Good teaching is largely about stating clear objectives, and then instructing students in how to achieve those objectives. When it comes to singing, often times music educators frame the task in terms of singing on pitch, using a head voice, and maintaining a steady beat. Clearly these items are important to good singing, but as … Continue reading What Do We Want Children To Be Able To Do In Order To Sing Well?
Music Education
A practical guide to planning, teaching, and assessing music instruction.
Lesson Planning and Marzano’s Nine Strategies
Context is everything. There's a saying, "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing." Too often in education, we take a little morsel of knowledge, perhaps acquired at a conference or hastily gleaned from an article or book, and then force it into a position of exclusivity and prominence that assures success will not prevail. I … Continue reading Lesson Planning and Marzano’s Nine Strategies
When Performance Requests and Developmental Appropriateness Collide
A music teacher recently asked for suggestions on how to teach The Star Spangled Banner to her kindergarten and first grade classes. She didn't say why she wanted to do this. Perhaps she was asked to have her youngest children sing it for a program, or perhaps she just felt it could never be too … Continue reading When Performance Requests and Developmental Appropriateness Collide
Child Development and Music Education
Dr. James Comer of Yale University has found six pathways along which children develop. These pathways are described as physical, cognitive, language, social, ethical, and psychological. While music education clearly has ties to all six pathways, I would like to focus in on two of them: cognitive and psychological. The Cognitive Pathway and Music The … Continue reading Child Development and Music Education
Why Do We Teach Music Reading?
To my surprise, I recently read a discussion thread by music educators on Facebook in which most of the participants found teaching music reading unnecessary. The argument for this position has been around for quite some time. Most of the world's musicians, excellent musicians, do not read music, most of the world's cultures do not … Continue reading Why Do We Teach Music Reading?
Remaining Concept Based During Concert Season
There is a tendency among music educators to push concepts aside as concerts approach. This happens because of a perceived dichotomy between teaching concepts and preparing repertoire for performance. The later emphasizes building skills, while the former emphasizes building understanding and transferable knowledge. This dichotomy appears when skills and concepts are taught separately; that is, … Continue reading Remaining Concept Based During Concert Season
Can rhythms be fast?
Tempo is a deceptively tricky musical concept. On the face of it, it seems straight forward enough. Tempo is measured as the number of beats occurring in one minute given a steady rate, and that beat can be equal to any note duration, such as eighth, quarter, half, or whole note. There are tempo markings … Continue reading Can rhythms be fast?
Three Ingredients for Good Classroom Management
For whatever reason, I have noticed over the years that art and music teachers seem to get more than their fair share of misbehavior in their classes. I suppose the children regard these classes as a time to let down and blow off steam after sitting immobile in a classroom writing, reading and generally keeping … Continue reading Three Ingredients for Good Classroom Management
Learning Objectives and Essential Questions
If you are a pubic school music educator, then you are accustomed to writing and posting instructional objectives for your students. In my district, student learning objectives must be posted on the front board at all times so that anyone observing the class can easily see what you are expecting the students to know and … Continue reading Learning Objectives and Essential Questions
What Are Ways Students Can Respond to Music?
With the National Core Arts Standards now in their third year, music educators have grown accustomed to thinking of music education in terms of four artistic processes: creating, performing, responding, and connecting. One could argue that responding and connecting are present in creating and performing, so that responding permeates everything a person does with music. … Continue reading What Are Ways Students Can Respond to Music?
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