Reflection Post Week 8 - Improving a Social Problem

The author provides several instances where schools and music teachers can help.  First, it might not be in the job description, but male teachers like me are often the only male role model for male (and even female) students.  It is up to us to model for students appropriate behavior towards women, responsibility, hard work, dedication, etc.  When our students that do not have a father in the home, we need to show them (especially the boys) what a hard working male role model is.  Secondly, schools can offer programs that help unwed mothers gain the skills and education they need to provide a more stable and secure environment for their children.  Many times, these mothers drop out of school to care for their children.  GED programs are not always the answer.  Schools could offer classes for the mothers to take to not only earn a diploma, but to learn important job skills so that they can get a good job and provide stability for their children.

All of this, of course, takes money.  Money is not always a topic that government likes to discuss.  It might take private, community-based groups raising funds or writing grants to be able to pay for such activities at a school, or perhaps community groups could offer the activities themselves.  It will take an "it takes a village" mentality for communities to assist unwed mothers in raising their children in a safe, healthy and constructive manner.  Another way for the community to help is for the mothers who ARE being successful in raising their children to form an organization that other mothers who are struggling can join to receive help and support from people who are in similar situations.  Of course, money is always an issue, but if enough people got together and were passionate about the problem, this could be a viable way to assist in solving the problem.

As an aside, I have had many students that come from fatherless homes and do amazing things.  A single mother home (or single father, for that matter) is not guaranteed to be a troubled home.  There are often many other factors (socioeconomic, cultural, situational, etc) that can cause students to struggle.  I have often seen students from a two parent, high socioeconomic household get themselves into a lot of trouble.  I think the key is that every child needs to feel valued in and out of the home.

Reflection Post Week 8 - Course Applications to Your Teaching

(46 points) This course has covered a lot of material.  You have had to learn much about the history of music education in America, philosophical positions, ideas on aesthetics, purposes of education, sociological and social psychological concepts, and several aspects of psychology in a short amount of time.  Now, let’s put that knowledge to use! 

Be sure to address all three items below with examples and support in a reflection post that connects what you've learned with how you will use it as a teacher in the future.

• How will what you learned in this course about philosophy and aesthetics affect your teaching in the future?
• How will what was covered in the parts on sociology, social psychology, or psychology affect your teaching in the future?
• Choose any one of the previous seven units in the course, and explain how what you have learned will affect your teaching in the future.

Teaching at Florida Virtual School provides a bit of a challenge as it relates to making changes.  Since I do not have control over the content, I am not always able to teach the way I would like to.  However, during our improvisation live lessons, I have an opportunity to provide my students with a positive aesthetic experience.  The students are required to perform a brief improvisation with a pre-recorded melody.  While the activity is created so the students can show that they understand the concept of improvisation, I believe the opportunity for an aesthetic experience exists.  The more my students enjoy their project, the more successful I feel I will be.  We listen to this performance by Ella Fitzgerald.  Even through this recording, students have the opportunity to experience feelings of joy, awe, and humor as she plays with the audience.  During the recording, I can talk to the students in the chat box about some of the ideas involved with improvisation.  This allows them to listen on a higher, more intellectual level.  The students are focused on the recording and are experiencing it together!  These aspects, put together, form a strong aesthetic experience.  I have my next live lesson on Monday and will work to give my students a more aesthetically pleasing experience as they listen!

I teach nearly 200 students from all over the State of Florida, and they all come from different socioeconomic, cultural, and religious backgrounds.  Many of them have never taken a music course like this before.  Some may not have had any music education since elementary school.  This will affect how they work in my class.  It is important for me to understand how they feel about music in their lives and use that to help them understand what they are learning.  Many times my students will answer a question about what they likes about a particular piece of music with "I didn't like it.  It's not my type of music."  I generally mark it wrong (or partial credit) and move on.  I think what needs to happen is for me to ask the student WHY they didn't like it.  I can ask them to think critically about the music they enjoy and compare it to the Renaissance motet they just listened to and talk about the reasons they didn't enjoy it.  Perhaps by validating their feelings, it could make them more open to discussing the music.  They might even shift their attitude since I am not directly telling them "you will like this."

