Heritage Museums & Gardens Blog Spot

Musically Smart

While many of us enjoy music, some of us actually use music as a way of helping us to know and understand the world around us.  That’s the definition of an intelligence, as proposed by Dr. Howard Gardner, a professor of education at Harvard University in his theory of multiple intelligences.  Developed in 1983, this theory presented the idea that there are eight different intelligences, or potential pathways to learning: linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalist, and musical.  While schools traditionally presented lessons mainly in ways that benefitted linguistic and logical-mathematical learners, Dr. Gardner suggested that educators use a wider variety of methods to touch on as many intelligences as possible.  Providing the most inclusive learning environment would involve opportunities for movement, personal reflection, discussion, artifact handling, reading, visual connections, ties to nature, and even music  - a natural fit with what museums do best!

Music is often used to help tell an exhibit’s story, adding drama and creative dimension or even serving as a first-hand account of the past.  Music will even play a role in our newest outdoor family feature, Hidden Hollow: A Nature Discovery Center, which will be home to four outdoor instruments.  These instruments, custom-crafted for Heritage by Being:Art, include a 2.3 chromatic marimba, 4 octave kidimbarimba, 1 octave bass marimba, and 1 octave bass chimes. 


As you walk down the path into Hidden Hollow, you will hear the rich tones from these instruments drifting through the trees, setting the scene for your experience.  Families can experiment with making music on these sculptural instruments designed to be played by multiple people.  They are easily played and finely tuned to multiple scales that are designed to sound harmonic and melodic together.  Naturally, the instruments can be used to teach principles of sound, pitch, rhythm and tonality, but this summer, during our Music Makers program in Hidden Hollow, we  will also use music to help children understand things like weather concepts and bee communication!

Click here to see Heritage’s very own chromatic marimba being played by a professional percussionist:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4znXojVw-rQ

Heritage Museums & Gardens appreciates the importance of music education every day, and on Sunday, June 13, we will celebrate it in a big way by hosting Mode 4 Music Studios of Hyannis as they present their spring concert.  Children ages 5-18 will show off their musical intelligence as a wide variety of musical acts perform, from piano solos to five-person rock bands.  Dance and sing along from 1-4:30pm at the outdoor concert stage at this concert that is free with museum admission!

A Night at the Museum

The museum really does come alive at night!  Some lucky girls, ages 6-16 years old, found out the truth during the recent Girl Scout Overnight at Heritage.  A night of crafts, karaoke, team-building, games, plus a campfire and s’mores was more than just non-stop fun. With luck it also created a "sticky memory" or two.

"Sticky" memories are something that Reach Advisors - a nationally-recognized audience research and strategy firm - have been thinking a lot about lately. After talking with hundreds of folks, they determined that for many people, the vivid memory of a particular museum experience sticks with them from childhood, often from around the age of seven, which seems to be the magic age for memory-making (http://reachadvisors.typepad.com/museum_audience_insight/2009/08/the-magic-of-sevenyearolds.html). 

Museums can be "sticky" in this sense, creating memories that last a lifetime. Museums can be a harbor for the active imaginations of children, while at the same time helping them explore the world around them.  Where else can you gaze up at an enormous dinosaur skeleton and imagine you can hear it roar and feel the earth shake under your feet? Or take a pretend spin in a jaunty Model T? Kids who have memorable experiences like this tend to become museum-goers later in life, passing the love of museums on to their children. When families look for places where they can create lasting memories for not only their children but the entire family, a museum is the place to be.

The shop figures in the Folk Art Gallery and the horses on the carousel may not have really come to life

during the Girl Scout Overnight. And we can’t be sure the girls will remember everything we explored during the event. But one thing we can be certain of: they all realized that museums are places of excitement, discovery, laughter, bonding and contemplation. Maybe a few of them formed these feelings and experiences into a "sticky memory," just like so many of us did as children.   

If you’re interested in what Reach Advisors are learning about museum-goers, check out their blog at: http://reachadvisors.typepad.com.