Back in 1995 when we started The WholeNote, or Pulse as it first was called, it was certainly possible to find out about the many concerts going on in our city. All you had to do was go to concert venues and pick up brochures, read and take notes on posters in places like the Edward Johnson Building, filch flyers from church and laundromat bulletin boards, and so on. Point was, it was so much work, that no one did it, and literally hundreds of concerts went unnoticed every season.
The idea of a monthly guide to concerts was new, radical and untested; and while we obviously liked the idea enough to dive in and do it, even we did not realize just how much music was going on in our city. By the spring of 1996, much to our amazement we were listing about 160 concerts a month, about half of what we list now. We had made it possible for potential audience members to know much more about what was going on — to actually find out in time aboutconcerts and performers and repertoire that would be of interest.
The Educational Parallel: Consider the parallels between the world of concerts and recitals and the world of music teachers, music schools and education programs. There are more than ever of both; all, especially with the help of the internet, can be found. But how do you sort, compare, arrange? What if there is a perfect teacher for you or your offspring, but he or she just didn’t come up in your search?
Just as there was a great desire among audiences for a comprehensive source of information on upcoming concerts, so also, we think, there is a desire among people wanting to learn music for comprehensive information on educators and programs.
We made it possible right from the start, almost 20 years ago, for presenters of live music to list what they were doing free of charge so that audiences could be confident they were getting the whole story, not just the money story.
Now we are offering educators the same opportunity— not in print, but in media which did not exist when we started The WholeNote —media which give anyone interested in studying music, from beginner to professional, casual to committed, the means to search, sift, sort and select the teacher or program that is right for them.
So what will it take? To start, about ten minutes from any teacher reading this who can see the potential benefits of being found this way; just ten minutes, to follow the instructions at the bottom of this article and fill out a simple questionnaire.
Think about it. All those wretched posters with tear-offs along the bottom, taping them to lamp posts, only to find them torn off two days later, suddenly as passé as the passenger pigeon!
Just as it was with the presenters in our concert listings, all you, the teacher, have to do is announce your presence. There is an audience out there hungry for information.
Allan Pulker, co-founder of The WholeNote, plays and teaches flute and recorder. You can contact him at allan@thewholenote.com.
