I’m a talk-about-the-physics kind of a guy.
I’m talking about frequencies, the overtone series and tuning systems. It goes over some of my students’ heads when I talk about it, and some of my students actively roll their eyes or disengage.
Nonetheless, I persist in talking about it. Why?
Because I know it’s going to change someone’s experience. It’s going to change their understanding. It might spur their curiosity to explore more ideas they hadn’t considered.
And maybe just as important, it helps my students see that the realm of music is bigger than they imagine. Just as the universe is bigger than our observable universe, so music is bigger than what we can see of it. Giving a taste of what’s beyond their vision is a great way to prepare students to take the leap to growth.
Plus, it’s just kind of fun to talk about physics in choir for a couple minutes.