Reflecting is the best way to grow and learn as a human being and especially as a teacher. I gave another mock general music audition lesson yesterday. The topic again was tempo and ironically enough I definitely changed the tempo of my lesson. Last lesson I relied to heavily on technology and although I believe technology can help teach a lesson, I have noticed that it can hinder a lesson and stop it dead in its tracks. If a teacher is not fluid with the computer then there is a lot of dead time that needs to be filled up. I think I need more practice multitasking to better incorporate technology.
So for this lesson I cut out as much technology as I could and just tried to switch the flow of the classroom. I tried to get my students more involved in the class and not talk as much as I did last lesson. I began by getting the class clapping together and asking questions about tempo while we clapped and changed the tempo of our clapping. I then wanted them to break into groups, use a metronome, and create their own rhythmic patterns which would then be subject to varying tempos. I did not give many requirements aside from having at least one steady pulse rhythm to keep them grounded and having at least 3 varying rhythms and body percussions. I let groups work independently and they were able to come up with good rhythm patterns that worked at varying tempos. I might reconsidered letting students make their own rhythms because that could take a majority of the class period. I might have made some rhythms samples that they could choose from and play around with. The lesson was about tempo, not creating rhythms and I need to stay focused in my lessons. While I was teaching during the lesson I got held up trying to put up the clock example. I think this slowed the lesson down but I recovered quickly from it and let the students use their own metronomes to practice different tempos. I think it was good to have the students try out different tempo markings to help learn the name of the tempos and feel how fast or slow those tempos markings are supposed to go. At one point the whole class was stomping along to the beat of one group to assess whether each group was getting the right tempo. This can assess how groups understand tempos and how other groups can learn to feel tempos.
Overall I think it was a more enjoyable lesson for my students because it didn't have them waiting to get to the activity and kept the active the whole time. It evens gives students a chance to be a part of the assessment process for each other which is a good skill to have.
Tuesday, May 5, 2015
Monday, April 20, 2015
How to Build an Audience
I think that any music teacher should be concerned if his or her concerts are only drawing in a small amount of audience members. Not only is it disheartening for the students if they just worked on their music for months to only perform it for an audience of 50 when the auditorium can hold 5 times as many people, but it also does not look good to the administrators. Music teachers are constantly trying to prove the value of their program to administration and a small audience turn out to concerts is not going to help the cause. So what can we do?
First off, build a bigger ensemble. The more students in the ensemble, the more parents and guardians that will be in attendance at concerts. It also doesn't hurt to have more bodies in your program!
Secondly, low hanging fruit. My college orchestra director always gave a speech during the rehearsals before an upcoming concert about how we needed to reach out to the all the low hanging fruit in ours lives (family, friends, relatives, teachers, co-workers, roommates) and tell every one of them about our concert. It made sense, we saw these people almost every day and had contact with them so it was easy to tell them about our concert. Since we knew them personally it made it easier for those people to come to our concerts, maybe not to see the ensemble but to see the individual play. Most of the people close to us in our lives know we are involved in music and a concert would be a good chance for them to see what we have been working on. The other half of this is getting strangers to come to our concert. My college orchestra director had the whole orchestra write their own 1 minute "elevator speech" so that everyone would be prepared to sell the concert to any person they met.
In order to get people in the door, we as directors need to push our students (sometimes very hard) to talk about their show and hopefully they have all worked hard enough and would want to share their hard work with family and friends because it is something they are proud of. It is the student's time to show off what they can do.
Furthermore, in building a music program around a community it helps to get your students playing and performing in the community. If the ensemble is active in the community then the concerts will not just be school events, but community events. If we are willing to share our music, people will listen. Hopefully over time a tradition can be built around the community coming together to attend concerts and celebrate the hard work that our music students do.
First off, build a bigger ensemble. The more students in the ensemble, the more parents and guardians that will be in attendance at concerts. It also doesn't hurt to have more bodies in your program!
Secondly, low hanging fruit. My college orchestra director always gave a speech during the rehearsals before an upcoming concert about how we needed to reach out to the all the low hanging fruit in ours lives (family, friends, relatives, teachers, co-workers, roommates) and tell every one of them about our concert. It made sense, we saw these people almost every day and had contact with them so it was easy to tell them about our concert. Since we knew them personally it made it easier for those people to come to our concerts, maybe not to see the ensemble but to see the individual play. Most of the people close to us in our lives know we are involved in music and a concert would be a good chance for them to see what we have been working on. The other half of this is getting strangers to come to our concert. My college orchestra director had the whole orchestra write their own 1 minute "elevator speech" so that everyone would be prepared to sell the concert to any person they met.
In order to get people in the door, we as directors need to push our students (sometimes very hard) to talk about their show and hopefully they have all worked hard enough and would want to share their hard work with family and friends because it is something they are proud of. It is the student's time to show off what they can do.
Furthermore, in building a music program around a community it helps to get your students playing and performing in the community. If the ensemble is active in the community then the concerts will not just be school events, but community events. If we are willing to share our music, people will listen. Hopefully over time a tradition can be built around the community coming together to attend concerts and celebrate the hard work that our music students do.
Creating a Love for Music
As a music teacher, the big question that I face is how can I create a love for music and performing in my program? I recently watched a documentary called "Thunder Soul" which is about the Kashmere Stage Band, an all black high school jazz/funk band that became a national sensation in the 70's. The band was lead by director Conrad O. Johnson or "Prof" and the band won many jazz band competitions and even recorded top selling albums. It takes a special kind of person to take a group of high school students and make them into a professional band. Johnson believed that if his students could play with the same quality as a professional, then they would stick with their music. He gave his students a means to be amazing and he pushed them and challenged them to be the best they could be. These high expectations are what some of the members said "saved their lives." Many of the members of the band did not have father figures in their lives and were not motivated or committed to school but Johnson became a father figure all of his students and he trained and shaped his student's minds. He gave them something that they could lean on for the rest of their lives. He believed that there was no limit to a child's ability to play music, so he set high goals and inspired them to put everything into it and he could see the future inside of each of his students.
