Focus Group or...slightly out of focus group

In my other life I play the part of a jingle writer. Often we have to put our creations to the test in focus groups to see if they will be effective. This morning one of my students heard one of my jingles and asked me to explain how a singing commercial makes it to the airwaves. I enjoy sharing this part of my life with them. I think somehow, it shows them that music teachers don't just talk about music...we also play it. (and contrary to popular belief, we don't live at the school)

So...I'm currently working on a spot for a bicycle company and it hasn't been approved for broadcast. I told the students there are many careers in music other than playing an instrument. If you love music you can be a music producer, a record complany executive, a booking agent and yes...even a lowly jingle writer like me.

This is how the 7th grade became my focus group this morning and, according to them, my client should air this spot right away. I played the jingle for them first. We listened for the style of music, the instruments played, clarity of the lyrics (very important). I asked them to see if they could tell what or who the spot was for. They caught it quickly (a good thing in our biz). We then discussed how it gets to the radio or T.V. stations. Then I used a term they all understood...good old MP3. Yep...everything gets converted to an MP3 or Wav. file, and sent over the internet to another computer at the radio station...

I wish I had a teacher who told me all this when I was thirteen...It would have saved me some time and given me quite a head start.

It would make my teaching career complete to see one of these young folks become a jingle writer. And...advertising may be in one of these guys' future...who knows.

Lastly, we discovered that I only used two chords in my jingle...E and D...and that the style was rock and roll. We adjourned to the back of the room and they quickly performed my jingle with drums, bass, and guitars...maybe I should have called these guys to record for me...if they keep progressing this fast, one day I will.