Mr. Nees

Mr. Rick Nees is a Kennedy teacher for the math department. For Nees, when he teaches he usually tries to incorporate many means of music into his teaching style. He is also the adviser for guitar club, and partakes in other ways such as ONE Night director, and even Open Mic. So, Nees and I took some at sat down and talked about music, which is a usual thing for us, and I asked him some deeper questions.

Why do you love music?  

I don’t love ALL  music, but I think the music I do love has rhythm and melody that bring out feelings that don’t seem to get released any other way.  I don’t know words that would accurately describe the emotions … and that’s that.

What does music mean to you?  

It’s a communication method for me; both with and without words. 

What has music done for you?  

Since music became a dominant part of my life and personality, which started in the last half of my senior year in high school, my entire view of living made and abrupt shift from nothingness to limitless.  I began taking a much warmer and deeper look and all things going on around me that I had never paid attention to before.

How do you feel on today's society and how music is used? 

 Music is used for such a wide spectrum of reasons … it’s limitless.  It is used to make money, straight up, to make political points, express feelings about self and feelings toward others, to tell stories of the past, present, future … It can be used for therapy, to give certain feelings to visuals (like in movies and such).

What would you do if you could to change things you don't like about music?  

I wish the commercial aspect could be removed so more of our population could be exposed to the “art” of music.  With legal tender making all the decisions about what type of music the masses will be exposed to, it seems to have manifested short attention span and a shallow demand of quality.

What is your favorite music? Why?  

I have an electric type of music admiration.  I love to listen to music that makes it feasible to hear all the various parts and how they fit together and accompanied by lyrics that make me see things differently or confirm a view I already have.

Mr. Nees has a lot of the same views on music that I try to point out and have come across in my blogs, and I sincerely hope that having the same views (or close) will help to make the message matter.

(444)