I remember watching the "Landfill Orchestra" video in Module 4 and being very moved by how important music was to these young students.  I think that it is so important that our communities and administrations understand that music is vital to the complete education of a student.  I deal with a lot of students who have not had a formal music education for years.  One thing I am going to do it try to encourage my own virtual students to seek out the music teachers in their own schools (many of whom have top notch programs!) and get involved in music beyond their short time with me.  Many of my students tell me at the end of the course how much they enjoyed learning about the history of Western Music.  I can do more for them.  There is so much out there for them to experience!  If I can tap into their own love for music, perhaps I can encourage them to get involved.  Of course, many of my students come from schools that do not have music programs.  It is unfortunate that these students do not have an opportunity to experience music the way other students do.  It's really a shame when administrations do not value music as an important part of education.  I have seen this first hand.  A good friend of mine who is a band director helped to mobilize parents to speak to the school board about cuts to a middle school band program.  He received a letter of reprimand from his principal.  Of course, he is a hero in the eyes of many music educators, but it is such a shame that he is being reprimanded for trying to ensure that students in his district are able to receive a solid music education.

Reflection Post Week 7 - Developing Musical Concepts

The Music of the World curriculum at Florida Virtual School is really more of a Western Music History survey, rather than a study of world music.  My students study the basic elements of music, pop music, ancient music (which does touch on India, Egypt, and Greece), and the major eras of Western Music.  The final module in my class covers Jazz.  There are many musical concepts my students must acquire.  I will choose four of them and offer some thoughts on what I think works in our program, and how it might be improved. 

The first concept which I would like my students to understand more fully is the concept of form.  While we do spend some time in Module 1 (Elements of Music) and Module 6 (Classical Era) discussing form, I believe that it is a concept that should be studied more thoroughly throughout the course.  Considering many (if not most) of my students are not musicians, they do not have a lot of prior knowledge of musical form.  Our second module (pop music) provides an excellent opportunity to introduce students to the concept of form through their familiarity with pop music.  Many pop songs contain a verse-chorus or AABA form and by using examples of music they know, it would allow them to more fully grasp the concept.  It could be explained, demonstrated, and assessed all within the framework of music with which they are familiar and comfortable.  There are opportunities for learning activities in which students follow a form chart (or perhaps fill it out) as they listen to a familiar tune.  By tapping into that prior knowledge, it would make it easier for the students to understand the concept.  As it stands now, they learn a bit about form in Module 1 and then don't touch it again until Module 6 where they study symphonic and sonata forms.

The second concept for my students is the concept of monophonic and polyphonic music.  Module 3 of our course (Ancient and Medieval Music) spends about 3 sentences describing the difference between monophonic and polyphonic music.  Because polyphonic music becomes more and more important through the Renaissance and beyond, I think the students should have a clearer understanding of it.  Right now, it seems to enter their short term memory and is lost.  Even though the concept seems simple enough (one melody vs. two or more), my students struggle with associating the terms with the music itself rather than the performers.  When I ask my students about Gregorian Chant, many of them say it is polyphonic.  They understand (through learning here or prior knowledge) that "poly" means "many," but think the chants are polyphonic because many monks are singing them.  A quick sequence of audio examples of monophonic and polyphonic music would go a long way in helping the students to more fully understand the concept.  Additionally, more visual representations of the concepts would be helpful to the student. 

Improvisation is a large part of our last module on Jazz.  Students are expected to submit a recording (video or audio) of their own short improvised performance (they actually improvise an accompaniment figure, usually rhythmic, to a pre-recorded melody).  Many of the students get very creative, but others struggle to do anything but clap along with the melody.  For this concept and assignment, we do offer a live online lesson each week which helps our students more fully understand the concept and have more success with their performance.  In our live lesson, we discuss the characteristics of jazz music, including improvisation.  We talk about how musicians react to the audience and the other performers during improvisation, and then we play a recorded example of Ella Fitzgerald's One Note Samba.  I think that this demonstration is the single most helpful element of our improvisation lesson.  Our students get to hear and discuss Ella's improvisation and use it as a guide for what they will be doing.

Finally, the concept of timbre differences in ancient instruments vs modern is only touched upon briefly.  I would like to see an activity that first lets the students understand timbre.  It is mentioned in module one, but only briefly.  In module 3, the students study lots of ancient instruments (gemshorn, lizard, lute, shofar, etc). Many of these have modern day equivalents.  By using the students' prior knowledge of modern instrument timbres, they would be able to make connections between the ancient and the modern.  After introducing the ancient instruments and their modern counterparts, students could participate in an activity in which they describe some similarities and differences between the two.  Another possible way to introduce the ancient instruments is by having the students make predictions as to what they will sound like.  They can make inferences based on their knowledge of modern instruments and check their knowledge using available online recordings.  In the classroom, it would be great if the students were given the opportunity to try playing (or even creating) replicas of the ancient instruments, or perhaps creating their own new ones.  This would add an incredible amount of creative options to a lesson on instrument timbre.

