This week marks Scott Joplin鈥檚 156th birthday. Before jazz, rock 鈥榥鈥� roll, or hip hop, Joplin launched the defining American sound of the early 20th century, ragtime, which formed the basis of all subsequent American genres. Joplin鈥檚 new sound integrated multistrain march forms with highly syncopated melody, which had previously been sequestered solely to the ragged rhythms of African American folkloric music and Irish Jigs emanating from Southern back porches.
Yet, beyond redefining music, Joplin鈥檚 contribution to American culture was also to shape a generation of activity and social engagement: Namely, Joplin鈥檚 compositions helped spark a wave of amateur musicianship across the country. This is a rich tradition that is incumbent on us, as music educators, to help revive, as it faces rapidly increasing erasure from American society.
How did Joplin engender a culture of amateurism? With the advent of his new rhythm, suddenly the full panoply of excitement encapsulated by a choir of fiddles, stomps, claps, and banjos could now be transported into a single instrument: the piano. The turn of the 20th century represented the height of piano production in the United States.
With more Americans clamoring for home entertainment, the piano became a household staple for any middle-class home, and being able to play the piano became essential to any child鈥檚 well-rounded education. In 1900, there were over a million pianos in American homes, and production was growing exponentially. In this piano-crazed environment, Joplin鈥檚 sheet music sold like hot cakes.
Joplin was dubbed the 鈥淜ing of Ragtime,鈥� not for his performances like our music royalty of today (think Michael Jackson鈥檚 鈥淜ing of Pop,鈥� Beyonce鈥檚 鈥淨ueen B,鈥� or Elvis鈥� 鈥淜ing of Rock 鈥檔鈥� Roll鈥�). Joplin was music royalty for his compositions. In sheet music form, they enabled everyday Americans around the nation, in turn, to become star performers in their own homes. In essence, the magic of Joplin was not in his own skills as a performer but in how he enabled the amateur American musician. Over a million copies of Joplin鈥檚 鈥淢aple Leaf Rag鈥� sold during his lifetime.
This stands in stark contrast with how we experience our musical heroes today. For instance, while Joplin鈥檚 hit songs were meant to be played, Beyonce鈥檚 hit album 鈥淟emonade鈥� is meant to be listened to on your iPhone or experienced by watching her perform in a packed arena. Our new musical royal court make magic as performers. You, the amateur, are left not to play but to spectate.
In previous generations, we were a culture of amateurs鈥攄eriving joy in part from engagement for the sake of the engagement. Today, we are spectators. We watch, we scroll, we like, we share. This is a problem because culture isn鈥檛 supposed to be something you watch, it鈥檚 something you participate in.
In his seminal work Bowling Alone, political scientist Robert Putnam discusses the 鈥渃hanging balance between active participation and passive spectatorship鈥� that has pervaded so many American social activities. Putnam observes that, in general, 鈥溾�榙oing鈥� culture (as opposed to merely consuming it) has been declining鈥濃�攑art of the reason for the loss in social connections that the book laments.
Our most important students in many ways are our wonderful amateurs鈥攕tudents who have no intention of becoming professional performers.
Specifically with regard to music playing, Putnam writes, 鈥淭he average frequency of [an individual] playing a musical instrument has been cut from nearly six times per year in 1976 to barely three times per year in 1999. The percentage of Americans who play an instrument at all has fallen by fully one-third ... the fraction of households in which even one person plays an instrument has fallen steadily from 51 percent in 1978 to 39 percent in 1997. We certainly have not lost our taste for listening to music 鈥� but fewer and fewer of us play together.鈥�
What does this mean for us as educators? How can we return to our roots and foster classrooms full of beautiful, exuberant amateurs? As teachers, we are frequently inspired by the students for whom music is an all-consuming love, the students who spend hours in our band room after class, who tell us they want to go on to study at a conservatory and make music their career. While these students are stars, our most important students in many ways are our wonderful amateurs鈥攕tudents who have no intention of becoming professional performers but hope to hone a skill that will give them a lifelong vehicle for expression, creativity, and community.
These amateurs are critical for a healthy society. They are the torch bearers, who will keep alive our culture of 鈥渄oing.鈥� They will light up their living rooms just as Joplin enthusiasts did over a century ago. They will spark immeasurable joy and moments of togetherness鈥攏ot by watching but by participating.
We can better serve our amateurs and amateurism. Simple additions to your curriculum may do the trick. Help your students learn songs they like to listen to on the radio, so they can take them home and play or sing them whenever they get an urge to hear their favorite tunes. Teach students holiday songs that they can play at home with their friends and family gathered around their instrument or sing in a group. Rather than solely emphasizing learning parts for a band concert, help each student learn the melody to every song, so they can enjoy playing at home without the rest of their ensemble present.
Promoting amateurism will go a long way in not just creating well-rounded students but鈥攎ore importantly鈥攊n creating happier, healthier, and more well-adjusted citizens. that adults who live longer and happier lives are those that keep up with their amateurism. In the much-discussed 鈥渂lue zones鈥濃�攔egions of the world in which citizens often live past 100 years old鈥攐ne commonality is an emphasis on 鈥渄oing鈥� as opposed to simply consuming or spectating.
So to mark this milestone of Scott Joplin, a true American original, encourage your students to get off the sidelines and into the game. Urge them to pull out their AirPods and pull out an instrument or lift their voices instead. Let鈥檚 get back to being a culture of 鈥渄oing.鈥� Help them unleash their inner amateur.
