When I was a band director, I often wondered why it was that drum students so often had so much trouble with rhythm. For the most part, they didn't have to learn how to read pitches, they had no fingerings to learn, no embouchure to form. All they had to do was hold a stick … Continue reading Why Do Instrumental Music Students Have So Much Trouble With Rhythm?
music cognition
Musical Contrasts: The Changes People Actually Like
We often hear that people don't like change. This is especially true of the very young and the very old. The young need the security of routine and unchanging surroundings, and the old fear they will be unable to cope with change. In the context of life changes, I'm convinced that this is true. Change … Continue reading Musical Contrasts: The Changes People Actually Like
The Importance of Echo Songs in the Early Grades
Children develop the ability to sing accurately by repeating short patterns or song fragments. As they do so, they are building a vocabulary of music patterns that they will be able to remember, sing, and eventually read, write and use to improvise. While children can learn patterns by singing them with others in a class, … Continue reading The Importance of Echo Songs in the Early Grades
Artistic Literacy and Why It Matters
The authors of the national arts standards defined artistic literacy as "the knowledge and understanding required to participate authentically in the arts." It is first and foremost important to realize that when it comes to music, knowing about music, and reading and writing about music is not enough to qualify a person as musically literate. Musically literate people … Continue reading Artistic Literacy and Why It Matters
A Narrative for “The Valley of Clocks”: Sharing A Musical Experience With Others
There are many ways one could write about a musical work. There is analysis, evaluation, criticism, and narrative to name only a few. Each of these ways provides opportunities for different kinds of learning about and experiencing of music, and so each has value as a learning activity. I think that the narrative is in … Continue reading A Narrative for “The Valley of Clocks”: Sharing A Musical Experience With Others
Writing Objectives for Music Students
Objectives are essential to good teaching and effective learning. They articulate what students are expected to do and provide the framework for assessing student work. Both teacher and student can easily lose their way if they are not guided by well formed learning objectives. Though it is true that objectives are required for lesson plans … Continue reading Writing Objectives for Music Students
Types of Assessment and Their Uses in Music Education
We music educators sometimes have difficulty assessing our students. There are several reasons for this, including large student loads and limited instructional time, but perhaps one of the most important reasons is that assessment is something we don't fully understand. What purpose should be achieved by using assessment? What kinds of assessments are there, and which … Continue reading Types of Assessment and Their Uses in Music Education
What Are The Elements of Music?
What are the elements of music? It sounds like a simple question, one to which you'd expect a straightforward answer; perhaps a list of seven or eight items. If you ask this question of most if any music teacher, you're likely to get such an answer. The trouble is, if you ask several music teachers, you're … Continue reading What Are The Elements of Music?
The Power of Music X 2: What Happens When Music and Video Join Forces?
Though music is always a product of the cultural context in which it is created, American popular music is perhaps more than others genres placed in a position of sociological prominence. Both from its characteristic rebelliousness and its bent toward social commentary, American popular music, unlike other musical genres including jazz and Western classical art … Continue reading The Power of Music X 2: What Happens When Music and Video Join Forces?
What Are Some Effects of Combining Music and Video?
While both music and visual art, including video, are powerful art forms in their own rights, both capable of eliciting emotional responses and memories of experiences of artistic work, their affects when combined are even more potent. While research in this area has largely been inconclusive, researchers have suggested that videos do influence a listener's … Continue reading What Are Some Effects of Combining Music and Video?
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