Today, using the American National Core Arts Standards for music, I will begin to develop how to design learning environments that allow for bi-directional flow of ideas and knowledge between students, and between students and teacher. I will use the artistic process of creating, and the grade levels of 3-5 in American public schools. The … Continue reading What Does A Classroom Where Everyone is Teaching and Learning Look Like? (Creating Music, Part 1)
Robert Adams
Are Teaching and Learning Really That Different?
Often when reading educational theories, I find the phrase “teaching and learning.” Typing the phrase into a popular search engine yielded 113,000,000 results. In general, understanding is seen as the goal, and teaching is seen as the actions leading to that goal. In their seminal work “Understanding by Design,” Wiggins & McTighe explained a concept … Continue reading Are Teaching and Learning Really That Different?
The Variety of Musical Dissonance
Dissonance is one of those musical elements I love to teach. This is because I love dissonance in music. For me, it is what makes music expressive, passionate, driving, exciting, powerful, and fun. Like anything else, too much dissonance is not good, but used in a balanced and skillful way; it turns very ordinary music … Continue reading The Variety of Musical Dissonance
Is Melody Always Music?
In my post on June 26, I defined melody as a sequence of tones, each of which has pitch and duration. We saw that melody did not have to have beat, rhythm, meter or tonality, just pitch and duration. I ended that post by suggesting that birdsong qualifies as melody, but questioned whether or not … Continue reading Is Melody Always Music?
When Speed Is The Thing
Anyone who has taught music lessons more than likely has encountered students who were only interested in playing fast. They come into your studio and start flying all around the music, but rarely land in just the right place. They are moving quickly from one note to the next, but the rhythm is uneven and … Continue reading When Speed Is The Thing
What Is The Most Effective Way To Teach Rhythm?
Yesterday, I discussed rhythm, defining a rhythm as a group of durations that establishes beat and meter. Once beat and meter are established, then any single duration can be considered a rhythm, because its beat and metric functions are known. Because rhythm needs a beat and metric contextual basis, music teachers should avoid teaching rhythm … Continue reading What Is The Most Effective Way To Teach Rhythm?
What Is Rhythm?
Rhythm, though one of the two most basic elements of music (the other being pitch), is also one of the most often misunderstood. Rhythm is frequently presented to students in the form of a hierarchy of note types, with a whole note at the top, two half notes beneath, four quarter notes below them, and … Continue reading What Is Rhythm?
Duke Ellington Had It Right
Duke Ellington once said, “The wise musicians are those who play what they can master.” There is a lot for music educators to think about in that statement, especially because an enduring understanding for performing includes “knowledge of musical works,” and “understanding of their own technical skill.” Learning, motivation, and satisfaction are always tied to … Continue reading Duke Ellington Had It Right
More on “What Is A Melody?”
Yesterday, I discussed a balanced definition of melody; one that was broad enough to include all music that contains melody, regardless of cultural difference, and one that was specific enough to exclude sequences of sound that by common consent are not musical. The fundamental way that humans learn what a thing is or what it … Continue reading More on “What Is A Melody?”
What is a Melody?
For virtually everyone who teaches music, melody is one of the basic elements. Though music teachers may vary slightly on what melody is, most definitions will at least include the requirement of a sequence of notes which each have pitch and duration. This fits nicely with a view of music being humanly organized sounds recognized … Continue reading What is a Melody?
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