Today I am going to discuss questions students can use to reflect on their creative musical work. In Connecticut, these questions are part of the Common Core Assessments for music. Each question gets at an important musical aspect or concept, and helps focus students on more than just getting notes down on paper and singing … Continue reading Reflective Questions for 5th Grade Music Composition
General Music
How It All Works Together
When you teach a child to play an instrument, what is the goal of doing so? This may seem like an odd question, because we are inclined to answer that the goal is to lead the child in gaining proficiency on the instrument. There is nothing wrong with this goal; it can be defined, growth … Continue reading How It All Works Together
Why Do We Make Music?
One of the pitfalls of doing anything over a long period of time, is that we can wake up one day and realize we've forgotten why we do what we do. We've been doing it for so long, it has become a habit, a lifestyle, a part of who we are. Chances are those of … Continue reading Why Do We Make Music?
Describing Music and Teaching Music
If you are a music reader, want you to pretend you know nothing about music notation. If you don't read music, you're all set. Now take what I'm about to write absolutely literally. "A quarter note gets one beat, and a half note gets two beats." Just from that description, do you know that the … Continue reading Describing Music and Teaching Music
The Twists and Turns of Music Theory
When my students learn what intervals are in music, they first learn the interval name, a second, third, fifth, and so forth, before they learn the kind, major, minor, perfect, and so on. It is one of those strange things about music theory that a number represents some distances between notes, while a word represents … Continue reading The Twists and Turns of Music Theory
A Context for some Productive Music Lessons
Throughout the school year, one of my biggest challenges is getting my eighth graders to sing. Apart from rapping their favorite songs, many students this age are not interested in singing unless they have a specific interest in music. There are always the choir students who do like to sing, of course, but for the … Continue reading A Context for some Productive Music Lessons
What Would Music Be Like Without Change?
Although most would probably say they don’t like change, the fact is that we need change and are designed to change and benefit from change. This can be clearly seen if we consider minimalist music. When a minimalist piece begins, it has our attention, because what we hear is a change from not hearing it … Continue reading What Would Music Be Like Without Change?
How We Describe and Write About Music We Hear+
Asking students to describe music you play for them has several benefits. Most obviously, descriptions tell us what the student though about and experienced from listening. We may learn how the music affected his or her emotions, what musical elements were noticed, or what and when certain musical events occurred. For the most part, when … Continue reading How We Describe and Write About Music We Hear+
Classroom Management in the Music Classroom
Classroom management is part of good teaching in any discipline. Because of the more active nature of music activities, it is especially important in the music classroom. In general, students who know what they are expected to do, how they are expected to do it, and why they are expected to do it, will be … Continue reading Classroom Management in the Music Classroom
More On Differentiation in Music Classes
The Core Arts standards include selecting music for performance and listening. Among the things to be considered are student abilities and student interests. Students should have an accurate assessment of their abilities so that they can choose music that is within their capacity to play or sing, and students should have the opportunity to study … Continue reading More On Differentiation in Music Classes
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