Content Dictates Form

Content dictates form • Less is more • God is in the details
all in the service of
Clarity
without which nothing else matters.

– Stephen Sondheim

This is the mantra at the beginning of both volumes of Stephen Sondheim’s magical lyric collections, Finishing The Hat and Look, I Made a Hat.

But of course, this mantra can be applied to much more than lyrics. Over the next few days, I’ll be considering each part of the mantra as it applies to teaching.


Content dictates form. In other words, what you want to convey should determine how you convey it. Maybe this is obvious, but let’s be explicit: while great teachers have much in common, the form I would use to teach trigonometry is completely different from the forms I use to teach music.

Even within music, the forms change depending on what I’m teaching. My approach (form) to teaching vocal jazz is different than the approach I use with my high school group, and different again from how I approach a lecture based class, such as the Jazz Theory class I teach. The content I’m teaching requires that difference.

If I were directing a play, my approach would depend on the form again. A show for kids, say Little Mermaid Jr. would let me turn over many decisions to my students; if I were to direct Sondheim’s Into The Woods, I would need to have a much more curatorial role in guiding my students in the music. The same is true as a conductor: when I’m programming a pop song, I’m very comfortable letting my students debate and decide on musical decisions, because they are often fluent in the stylistic elements. But if I program a Renaissance motet, I’m going to do a lot more guidance and a lot less democracy. My educational form is dictated by the content I’m teaching.

Tomorrow: less is more.