Johnson not only inspired his students, but he has also inspired me to be the the teacher that could have such a profound effect on his students. To create a love for music I must remember that every child can play music and like Johnson said, there is not limit to a child's ability to play music. I have to believe in my students because in some cases they might not believe in themselves or their family might not believe in them. Giving a student that hope will motivate them to continue playing. I want my students to know that they are part of something great and that they are representing the school and the community and that they are creating an identity for themselves and their home. Music is extremely powerful, even if students do not continue to pursue music after graduation, they still have something to lean on for the rest of their lives that many people are not lucky enough to have. My goal is to create a life long love and appreciation for music and be able to open a new world for students to explore and be a part of.
Johnson not only inspired his students, but he has also inspired me to be the the teacher that could have such a profound effect on his students. To create a love for music I must remember that every child can play music and like Johnson said, there is not limit to a child's ability to play music. I have to believe in my students because in some cases they might not believe in themselves or their family might not believe in them. Giving a student that hope will motivate them to continue playing. I want my students to know that they are part of something great and that they are representing the school and the community and that they are creating an identity for themselves and their home. Music is extremely powerful, even if students do not continue to pursue music after graduation, they still have something to lean on for the rest of their lives that many people are not lucky enough to have. My goal is to create a life long love and appreciation for music and be able to open a new world for students to explore and be a part of.
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Lesson Reflection
Yesterday, in my Secondary Music graduate course, I gave a 10 minute "audition" lesson on the topic of tempo. Ironically enough, my teaching tempo was pretty inconsistent. My colleagues noticed that when I was teaching, demonstrating, or having my "students" practice something, that I was fluid and consistent with my presentation. It was the transitions that were killing me. I had great activities and examples planned out but when it came to changing from one to another, I lost the class's attention in the process. In a real middle school setting (and I am well aware of this after interning in one for 2-3 months) that downtime between instructions and during transitions can be deadly. A great amount of time can be spent trying to settle the class down and regain focus. I need to make sure that I am not leaving my class hanging at any point during the lesson. Even if I have to pause, I should do it with purpose. I need to hold the attention of the entire class no matter what. This means I need to be more deliberate with my teaching and directions so that there is no confusion about what I am asking of the students. In my lesson yesterday I started off with the students singing the ABC's in different tempos. I was too laissez faire with my instructions and this left my students feeling confused. As a teacher, I need to give thorough instructions for every task so that we are not wasting time revisiting instructions that were not clear enough. I think with more time and practice I will develop this meticulous method of giving instruction. I cannot assume that every student will understand what I am asking them to do if I am too vague with my directions. I had a plan going into the lesson, but now I know that my plan needs to be broken down into smaller pieces. I need to stick to my plan and follow the directions I write for myself. It may feel like I am micromanaging everything that could happen in the classroom, but I believe that practicing teaching at this level will help greatly. If I have a solid foundation going into the classroom then my lessons will run extremely well. Purpose, passion and persistence are what I want to incorporate into my next lesson. I think my ideas are well founded and are great ways to engage students, but the lesson itself isn't going to teach the class.
Monday, March 30, 2015
Should we have to rely on parents and fundraising to support a modern BOJC (Band, Orchestra, Jazz, Chorus) program?
I am not an expert on how much funding a school puts into its music and arts programs, but from my experiences in schools I can tell that school funding is not enough to support these programs. I think that a schools music program can get by with the funding from the school but it takes much more for the program to grow and cannot solely rely on school funding. The music classroom requires all the same materials as any other class but it cannot survive on just that. It needs instruments, music, repairs, replacements, uniforms, tuxedos and dresses, extended field trips, competitions, performances, and on and on.
In a modern BOJC class we cannot guarantee that all students will be able to afford or have access to all of these "necessities." Purchasing instruments and concert attire can be a hardship for some families and it becomes the schools responsibility to provide instruments and concert attire for students who wish to participate in music. We cannot turn away students who want to be in the music classroom if they cannot afford an instrument, but the school alone cannot pay for every student to have their own instrument and uniform. In order to have a successful BOJC program the members and students of these classes need to realize that this class is not like their other classes and that as a part of an ensemble, they are part of a team. A team that works together to make sure that every member has an equal opportunity to play and perform. that means that if Student A wants to play bassoon but the school does not have a bassoon and he cannot afford one, then the members of this ensemble will raise the money to get a bassoon into their ensemble. Helping Student A helps the entire ensemble, but how do we convince our students of that and how do we go about raising that money?
Students need to know that being a part of a BOJC ensemble is like being a part of a sports team and if a sports team wants to travel, or get new equipment, or new uniforms or really do anything they will need funding. The BOJC ensembles are bigger than students other classes like math and english in that the whole class suffers if one person is left behind. Once students realize this and can become invested in something bigger than just themselves, then they can start to brainstorm ways to make their experience in the ensemble the best it can be. This is not going to happen overnight, but the mentality and culture of a team needs to be built around the ensemble.
I do not believe that parents should be held responsible for covering costs of ensemble expenses. No individual parent should feel that they need to pay for their child to be involved in a school ensemble. Parents already have to pay enough for their child's instrument and attire and sometimes even lessons. As music educators, we cannot expect parents to cover the cost of maintaining our ensembles. We need to raise our own money in a way that teaches students responsibility to a group and a team. The best programs thrive off of community support and the best programs raise as much money as they can to make them the best that they are.
The only flaw with raising money from the community is the inevitable fact that some communities are much more affluent than others which means that some schools have an advantage in community funding just by being lucky enough to live where they live. While this is an unfortunate truth, the value of taking ownership and being responsible for the success of a group is a great lesson to teach our students and any amount of money that is raised is more than they had to start. It takes time and practice but in the end a modern BOJC program cannot grow without support from outside the school. The future of our ensembles and classes in our school districts is really in our hands and we can take them as far as we want them to go with the right attitude, support and school culture.
In a modern BOJC class we cannot guarantee that all students will be able to afford or have access to all of these "necessities." Purchasing instruments and concert attire can be a hardship for some families and it becomes the schools responsibility to provide instruments and concert attire for students who wish to participate in music. We cannot turn away students who want to be in the music classroom if they cannot afford an instrument, but the school alone cannot pay for every student to have their own instrument and uniform. In order to have a successful BOJC program the members and students of these classes need to realize that this class is not like their other classes and that as a part of an ensemble, they are part of a team. A team that works together to make sure that every member has an equal opportunity to play and perform. that means that if Student A wants to play bassoon but the school does not have a bassoon and he cannot afford one, then the members of this ensemble will raise the money to get a bassoon into their ensemble. Helping Student A helps the entire ensemble, but how do we convince our students of that and how do we go about raising that money?
