I’ve mentioned before that my eighth grade son plays in his middle school orchestra. I love how his orchestra director always tries to include a pop or rock song as part of their concerts. Here’s Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir from their end of the year performance.
Mike and Paul's Music Blog 
Wow, that’s pretty cool! I can read between the lines the pride you feel for your son, which you should.
I find it awesome when kids in the era of the smartphone and seemingly ever-more computer games are into music. Also kudos to this teacher for having the vision and frankly the courage to go outside the box. I imagine some parents may be somewhat taken aback by his approach.
In my opinion, mixing things up a little can be a great way to motivate your students to keep practicing their instruments, which let’s be honest isn’t always that exciting. My classical guitar teacher did the same thing from the very beginning I started taking lessons as a 12 or 13-year-old. Apart from teaching me how to read sheet music and play classical pieces, he showed me simple chords and how to play Beatles and other songs. That kept it always fresh. It also sparked my love for what would become my all-time favorite band!
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Thanks Christian. Yes very proud of him. He still loves his phone and video games but we insist on variety – music, sports (he does precision jump rope). Yes his orchestra teacher is one of the cooler ones I’ve encountered. Totally agree with your point about mixing it up. I keep petitioning for them to do the Game of Thrones theme song but so far no luck 😀. Perhaps not appropriate for a middle school orchestra 😂
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Ha, don’t give up keeping them on their toes!
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