“Music has carried me different places, so I am grateful for that push.” That’s the sentiments of today’s Monday Man Dave Jackman, the music teacher at Springer Memorial School.
He has been involved in music from the age of seven, quite reluctantly, he said, “And only years later I realized that it was probably my God-given talent, because back then I did not appreciate it as much.
“I really hated piano lessons . . . not because of the teachers but because I wanted to play cricket and football after school with my friends. I would come up with all types of ailments to get out of going.”
And thankful he is to his parents, who mandated that between the age of seven and 11 he take piano lessons.
Several people have played important roles in his career, including his piano teacher Andrew Allman and music teacher Roger Gittens at The Lodge School.
Jackman spent three years at Coleridge & Parry (CP) before earning a Bachelor of Music degree with a concentration in music education from Acadia University, Nova Scotia, Canada, and has spent the past five years teaching music at Springer Memorial.
Jackman is also choir director of the Christ Church Youth Chorale and the Springer Memorial School Choir.
The disdain he had for music quickly turned to appreciation when he entered Lodge and soon passed his first piano exam – with distinction.
“That made me feel a lot better and in class when I realized I was ahead of the little children because I knew more, coming from private lessons, that made me feel good. That is what made me give music a chance,” Jackman said.
He then added flute to his repertoire, played in the wind ensemble and the stage band, and sang in the school choir.
A lot of things seemed to have happened to his advantage: opportunities for music came up at Lodge, and no matter how little he practised or studied, he passed various exams at the Royal School Of Music and was one of the first people in the Caribbean to sit the CXC music exam – advanced level – and got a two!
Jackman said he would not call himself a childhood prodigy but would say he had talent when it came to music, which coincidentally does not run in his family.
Things continued to happen for him and when he was not sure he would go on with music after school, the Arts in Music Associate Degree programme was established at Barbados Community College. He went on to pursue that programme and graduated with credit.
Jackman’s love for music has blossomed and he has accomplished many feats in the field. He rejuvenated the school choir and continued the wind ensemble at CP. Since his arrival at Springer, the 30-voice choir now boasts over 100 members.
Jackman has also toured the region over the past 15 years and had opportunities to feature further afield. He also received job offers in several countries but declined.
Jackman decided to work here in Barbados at Springer Memorial School.
“When I chose to come to Springer, a lot of people were asking me why as opposed to other schools; at the time I did not have an answer for them.
“I have been able to see differently. A lot of people have negative things to say about Springer Memorial School . . . [but] where music is concerned, I want to be able to bring them to a level that makes a difference,” Jackman said.
The choir performs mostly at school functions but as of late last year they have been getting exposure outside the school. They entered their first competition and placed third.
The choir is growing and Jackman said that working with girls is enjoyable.
He has impressed on the girls the need to be in sync, because the audience can tell when the synergy is not there.
“Where you can take the rebounding basketball, you cannot take the rebounding performance – you need to be spot-on.
“They know my policy and they are learning that when I am ready, I am ready, so they do not disrespect me in that regard and I try to keep my rehearsals interesting.
“I think I have gotten them to understand that I want them to be awesome and great and therefore hard work is necessary, and we have no time to chill and I do not like mediocrity,” he said.
Jackman, who is not a vocalist himself, said he can sing but is more of an instrumentalist and knows what he wants to hear when directing a choir.
As the director of the highly requested Christ Church Youth Chorale for the past 11 years, Jackman is well on his way to even greater things in music.
Jackman spoke to the lack of appreciation for written music in Barbados.
“[I] do not think music is taken as seriously as it should be, as someone who has studied it and is quite critical in it.”
He said the children are interested in music, but their expectations are a little dampened when they come into school and hear they have to study music. Students say the music they were expecting was what they hear on the radio, so it was either sing that or do something along those lines.
The written work that has to be done entails learning the process they have to go through, the formalities to get that music they like produced.
“It is how music is delivered that will determine how they respond to it. Even if my students do not continue in music, [I] know that they have gained [some] appreciation for music.”
Springer, one of the first newer secondary schools with CXC music on the curriculum, entered 19 students, the most in Caribbean taking the exam.
“The amount of work that I had to do, it was a gamble. I did not expect every single person to pass [but] the results were pleasing, simply because of where I started them and where they
ended up,” Jackman said.
“I want to take them through a musical experience and appreciate that subject that is oft-times watered down.”
