In 2004, Kimbra stormed into the Play It Strange secondary schools’ songwriting competition Top Ten with her powerhouse original ‘It Takes Time’. She was 14 and at Hamilton’s Hillcrest High. The entry she sent in was just recorded in guitar and voice. Now she strides across Australia and New Zealand, beaming out from all the airwaves you can think of. Her debut album ‘Vows’ has also just been released.

Two years later a young 14-year-old from the Caitlins, Annah Mac, sent in a recording of her song ‘Blue Butterfly’ and it took the top place in the same competition. Again recorded in just guitar and voice. Now Annah is on the Great NZ Songbook as the ‘voice of the future’ with her song ‘Home’. Her debut album ‘Little Stranger’ has also just been released.

It’s worth mentioning that both Kimbra and Annah Mac took to stages in those formative years. Kimbra was placed second in the Rockquest national final at 14 and Annah won the Rockquest female musician award at the age of 16. Inspirational musicians who recognised their potential to make waves spurred both songwriters on at an early age.

Kimbra’s guitar teacher, Simon Middlemiss, and Annah Mac’s songwriting mentor, Mike Hood, provided feedback and direction -but most of all inspiration. And in those processes the recording of original songs came to be. It’s just that it all happened outside the school gates.

The story of these two artists provides a chance to assess what is going in schools and how their paths might be replicated in vibrant, contemporary curricular. There is a real pragmatic path to be followed today in which songwriting, performance and recording complete the milestones that can lead a contemporary musician writing original songs to a career. They are the three crucial practices that must be in place in the secondary school environment to attract those young New Zealanders who have the imagination, determination and ambition to take their songs to the world.

Hurdle

So what is the state of the music curriculum for New Zealand secondary schools? It is coming to grips with the new age and the NZQA is leading the way. But first – there is one major hurdle. The word ‘song’ is not in the curriculum. Despite songs being a staple diet of life on earth - the wonderfully magical weaving together of words and music such is a song cannot be assessed in the music curriculum. The music can – that is called a composition. But the words can only be assessed in the English department – as poetry.

So are lyrics poetry? Ask one of New Zealand’s premier lyricist/ poets Damien Wilkins and he says: “Song lyrics need to fit the form of the melody, the chord changes, the beat; they're in the service of a larger thing; whereas the words of a poem are the boss of everything. Poems carry their own music, which is made up on the spot from language. Hence a poem put to music is a risky thing, in effect, because it's music on top of music.”

Hence it is imperative that the Ministry of Education sits down and places ‘song’ as a single entity in the music curriculum.

Then there is the craft of recording. In today’s extraordinary world of sophisticated technology at a fair price, the recording of songs can be done on multi-track software in any environment. Bedrooms, classrooms and rehearsal rooms all serve as ideal mini-studios where songwriters and musicians can work together bringing songs to permanent life. The Lion Foundation songwriting competition with its 402 songs entered this year shows an increasing sophistication in the recording of songs throughout New Zealand. So it seems an ideal time for recording studio practice to be an integral part of the music curriculum and for NCEA credits to be part of that learning curve. The NZQA understands this. They have started the change.

Heady time

In a recent NZQA press document entitled - Review of Music Level 2 achievement and unit standards, it states: "To meet the needs of all music students, additional standards have been developed at Level 2 to allow for more specialisation. Students can progress seamlessly to Level 3 in each standard they successfully complete at Level 1. Thus, for example, the student who composes aurally (‘records’) is assessed alongside his/her peer who chooses to notate (write a manuscript).”

With this change comes the chance for students to now take music knowing that they can be assessed for the music components of the songs they write, the performance of their songs and the representation of their songs in a recorded form. It is a heady time for New Zealand’s emerging music tradition as the school environment provides platforms for the recognition, celebration and the successes of our own songs.

(www.playitstrange.org.nz)