I am raising an issue because it is current in T&T and I can’t help but looking at it from a 360 point of view. The topic of Music Literacy at the Pan in the Classroom program has now shifted to Music Literacy in the Pan Yards.
Just recently there was a lot of Murmur by the Member ship of WST when the Education Minister of T&T announced that he was going to change the Pan in the Classroom program to a Multicultural Music Program by adding Tabla and Tassa and Cuatro …etc… to the Pan Program Of course the basic outcry was that this in effect was going to dilute the Pan Program and the majority called foul not because they were against Tabla or Tassa or Cuatro..etc.. but because they saw a political agenda at the root cause of how it came about.
Now allow me to point you to a recent article in the Guardian newspaper of T&T
http://www.guardian.co.tt/editorial/2012-06-24/yes-music-always (please read the entire article)
In the first paragraph of this article it states.
“According to Auburn Wiltshire, project manager of the Music School in the Panyard project, the Ministry of the Arts and Multiculturalism will support the initiative through the purchase of $300,000 worth of musical instruments. Trumpets, saxophones, clarinets and trombones were bought to be used in the pilot pan centres, Casablanca Pan Theatre (North), Republic Bank Exodus, Sangre Grande Cordettes and Potential Symphony Pan Theatres (East), Couva Joylanders (Central) and Junior Sammy Group Skiffle Bunch (South).”
So here we are now condemning the diluting of the Pan in the Classroom by introducing different instruments …but here in the Pan Yards we are welcoming Trumpets, saxophones, clarinets and trombones. What does that say about our thinking and rational. (Incidentally this type of program has been going on with Birdsong for a number of years now, quite successfully I might add… but Birdsong is not mentioned in the Mix).
This WST forum gives each one of us the opportunity to state our point of view and thus the ensuing discussion follows.
Before I give my take on this let me just state for the record, I am among other things an Author, Steelpan Activist, Teacher and most certainly a Musician having graduated from a University in a Jazz Specialization program using my Pans as my principal instrument. I therefore have been playing music with all types of instrument and have no problem with the Pans mixing it up with any types of musical instruments in any genre of music be it Classical, Jazz, Latin, Pop, Rap Reggae or Calypso. Pan can literally fit into any genre of music and hold its own…..what a beautiful instrument.
Now If we are bringing these other instruments into the Pan Yards to start musical programs like Birdsong is doing and thus fill up the year with activities in the Pan Yard and not just the seasonal sessions that are now common in the Pan Yards of T&T. then all good for the Pan Yard..no problem…
But it certainly bothers me that in 2012, we have still not yet come to the understanding and realization that after 60 plus years of musical illiteracy and playing by rote that we cannot embrace a true musical Literacy program for the all the Pan Yards of Trinidad & Tobago or is it that we do not have confidence or believe that the Pan Yards can actually function in this capacity.
We might be sending a “Kinda Message” and one can get the idea that it is only with “Trumpets, saxophones, clarinets and trombones” that we will now be studying real music.
Outside here in the Diaspora the Pan family is increasing its presence in all institutions of learning finding its own way on an equivalent basis as that of the String Family and the Wind Family of musical Instruments.
Let me be quite clear that I am not against “Trumpets, saxophones, clarinets and trombones” operating in the Pan Yards but as a friend of mine (Jimi Phillip) once said ..These instruments “Trumpets, saxophones, clarinets and trombones” have already made it they are considered genuine musical instruments. The Pan has not yet reached that threshold.
Consider this, would foreigners want to come to Trinidad & Tobago Pan Yards to study “Trumpets, saxophones, clarinets and trombones” ……… the answer is a resounding NO . It would be illogical. If you go to Brazil you will want to study Samba, New Orleans –Jazz, Vienna –Classics, and Jamaica –Reggae ( not that you can’t study any type of music anywhere ) but I am talking about authenticity.
We need to develop a serious and thorough “National Musical Literacy Program for the Pan Yards of Trinidad & Tobago” and thereby convert the Pan Yards into Steelpan Academies where accredited diplomas are given to graduates. When this is happening then we will surely know that we are now “Doing Something For Pan”. Why is this so difficult to comprehend even after 60 plus years. We are trying all kind of stuff except the real thing that is necessary for Pan. We do not have to buy any more musical instruments we already have thousands of Pans, we have hundreds of Pan Yards , thousands of Students, we have Steelpan Text books , we have hundreds of teachers and would be teachers ready for employment. There is also a Plan available but alas there is no understanding and will. Observe in the Guardian article there is no mention of Pan Trinbago ..is it because they are asleep or things have just passed them by.
Well at least I can now resign myself to saying that perhaps with these new instruments “Trumpets, saxophones, clarinets and trombones” …maybe just maybe the Pan might be respected and thereby music theory and Pan History will also be learnt with the Pan being accepted as a principal instrument.
Regards
Salah Wilson
Replies
Selah ,,,on this website the subject matter was STEELPAN,,,A MUSIC SCHOOL FOR THE STEELPAN,,,,no other instruments were represented on this website,,,now the introduction of other instruments into the Music School is bareface and rude politics,,,Total Disregard for the National Instrument of T&T,,,now i just don,t care who get vex,,But,,,this is the Truth,,let the other instruments be seperated /their own Music Program,,ah gon mention something,,,if manufacturers coulda mek Pan ,,,Pan Tuners woulda be oughta bread fuh life,,this is the difference and the Gift from God the Almighty,,,,Respect is always due,,for the old dutty oil drum from day one being converted into an Internationl Musical Instrumentt, ,,,THE STEELPAN MUST BE GIVEN THE RIGHT TO BE HAVING A MUSIC SCHOOL DEDICATED ONLY FOR THE STEELPANS,, ah hope dat dem who sensoring this Website deliver the message,,,STEELPAN MUSIC SCHOOL...AMEN,,,Respect for all, God Bless.
