General Instruction

Improving Rhythmic Accuracy In Beginner Students

Rhythm inaccuracy in beginner students results from a lack of basic reinforcement of the concept of a steady beat. Beginner students should experience heavy reinforcement of a steady beat through: -Dancing -Clapping -Tapping -Swaying -Visual & aural modeling from the teacher & peers practicing a steady beat. *Teachers should use the concept of heartbeat when practicing a steady beat.

Teacher Feedback

The educator can receive feedback from students through informal assessments such as teacher feedback, short on-the-spot quizzes, and informal questioning and discussion. *Informal assessment helps to hold students accountable for their daily musical progress. -Performance tests/quizzes: the teacher can asses progress of the individual or section and provide feedback regarding accuracy, technique, etc. -Informal questioning and feedback: the teach can assess a student's comprehension of a piece or work and their analysis. *The more feedback a teacher provides, the more learning opportunities a student can experience.

Utilitarian Approach to the Philosophy of Music Education

Utilitarian philosophy: stemming from the writings of Plato and Aristotle, qualities of good character, civic responsibility, cultural awareness, and nobility. Persistence, control, and aural awareness develop musical performance skills. Students can develop fine motor skills when practicing on an instrument. Comprehension skills are reinforced when students master various levels of music complexity. Singing helps the student develop deep breathing and a strong diaphragm.

Using Adaptive Technology For Helping Students with Disabilities

iPad apps can act as a touch-sensitivity synthesizer to convert movement to audio. A string can be used to guide visually impaired students around the room. A student with low vision can use enlarged music or a Braille translation. Students who have trouble holding or using an instrument can use adaptive toggles, Joysticks, clamps, and other tools. Hearing-impaired students can use cochlear implants, hearing aids, or vibration-based technology to play in an ensemble.

Comprehensive Musicianship Through Performance

Comprehensive musicianship through performance (CMP): a model that prioritizes an inclusive, deeper understanding of music or lifelong musical involvement. Five main elements: -Music selection -Objectives: determined based on the music selection. -Analysis: involves a deeper understanding of history, form, and style of a music selection. -Strategies: implemented in the curriculum. -Assessment

Accommodations in the Music Classroom: Accommodations for Students with Visual Disabilities

Focus on other ways of learning (aural and tactile methods). Teaching techniques: -When learning how to play an instrument, allow the student enough time to explore the body and take it apart if possible. -Explore other examples of the instruments to fully understand the shape and various aspects. -Use the Braille Music Code to teach staff notation; students should not solely rely on aural skills when learning. -Demonstrate an action by placing the students hand over the instructor's.

Non-Formal Teaching and Informal Learning

Informal training: a student's self-led exploration -Informal training gives students more autonomy and allows them to become more involved in their own learning. Cons of informal learning: -Outcomes depend on each student. Students tend to practice their strengths while their weaker skills are ignored.

Neutral Bases For Mental Practice Efficacy

*Mental practice is used when access to an instrument is not possible. "Practice makes perfect" describes the correct pattern-forming process of the brain. -However, educators use "practice makes permanent" as a way to describe reinforcing habit building. *Mental practice combined with physical practice will provide maximum cognitive and motor training.

Integrating Music Instruction with Common Core Subjects

*Music educators can integrate non-musical subjects into their lessons such as language arts, history, math and science. Musical phrasing: individual phrases can be compared to an individual sentence in a paragraph. Repertoire selection: reinforce historical knowledge and relating to historical events. Basic musical elements: requires a mathematical understanding of division of meter and beats. Science: humidity, fluid dynamics, and physics can be integrated into the lesson regarding woodwind care and sound properties.

Music Performance Outcomes Dictating Assessment Components

*The National Association for Music Education published Performance Standards by grade level. Students should be able to: -Sing alone and with others while demonstrating correct technical and musical ability in a wide range of styles. -Play an instrument alone and with others, demonstrating correct technical and musical ability in a wide rage of styles. -Improvise basic melodies and accompaniment on their instrument or through singing. -Compose and arrange music within specific contexts with or without technology. -Read and notate music appropriate to their level. -Listen to music and analyze or describe it. -Evaluate music and musical performances. -Relate music to non-musical fields such as history, visual art, literature, and others.

Kinesthetic Theories of Rhythm Reading

*This theory states that rhythm cannot be experienced without having first experienced its physical movement. -Students should experience rhythm through their bodies first. Phyllis Weikart: an advocate for movement-based learning in EC.

Bruner's Spiral Curriculum Theory

A strategy that focuses on gradual progression and building of specific skills. -The theory promotes a sequential approach to learning music concepts and facilitates teachers making valid assessments of each student's progress. A typical spiral curriculum sequence of events may include: -Strategy: Teacher presents a framework for introducing a musical problem that inspires creative thought. -Composing and Rehearsing: students solve the musical problem in group composition projects by developing a musical hypothesis and testing it using aural logic. -Performance: After groups rehears their compositions, a performance typically takes place to share ideas.

