The PEG System

While teaching the High School class at church, we were introduced to a new way of "grading" music called the PEG System. The beauty of the PEG system is that it can be applied to more than just music. You can use it to grade TV shows, movies, and pretty much anything else you spend your time doing.

So, how does it work? Well, you have 10 points, and you get to split these 10 points among the three categories, which are P(rofitable), E(mpty), and G(arbage). So, a hymn like "Amazing Grace" would be something like 10-0-0. A song like "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" would be 2-6-2 (it's useful for teaching kids music, but really, the song doesn't MEAN anything). A song like "More Human Than Human" by Rob Zombie would be something along the lines of 0-4-6 (bad language, but the song really doesn't MEAN much at all if you listen to the actual words).


Now, here's where it gets tricky. The way you use the scale will depend on your values. For example, if you are a high schooler, you probably aren't going to say there's any profitable parts to "Row, Row, Row Your Boat", but as a father with two kids in Piano, I see some profitability there.


If you let your Christian values slip, then you'll miss the point of the PEG System. If you start to think things like drugs, alcohol, and bad language as somewhat profitable, then you'll slew the rankings and water them down.


It's not much, but it's a pretty simple way to grade Pop Culture elements as you encouter them. Are they Profitable, Empty, or Garbage?