THE EDITOR, Sir:
I WISH to congratulate the Jamaica Music Teachers Association (JMTA) on the successful festival of classical music which they recently organised. I hope this will once again become an annual event, as it once was; as this will revive and increase public interest in classical music, especially among our students and young people - which is a desirable goal. I also hope the JMTA will influence and encourage the radio stations to play more classical music, both on weekdays, but particularly on Sundays.
DISTRESSING DETERIORATION
Over the last several years there has been a distressing deterioration in the quality of popular music played on our airwaves. We are daily subjected to an endless bombardment of poor quality music, dancehall, beebop - which isn't music at all - no melody; just rhythm coupled with monotonous repetition of two or three notes; and with unintelligible, guttural, animal-like sounds - passing as 'lyrics'. In fact, most of what is played on the air shouldn't even be recorded in the first place. I hope the JMTA will use its influence to establish higher standards, and sanctions for those stations failing to comply.
I say this because I firmly believe that music has the power to influence our thoughts, and our emotional and mental states. Given the current low level of so-called music on our airwaves, catering to the basest human instincts, is it any wonder there is widespread indiscipline, lawlessness, criminality, violence, immorality, inhumanity, and indecency - at all levels of society? I think it was Shakespeare who said: "Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast." This is true - but Jamaica is brimful of savage breasts, at all levels, and we certainly won't succeed in soothing them with the current levels of poor quality music.
PROBLEMS OF INDISCIPLINE
Recently I came across an excellent letter in an old Gleaner. It was entitled... 'The Mozart Factor' - and recounted the experience of a teacher in England, who experienced enormous problems of indiscipline, violence, poor attendance, poor performance, bad manners, etc., among his students. He tried several corrective measures - all without success.
In desperation he decided to try exposing the students to classical music; and arranged to have classical music piped into the classrooms at certain periods of the school day. To his great delight, the experiment reaped handsome rewards; the students grew to like and appreciate the music, and within a few months there was marked improvement in levels of discipline, school attendance, performance, manners, behaviour - and a decrease in violence. So successful was the project that it was tried in other schools.
I wonder if the JMTA would get together with the Ministry of Education and try to implement this project in a few of our schools with serious problems - as a pilot project. Given the present unacceptable levels of violence and indiscipline in our schools, anything is worth a try. So JMTA over to you; and once again, congratulations.
I am, etc.,
NORMA L. PERKINS
Walkers Wood P.O.
St. Ann
