There are practical implications to just the impressive array of musical thinking even the youngest children are capable of. Because young brains are so musical, they must be given every opportunity possible to experience music and to grow in musicality. Edwin Gordon, a pre-eminent authority on music psychology and early childhood music, has emphatically written … Continue reading The Amazing Human Musical Mind, Part 3
early childhood
The Amazing Human Musical Mind, Part 2
Since Friday, I have been sharing a presentation I gave at two conferences of the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI). In this session, I gave an overview of what the very youngest human minds can do musically, and how early childhood educators who are not music teachers can still include music in their programs. Today I … Continue reading The Amazing Human Musical Mind, Part 2
The Amazing Human Musical Mind, Part 1
Over the next days, I will be sharing a presentation I gave at two conferences of the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI). In this session, I gave an overview of what the very youngest human minds can do musically, and how early childhood educators who are not music teachers can still include music in their … Continue reading The Amazing Human Musical Mind, Part 1
The Music Specialist Trap
Whether we want to admit it or not, we music teachers are all to some extent caught in the specialist trap. This trap has been built out of people who claim to have little or no musical talent and who must rely on us to provide all of the musical training for their children. The … Continue reading The Music Specialist Trap
Switching from One Rhythm Syllable System to Another: Helping Students Work Through The Transition
One of the challenges some music teachers face is sharing students with other music teachers. While it is great that a child might be in band, chorus, and or general music or other music offerings, if a child learns the same concept two or even three different ways, confusion can result. A music teacher must … Continue reading Switching from One Rhythm Syllable System to Another: Helping Students Work Through The Transition
The Importance of Early Music Listening Experiences
With all of the evidence suggesting that listening to classical music early in life has cognitive benefits, an article on early listening experiences could be all about how music promotes brain development. That is not, however the topic of this piece. Instead, I want to write about the importance of early music listening experiences in … Continue reading The Importance of Early Music Listening Experiences
A Multi-sensory Approach to Teaching Music
I’d like to start today by making two observations about learning. First, learning is a life-long process. Second, learning is multi-sensory. These two observations are related, and highly relevant to music education. Let me explain why. Learning is not restricted to what students do while they are in a classroom in school. We humans begin … Continue reading A Multi-sensory Approach to Teaching Music
Rhythm, Beat, and Groove: What’s the Difference?
It all seems simple in the early grades. Beat is the steady pulse of the music, and rhythm is the changing durations of what is being sung or played. Using movement, students learn the difference between beat and rhythm by walking the beat while clapping the rhythm. Because they are not doing the same thing … Continue reading Rhythm, Beat, and Groove: What’s the Difference?
Putting the “Play” Back Into Playing (Or Singing) Music
If educators really want to know how students learn best, they should observe 3- and 4-year-old children. Over the last several weeks, one of the activities my 4-year-old class did was to improvise melodies for the rhyme, "Jack Be Nimble." The children were asked to sing the words, using their singing voice. Naturally, some children … Continue reading Putting the “Play” Back Into Playing (Or Singing) Music
Syncopation, Meter, and Beat: You Really Can’t Separate Them
Syncopation is an interesting subject for music teachers in many countries around the world. On the one hand, right from childhood, people hear syncopated rhythms in folk and popular music styles everyday. The sound of syncopation, and the frequently used rhythm patterns that constitute syncopated rhythms are familiar, and most can quickly learn to correctly … Continue reading Syncopation, Meter, and Beat: You Really Can’t Separate Them
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