The Magic of Music
עברית אחרי אנגלית How is it that music works such a magical spell on children? It happens to me again and again. A child doesn't show up for his lesson, so I go to his classroom to fetch him. "Bilal? He was suspended. He got in a fight with another child, tried to stab him with a pencil." How can that be, I wonder? Bilal is a model student. In lessons - whether group or individual - he was concentrated, intense, disciplined. One of the hardest things for a child in group lessons is to hold the violin and not play it - not to pluck it, not to stroke it with the bow, just to hold it in silence. But Bilal never had a problem. Or Kehinde. I walk into the classroom, where chaos prevails. Desks overturned, chairs thrown about. And in the center of the melee, Kehinde. Bawling. Alone in the room (the class is out for recess). "Kehinde, straighten things up, get your fiddle, and come for your lesson." I try to put as much sternness in my voice as I can. The response is ...
