Innovative Instruments: The Vegetable Orchestra

Years ago in the John Holt Book and Music Store we sold a video about how kids can make homemade instruments using everyday items from around the house. One was a recorder made from a cucumber, something we tried at home with our girls to mixed results. I know that the skills and thinking it takes to make a musical instrument from an object not normally associated with music are certainly "educational" and fun, but I never thought of them as being socially important too, until I was introduced to The Vegetable Orchestra.

Not only do they create unique soundscapes from fresh vegetables (as you can see in the video below), they create a social bond, a musical group, and a unique awareness of the value and utility of food. Founded in 1998 and based in Vienna, Austria, The Vegetable Orchestra creates new sounds and instruments from their daily trips to the market. The group writes in their FAQ:

What do you do with the vegetables when you're done with them?

Part of the vegetables which are left over after preparing the instruments go into the vegetable soup which is served to the audience after the concert.
Part of the instruments and other remaining vegetables we give to the audience after the concert and another part goes into the organic waste. 

This is, to me, a great example of thinking outside the box that we see children do naturally, such as pretending a piece of celery is a flute, and that adults, when they put their minds to it is as these folks do, can take to a whole new level of fun and exploration. Homeschoolers have probably encountered impromptu vegetable concerts, accompanied by pots and pans percussion, in their homes already, but here's a more organized way to approach the music. Perhaps cash-strapped school districts can form their own Vegetable Orchestras, combining nutritional, agricultural and musical studies into an interdisciplinary stew?

Homeschooling and PDD: A Success Story

Matt Savage is described on the front cover of the Boston Globe Living Section (Feb. 9, 2010) with this headline: “The Improviser. Is this autistic 17-year-old from Sudbury the next great jazz pianist?”

Savage, who has a type of autism called Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD), displayed much musical promise by the time he was seven but his behavior was so erratic that even three years ago his parents didn’t think he could find the self-control to become a top-tier jazz pianist. The article notes, “Today, after years of specialized therapies and dietary changes, Savage navigates a daily maze of classes, practice sessions, homework assignments and dorm life at Berklee.” Berklee is a music college in Boston that focuses on jazz, an art form Matt Savage is mastering before he’s old enough to vote. Until this article came out very few of Matt’s teachers and fellow students were even aware that he is disabled by PDD.

I’m struck by the fact that his parents homeschooled him and continue to homeschool his sister. The Savage family took matters into their own hands at a time when other parents would throw in the towel and they were able to help their son flourish by homeschooling him. Speaking to the reporter, Matt “describes his autism now as “almost a gimmick” used to get his young talents noticed.

‘There’s still the issue of communicating with friends,” he says guardedly. “I really don’t have much of it anymore, though, thanks for the therapies my mom put me through.’”

Later in this article we learn that the Savages moved in 2002 from Massachusetts to a farm in New Hampshire. His mother mentions how music and travel helped her son a lot too, so there are a lot of factors at play in making Matt connect with the world in addition to his unique therapies and diets, which, unfortunately, we get no details of in the article.

One of my favorite La Leche League sayings is that the proper course of child development is for children to move from dependence on their parents for everything to independence from their parents: “Baby the baby so you won’t have to baby the man.” Of course, this isn’t easy, but the payoff is worth it. Diane Savage says, “…the more he’s shown he could solve problems on his own, the more we’ve been able to pull back. It’s really been harder for me than him, though, because Matt’s early years were so intense, his behavioral issues so extreme.” Now Matt is not only attending college, jam sessions and playing in bands, he is donating proceeds from his concerts and CD sales to groups that support autism research and outreach.

It is important to remember that sending such a child into the care of others is no guarantee they will come out whole; professionals struggle with these children too! In fact, as many homeschooling parents of special needs children have noted, sending such a child to school can be counterproductive to the child’s emotional and social development. But parents of special needs children are often so worn out by their responsibilities that the thought of homeschooling in addition to all else they do for their children seems impossible. However, there are stories like Matt Savage’s that let us know that parents can work with their children to seek and secure the help they need while homeschooling them, which is why having the homeschooling option, even if you don’t use it, is important.