PBS高端访谈:为什么学音乐能帮助孩子更好地学习其他东西

STANFORD THOMPSON, Founder¹, Play On, Philly!: I grew up in a musical household in Atlanta. And I have seven siblings². We all played music. My parents are both retired³ music educators. And we always had a rule in our house that you only ate on the days that you practiced. They taught me and my siblings growing up that we would have opportunities that they didn't. And if we took advantage of them, then we could see ourselves on a path to become a professional musician. I was able to study with musicians with the Atlanta Symphony⁴ Orchestra⁵, and worked really hard to earn a spot at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. I was able to play the staples⁶ of the orchestral and chamber⁷ music repertoire⁸ with world-renowned conductors and musicians just about every week.

I went back to Philadelphia in 2010 and founded Play On, Philly!, which now serves over 300 students every day after school for three hours. We work in under-resourced neighborhoods, mainly in West Philadelphia. And each student is able to access our program tuition-free, and able to get access to get high-quality instruments and teachers on a daily basis. It might sound like that our aim is for these kids to become professional musicians. We really care most about them becoming really great people. Our kids are still performing a letter grade ahead in every academic subject. And we know it's because we teach them to expand their memory, to control inhibition, to help them lengthen⁹ the amount of time that they can focus on something. These are skills that they learn the moment they begin to make music. Take a violinist. They have to figure on their left hand where to put their finger to create a certain pitch. Their right hand, of course, will then control how long they're able to hold that note. They also have to look at the music and determine which note they are supposed to play, how loud, how fast or how slow. When you stimulate¹⁰ the brain like that for hours every single day, then that's what helps to turn the clock on some of the damage that is done because of the amount of stress they live with and, of course, brain development. That's really important, especially for younger kids, to make sure that they can go back into a classroom, focus for a longer period of time, be able to memorize the information, so they can go home and do the homework, and then recall it later at the end of the year on a standardized¹¹ test. We all have the responsibility of providing the best instruments to the poorest kids, that we provide the best teachers to the most marginalized kids, and that we continue to provide the best musical opportunities for the most vulnerable¹² kids. My name is Stanford Thompson. And this is my Brief But Spectacular¹³ Take on how music can create harmony and opportunity.

斯坦福·汤普森，Play On, Philly!创始人：我在亚特兰大的一个音乐家庭长大。我们兄弟姐妹七人。都爱演奏音乐。我父母都是音乐教育家，现已退休。我们家里有一条规矩，不练习就别吃饭。他们告诉我和一起长大的兄弟姐妹，我们会有他们没有的机会。如果我们好好把握机会，我们就能走上一条职业音乐家之路。我能和亚特兰大交响乐团的音乐家一起学习，而且我要非常努力，才能在费城柯蒂斯音乐学院赢得一席之地。几乎每个星期，我都能与世界著名的指挥家和音乐家同台演奏管弦乐和室内乐曲目。2010年，我回到了费城，成立了Play On, Philly!，现在每天都有300多名学生，在放学后，来到这里练习三个小时。我们在资源不足的社区展开工作，主要在西费城。每一个学生都可以免费参加我们的课程，而且每天都能接触到高质量的乐器以及高素质的教师。听起来我们的目标是让这些孩子成为职业音乐家。我们真正关心的是让他们成为真正出色的人。我们的孩子，每门学科的成绩都名列前茅。我们知道这是因为我们教他们扩大记忆，缓解拘束，帮助他们延长专注时间。这些是他们自创作音乐伊始就学到的技巧。举个小提琴手的例子。他们必须识别左手手指应放在哪个合适的位置上，来演奏某一个音高。他们的右手，当然，（配合）控制音长。他们还得看乐谱，确定该演奏哪一个音符，要多大声音，多快或多慢。你每天这样刺激大脑几个小时，会帮助你修复此前形成的一些损害，这些损害是他们此前承受的生活压力，当然还有大脑发育造成的。这是非常重要的，尤其是对年幼的孩子，以确保他们可以回到课堂上，集中较长时间的注意力，能记忆信息，这样他们才能在回家后完成作业，然后在年底的时候再（将学习内容）回忆起来，完成标准化测试。我们都有责任为最穷的孩子提供最好的乐器，我们向最边缘化的孩子提供最好的老师，并且我们继续为最脆弱的儿童提供最佳的音乐接触机会。我叫斯坦福·汤普森。这是我的Brief But Spectacular Take，关于音乐如何营造祥和，如何缔造机遇。

1 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

2 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分

3 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

4 symphony   

n.交响乐（曲），（色彩等的）和谐

参考例句：

• The Ninth Symphony of Beethoven is a famous one.贝多芬的第九交响乐非常有名。
• They play over the whole symphony.他们把整个交响乐重新演奏了一遍。

5 orchestra   

n.管弦乐队；vt.命令，定购

参考例句：

• He plays the violin in an orchestra.他在管弦乐队中演奏小提琴。
• I was tempted to stay and hear this superb orchestra rehearse.我真想留下来听这支高超的管弦乐队排练。

6 staples   

n.（某国的）主要产品( staple的名词复数 )；钉书钉；U 形钉；主要部份v.用钉书钉钉住( staple的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The anvil onto which the staples are pressed was not assemble correctly. 订书机上的铁砧安装错位。 来自辞典例句
• I'm trying to make an analysis of the staples of his talk. 我在试行分析他的谈话的要旨。 来自辞典例句

7 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

8 repertoire   

n.(准备好演出的)节目，保留剧目；(计算机的)指令表，指令系统， <美>(某个人的)全部技能；清单，指令表

参考例句：

• There is an extensive repertoire of music written for the flute.有很多供长笛演奏的曲目。
• He has added considerably to his piano repertoire.他的钢琴演奏曲目大大增加了。

9 lengthen   

vt.使伸长，延长

参考例句：

• He asked the tailor to lengthen his coat.他请裁缝把他的外衣放长些。
• The teacher told her to lengthen her paper out.老师让她把论文加长。

10 stimulate   

vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋

参考例句：

• Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
• Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。

11 standardized   

adj.标准化的

参考例句：

• We use standardized tests to measure scholastic achievement. 我们用标准化考试来衡量学生的学业成绩。
• The parts of an automobile are standardized. 汽车零件是标准化了的。

12 vulnerable   

adj.易受伤的，脆弱的，易受攻击的

参考例句：

• He volunteered to protect her as she looked so vulnerable.她看上去很脆弱，他就主动去保护她。
• The company is in an economically vulnerable position.该公司目前经济状况不稳定。

13 spectacular   

adj.引人注目的，出色的，与众不同的

参考例句：

• This is a spectacular film.这是一部场面壮观的电影。
• This is the most spectacular financial crash of the decade.这是10年里最引人注目的金融破产事件。