Students need to know that being a part of a BOJC ensemble is like being a part of a sports team and if a sports team wants to travel, or get new equipment, or new uniforms or really do anything they will need funding. The BOJC ensembles are bigger than students other classes like math and english in that the whole class suffers if one person is left behind. Once students realize this and can become invested in something bigger than just themselves, then they can start to brainstorm ways to make their experience in the ensemble the best it can be. This is not going to happen overnight, but the mentality and culture of a team needs to be built around the ensemble.
I do not believe that parents should be held responsible for covering costs of ensemble expenses. No individual parent should feel that they need to pay for their child to be involved in a school ensemble. Parents already have to pay enough for their child's instrument and attire and sometimes even lessons. As music educators, we cannot expect parents to cover the cost of maintaining our ensembles. We need to raise our own money in a way that teaches students responsibility to a group and a team. The best programs thrive off of community support and the best programs raise as much money as they can to make them the best that they are.
The only flaw with raising money from the community is the inevitable fact that some communities are much more affluent than others which means that some schools have an advantage in community funding just by being lucky enough to live where they live. While this is an unfortunate truth, the value of taking ownership and being responsible for the success of a group is a great lesson to teach our students and any amount of money that is raised is more than they had to start. It takes time and practice but in the end a modern BOJC program cannot grow without support from outside the school. The future of our ensembles and classes in our school districts is really in our hands and we can take them as far as we want them to go with the right attitude, support and school culture.
Monday, March 23, 2015
Technology in the Music Classroom
Technology is taking over our schools whether we want it to or not. Technology is evolving at a rate that educators can hardly keep up with; so much so that we may lose our students to technology if we do not embrace it. Our students were born into the technology revolution and it would only make sense to teach them the through a way that they know how to learn; technology. Technology means: computers, laptops, iPads, Chromebooks, cellphones, Smart Boards, iPods etc. Students come into school every day with these devices and teachers are forced to deal with them. Some think that these devices only serve as a distraction, but in this age students are exposed to terabytes of information (the quality of the information that they are receiving is up for debate...) and ultimately end up doing a lot of learning from the internet. The entire catalogue of human existence is just a click away now and teachers may not be fully aware of this. Students are able to learn what they want when they want through the internet and come to school knowing more than students did 20 years ago. Think about it, the average American student has access to the internet in some way and is already absorbing information where as the average student in the 1930's only knew their own backyard and whatever mom and dad taught them. The amount of information of students know is astronomically more than past students which is a large change, but has education changed as drastically to meet the needs of these tech revolution students?
Some teachers I have talked to embrace technology and the fact that information is readily available for students. For this teacher, it meant that students would not have to spend as much time memorizing facts and could focus on projects which developed critical thinking skills. The goal of education should not be to create well oiled test taking machines but to create a generation of people who can think and create to ensure the success of the human race.
Educators should not feel threatened by technology, it should not be a burden nor something to dread. Technology offers the means to reach students in a way that can make sense to everyone. Technology is the muse of this new generation of students and it should be fostered and shaped so teachers and students can get the most learning usage out of it.
In the school that I am interning in now, the music teachers are utilizing the rise of technology in their music classrooms. One specific program they use in their general music classes is Synthesia. Synthesia is like the popular video game Guitar Hero, for piano. What I like about technology in the music classroom is that it caters to students with unique learning styles. While music can be a lot of listening and ear training or rote, technology puts music into different mediums so that anyone can learn it. Synthesia allows students to watch the notes they are playing (sight) while hearing the same notes on their pianos. We are lucky enough to have a piano laboratory for our general music students, with 16 macs fully equipped with music software as well as 16 Yamaha piano keyboards for each computer. Students are able to listen (with headphones) to what the assignments that the teacher assigns (also through the computer). The class is structured so that the teacher can e-mail the assignments to students. The assignments are broken down into sections with links to various exercises for each lesson. The lesson includes links to note reading drills and games, compositions assignments, scale practice, and songs in Synthesia. All of this material is right at the student's disposal as soon as they walk into the room, all the teacher has to do is direct them to the e-mail and they can get started. She will pause them to explain new concepts, but usually will go around the classroom, while everyone is working independently, and work with individual students to help them develop their skills. It is almost impossible for teachers in any other classrooms to get this one on one time with a student, especially in music, and technology makes this possible.
Another elementary music teacher has adopted even more mediums of technology through which to teach music, such as the Smart Board and iPad. Through the Smart Board she was able to write rhythms with her 1st grade class and recorded them playing their rhythms on the Smart Board. She was then able to play back what they recorded with the written rhythms so they could see their music come to life.
There are endless ways that technology can help us teach and reach our students on a new level. We need to be educated about these technologies and able to harness their potential to make them as effective as they can be. The biggest obstacle for teachers is learning how to use these technologies as well as use them in a classroom setting. Keeping an open mind and knowing how much of an impact technology has on our students is the first step. Once we are able to accept that it is here to stay, we need to work hard to eventually have technology work for us and our students to become the most successful individuals they can be in this technological revolution.
Some teachers I have talked to embrace technology and the fact that information is readily available for students. For this teacher, it meant that students would not have to spend as much time memorizing facts and could focus on projects which developed critical thinking skills. The goal of education should not be to create well oiled test taking machines but to create a generation of people who can think and create to ensure the success of the human race.
Educators should not feel threatened by technology, it should not be a burden nor something to dread. Technology offers the means to reach students in a way that can make sense to everyone. Technology is the muse of this new generation of students and it should be fostered and shaped so teachers and students can get the most learning usage out of it.
