{"id":101198,"date":"2024-09-17T15:04:32","date_gmt":"2024-09-17T19:04:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/2024\/09\/17\/how-a-former-music-row-employee-is-using-his-skills-to-build-future-generations\/"},"modified":"2024-09-17T15:04:32","modified_gmt":"2024-09-17T19:04:32","slug":"how-a-former-music-row-employee-is-using-his-skills-to-build-future-generations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/2024\/09\/17\/how-a-former-music-row-employee-is-using-his-skills-to-build-future-generations\/","title":{"rendered":"How a Former Music Row Employee Is Using His Skills to Build Future\u00a0Generations"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\tYears after Dave Petrelli<\/strong> worked in the Nashville music business, he experienced a moment in the city\u2019s Shelby Park that eclipsed any expectations he had had for his career.<\/p>\n

\n\tA former peermusic creative assistant and Nashville Songwriters Association International director of events, Petrelli purposely segued into music education, and one step in the journey included teaching general education to fourth graders. Drawing on his innate skills, he frequently rewrote existing songs to teach students, and when a full solar eclipse occurred in the city in 2017, Petrelli prepared his classes by reworking the Bonnie Tyler<\/strong>\/Celine Dion<\/strong> hit \u201cTotal Eclipse of the Heart\u201d as \u201cTotal Eclipse of the Sun.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen the big day arrived, Petrelli and his wife, songwriter Victoria Banks<\/strong> (\u201cCome On Over,\u201d \u201cSaints\u00a0& Angels\u201d), joined thousands in the park to watch the afternoon sky turn dark. Around a dozen kids saw \u201cMr. Petrelli\u201d and ran to him to sing \u201cTotal Eclipse of the Sun.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tRelated\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Carrie<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tIt\u2019s Not Just Carrie Underwood: The Whole Sunday Night Football Theme Comes\u2026\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n

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\n\t\u201cI didn\u2019t even expect this to be a moment,\u201d he says now, \u201cand it was a moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tPetrelli is one of 30 instructors from eight states who will have another personal moment tonight (Sept.\u00a017) when the Country Music Association recognizes them as CMA Music Teachers of Excellence at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. CMA has turned music education into a mission, funneling revenue from the annual CMA Fest into programs that are vital to the development of future generations.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe program is so appreciated that the teacher awards will be attended by as many artists as instructors, including Walker Hayes<\/strong>, Jordan Davis<\/strong>, Riley Green<\/strong>, Terri Clark<\/strong> and Gretchen Wilson<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe teaching jobs may not be as glamorous as the touring gigs those artists pursue, but they\u2019re \u201cway more important,\u201d CMA senior vp of industry relations Tiffany Kerns <\/strong>says. \u201cWe have the best gigs in the world, don\u2019t get me wrong. But by far, what they do is way more impressive. And I mean, talk about having deep impact in communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThat impact is far-reaching. Music develops collaboration skills, learning to play an instrument builds discipline, and studying music rewires the brain, strengthening the connectivity between different cortexes and providing more paths for thoughts to follow. Schools with music education, according to Kerns, have lower rates of absenteeism. And since music teachers typically spend more one-on-one time with individual students as they learn their instruments, they are often the instructors whom students feel most comfortable with in revealing hunger or mental health issues.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn Petrelli\u2019s case, students likely relate to him in part because he\u2019s one of them in spirit. Growing up in Connecticut, his mother \u2014 who taught Spanish \u2014 died when he was 10, and he had to take care of himself sooner than his peers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI grew up too fast, and because of that, there\u2019s still a lot of kid in me,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Jelly<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tHotter Than Hell: The Devil Makes a Fiery Comeback In Country\u00a0Music\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n

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\n\tPetrelli leaned toward music early, and after graduating from Boston College, he taught the subject at a private Catholic elementary school for a year. He subsequently earned a songwriting degree at the Berklee College of Music, then moved to Nashville and worked his way into the music community. Once they got married, he and Banks decided at least one of them should have a job with greater security, and he shifted into education.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe \u201cTotal Eclipse of the Sun\u201d moment grew out of his approach, which mixes music with other parts of the school\u2019s curriculum. A few years ago, when Lockeland Elementary was operating under the schoolwide theme \u201cLockeland is out of this world,\u201d he would have classes explore the details in songs with galactic lyrics \u2014 such as David Bowie<\/strong>\u2018s \u201cSpace Oddity,\u201d Europe<\/strong>\u2018s\u201dThe Final Countdown\u201d or Elton John<\/strong>\u2018s \u201cRocket Man\u201d \u2014 to better understand space and enhance the school experience.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhat I have found is that that gets the kids really, really, really interested in what they\u2019re going to learn today,\u201d Petrelli says. \u201cMy lesson springboards off that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tOther courses, such as math or science, have more cut-and-dried material \u2014 two plus two will always equal four \u2014 and Kerns suggests that those classes feel more \u201cblack and white\u201d to students.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhen you walk into that music room, I really believe that Dave\u2019s students immediately feel and see color,\u201d she says. \u201cThere is something that is so vibrant about his personality and the way that he teaches, and that\u2019s a gift.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe CMA doesn\u2019t restrict its Teachers of Excellence awards to instructors who use country music in their classes. Pop, jazz, R&B and mariachi have all been used extensively by various honorees, though Petrelli does, in fact, incorporate country in his work, with songs by Garth Brooks<\/strong>, Dolly Parton<\/strong>, Waylon Jennings<\/strong> and Shania Twain<\/strong> among the material he has used.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe storytelling aspect is huge,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Porter<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tEd Rode Brings Decades of Country Royalty and Industry Insiders Into Focus in New\u2026\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n

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\n\tWhile teaching music may not be as glamorous as the careers of the artists that Petrelli\u2019s classes draw from, it still scratches his own artistic itch.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI teach six classes a day, and it\u2019s six one-hour performances,\u201d he says. \u201cIt is a song-and-dance show for one hour, six times in a row. I\u2019ve worked physically demanding jobs, mentally demanding jobs. I have never been as exhausted at the end of a day as when I come home from a particularly hard day of teaching.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s usually a thankless job, though the Teachers of Excellence event extends a bit of appreciation. And the students do provide feedback, whether they know it or not, at moments like the 2017 eclipse. At times like that, Petrelli is reminded that the job really is an opportunity to inspire the next generation, even if it looks a little different than what he originally envisioned.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI always dreamed of girls screaming my name,\u201d Petrelli says. \u201cI didn\u2019t think they\u2019d be 9\u00a0years old and waving in their car, [yelling], \u2018Mr. Petrelli!’\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSubscribe to\u00a0Billboard Country Update<\/a>, the industry\u2019s must-have source for news, charts, analysis and features.\u00a0Sign up for free delivery<\/a>\u00a0every weekend.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Aller \u00e0 la source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Years after Dave Petrelli worked in the Nashville music business, he experienced a moment in the city\u2019s Shelby Park that eclipsed any expectations he had had for his career. A former peermusic creative assistant and Nashville Songwriters Association International director of events, Petrelli purposely segued into music education, and one step in the journey included […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-musique","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101198\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}