members to provide input on programs, projects and services for consideration by the Board of Directors. Plan to participate at the next National Conference in Kansas City. You may also contact any of the Forum chairs with your ideas. (See the Leadership listing on page 110.)