In the school that I am interning in now, the music teachers are utilizing the rise of technology in their music classrooms. One specific program they use in their general music classes is Synthesia. Synthesia is like the popular video game Guitar Hero, for piano. What I like about technology in the music classroom is that it caters to students with unique learning styles. While music can be a lot of listening and ear training or rote, technology puts music into different mediums so that anyone can learn it. Synthesia allows students to watch the notes they are playing (sight) while hearing the same notes on their pianos. We are lucky enough to have a piano laboratory for our general music students, with 16 macs fully equipped with music software as well as 16 Yamaha piano keyboards for each computer. Students are able to listen (with headphones) to what the assignments that the teacher assigns (also through the computer). The class is structured so that the teacher can e-mail the assignments to students. The assignments are broken down into sections with links to various exercises for each lesson. The lesson includes links to note reading drills and games, compositions assignments, scale practice, and songs in Synthesia. All of this material is right at the student's disposal as soon as they walk into the room, all the teacher has to do is direct them to the e-mail and they can get started. She will pause them to explain new concepts, but usually will go around the classroom, while everyone is working independently, and work with individual students to help them develop their skills. It is almost impossible for teachers in any other classrooms to get this one on one time with a student, especially in music, and technology makes this possible.
Another elementary music teacher has adopted even more mediums of technology through which to teach music, such as the Smart Board and iPad. Through the Smart Board she was able to write rhythms with her 1st grade class and recorded them playing their rhythms on the Smart Board. She was then able to play back what they recorded with the written rhythms so they could see their music come to life.
There are endless ways that technology can help us teach and reach our students on a new level. We need to be educated about these technologies and able to harness their potential to make them as effective as they can be. The biggest obstacle for teachers is learning how to use these technologies as well as use them in a classroom setting. Keeping an open mind and knowing how much of an impact technology has on our students is the first step. Once we are able to accept that it is here to stay, we need to work hard to eventually have technology work for us and our students to become the most successful individuals they can be in this technological revolution.
Monday, March 9, 2015
Rubrics, What Are They Good For?
In Alfie Kohn's article "The Trouble With Rubrics" he describes rubrics as "a tool to promote standardization, to turn teachers into grading machines or at least allow them to pretend that what they’re doing is exact and objective." I agree that, if used incorrectly, rubrics can inhibit true learning. If students learn that getting the A is the most important thing, then students will learn to do whatever it takes to get that A, even if they do not actually learn the material. I feel that teachers who not enthusiastic about what they teach often use rubric to sort out their students and assign grades based on predetermined standards. If the teacher does not care about each individual student's success then how can we expect students to care about their own success. Rubrics can be misused to set unachievable standards for some students, and the teacher might not even know it. How can we measure the learning of all students collectively with only one rubric? Kohn states that "observers criticize rubrics because they can never deliver the promised precision; judgments ultimately turn on adjectives that are murky and end up being left to the teacher’s discretion...and in order to be successful...we need check our judgment at the door, so we can all learn to give a 4 to exactly the same things." Every teacher has their own unique personality and they have their own life experiences which can reflect in their interpretations of rubrics and ultimately their grading. I agree that teachers need to make sure they are being conscious of their own judgements and that they refrain from giving grades from an opinion based approach.
This can relate to our music ensemble classrooms; how can we as music teachers grade every student fairly and know that if we had another music teacher come in and grade the class, that he would give the same grades? If we used the same rubric we could narrow our differences but what would still be different? It is difficult to grade students who have diverse musical backgrounds. How do grade the all-state violinist who took private lessons his entire life and the violist who only knows what she learned in school and had to switch from violin because there weren't enough violas in the orchestra? That's a dangerous dichotomy which music teachers will have to compare and grade from the same rubric. While the violinist excels the violist may be struggling with learning a new clef which may prevent her from excelling. If you have near music prodigies as well as students who can barely read music in your ensembles, how do you go about grading them. Does it become a matter of effort vs. music talent. I do not believe I could honestly give someone a grade based on their musical talent. The violinist may be good, but if he does not apply himself in class and is disruptive and tardy then maybe his effort should determine his grade. I know he can play the instrument, but how will he apply what he knows to better the ensemble. If he lead the section, helped others learn their parts, took on new challenges and difficult repertoire, then I could give him a good grade for his effort and his commitment to success. If the violist does not both to learn alto clef and pretends to play during rehearsal then she might not deserve a good grade because she is not putting in any effort to become successful. If she tried to learn the clef, did drills online, practiced scales, stayed after for help on technique, then I could visibly see that she was attempting to achieve a higher level of learning which would warrant a good grade. Even if she still has trouble playing correct notes in orchestra, without any effort then there would never be any progress.
Overall it seem that music teachers need to find a common ground that every student can be graded on fairly despite their musical backgrounds. Everyone will be at different levels and it is not fair to grade only on raw talent. It should be based on how students apply what they know and how they learn from doing so.
This can relate to our music ensemble classrooms; how can we as music teachers grade every student fairly and know that if we had another music teacher come in and grade the class, that he would give the same grades? If we used the same rubric we could narrow our differences but what would still be different? It is difficult to grade students who have diverse musical backgrounds. How do grade the all-state violinist who took private lessons his entire life and the violist who only knows what she learned in school and had to switch from violin because there weren't enough violas in the orchestra? That's a dangerous dichotomy which music teachers will have to compare and grade from the same rubric. While the violinist excels the violist may be struggling with learning a new clef which may prevent her from excelling. If you have near music prodigies as well as students who can barely read music in your ensembles, how do you go about grading them. Does it become a matter of effort vs. music talent. I do not believe I could honestly give someone a grade based on their musical talent. The violinist may be good, but if he does not apply himself in class and is disruptive and tardy then maybe his effort should determine his grade. I know he can play the instrument, but how will he apply what he knows to better the ensemble. If he lead the section, helped others learn their parts, took on new challenges and difficult repertoire, then I could give him a good grade for his effort and his commitment to success. If the violist does not both to learn alto clef and pretends to play during rehearsal then she might not deserve a good grade because she is not putting in any effort to become successful. If she tried to learn the clef, did drills online, practiced scales, stayed after for help on technique, then I could visibly see that she was attempting to achieve a higher level of learning which would warrant a good grade. Even if she still has trouble playing correct notes in orchestra, without any effort then there would never be any progress.