Reflection Post Week 7- Behavioral Objectives and Assessments

In music, a lot of the basic skills to singing/playing/reading must be mastered before students can really dive into the "meat and potatoes" of their literature.  Most of these skills are taught and assessed as behavioral objectives.

1.  Keyboard 1 class - A behavioral objective in a keyboarding class would be the ability to play a melody with the right or left hand (depending on the exercise) using correct notes, rhythm, and fingering.  As the teacher, I can watch and listen to the students play, assessing if they are using the right fingers and are playing the notes and rhythm correctly.  If they are incorrect, I can offer suggestions on what they need to fix, even providing a demonstration for them at the keyboard so they know what needs to be played.

2.  Music Theory - A behavioral objective in a music theory class would be an aural exercise in which students must identify intervals by listening.  For the activity, I play an ascending interval (Major, Minor, Perfect, or Tritone) first melodically then harmonically.  I would play each interval twice.  The students would write the number (2nd, 3rd, etc) and quality (Major, minor, etc) for each interval.  Assessment for these would be based on whether the individual students get the number and quality of the interval correct.

3.  Chorus class - A behavioral objective in a chorus class would be sight reading exercises.  Students would first practice and drill specific skills as a class, with 1-2 measure examples.  The class is assessed as a whole by the teacher as they sing the short exercises, and repeat skills as needed.  The exercises are then extended to 2-4 then 4-8 measures.  For individual assessment, the students are given a 4 or 8 measure sight reading exercise (melodic, rhythmic, or both) and are asked to sing it for the teacher individually. The exercise would cover the specific skills that the students have been practicing in class (stepwise motion, dotted rhythm, etc).  The students are given a starting pitch, 30 seconds to look at the exercise, and the starting pitch again.  They are allowed to restart their exercise once and are assessed on their accuracy.

4.  Marching band/show choir - I tend to equate marching band drill with show choir choreography.  A behavioral objective in both groups would be the execution of correct formations and choreography.  Each individual move needs to be perfected one at a time and then strung together in a larger pattern.  Assessment of this objective would generally be for the entire group as a whole, rather than individually.  The teacher would watch the group and indicate where mistakes are made.  While pointing out individual mistakes can be helpful, it is important that each student is aware of their place in the group and works to make sure every move is correct.  If necessary, the teacher can demonstrate what is expected at certain times during the performance.  Repetition of particular formations until the moves become "automatic" are generally used, especially in marching band.

Reflection Post Week 7 - Teaching Beethoven Two Ways

Although I am not much of a pianist, I see several aspects of the Beethoven "Pathetique" sonata that would be addressed by a behaviorist approach.  The technical skills needed to play this piece would need to be addressed using drills and practice.  Students would need to work on contrary motion, multi-rhythmic playing, correct fingering, pedal technique, dynamics, and phrasing (esp legato vs staccato and phrasing).  A behaviorist approach to this piece would ask students to practice these skills, and then practice the piece bit by bit, perhaps not even moving on until mistakes have been corrected.  The teacher would offer positive reinforcement for successful playing.  The process would be repeated until the student's muscles were conditioned to play the music correctly.

A cognitivist approach would see the teacher as a guide, helping the student develop strategies that would allow for a successful performance.  The teacher would help the student tap into prior knowledge about how to play pieces like this (slow, legato, with a pseudo ostinato in the middle voices).  Students could look through the music to find familiar terms and markings (dynamics, articulations, etc).  The cognitivist teacher would have the students study and think about the music as a whole, rather than individual skills. Any unfamiliar terms or skills could be taught in the context of the piece, and using that prior knowledge as a basis of the new learning.

Relection Post Week 6 - Creative Activities in Music

1.  Rhythmic composition exercise - Suitable for MS or HS ensembles - During sight-reading instruction, I provide students with certain rhythmic elements (quarter notes, quarter rests, half notes, etc) with which to compose their own 4-8 measure exercise.  The rhythmic elements are in line with whatever they are learning to read at the time.  I generally start these activities at the beginning of the year, using only quarter notes and quarter rests.  The students have the opportunity to be creative within the context of the skills they have acquired. 

