Crazy? Me? Well... Maybe a Little...

I may be a bit crazy. Here's why:

This week I had my interview for BYU's Elementary Music Education program. I interviewed with a wonderful man, Dr. Jerry Jaccard, who I respect immensely. The interview went well. He stood up at the end, shook my hand, and thanked me for coming.

No, that's not crazy. Here's the crazy part:

I didn't just say goodbye and get me out like a sensible person would. I asked him if I could ask him a question. He said sure. I explained I was working on a section of an e-book about music education, and wanted to ask him a question about the topic.

Our conversation went something like this:

Me: You believe children are inherently musical, right?

Dr. Jaccard: Yes...

Me: In light of that, why do you think children should learn music in school as opposed to elsewhere?

That question opened up a well of information.

Dr. Jaccard said that although all children may not be able to develop their musicality to the same level, each child should be taught to develop their musicality in order to obtain a well-rounded educational experience. He feels children will have a use for a musical education in their future lives, whether they will use it someday to be teachers, performers, or just appreciative audience members. He also told me he feels schools should work with home life to teach children music, and cited examples of several school programs of various nationalities that do well at that, especially the music education program in Finland. He went on to tell me how music is quite compatible with scientific ability, citing Einstein as an example of one who is renowned for his brilliancy in math and science, but who was also, I found out, a prestigious violinist. Dr. Jaccard even told me a great story about Einstein being kept out of a performance in a queen's palace by a new guard who thought this scraggly, hobo-like man was a crazy fellow come to assassinate the queen with a gun hidden in a violin case.

When Dr. Jaccard finally saw me out of his office, there were already two other applicants waiting for their interviews.

I would have liked to have recorded him - obviously I can't quote the interview verbatim - but I thought that, in light of the circumstances, that might be taking it a wee bit too far.

A crazy person interviews the interviewer, but for someone to actually record the interviewer... well, they have nice padded cells for those sweet folks.