Overall it seem that music teachers need to find a common ground that every student can be graded on fairly despite their musical backgrounds. Everyone will be at different levels and it is not fair to grade only on raw talent. It should be based on how students apply what they know and how they learn from doing so.
This Land is Your Land and All That Jazz
The question today is whether music teachers should be experts in jazz or American Folk Music. This is a difficult question, especially for me because I have very little jazz experience. Nonetheless jazz has worked its way into my life in many shapes and forms. I took guitar lessons for many years while I was growing up and played mostly blues and rock songs, I learned the blues scales and style and have a very good understanding of it. During this time my teacher introduced me to jazz and I started practicing from a jazz guitar book for beginners. I hated it....it wasn't the music or the sound of it, it was just very difficult for me at 14 to wrap my head around jazz and understand what was happening musically. My only other music influence at the time was my public school strings program where I played viola and mostly classical repertoire. Jazz was very new to me. The rhythms, the chords, the scales, they just did not make sense to me. It happened again a year later when I began taking piano lessons and my piano teacher happened to be a jazz pianist....I quit shortly after. Yet, jazz still amazes me. Even though I shied away from it for many years, I still had a deep appreciation for it. The sounds of jazz made sense when I listened to them and I hold it and jazz performers in very high regard. I regretted giving up my jazz training but nothing could change that I just did not understand it. Looking back now it might have to do with the fact that I never listened to jazz when I was growing up nor do I remember doing anything jazz related in my elementary music classes. Is this why I was never able to do anything with jazz? Because I had no exposure to it?
It makes sense...Someone who grew up listening to those harmonies and rhythms only found in jazz would find it natural to play jazz, just like I found other genres easier to play than others. So is it the fault of my music teachers for keeping jazz a secret? I don't blame them, it's still relatively new and honestly, I'm not sure I would know how to teach it right now either. So what can we do? I think we need to accept it as a prominent institutionalized art form which holds merit as a type of music that is unique to our nation. It is no doubt a part of our musical as well as cultural history and I think it might not be getting the attention it needs at early stages of development. But why? Is it daunting for a teacher to try to teach young children about complicated rhythms and chords when they still need to learn the basics? Maybe for some, it definitely is for me...
And what about American Folk Songs? Surely these songs hold as just merit as being unique to our nation as jazz and they are easy to teach. Most fall on simple I, IV, V chord patterns which many students will recognize from pop or other songs. The rhythms are easy to follow along and can promote classroom participation and learning. I know I could teach children these songs; pull out my guitar, sing a few lines, have them sing it back, in no time my students will be able to sing This Land is Your Land. To what extent should we learn about folk music? Should we use them as a basis for other musical instruction? Should we use This Land is Your Land to teach students about simple rhythms and introduce solfege? It seems like a teach could do a lot with American Folk songs while implementing music learning as well as cultural and historical learning. Plus, these songs are usually fun for kids to sing and are part of our oral traditions as Americans, which should be passed down as well as used as a learning tool.
So which American Folk Songs should every student and every American know?
The national anthem: Personally I find this song to be a little dull, but it would be strange if I did not know it by heart. Students should at least be exposed to this song, not only does it have merit in the music classroom, it also promotes nationalism and develops a strong bond to one's country. It is a song they will hear for the rest of their lives if they stay in America and would be taboo not to know it.
This Land is Your Land: If you ask a kid today who Woody Guthrie is about 90% will have no idea who you are talking about. If you tell them that he wrote This Land is Your Land then students will remember who you are talking about. Woody Guthrie is an American Folk icon and I believe that he lead the way for American Folk as well as Peter Seeger. The song itself is a great song to know, just because everyone knows it and again it is a song which prides our country. It is a great sing a long song for classes and can teach many musical lessons. The message itself is a good thing for all young students to learn, we share this country with many people from different backgrounds and cultures but it is still ours to share.
I think those are the two most necessary folk songs, other than that there are plenty of other short songs which are easy to learn and teach such as: Yankee Doodle, Skip to my Lou, She'll be Coming Around the Mountain, Row, row, row, your boat, Oh Susannah, I've Been Working on the Railroad, Home on the Range, Do Your Ears Hang Low?, and Clementine. While the context that these songs were written in may not fit into the context of our society today, they are still tunes that were written by Americans as they founded the country we know today. These songs should live on in our country while new songs are added among them to include all of America's history up to the present. What songs from the last decade will become the folk songs of the next century? It is the responsibility of music teacher to be collectors of our oral musical history and pass it on to each generation so our musical traditions live on. Not to mention they are beneficial for teaching music anyways...
It makes sense...Someone who grew up listening to those harmonies and rhythms only found in jazz would find it natural to play jazz, just like I found other genres easier to play than others. So is it the fault of my music teachers for keeping jazz a secret? I don't blame them, it's still relatively new and honestly, I'm not sure I would know how to teach it right now either. So what can we do? I think we need to accept it as a prominent institutionalized art form which holds merit as a type of music that is unique to our nation. It is no doubt a part of our musical as well as cultural history and I think it might not be getting the attention it needs at early stages of development. But why? Is it daunting for a teacher to try to teach young children about complicated rhythms and chords when they still need to learn the basics? Maybe for some, it definitely is for me...
And what about American Folk Songs? Surely these songs hold as just merit as being unique to our nation as jazz and they are easy to teach. Most fall on simple I, IV, V chord patterns which many students will recognize from pop or other songs. The rhythms are easy to follow along and can promote classroom participation and learning. I know I could teach children these songs; pull out my guitar, sing a few lines, have them sing it back, in no time my students will be able to sing This Land is Your Land. To what extent should we learn about folk music? Should we use them as a basis for other musical instruction? Should we use This Land is Your Land to teach students about simple rhythms and introduce solfege? It seems like a teach could do a lot with American Folk songs while implementing music learning as well as cultural and historical learning. Plus, these songs are usually fun for kids to sing and are part of our oral traditions as Americans, which should be passed down as well as used as a learning tool.
So which American Folk Songs should every student and every American know?
The national anthem: Personally I find this song to be a little dull, but it would be strange if I did not know it by heart. Students should at least be exposed to this song, not only does it have merit in the music classroom, it also promotes nationalism and develops a strong bond to one's country. It is a song they will hear for the rest of their lives if they stay in America and would be taboo not to know it.