2.  Improvisation - Suitable for MS or HS ensembles, or general music - Students are given a melody and ask to improvise a rhythmic accompaniment.  They are allowed to clap, tap, snap, etc to make up their rhythm.  I generally start with just having them make up a short rhythmic pattern and clap it.  As they progress and gain confidence in their improvisation skills, we move on to accompanying melodies. They are allowed to use their improvisation skills and creativity to come up with multiple rhythmic accompaniments.  This could eventually lead to melodic improvisation.

3.  Aleatoric music - Suitable for MS or HS ensembles - Pieces of music such as Eric Whitacre's "Cloudburst" contain aleatoric sections in which students are required to sing specified pitches in whatever order they choose.  Similar to improvisation, the students are given freedom to sing the pitches in any order, and at any speed.  The resulting sound is a wave of tone that contains all of the pitches.  One of the best ways to prepare students for this type of creative experience is to have them sing an ascending and descending line (Do-Sol or 1-5) and allow the students to alter the tempo, and later allowing skips from one note to another.  

4.  Guided expressive choices - Suitable for MS or HS ensembles - Students are given the opportunity to make expressive choices under the guidance of the director.  I will generally offer students 2-3 choices on how to sing a particular phrase of music (legato vs marcato, pianissimo vs forte, where to breathe, etc).  We will experiment together and come to a consensus as to which decision is the most musical (and appropriate).  Students give their opinions using musical language and reasoning, and then a vote is taken.  If done properly, the students will arrive at an acceptable expressive decision together, though the teacher always has veto power!

5.  Choreography - Suitable for HS ensembles - Student choreographers in show choirs are a great way to encourage creativity among students.  When I use student choreographers, I give them a general idea of the style and formation of a particular piece.  The students then are allowed to brainstorm ideas and present them to me for approval.  If approved, they teach them to the show choir.  If not approved, I offer suggestions on how they might make changes to their ideas to make it work.  Additionally, every student in the show choir has the opportunity to suggest choreography if he/she has an idea. 

Reflection Post Week 6 - Using Conformity

While I am a strong advocate for students being individuals and not being afraid of expressing who they are, in a performance setting, conformity is very important.  As an ensemble, it is important for my students to all look the same, as one performing unit.  My choir students know that they are required to hem their dress to a certain length, wear shoes that are closed-toed and not heels, wear their hair up and off the shoulder, and to apply subtle red lipstick.  This often goes against their own fashion styles (so does a long black choir dress and pearls).  However, they understand (through my teaching) that a choir's appearance has a large impact on the impression it leaves with an audience or adjudicator.  Our boys wear tuxedos with black shoes, black ties, and black vests.  By all dressing the same, the students feel a sense of unity and pride in their group.  I don't have research to back this up, but it seems as though students who are well put together, and are uniformly dressed seem to have better audience behavior than groups which are not.  Beyond their uniforms, my students have a distinct process for entering the stage, taking their place on the risers, and exiting.  All of these activities serve to show a sense of professionalism and seriousness in my students. 

Seating charts are very important in a choral classroom, for various reasons.  Some directors choose to seat students according to section, or quartets, or octets.  Vocally, there are lots of opinions as to which seating arrangement is best.  Regardless of the reasoning, seating charts are another example of conformity in the music classroom.  Additionally, I use seating charts as a disciplinary tool in my classroom. If I know that two students cannot stop talking (or cannot get along), I am sure to move them to seats where they are not able to distract the rest of the group.  Students are required to conform to the seating chart, and I change their seating often.  I change their seating to either work on their sound, or their behavior.

On trips, I find that the best way to have students dress is in their chorus t-shirt and jeans or shorts (depending on the time of year).  This type of conformity for students achieves several goals.  It assures that students remain in dress code (an issue sometimes on theme park trips).  More importantly, it allows the chaperones to quickly identify students who are part of our group.  I also believe it encourages my students to behave more appropriately because they are wearing the name of their school on their backs.


Much like in the text, I like to choose one or two songs that I know most of the students will really enjoy, this will allow the others to "come along" with the group and have a good time singing it. 

In all of these aspects of my classroom, I find that by getting a significant number of students to "buy in" to the ideas of uniform, seating, etc, the others will follow the guidelines simply to do what the others are doing.  I rely heavily on my seniors and chorus officers to set the tone for what is expected in my classroom, and (in general) the other students come along mostly because it's "what everyone else does" (that famous teenage excuse for some of the questionable decisions they make).  We can use that mindset to our advantage as teachers!