Improving Pitch Reading In Beginner Students

Always have a reference pitch when reading music. Students should understand the spatial relationships between higher and lower pitch in reference to the position on the staff. Teachers should provide reinforcement and practice in pitch reading.

Aesthetic Approach to the Philosophy of Music Education

Aesthetic philosophy: emerged during the national education reform in the 1950s. -Schools wanted to redefine general education and music educators agreed there should be a new philosophy beyond utilitarianism. Influential theorists: Bennett Reimer, Michael Mark, Elliot Eisner, Charles Leonhard, Robert House, and Maxine Green. -They believed music should be studied in and for itself; only through the arts could student develop sensitivity, feeling, and symbolic communication. *It was believed that extra-musical benefits did not compare to the pure enjoyment and interaction of making music. *No other study could develop the musical perception, mental sensations, and appreciation for sound except music study.

Practicing Teaching Techniques: Accommodating Aural Learners

Aural learning: learning through hearing content and talking/discussion. Teaching techniques: -Use precise language when explaining ideas. -Allow students to discuss ideas and content among themselves. -Allow students to ask questions and talk through ideas. -Have spoken quizzes and tests. -Listen to student recordings to identify areas of mistakes and improvement.

Music Philosophy of Bennett Reimer

Bennett Reimer: wrote a book, "A Philosophy of Music Education", which promoted an aesthetic model of education. *According to Reimer, music is an expressive form and cannot be limited to intellectual or other non-musical pursuits. the best form of music education involves listening, examining, and actively participating in only musical works. In a music curriculum, performance should be the focus since the act does not encourage active listening and developing the aesthetic feeling.

Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning as Related to Music Education

Bloom's taxonomy: the framework for educational goals and objectives for learning as set in the 1950s by Benjamin Bloom and other educational psychologists. His model outlines hierarchical levels of thinking in three domains: -Cognitive: focusing on knowledge -Affective: focusing on values -Psychomotor: focusing on motor skills. Model for the cognitive domain is ordered in hierarchical levels: -Knowledge stage: students music remember or recall information. -Comprehension stage: students must understand and be able to explain ideas and concepts. -Application stage: students must apply the information in a new way. -Analysis stage: students must distinguish between different parts of the concept. -Synthesis stage: students must be able to gather the knowledge acquired to support and justify a decision. -Evaluation stage: students become independent to create and improvise original ideas.

Dalcroze Eurthymics

Dalcroze Eurhythmics: uses physical movement as a tool for musical development. Emile Jacques-Dalcroze: believed that music should be taught with kinesthetic movement to integrate nerves and muscles. *Dalcroze theorized that music can be more readily understood through movement rather than reason. The body is the instrument to discover expression, musicality, tempo, dynamics, style, and phrase structure. -This way, students can deepen their understanding of their physical connection to music and refine their senses of rhythm, coordination, hearing, and creativity.

Dalcroze Method

Dalcroze Method: developed around 1900 by Emile Jaques-Dalcroze as a system of music education through movement (eurhythmics). -Eurhythmics: the body is seen as an instrument and students can use it to discover expression, musicality, tempo, dynamics, style, and phrase structure. *Dalcroze approach uses eurhythmics, solfege, and improvisation. In a eurhythmics class, students incorporate movement of their feet, arms, and bodies to music improvised by the teacher or played from a recording.

Music Philosophy of David Elliot

David Elliot: a music educator and philosopher who wrote "Music Matters: A New Philosophy of Music Education". He supported a practical, procedural approach to music education that emphasized activity rather than feeling. *His teachings were a direct opposite of Reimer's aesthetic philosophy. To Elliot, knowledge was about the direct, purposeful skill set involved in making music. -He focused on the concept of musicianship. Curriculum should be based on music practice and start with music making. *Elliot recommends a student apprenticeship model of education where the teacher plays the role of a mentor and expert musician.

Ensemble Rehearsal Strategies

Determine if the difficulties are caused by a lack of individual practice. -If so, instruct the ensemble on how to practice individually. If the problems result from the entire ensemble, identify problem spots by playing through the passage slowly. -Once practiced, slowly speed up to performance tempo. *The ensemble should practice scales, arpeggios, and technical etudes to develop technical skills.

Gordon's Music Learning Theory and Audiation

Edwin Gordon: developed the music Learning Theory and centering on the concept of audiation. -Audiation: the internalization of music when performing, listening, or composing. *Audiation requires cognitive processing to give meaning to the sound. Eight types of audiation: -Type 1: listening to a familiar or unfamiliar music. -Type 2: reading familiar or unfamiliar music. -Type 3: writing familiar or unfamiliar music via dictation. -Type 4: recalling and performing familiar music from memory. -Type 5: Recalling and writing familiar music from memory. -Type 6: creating and improvising unfamiliar music. -Type 7: creating and improvising unfamiliar music while reading. -Type 8: creating and improvising unfamiliar music while writing

Role of Music Education in Cultural Diversity

Elementary music teachers can include Latin, South African, Indian, Chinese, and Japanese Music (along with others) when singing in groups and learning musical elements. Band, choral, and orchestra directors can include non-western repertoire in their concerts.