This Land is Your Land: If you ask a kid today who Woody Guthrie is about 90% will have no idea who you are talking about. If you tell them that he wrote This Land is Your Land then students will remember who you are talking about. Woody Guthrie is an American Folk icon and I believe that he lead the way for American Folk as well as Peter Seeger. The song itself is a great song to know, just because everyone knows it and again it is a song which prides our country. It is a great sing a long song for classes and can teach many musical lessons. The message itself is a good thing for all young students to learn, we share this country with many people from different backgrounds and cultures but it is still ours to share.
I think those are the two most necessary folk songs, other than that there are plenty of other short songs which are easy to learn and teach such as: Yankee Doodle, Skip to my Lou, She'll be Coming Around the Mountain, Row, row, row, your boat, Oh Susannah, I've Been Working on the Railroad, Home on the Range, Do Your Ears Hang Low?, and Clementine. While the context that these songs were written in may not fit into the context of our society today, they are still tunes that were written by Americans as they founded the country we know today. These songs should live on in our country while new songs are added among them to include all of America's history up to the present. What songs from the last decade will become the folk songs of the next century? It is the responsibility of music teacher to be collectors of our oral musical history and pass it on to each generation so our musical traditions live on. Not to mention they are beneficial for teaching music anyways...
Sunday, March 8, 2015
Clarinet Lesson Reflection
Last week in my Secondary Music Education class I had to perform a mock lesson and teach the first 5 minutes of a 6th grader's first clarinet lesson. I focused the majority of my lesson on breathing and developing proper breathing, I think that all wind and brass players should have a good breathing foundation. Was it the best thing to start with for a 6th grader's first lesson? Maybe, or maybe not. I view breathing as a good way to center one's self. Many 6th graders do not take time in their day to breath deeply and properly. I think by that age, introducing breathing is a good life long skill that they can take with them into any field. It calms the mind and body and prepares one for the task at hand. If it is followed by some stretching it can create a very peaceful place to start teaching. My professor Brandt Schneider suggested that we could start our very first lessons building habits and procedures that students will need to strictly follow throughout the year. It would be a good time to begin teaching students how to walk into the room, when to walk into the room by, what they will need, where to sit, how to get their instrument etc etc. I think if I started with that I could have gone on for hours.....Think about a 6th grader, how long do you think you can hold their attention while you explain procedures and they have an instrument within reach.
The reason I started the way I did was so that I could build good breathing habits from the start as well as center my students and start the class from a calm place. My mock student was my professor and he seemed to respond well to instructions. I made sure to keep my focus very precise so that I wouldn't overwhelm him with information. I notice some of my colleagues bouncing around many ideas in 5 minutes which confused me let alone a 12 year old. I knew that I had to keep it focused and related to the topic. I had to make sure that my student knew what we were learning and why we were learning it. I introduced the clarinet as a woodwind instrument and asked him guiding questions about how we create air (knowing of course where that question could take me....perhaps need to reword that question next time). We were able to get through the lesson smoothly and work on proper deep breathing; filling the lungs from the bottom up and expanding our stomachs instead up raising our shoulders. I drew him a picture of a water balloon to represent his lungs and water to represent air (I chose a water balloon as opposed to a regular air balloon because water is something that we can see filling a balloon). He seemed to understand what I was saying and hopefully understood why we need to breathe to play woodwind instruments; because we need WIND of course!
Overall I think that I taught what I wanted to teach in that first 5 minutes of the lesson and hope that the student wasn't just yessing me to death that they understood. I tried to speak very short and ask lots of achievable questions so that the student could be engaged. I'm learning that lesson planning is tough work and even planning 5 minutes can take a while. It will come with practice!
The reason I started the way I did was so that I could build good breathing habits from the start as well as center my students and start the class from a calm place. My mock student was my professor and he seemed to respond well to instructions. I made sure to keep my focus very precise so that I wouldn't overwhelm him with information. I notice some of my colleagues bouncing around many ideas in 5 minutes which confused me let alone a 12 year old. I knew that I had to keep it focused and related to the topic. I had to make sure that my student knew what we were learning and why we were learning it. I introduced the clarinet as a woodwind instrument and asked him guiding questions about how we create air (knowing of course where that question could take me....perhaps need to reword that question next time). We were able to get through the lesson smoothly and work on proper deep breathing; filling the lungs from the bottom up and expanding our stomachs instead up raising our shoulders. I drew him a picture of a water balloon to represent his lungs and water to represent air (I chose a water balloon as opposed to a regular air balloon because water is something that we can see filling a balloon). He seemed to understand what I was saying and hopefully understood why we need to breathe to play woodwind instruments; because we need WIND of course!
Overall I think that I taught what I wanted to teach in that first 5 minutes of the lesson and hope that the student wasn't just yessing me to death that they understood. I tried to speak very short and ask lots of achievable questions so that the student could be engaged. I'm learning that lesson planning is tough work and even planning 5 minutes can take a while. It will come with practice!
Monday, March 2, 2015
When Children Become Musicians
A child, who is learning to play any musical instrument, will undoubtably learn at some point that he or she is a music making machine and not actually a musician. I recently read a blog by my current graduate Music Education professor Brandt Schneider who described how students are becoming "repertoire machines." He believes that teachers put too much emphasis on the amount of repertoire their students learn. This focus on repertoire is due to the pressures from performing in concerts and competitive festivals.