Reflection Post Week 5 - School Socioeconomic Status Review

With my current position at Florida Virtual School, my community is the entire State of Florida.  I have students from the rural panhandle to the urban centers of Miami.  Florida is a very diverse state, and I encounter all types of students with all types of socioeconomic statuses.  Additionally, I don't know a lot of my students personally, and know even less of their parents.  Because of this, I will look back at the school where I taught before beginning at FLVS.

My former school was located in the small town of Crystal River, in Citrus County, Florida.  Crystal River is on the Florida Gulf Coast, about 80 miles north of Tampa.  One of the biggest employers in the area is Duke Energy.  There is a power plant in Crystal River that opened in 1977.  The nuclear plant went offline in 2009, but the coal fired plant is still in operation.  According to the Florida State Department of Education, 59% of students in 2013-2014 qualified for the National School Lunch Program (free and reduced lunch).  According to US News, minorities account for 12% of the school population.  I could not find specific numbers, but from my own experience, a majority of my students and families are quite religious, with Baptist and Presbyterian being the most common denominations.

I personally tended to not let SES factors play too much into my musical decision-making.  I chose music and lessons that were in line with the Florida Sunshine State Standards.  Knowing that a majority of my school, students, and parents were Christian, I generally had no reservations with having Christmas music at our winter concert.  I would, however, do everything I could to expose my students to a broad array of music from different time periods and around the world.  Our book makes mention of the fact that in many cultures, the school music classroom might be the only place that students are exposed to "art" music.  I took it upon myself to introduce the "classics" to my students, without making them feel as though the music they listened to at home was somehow "below" the music I taught.  Every year, I tried (and succeeded, I hope) to always instill in my students a love and respect for all forms of music. 

Reflection Post Week 5 - Social Aspects of a Musical Performance

For my musical performance social analysis, I need to go back a bit farther than one year.  I have been teaching virtually for 14 months, and have not participated in an organized music performance for over a year.  The social situation I chose was my students' performance for the Black Diamond Community Christmas Luncheon in December 2012.  My chorus was invited by the social director to perform for 30 minutes at the annual Christmas Luncheon.  The music was generally short Christmas carols and other tunes from our Winter Concert.  We were introduced as "Special Entertainment" but were essentially background music while the attendees had their buffet lunch.

The performers were 18 high school students in my top choir that functions as a chamber choir and show choir.  We came in our concert attire (guys in tuxedoes, girls in black dresses).  There was a stage in the room in which we performed, and the students stood on the stage in two arcs.  Since most of the music was from our winter concert, they had everything memorized.  We had one microphone and one piano provided to us.  The microphone was used to amplify the choir and for soloists to sing.  Because we were essentially background music, the students did not interact with the audience at all, until the last section of the performance which was a Christmas sing-a-long.  The social director has specifically asked us to include a sing-a-long in our program.  All of the people in the audience were in their seats by this time.

Black Diamond is the most upper class community in my county.  The audience was made up of mostly older (60+) wealthy men and women who were members of the Black Diamond community and golf association.  There were about 150 people at the luncheon, and they would applaud politely after each song.  There was no printed program for this event, I would announce each song prior to the choir singing.  The audience members were dressed up, but not formal, as this was a specially ticketed lunch event.  Many of the audience members were happy to participate in the sing-a-long.  As the performance progressed, more people had gone through the buffet line and were sitting down, eating their lunch and watching.  By the time we reached the sing-a-long part of the performance, everyone in the audience was watching us.  They really seemed to appreciate our performance, and I received many compliments from audience members, particularly on how the students were dressed.  I think a lot of them have the image of a typical modern teenager, and they seemed to like seeing the students dressed in concert black attire.

Reflection Post Week 4 - The Landfill Orchestra

In the short video of The Landfill Harmonic Orchestra, several girls make profound statements.  One girl talks about the butterflies in her stomach as she listens to the violin, and another says that "My life without music would be worthless."  These are important words for us as music teachers to remember.  Music plays an important part in many people's (perhaps everyone's, to a point) lives.  We are surrounded by music.  We hear it on TV, in movies, in stores, on the radio, everywhere.  Sometimes we don't even notice it.  On a deeper level, though, music means much more to many people.  I have had many students over the years talk to me about how Chorus class was the only reason they came to school.  This is something that the public and administrators needs to hear more often.  If they come to school for music class, our hope (and charge as music teachers) is that they will put forth effort in their other classes, and gain the tools they need for success.  Students find comfort in music, they connect to it (whether popular music or otherwise) on a level that is more than intellectual, it is emotional.  Music provides an escape, a way to express emotion, and a way to be creative.  These connections to music go beyond the school years.  People still connect to music in many ways throughout their lives.  Unfortunately, life sometimes gets in the way and people (politicians, administrators, parents, etc.) forget how important music is (or was) to them.

