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MUSICAL MUSINGS
Banding Together
Be an essential part of a group
After solving today’s Wordle, I am reminded of a discussion I’ve had with students about music. I play 80’s music during transitions and sometimes during project work as a background. I was a teenager in the 80’s, so I like that music and I like showing them the original works behind some of the songs that show up even today in popular culture or as remakes.
I also like how a large number of 80s bands feature not only the main singer, but also the band. Especially with rock music, the guitarist, bass player or drummer were not only essential to the experience but also well-known by name. I’m talking about people like Slash, Steven Van Zandt, Vicki Peterson, Eddie Van Halen, and Def Leppard’s one-armed drummer Rick Allen.
Today, my students ask me to play songs by The Weeknd, Kanye West (Ye), and Drake. These are solo artists who don’t have a well-known group of artists behind them. Is it because their style of music lends itself more to solo acts, or have they not yet found the people that they want to credit with playing the music that accompanies their voice?
When the music you admire requires a group of people to produce, and each of those people gets credit for their special skill, are you more likely to be willing to work as part…