If teachers let pressures dictate what our music students are working on in class, then we start to become a factory; churning out people who can read notes on a page. Being a musician is much more than what someone with a musical instrument can play from sight. A musician can play by ear, can utilize the full range of all the keys, incorporate different styles and genres, as well as read music. A musician is like a doctor, we don't want our doctors referring to medical texts for every situation they find themselves in, nor do we want our musician relying on scores and parts to produce music. We want musicians and doctors to have a full range of abilities that they feel confident in performing. There is nothing wrong with referring to a text, but overall we want people who can think on their feet and apply all the knowledge they have learned into any situation. We are not creating line workers to produce musical notes, we are creating musicians, and even more, people. Mr. Schneider believes that students should focus less on learning repertoire for performance sake and rather focus on the key elements which make someone a musician. These elements are defined in the national standards for music education and are as follow: musical discipline, technique, theory, and composition. It is necessary for our students to become proficient in each of these areas and Mr. Schneider described in his blog, many ways for students to begin incorporating these elements into their learning. I personally agree with this but would like to take it a step further by saying that this should start at a very early stage in a students' musical development. I think that learning songs and changing them based on key or style opens many doors for students later on. If we wait too long, say high school, to start this then we can lose a lot of time trying to introduce these concepts as well as lose lots of repertoire opportunities. I think that students should be able to play various repertoire in their high school classes because by high school, students should have an understand of the pieces they play as well as why they play them. Starting young music students off with too much repertoire does not make sense because young players may not know why they are playing these pieces nor what they are supposed to be learning from them.
I fully agree with Mr, Schneider's approach to incorporating the aforementioned elements, but I think that this process should begin as early as possible and build into playing and actually performing repertoire through high school.
I believe that some of the best musicians are the ones who are able to jump into any genre, with any group, understand what is happening musically immediately, and be able to play and create music with this group almost instantly. This is what we need to be training or students for, to be musicians, not just music makers. I think that developing students' abilities to hear music and feel music in more than just a repetitive way will move students towards becoming the best musicians they can be.
If teachers let pressures dictate what our music students are working on in class, then we start to become a factory; churning out people who can read notes on a page. Being a musician is much more than what someone with a musical instrument can play from sight. A musician can play by ear, can utilize the full range of all the keys, incorporate different styles and genres, as well as read music. A musician is like a doctor, we don't want our doctors referring to medical texts for every situation they find themselves in, nor do we want our musician relying on scores and parts to produce music. We want musicians and doctors to have a full range of abilities that they feel confident in performing. There is nothing wrong with referring to a text, but overall we want people who can think on their feet and apply all the knowledge they have learned into any situation. We are not creating line workers to produce musical notes, we are creating musicians, and even more, people. Mr. Schneider believes that students should focus less on learning repertoire for performance sake and rather focus on the key elements which make someone a musician. These elements are defined in the national standards for music education and are as follow: musical discipline, technique, theory, and composition. It is necessary for our students to become proficient in each of these areas and Mr. Schneider described in his blog, many ways for students to begin incorporating these elements into their learning. I personally agree with this but would like to take it a step further by saying that this should start at a very early stage in a students' musical development. I think that learning songs and changing them based on key or style opens many doors for students later on. If we wait too long, say high school, to start this then we can lose a lot of time trying to introduce these concepts as well as lose lots of repertoire opportunities. I think that students should be able to play various repertoire in their high school classes because by high school, students should have an understand of the pieces they play as well as why they play them. Starting young music students off with too much repertoire does not make sense because young players may not know why they are playing these pieces nor what they are supposed to be learning from them.
I fully agree with Mr, Schneider's approach to incorporating the aforementioned elements, but I think that this process should begin as early as possible and build into playing and actually performing repertoire through high school.
I believe that some of the best musicians are the ones who are able to jump into any genre, with any group, understand what is happening musically immediately, and be able to play and create music with this group almost instantly. This is what we need to be training or students for, to be musicians, not just music makers. I think that developing students' abilities to hear music and feel music in more than just a repetitive way will move students towards becoming the best musicians they can be.
Monday, February 16, 2015
Who Am I?
I am human, therefore I am a conductor of music. Sound is something natural that we as humans have manipulated to create our own specific collection of sounds which speak to us through time and space. The definition of music is "an art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color." Music is a part of every individual humans life and is not unique to one group or person. Every one has the capacity to observe, listen, appreciate, despise, and even create music. Why is it that humans were blessed with this incredible gift, I cannot say, but to be able to master something as abstract as sound is not a gift we should ever let go of. That being said, there are those who would seek to misuse that power to steer us in the wrong direction. Those who have the power to make music that reaches the masses often present us with misguided music. We need to put the power back into the creative people who would use music for peace and love and equality. Like any other area: math, science, art, literature, there are those who could lead us astray with their own greed. These are the subjects we focus on the most in schools in America; to invest in our futures in those areas. We fail to realize that music in America has just as much of an impact on our people as any of our scientific achievements, and sometimes even more. Americans are exposed to mass produced music which we sometimes are force fed. The messages which are being sent through these types of music have such a hurtful effect on our people, especially our children who are extremely impressionable. Children find role models in the musicians they listen to and look up to, but sometimes those people are not the roles models we want for our children...
In the middle school which I am interning in right now, there are 11 year old children singing about cocaine and acting out the actions of "snorting cocaine." Some might assume I am working in an urban school district where it is common to listen to songs like "CoCo" ;but on the contrary I am in a suburban school school district with a minority population of only 23.4%. This music does not know any boundaries and is accessible to all of American children. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with the song, I listen to it myself on the radio, but I am 22 years old. Most of us can agree that we don't want 11 year old children listening to these songs, let alone singing and acting them out. What can we do? We can blame the artist, or the producers, or the labels, but that is not going to change the fact that there will always be music like that in our society. It is our job as adults and conductors of music to give our kids alternatives to the music that they hear on the radio. A child is really only exposed to the music they hear at home and from their friends, which is not entirely all age appropriate music. Why is it okay for a child to sing about cocaine in a school? What will happen when they grow older? Will they still think about cocaine in this glorified way? This is just one specific example of what I have seen in the few weeks I have been at this middle school. It is not limited to this one school, nor this one song. So why am I going into so much depth about it...?
Lets take math for example, if we didn't have such a strong emphasis on math in the schools what would students know about math? From what they learned at home and from friends, right? So that would mean they could add, subtract, multiply and maybe divide? Seems like the basics anyone would need to survive, but what does that leave our country with; millions of children who grew up and only had the math skills of a 5th grader. Where does our country go from there? With no adults in the work force who are fluent in mathematics, how will our country advance? This is an extreme case but it mirrors what is going on with our music education. We leave proper music training out of our curriculum and wonder why 11 year old children glorify cocaine? Without the proper instruction, our children are left to learn about music from anywhere. Music industries know that and capitalize on it by feeding our children watered down music that is easy to sell. I could go on for hours about this, but I have to return to my initial question...