Some of the best ways for music teachers to inform the community about the importance of music is through demonstration.  Performing in the community gives the students a chance to show off their skills, and the community to see the value in music education.  Every holiday season, countless school music groups perform for countless community organizations (women's clubs, VFW, civic associations, nursing homes, etc).  During those performances, it is important that the audience hears from the students themselves about how music has impacted their lives.  The more the students talk and the less the director talks, the better.  The nice thing about those types of community performances is that you never know who is in the audience.  Lots of times, very powerful people are sitting there, and it is much harder to cut funding to a program when you see for yourself the positive impact music has on the lives of the students and on the community. 

A wonderful way for music teachers and students to reach out into the community to educate non-musicians is through an activity called an "Instrument Petting Zoo."  In these activities, young students from the elementary schools visit the high school band/orchestra room and the older students give demonstrations on their instruments.  After the demonstrations, the young kids are able to pick up, examine, and even play the instruments.  This is sometimes the first experience with a real musical instrument for these young children.  One of the most powerful effect of these events is that the parents of the young children see how much they love playing and exploring the instruments.  The parents are more likely to advocate for a strong music program in their own schools simply because they see how much their children enjoy music!  I would also think that inviting parents to experiment with the instruments would be fun, too!  There are always non-musical parents that probably played an instrument in school and haven't thought about it since.  Maybe an event like this is just the spark needed to turn them into an advocate for music education!

The news media is a valuable tool in the music educator's "bag of tricks" to help educate non-musicians on the importance of music.  Inviting newspaper and TV news coverage of anything and everything the students are doing is a great way to expose more people to the importance of music.  As with the community performances, the more the students talk about the impact of music in their lives, the better.  The music teachers can talk ad nauseam about how important music is, showing research, quoting experts, etc.  The real impact comes from those personal student stories.  Student stories put a real face on the issue of music education.  We have always been lucky in my county because our local newspaper takes time each summer to highlight each high school's band camp.  They are also very cooperative in sending a photographer and reporter to any event to which they are invited.  Visibility is key.  I don't think that the public is inherently against music education in the schools.  The more they see that the music programs are doing wonderful things, the more willing they will be to support them.  I have seen this first hand!

As is evident in this post, I am a firm believer in getting non-musicians (parents, school board, etc) to remember their own love and connection to music.  The hope is that by thinking about how music has impacted their own lives, they will be more willing to support the inclusion of music in the school.  We can quote study after study when we advocate for music education, but if we don't work to have the community feel that connection to music they've had in the past, we will not get very far.

Reflection Post Week 3 - Making a Case for Music Education

The study of music in the schools (at all levels) can have a huge impact on the lives of students.  In addition to a better understanding of performance, pedagogy, musical terminology, and expression, there are many non-musical benefits to music study in the schools.  For my rationale, I went right to the "top," The National Association for Music Education.  The NAfME supports music in all schools at all levels.  They indicate four significant non-musical benefits for including music in the schools.

1.  Creativity - in addition to musical creativity, the creative skills learned in the music classroom allow students to think "outside the box" as they solve problems in other areas of study, as well as in their daily lives.  Music study supports imagination and appreciation for the world around us.  I would even venture to add curiosity to the post on creativity.

2.   Communication - Music is a universal language.  The performance and study of music allows students to find new ways to communicate their joys, fears, triumphs, and failures.  Many students, after studying and/or performing music, find it easier to express themselves in their everyday life.

3.  Critical Assessment - Music utilizes many different parts of the brain, such as the cognitive and affective sides.  Because music stimulates multiple parts of the brain, it becomes easier for students to use them in other disciplines.

4.  Commitment - Musicians are constantly on deadlines.  They have upcoming concerts, rehearsals, recitals, etc.  Performing music requires a tremendous amount of commitment.  Students must live up to their commitments in order to be successful musicians.  This will teach them the importance of honoring their commitments outside the music room.

I am having a hard time finding rationale or resources stating that music education is not essential in music classrooms.  I will attempt to provide four reasons and some rationale that could be argued if this debate were to be sparked.