I have mentioned this before actually as soon as i learned about the music school in the panyard thing and realized it for what it's supposed to be- a way to diminsh the status of pan in Trinidad.
As soon as the pan in the classroom to be replaced by the multicultural music program was debunked for what it was- a way to dilute the ascendency of pan in TnT, and the about face of the current administration was forced by popular dissent, I knew that there was going to be another attack from a different front.
Using every form of subterfuge, the current administration, which seems bent on destroying any advance that pan has made in the last 50 years or so, have come up with yet another way to try to try to destroy pan, by pretending to support it by diluting it with 'other instruments' subtly and eventually replacing those other instruments or at least adding to them, the eastern instruments that they seem bent on promoting to the detriment of pan.
I was flabbergasted that anyone would welcome the idea of teaching music in panyards, of all places, using any other instrument other than the pan.
It has been determined by many and in many other jurisdictions, that the easiest way to teach music theory is to use the pan. This is not the time or place to go into why, but suffice it to say that the experts have proclaimed- if you want to reach a wider audience and introduce them to music, the fastest and easiest way is to use the pan.
So now, ignoring all the expert opinions, we come up with a way to teach music using other instruments but actually doing it in the panyards. It's unbelievable and no one seems to see through the mist and expose it for what it really is: a way to destroy all the gains pan has made in the past.
I actually thought that the program was intended to teach pannists the theory of music communication so they can improve their expertise and their marketability, but now I realize it for what it is, a way to try to eliminate the pan as the way to a musical career by pretext and false marketing and to try to steer young musicians away from the pan and, mark my words, towards the eastern instruments that the current administration prefers.
Good Post and valid points Wayne
By the way, can we find out who exactly benefited from the importation of the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on the 'other instruments' that were ordered for this program? That money could have been used to purchase pans instead which are made in TnT and thus support local industry.
Wayne ,,seh it again,,Steelpan Tuners could have benefited a great deal....work could have been created for the idle hands if yuh yuh read meh,,, Respect.
Salah,
Are the steel band leaders speaking out against this, or is it okay with them? When will the steel pan be given its rightful place in that country? I thought that the steel pan was a national treasure?
"The project is still in its earliest stages, and over the next three years music schools are planned for all panyards in Trinidad and Tobago ... the project would also be enhanced by continued monitoring and support from both the Ministry of Arts and Multiculturalism and the Ministry of Education as well as private-sector support of a project that has the potential to become a critical intervention in communities over the next three years."
The project is still in malleable form -- meaning that people like you, Salah, still have the time and opportunity to step in and shape certain aspects of it. If we extrapolate the THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS spent to seed the project OVER 200 panyards, clearly the government will not have that much money to spend on instruments. So by default, scores of panyards will end up with PANS as the primary instrument.
What I find interesting about this project is that PAN TRINBAGO has been circumvented. The organization that wants to claim global governorship of the PAN is sidelined on its own soil in one of most progressive programs in steelband history. Without a doubt, time has passed this organization by!!!
Salah, pan history will record you as the first person to establish a STEELPAN ACADEMY in North America. Along with your other STEELPAN credentials, I think that you are empowered to fly down to Trinidad and demand a seat at the table as the rest of the program gets defined. On a related note, we are in the process of opening a STEELPAN ACADEMY here in the SAN FRANCISO BAY AREA (August 15th) where STEELDRUM MUSIC has thrived over the last 40 years ... PAN ONLY!!!
So despite all the complaining and griping: pan seems to be sailing the seven seas, like a warm tropical breeze!!!
Claude
Claude ,
There is no way that I will want to step into the concept of the project that they are implementing in the Pan Yards. not when I believe that a National Musical Literacy Program for the Pan Yards of Trinidad & Tobago is a viable concept with the Pans as the primary instruments. I have been pushing this concept for a decade and This I believe is what they should be investing in.
To clarify a point again and it has been expressed by some of the musicians ( I say musicians -not just Pan men) like Jimi and Ghost, We are not against learning other instruments nor discouraging others from doing so. By learning to play more than one type of musical instrument you can only enhance and expand your abilities as a musician. but the point is the Pan Yard and what should be going on there.
As far as my Academy being the first in North America ..that should not even be an issue because it really does not matter ..what matters in my opinion is that the Pan Yards of Trinidad & Tobago be converted to Steelpan Academies with legitimate Pan Programs that can provide accredited Diplomas for the Graduates.that is where the emphasis should be in 2012.
Claude I understand your concerns and your point of view ..but I will be busying myself in Canada for the next three years ( God Willing) by upgrading myself.
Regards
Salah
I think Claude is missing the point a bit. It should not be music school in panyard, it should be pan school or as Salah said Steelpan Academy with the focus on pan. Why don't they use the normal schools where other programs are being taught on weekends. It's an insult to bring all these other instruments there and squeeze out the pan. As Panday said, " Thats insulting". I wonder if a computer school teaches welding and art and masonry,or, does someone go to a catering school to learn carpentry and other things.( I don't know, just wondering). I think something strange is going on with the pan in T.&.T.
Yeah Jimi Gie Them Tempo LOL
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