United Sound, United Minds

This student wouldn't touch a cello until the week prior.  Now she is flourishing.

American culture has come a long way since we used to bar children with special needs from entering schools.  That being said, as a child in the 80's and 90's, I still rarely saw students with severe special needs in my schools.  As is true with all human nature, the less I was exposed to something, the less I understood it, had empathy for it, and the less I identified with it.  To admit my faults, I did not understand the differences in various special needs diagnoses, and I did not think about these students often. On the rare occasion that I did, I figured it was impossible to connect and interact with them in meaningful ways.


I doubt my former ignorance is that uncommon.  For many children, another student making noises or drooling is something to be, at worst, laughed at, or at best, politely ignored.  There is a group of student musicians at North Cobb High School who break this norm in a beautiful way.

United Sound is an international non-profit organization which gives students with special needs the opportunity to learn to play musical instruments in a well-structured, individualized, and positive environment.  The program allows students to learn either band or orchestra instruments.  North Cobb High School has started a United Sound group as of January 2017, and the program is flourishing.

Smiles are a common sight in a United Sound rehearsal.

I was invited by Dr. Paula Krupiczewicz, the orchestra director at North Cobb High School to observe a regular, weekly rehearsal of United Sound.  On Wednesday, March 8th, I witnessed not only students with special needs learning and loving play musical instruments, but I saw a massive shift in the way these students are treated and viewed since I was a child.

Color-coordinated strings.

A United Sound wrist band worn
proudly by everyone involved.

There were five United Sound students.  Two were learning cello, and the other three were learning violin.  As per the United Sound guidelines, each new musician has a team of three other students who are all proficient in music from their regular music classes.  Each of the three students has a specific job: one helps the new musician directly, fixing posture, guiding hands, etc., one guides the lesson by counting off rhythms and focusing attention on the lesson, and one plays alongside the new musician, modeling and demonstrating how it should look and sound.  The result is a structured, adaptive team of teachers.  This structure was yielding results before my eyes.

One way the instruction is specialized is the conversion of notes to types of food.  The abstract concept of a quarter note and the foreign symbol can be confusing even for most adults.  In United Sound, a quarter note is now simply "Cake," spoken long over the course of one beat.  This is demonstrated repeatedly and becomes easy to remember and imitate for the students.  The pictures of the food on the page change color to tell the students which string to play.  "Do-nut," becomes two eighth notes, and "Souuuuuuup," is a whole note.  The entire class embraces this system and proudly belts it out across the classroom ushering laughter and smiles from everyone.

An excerpt from the United Sound workbook.
The organization donates these books if needed.

It was explained to me that one non-verbal new musician had only ever touched a cello in one other class.  While I observed, she was completely involved, playing open cello strings and seemingly loving it.  In previous classes, it was thought she was not involved at all.  She would constantly do small hops with her chair and scoot it back away from the action of the class.  However, the other students soon realized she was scooting her chair in rhythm with the music.  She was participating in her own way, which soon blossomed into understanding for the other students.  For me to watch this student play the cello while I was there was the cultivation of much effort and collective learning on everyone's part.

One of the most astonishing realizations I had was how positively everyone was interacting.  There were near-constant smiles from everyone in the room.  All of the young teachers seemed completely comfortable with their student musicians.  They made direct, meaningful eye contact, laughed along with the new musicians, and seemed completely at ease.  Never have I seen high school students interact on such a meaningful and comfortable level with students with severe special needs.

After the class, I asked a few students about their experience in United Sound.  One student commented, "When these students are here, they seem to forget about their struggles.  When they play, they feel so happy about it.  They don't doubt themselves like we do when performing music."

The three teacher roles are clearly seen here.

Another student said, "No one should be prevented from doing activities like music."  She later added, "Everyone should be challenged on their own level, and United Sounds does that for these students."

One of the most enlightening things I've ever heard was said by a third student after the class.  "I have learned to never pity them.  They have different struggles than we do, but they just keep learning and having fun doing it.  That is nothing that deserves pity."

I asked Dr. Krupiczewicz what her experience with the United Sound program was so far.  "I love it!" she exclaimed.  "It gives me a chance to do something unfamiliar.  It challenges me as a teacher which is rejuvenating.  It's also fun to watch my students teach others."  She went on to say, "I watched one of my students connecting with parents and special education teachers on how to reach her student.  I've never seen a student be so motivated to learn and create connections to help someone else.  She was willing to try anything--I almost cried watching that."

Dr. K. stands over a cellist demonstrating the
example the class was working on that day.

The world needs more understanding.  Meeting and interacting with someone who is different from you leads to wisdom and empathy.  If this ideal could be embraced the world over, we would live in much more peaceful, enlightened times.  United Sound is a catalyst for wisdom and joy for all involved.
If you would like to learn more about United Sound, you can see their website here: http://www.unitedsound.org/

If you would like to contact me about United Sound, do not hesitate.  I would love to speak with you about it and help you start your own program.

-Andrew Ryan Henke
andrew@ronaldsachs.com

www.ronaldsachs.com