1.  Music classes take time away from other academic courses - When students take an abundance of music classes, they do not have room in their schedules for more rigorous academic courses, such as advanced math or science classes.  Research has shown that students who take the minimum graduation requirements in math are not prepared for collegiate mathematics.  (ACT National Curriculum study, 2009)

2.  Music classes are expensive - It takes a lot of money to supply a band or orchestra with all of the music, instruments, uniforms, and travel needed to be successful.  With school budgets declining everywhere, it seems that money budgeted for music might be better spent on technology or remediation materials for a larger portion of the school population.

3.  Not all music teachers are effective - The positive aspects of music education are only achieved if the music teacher in the classroom is efficient and effective.  Too often, music teachers are not providing an educational experience that creates the positive non-musical outcomes (or musical outcomes for that matter) that are used to defend music in the schools.

4.  Not all students are interested in music - Because not every student in the school is interested in music, and there are other ways for students to receive their required fine arts credit graduation requirement, music class seems like a misappropriation of resources.  Without the music teacher on campus, it is possible to hire another remedial reading or math teacher to help students who are struggling to meet the requirements of the standardized tests set forth by the state (FCAT in Florida).

Reflection Post Week 3 - How Would You Teach Tchaikovsky?

Something I do in my classes all the time is an activity where the students will listen to a particular piece of music, and just simply write about how it makes them feel.  They are instructed not to write about their feelings on the interpretation, tuning, diction, etc.  I sometimes give them an image to help spur their imagination.  For example, I use Eric Whitacre's wind composition Equus.  I tell them that the title of the piece means "horse."  From there, they can write whatever they want.  They can tell a story, write "stream of consciousness" style, or make a list of feelings and ideas that pop into their head.

For a piece like the Tchaickovsky, with no purely visual representation in the title (like in Equss), I would start the class with a conversation about what makes music sound sad, or angry, or happy.  Since this is a music appreciation class, I would try to avoid the use of musical terms such as minor key, dynamics, etc.  I would probably play short excerpts of obviously sad or angry (or happy) music and ask the students to discuss what they hear, and why they feel the way they feel while listening to the music.  We would also discuss the impact of watching a performance vs simply listening.  I would then move on to the "main event."

This particular piece has that wonderful oboe solo at the beginning.  Prior to listening, we could discuss the importance and effectiveness of solos in particular music.  What can solos represent?  What do solos add to a piece of music?  I would then tell them I will play the music for them twice.  I would first play simply the recording, without the video.  I would ask them to describe how the music makes them feel.  Are they affected by the solo?  Do they have an overwhelming emotion one way or another as they listen?  I would then ask them to listen a second time, but this time watching the video.  How does seeing the performance affect their reaction?  Does seeing the oboe player make the solo have more impact?  What about the conductor?  I would then ask the students to compare their experience with just listening to their experience with watching and listening.  We could then have a brief discussion about not only their experiences with both watching and listening, but the similarities and differences they entailed.

I think that the video vs audio experience would be an interesting slant on the assignment as given.  I hadn't really ever thought about this as an option in my listening exercises in my classroom, but I think there are a lot of discussion points to be made by experiencing the music in this way.  Unfortunately in my job at Florida Virtual School, I won't have the opportunity to implement this idea, but I hope that some day, I will.  I really think there are a lot of great aesthetic education possibilities in this lesson.  

 

Reflection Post Week 3 - Aesthetic Experience

It was interesting listening to the lecture on music and aesthetic experience.  I find that, as a trained musician, it is hard to go to a concert and appreciate the music for what it is.  I am continually analyzing the intonation, interpretation, vowel shapes, blend, diction, and countless other technical inconsistencies (or triumphs).  It's very hard to just sit back, listen, and enjoy myself. It's possible, but I have to force myself to turn off my "music brain."

This assignment could not have come at a better time.  I spent a great deal of time last night (May 16th) looking at Jupiter and Saturn through my friend's new telescope.  As I read about aesthetic experiences, this really seemed to match the description.

First, there was no real practical purpose for me looking up at the planets last night.  It's just something we decided to do, and the weather last night was spectacular.  The skies were crystal clear, and the evening was cool and crisp.  

This was the first time I had seen the planets through a really powerful telescope.  Obviously I've seen pictures in textbooks and on the internet, but this was a very unique and powerful experience.  I was truly amazed and in awe of what I was seeing.  Here, in the driveway of a friend, I was looking at celestial bodies millions of miles away.  One the one hand, I was amazed at how clear the telescope was, and how much we could see from down here.  On the other hand, I was speechless at the beauty of the planets and how incredible the entire experience was.

