As I began
chapter five in Music Learning Today,
I really enjoyed the opening story about Elizabeth and her difficulties
inspiring the general music class to be interested in music. When I first
started teaching I also felt lost about how to keep the students interested in
playing their instruments. Much like Elizabeth in the text, I started off by
force-feeding the students songs from the method book. Many of the students
enjoyed the method book music, but several students did not enjoy playing, as
they called it, “lame” or “corny” music. I was a new teacher and I was
desperate not to lose numbers in the band program in my first year. I asked
other teachers in the district what they tried to help with this problem and
they suggested I ask the students what types of music they enjoy. Most of the
students enjoyed pop or rap music. In 2011, one of the top pop songs was
“Dynamite” by Tao Cruiz. It is a catchy song with simple notes and rhythms. I
found an easy arrangement of this piece and the students went crazy over it!
They absolutely loved this song and when we performed it at the concert, the
entire audience was singing along and gave the band a cheering standing
ovation. It was one of my most proud moments as a teacher and also something I
don’t think those students or I will never forget.
How
students respond to music depends on many aspects such as family background,
favorite type of music, exposure to different genres of music and so on. I know
many of my students listen to music on a daily basis through their smart phones
or ipods. Most of my students enjoy pop, rap, R&B, and gospel, however if I
mention a famous composer such as Chopin, Haydn, or even Bach most students do
not have any idea who I am talking about. YouTube has been a fantastic resource
for me to be able to introduce students to famous composers. For example, one
of the most popular songs among the students in the method book is an excerpt
from Haydn’s Surprise Symphony. With YouTube I can just look this piece up and
instantly play it for my students, and my students enjoy hearing the “real”
version of a song they are learning.
Also with YouTube I have been able
to look up videos about certain musical techniques that I want to demonstrate
to the students. A student asked me about vibrato on a violin once, so I looked
up a video on how to produce vibrato on a violin and showed it to the class. I
really liked the assignment this week about making our own tutorials. I chose
to demonstrate how to assemble a clarinet, which would be an early lesson in my
beginning band class. After submitting my tutorial, I thought about how easy it
would be to make these tutorials for every instrument, then instruct the
students to watch them as part of their homework assignment. This would help
students remember how to assemble instruments, or perform other tasks, while they
were practicing at home and aren’t able to ask me questions.
Spotify is another resource to look
up almost any piece or composer and create a play list to share with your
students. Unfortunately for me, I found out this week while attempting to work
on my Spotify project that Spotify is among the list of restricted websites on
my school’s network. I cannot access certain websites at my schools due to
restrictions for children, and Spotify is part of the restricted websites. I am
assuming this is because music with explicit language is on this website and
the schools do not want students accessing this during school hours.
I was happy to see the textbook
discuss the importance of understanding music in order for it to be
appreciated. I have always tried to make sure that all the students know how to
read their music and learn the notes of the staff. So many students get away
with not knowing how to read their music because their teacher just writes the
letters above all the notes. This is a practice that I try to use as little as
possible, and mainly with students with special needs that participate in band.
Just this little amount of theory can increase a students understanding of even
basic pieces of music. The text mentions games and apps that use music theory,
and I would be very interested to explore some of these to see if there would
be anything age appropriate for my beginning students. If there is a usable game
available for elementary school children it would be great to use a projector
and play the game as a whole class. I may possibly use this idea at the end of
the school year after I collect the instruments, but still need material for
lessons.
It’s important to listen to your
students to learn what learning styles they have and what would work best for
the class. Every student responds to music, no matter what genre, in a
different way. Finding a healthy balance between “fun” and learning is the best
way to connect with students in general, instrumental, or vocal music. This is
my way of thinking every year so that I can keep the students in band and
continue to improve the instrumental program.
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