Monday night, I was having a wonderful piano lesson with one of my eighth graders, Jackson Lockhart, a family friend, and good friend of Jose’s. With my private students who are in band, orchestra or choir, we work a little more on theory and general music. I pulled out an exercise on “Music Of The 60’s” and protest songs. As we were discussing the music of that era I mentioned to Jackson that his parents and I were young children when this particular music was popular. It suddenly occurred to me that the teenagers of that era are now in their 50’s and 60’s! As Jackson and I discussed it further, we realized that those young adults of the Swing generation were in their 80’s and quickly fading away.

When I was born all of my great-grandparents were living, save one, and I had several great-great-grandparents living. My great-grandparents would have known the music to which the Wright Brothers listened, and as they raised their families, they would have known Ragtime, the early stages of Jazz and the music of the Roaring Twenties. Now, sadly, that generation is gone.

I thought back to a concert I attended this summer starring Clay Aiken and remembered that the title of his tour was “Fifty Years Of Rock.” Fifty years? When I was a child it had not even covered two decades… in fact, the Beatles and I both arrived in 1964… wasn’t that only yesterday… or was “Yesterday” one of those hits of long ago?

Since I began teaching music, I have always been attentive to our own country’s musical heritage, as well as music of the grand masters of Europe. However, last night’s lesson really opened my eyes… perhaps it was due to the fact I was already in a nostalgic mood as I generally am during my birthday… but I am convinced that we as music teachers must work even harder to introduce our students to our wonderful musical history of the United States.

Miss Anna Leonowens of The King & I was correct, “by your students you’ll be taught.”