During and after the planet gazing, I found myself thinking about what the first astronomers that used telescopes must have thought when they looked up and saw these celestial bodies in the darkness of the sky above them.  Thinking even farther back, the prehistoric and ancient people thought that, because of their unusual movement compared to other stars, they must have something to do with the gods.  It's amazing how far we have come.

During my observation of Jupiter and Saturn, my focus was entirely on looking as closely as I could to see the features of the planets.  I was not distracted by anyone or anything while I looked through the viewfinder.  The aspects of the aesthetic experience described in the text on pages 74-75 explain a lot of what I experienced.  I experienced pleasure, significant feelings, intellectual appreciation, focus of attention, and an appreciation for life and the experience.

For someone like me, looking at the planets through a telescope was a very unique and profound experience.  I would equate it to viewing a beautiful work of art.  As a matter of fact, I consider the stars and planets to be part of nature's art (in addition to all of the magnificent features of Earth).  I am not interested in the scientific study of the solar system.  I much prefer to appreciate it for the complex, beautiful, and amazing part of life that it is.  It is similar to art or music lovers that visit museums or attend concerts simply for the aesthetic experience. 

Relection Post Week 1

Philip Alperson and Noël Carroll wrote an article for the Journal of Aesthetic Education in 2008 discussing the impacts of music on morality and society.  In it, they give many examples of how music influences behavior.  For example, music is used in the churches and military to control the actions of the followers (Muslim call to prayer or the military reveille bugle wake-up call).  Other examples include the use of music to celebrate weddings, births, holidays, etc.  Alperson and Carroll also explain that music has the ability to enhance relationships (love songs) and offer healing (both physical and emotional) through music therapy and funeral music, including celebratory tunes such as “When the Saints Go Marching In.”  They also describe how music can influence destructive behavior, such as the rock music of the 1960s and the drug culture.  

The authors discuss how the actual construction of the music can elicit emotional (and perhaps moral/immoral) responses.  From the rhythm, to instrumentation, to tone, to dynamics, the music that is heard can have a strong influence on behavior.  Additionally, they write about how music has a measurable effect on brain function which can affect mood and development.  

The authors don’t really present an argument for or against the idea that music can influence morality, but rather show many examples of how music has influence over our daily lives.  The argument that Plato makes regarding the impact music has on morality is strongly supported in this article, not only through examples, but through quoted research on how music physically affects the brain.  This is where I found that the article lines up with Plato’s philosophy.  Back in Ancient Greece, they might not have had the ability to measure the activity of the brain, but Plato was obviously on to something!

Ian Inglis’s 2006 article for The Journal of Popular Culture discusses the impacts of censorship of music and freedom of speech.  He writes that the current debates of the early 21^st Century are not new and discusses the censorship that took place on The Ed Sullivan Show during the 1960s.  His examples include the censorship of Bob Dylan, The Doors, and The Rolling Stones.  Just hours before Bob Dylan’s appearance on the show, CBS told him he would not be allowed to perform his chosen song, “Talkin’ John Birch Society Blues,” due to its content and satirizing of the extreme right-wing organization.  Dylan refused to change the song and never appeared on the show.  After agreeing to alter a drug reference in their lyrics to their hit, “Light My Fire,” The Doors sang the offending line as written during the live performance, even though they had changed the lyrics during the rehearsal.  Management was furious and The Doors never appeared on Ed Sullivan again.  By contrast (and with some controversy and denial) The Rolling Stones removed a sexual innuendo from one of their performances as demanded by Ed Sullivan and the producers of the show.  It had been their fifth appearance on the show, and the decision to give in seems to have been a commercial one, because The Ed Sullivan Show provided bands with considerable national exposure.

Inglis goes on to discuss that each performer’s actions ended up being beneficial to their careers.  Dylan and The Doors were seen as pioneers of the 1960s counter-culture, and The Rolling Stones were able to gain more popularity from being on the show again.  Popular music is often at the center of debates over how much influence music has on a population.  The attempts to censor the musicians show that the producers of The Ed Sullivan Show felt that it was their responsibility to keep morally questionable material off the airwaves.  These conflicts between musicians and the “establishment” continue today, and are a strong indication that if Plato was not correct in his ideas that music can have an effect on morality, the general population of today still subscribes to his philosophy.

Bibliography

Alperson, P. & Carroll, N. (2008). Music, Mind, and Morality: Arousing the Body Politic . Journal of Aesthetic Education , 42(1), 1-15.

Inglis, I. (2006). The Ed Sullivan Show and the (Censored) Sounds of the Sixties. The Journal of Popular Culture, 39(4), 558-575.