Who am I?
Well I am the same as you, a human, we all have the capacity to learn music and grow from it. I have been trained in music for the majority of my life and I am an accomplished musician, but furthermore, I am a conductor. Yes, I do conduct a small community orchestra, but I am also a conductor in the sense that music flows through me. There are many like me, and conductors are not just limited to music, but all fields. Anyone who is a master of their art is a conductor, and we as conductors are here to let our knowledge flow through us and inspire others to become the best people they can be. For me, being a conductor is more that directing music, it is about opening peoples minds and souls to something they did not know existed and giving them the chance to be a part of it themselves.
My core values are to give every person on this planet, or at least all those I can reach, the chance to experience music more than what they have been told it is. I believe that every person has the capacity to learn, play, perform, and grow from music and that is it not fair for any person to be deprived that chance to explore their musical selves. A life without music is equal to a life of missing one of your senses. As a conductor and a teacher I have a responsibility to bring music into all of my students lives and foster their growth as a musician. I do not require anyone to become a famous musician, only to have opened their mind to something which may have remained dormant for their entire lives.
I recently read a book by Peter Boonshaft called "Teaching Music with Purpose" and there was one section which really opened my eyes as to why sometimes music programs fail students. His chapter entitled "Getting Back on the Horse and Riding Even Harder" reminded me that even though I may be a conductor, my responsibilities do not stop there. I have to be a coach, a therapist, and a friend because anyone who is going to pursue something as difficult and frustrating as music, will need all of these people in me, and I cannot fail them. Children are more apt to hear what they do wrong but we have to be vigilant to show them the great sounds they created and may have missed. Boonshaft calls this "listening for chills, not spills" and I agree that we need to remind our students that they are making music, regardless of whether there are "spills" or not. Boonshaft stresses that teachers and students should be working towards the highest expectations and it only helps in getting students to grow as musicians and people. All through their lives they will work to meet their goals and sometimes they will crash but as long as they know they can start again and that we as conductors and teachers will support them, they can really accomplish anything.
I am a role model of music for our wandering youth in America, looking for someone to unlock the door of their untapped potential in music. I present an alternative to the the music that is fed to them, and I enable them to create their own music and fill the world with the sounds of their own time.
In the middle school which I am interning in right now, there are 11 year old children singing about cocaine and acting out the actions of "snorting cocaine." Some might assume I am working in an urban school district where it is common to listen to songs like "CoCo" ;but on the contrary I am in a suburban school school district with a minority population of only 23.4%. This music does not know any boundaries and is accessible to all of American children. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with the song, I listen to it myself on the radio, but I am 22 years old. Most of us can agree that we don't want 11 year old children listening to these songs, let alone singing and acting them out. What can we do? We can blame the artist, or the producers, or the labels, but that is not going to change the fact that there will always be music like that in our society. It is our job as adults and conductors of music to give our kids alternatives to the music that they hear on the radio. A child is really only exposed to the music they hear at home and from their friends, which is not entirely all age appropriate music. Why is it okay for a child to sing about cocaine in a school? What will happen when they grow older? Will they still think about cocaine in this glorified way? This is just one specific example of what I have seen in the few weeks I have been at this middle school. It is not limited to this one school, nor this one song. So why am I going into so much depth about it...?
Lets take math for example, if we didn't have such a strong emphasis on math in the schools what would students know about math? From what they learned at home and from friends, right? So that would mean they could add, subtract, multiply and maybe divide? Seems like the basics anyone would need to survive, but what does that leave our country with; millions of children who grew up and only had the math skills of a 5th grader. Where does our country go from there? With no adults in the work force who are fluent in mathematics, how will our country advance? This is an extreme case but it mirrors what is going on with our music education. We leave proper music training out of our curriculum and wonder why 11 year old children glorify cocaine? Without the proper instruction, our children are left to learn about music from anywhere. Music industries know that and capitalize on it by feeding our children watered down music that is easy to sell. I could go on for hours about this, but I have to return to my initial question...
Who am I?
Well I am the same as you, a human, we all have the capacity to learn music and grow from it. I have been trained in music for the majority of my life and I am an accomplished musician, but furthermore, I am a conductor. Yes, I do conduct a small community orchestra, but I am also a conductor in the sense that music flows through me. There are many like me, and conductors are not just limited to music, but all fields. Anyone who is a master of their art is a conductor, and we as conductors are here to let our knowledge flow through us and inspire others to become the best people they can be. For me, being a conductor is more that directing music, it is about opening peoples minds and souls to something they did not know existed and giving them the chance to be a part of it themselves.
My core values are to give every person on this planet, or at least all those I can reach, the chance to experience music more than what they have been told it is. I believe that every person has the capacity to learn, play, perform, and grow from music and that is it not fair for any person to be deprived that chance to explore their musical selves. A life without music is equal to a life of missing one of your senses. As a conductor and a teacher I have a responsibility to bring music into all of my students lives and foster their growth as a musician. I do not require anyone to become a famous musician, only to have opened their mind to something which may have remained dormant for their entire lives.
I recently read a book by Peter Boonshaft called "Teaching Music with Purpose" and there was one section which really opened my eyes as to why sometimes music programs fail students. His chapter entitled "Getting Back on the Horse and Riding Even Harder" reminded me that even though I may be a conductor, my responsibilities do not stop there. I have to be a coach, a therapist, and a friend because anyone who is going to pursue something as difficult and frustrating as music, will need all of these people in me, and I cannot fail them. Children are more apt to hear what they do wrong but we have to be vigilant to show them the great sounds they created and may have missed. Boonshaft calls this "listening for chills, not spills" and I agree that we need to remind our students that they are making music, regardless of whether there are "spills" or not. Boonshaft stresses that teachers and students should be working towards the highest expectations and it only helps in getting students to grow as musicians and people. All through their lives they will work to meet their goals and sometimes they will crash but as long as they know they can start again and that we as conductors and teachers will support them, they can really accomplish anything.
I am a role model of music for our wandering youth in America, looking for someone to unlock the door of their untapped potential in music. I present an alternative to the the music that is fed to them, and I enable them to create their own music and fill the world with the sounds of their own time.
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