If it were not for Tuesday's taping, the 20 students of Fairfax Academy would not have learned that Béla Fleck's musical style developed around the same age as the students before him. Fleck, a Grammy Award winner and world-renown banjo player, told the students that as he was growing up in New York City in the 1960s, the music of that era — the Beatles, fusion music — touched him in ways that continue to influence his playing today.
"It all sort of crept into my playing," Fleck said.
That interaction with the students was one of the reasons why MHz Networks, the Merrifield-based public television which produces the music show MHz Presents, intends to bring more students into tapings with featured musical artists. As the first group of students to witness a taping ask questions from the musical artists and take a tour of the studio's facilities, students of Fairfax Academy's Music and Computer Technology class and TV Production class learned about the inner workings of producing a show while meeting with professional recording musicians.
"They're going to appreciate learning about the creative process," said Gwen Plummer, career experience specialist for Fairfax Academy.
MANY OF the students who came to the May 18 taping were already fans of both Fleck and Edgar Meyer, a bassist and another Grammy Award winner. While the studio was preparing to film the set, Fleck, Meyer and the students chatted about music and the business.
"It was an amazing show, they have a really unique style to the music," said Amanda Canseco, a senior at Mountainview High School in Centreville. "The bassist, he was so passionate."
Oakton High School senior Joe Dettmar agreed. "These are two musicians that I hold in the highest regard, and seeing them today was memorable," he said.
After the musicians completed their set, they answered some questions posed by the program's host and by the audience.
"I call it 'high-tech primitive,' " said Fleck of his instrument, the banjo. "You have this speed, but you have a fundamental sound. There's something funky about it."
Meyer described how his double bass was made in Florence in 1769.
"It has a strong and clear sound while still having a lot of depth ... when you pick it up, it feels alive," Meyer said.
The duo also discussed composing, as they have collaborated on several pieces together.
"After your initial rush, you start writing the same song over and over again," said Meyer, explaining that he initially wrote a canon in 15/8 time as a technical exercise. Meyer and Fleck performed that canon as part of their set.
The students were able to talk to the musicians some more as they were packing up to go. They listened intently as Meyer described the challenges in recording an album.
"It's all-encompassing. It speaks to me," said Josh Vanderiet, a senior at Oakton High School, of Fleck and Meyer's music.
The interaction between the students and the musicians was one of the intended goals for MHz Presents, said the show's producer and director Olaf Reistrup. The show intends to bring in more school groups in order to promote the connections between music and education, including the relationships between music and subjects like science and mathematics.
"This is a pilot program. We'd like to extend the same opportunity to other schools in the area," Reistrup said.
"People should be exposed to things that are beautiful. And music should be included as something beautiful," he added.