A Musical Note about Learning English

I have always been an incredibly musically-challenged person. Seriously–my husband once told me I didn’t have to sing in church. I always laughed it off and remained self-deprecating about my deficiencies, but when I became a parent, I promised myself that my own children would not face the same fate.

At the ripe old age of three, my daughter was enrolled in Suzuki violin lessons. As per the Suzuki methodology, I was right there by her side; she had an adorable mini-violin, and I awkwardly navigated a full-size instrument. I became absolutely fascinated watching my daughter adeptly develop her skills: the lessons were fabulously scaffolded, her teachers used color coding and mnemonics to help lessons sink in, and there was a LOT of individual and group practice. The Suzuki method is mastery-based. Students cannot advance to the next level until they have mastered all the skills previously introduced. Because my daughter was young, her mind and ears quickly adapted to the new language: she was like a sponge. I, on the other hand, was like a drowning rat. I made it to the end of Book 1 with her, and then it was just hopeless; I would only hold her back. She played for twenty more years and continued to thrive. She seemed like a total natural, but beneath that polished exterior lay years of hard work in mastering the foundational aspects.

Years later, I gave up practicing law and became an English teacher at an inner-city high school. It was the most challenging and rewarding experience I have ever had. All my students were bright and incredibly motivated, but a vast majority were academically challenged. I quickly realized that my students lacked the basic foundational skills needed to succeed in an academic environment, especially in college. While they could read, write, and speak in English, they were nowhere near the level needed to critically assess authors or to effectively engage in rhetorical discourse.

As I struggled with how best to help my students, I found myself reflecting back. I came to appreciate that learning music and learning the English language share several fascinating parallels, particularly relating to the parts of speech, syntax, and sentence structure. Both disciplines require a mastery of foundational building blocks, whether through the intricate arrangement of musical notes or the nuanced expression of spoken and written words. I often reflected back on my daughter’s musical journey (as well as my own humble journey) and took lessons from the way she learned music and applied it to teaching English in my own classroom. Let’s take a closer look at the similarities.

Parts of Speech and Musical Notes

Parts of Speech: In English, there are eight parts of speech (nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections). Each word plays a specific role by conveying meaning within a structure, allowing speakers and writers to articulate thoughts clearly and effectively. For instance, nouns identify subjects or objects, verbs express actions or states of being, adjectives provide descriptive detail about nouns, and adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs to give additional context. Mastering the parts of speech allows students to think flexibly and become comfortable knowing that one word can act as various parts of speech. For instance, many assume that "kitchen" is always a noun. In the sentence, “My kitchen is dirty,” kitchen is a noun acting as the subject of the sentence. But in the sentence, “A bird hit my kitchen window,” kitchen acts as an adjective because it modifies the noun window.

Musical Elements: Similar to how words form a sentence, notes on a staff make up the content of an arrangement. Once students have mastered the pitches of these notes, they gain the ability to appreciate that notes can be altered beyond their natural state (A, B, C, D, E, F, G). A single note can be made sharp or flat, resulting in a different pitch. Occasionally, one pitch can be represented by two different notes. For instance, both C♯ and D♭ denote the same pitch. Without a strong foundation, students cannot fully appreciate how pitches create melodies, rhythms provide timing and flow, dynamics add intensity and volume, and harmonies enhance the texture of the music. Grasping the basics of these musical elements is vital for effective musical expression, much like how understanding parts of speech is critical to language proficiency skill.

Sentence Structure and Syntax vs. Musical Syntax

Syntax: Syntax governs how sentences are structured. Understanding how word order impacts meaning is critical. For example, despite having the same five words, the sentence "The cat chased the bird" does not convey the same thing as "The bird chased the cat." Having a solid grasp of syntax and structure enables writers to make informed rhetorical decisions. For example, short, simple sentences strung together often create a sense of speed or anticipation. Whereas compound and complex sentences allow for intricate layering and highlighting details. Think–legal brief.

Musical Syntax: In music, the arrangement of notes and rhythms follows specific rules and conventions akin to syntax in language. Notes must be placed correctly on the staff, and the order in which notes are played can alter the mood and message of a composition. For instance, a sequence of ascending notes may evoke feelings of joy or anticipation, while descending notes might convey sadness or resolution. Just as different sentence structures can convey different meanings, various musical forms can evoke different emotional responses and narratives. Musicians, like writers, must have a solid grasp on the fundamental building blocks before they can employ strategies to communicate their musical messages effectively.

When I realized my English students were lacking in the foundational building blocks, I brought them all the way back to the very basics and started with the parts of speech. My mantra was mastery: “failure is not an option” (I would show the scene from Apollo 13 with that line). Many of my students really struggled in the journey toward mastery because they didn’t master the basics at an early age when they could have easily absorbed them all. I totally understood because it was similar to my own experience struggling through Book I in violin, while my daughter sailed through it and excelled. To their credit, my students plowed through and succeeded. Average ACT English scores jumped from 18 to 24 without any test preparation. All who wanted to attend college could do so; many went on to attend elite universities, and some even went on to become English majors. I can say with confidence that, without my own musical interlude, I would never have gained the insight that helped me change the trajectory of my students' lives.