Classroom Routine

Establishing daily routines and procedures can provide structure and prevent many misbehaviors. -Lessons will have fewer interruptions and flow more smoothly. The teacher should establish clear procedures and routines from the first day and continue to reinforce them throughout the year. The first few weeks should focus on establishing, practicing, and reinforcing classroom procedures.

Pre-K Eurhythmics

Example activities of Pre-K eurhythmics: -Students dance freely to teacher's improvisation on the piano with frequent changes in relation to mood, tempo, dynamics, and style. Students will change their dance styles accordingly. -Students pass a beech ball in a circle in rhythm as defined by the teacher's music. -Students stomp their feet in rhythm and sway side to side while reciting a children's rhyme. -Students clap their hands to the tempo of the teacher's improvisation on the piano; the teacher alters the tempo so that the students must follow along. -The teacher plays a soft melody on the piano while students smoothly move to the music; for sfz, students clap hands with a partner, then resume the quiet music/movement.

Extrinsic Motivation In The Classroom

Extrinsic Motivation: motivation that exists for an individual apart from the activity or task such as an outside pressure or reward. -Opposed to intrinsic motivation. Satisfaction lies in an external reward pressure, or another external prompt. Encourage extrinsic motivation when there is a lack of intrinsic motivation. *Sometimes extrinsic motivation can transition into intrinsic motivation when effective.

Factors Affecting STudent Participation in a School Music Program

Factors negatively affecting education and outcomes: -Hunger, physical and emotional abuse, and chronic illness can have a negative impact on a student's education. -Health-risk behaviors are consistently linked with poor grades and test scores and lower educational attainment. Factors positively affecting education: -School health programs. -Supportive teacher-student relationships. *Students in a high-poverty urban school may benefit more from a supportive student-teacher relationship than a student from a high-income family.

Teaching Rhythm to an Elementary Class

For students to understand rhythm, they must first experience it kinesthetically: -Students can start by mimicking patterns before they learn how to label them. Keep a beat to music and relate it to a heartbeat. Once students learn the concept of rhythm, they can learn how to label it.

Keeping Students Focused And On Task

If students are distracted, wait until they are paying attention to the lesson. -Silence will draw attention to the misbehaving student. Redirect students' attention by giving signals (clapping, repeating, etc.) -Misbehaving students will participate and try not to be left out. Use a quiet signal such as a raised hand or two fingers, etc. Reward good behavior Place a misbehaving student next to you so he/she becomes conscious of his/her behavior. Give misbehaving students a special task or additional responsibilities. A student may be misbehaving if they are not engaged in the lesson. Adjust lecture time or activities to help students focus.

Accommodations in the Music Classroom: Accommodations for Students with Physical Disabilities

Inclusion promotes social awareness and acceptance, increased motor development and higher mental acuity. Teaching techniques: -The classroom should be ADA-accessible and free from obstacles or other hazards. -The instructor should acquire adaptive instruments for disabled students. -Include lessons that require minimal strength. -Educational goals should be appropriately sequenced to facilitate realistic and achievable outcomes.

Instructional Activities That Aid Intervallic Reading And Understanding

Intervallic reading: the ability to recognize the relative relationships between pitches. -Those who can do so can read more quickly and with less mental processing time. Reading note by note: must first mentally identify the pitch name, translate that into the fingering or key pattern, then play. Reading intervocalically: forgo the pitch identification step and immediately proceeding to spatial processing.

Intrinsic Motivation In The Classroom

Intrinsic motivation: motivation that exists for an individual in the activity itself (opposed to extrinsic motivation) -Extrinsic motivation: motivation for an activity exists apart from the activity such as an outside pressure or reward. Encourage intrinsic motivation in those who experience a natural curiosity and gratification in doing the task. -When effective, intrinsic motivation can encourage a high quality of learning and creativity in students.

Individual Student Lessons

It is best for students to take lessons from a private teacher to improve their skills and technique. -Ability level of the ensemble -Strengths and weaknesses of the ensemble. -Number of musicians and instruments in the ensemble. -Number of rehearsals before the anticipated performance. -Variety of music appropriate for the audience.

Practical Teaching Techniques: Accommodating Kinesthetic Learners

Kinesthetic learning: learn by doing. Teaching techniques: -Lessons that require movement. -Short lesson segments and frequent breaks to stand up and move. -When introducing meter and rhythm, require students to physically move to various rhythms and meters. -Demonstrate movement and techniques rather than relying on verbal or visual explanation. -Implement games, field trips, and seating changes.

Kodaly Method

Kodaly Method: developed by Zoltan Kodaly. Main goal: develop music education through singing; the voice is the most accessible instrument. -Kodaly used the movable-do system, hand signs for syllables, rhythmic syllables, and solfege notation. --The use of hand signs provides a kinesthetic tool for children to identify pitch and intervals. Kodaly method 5-step instructional sequence: -Preparation -Make conclusions -Reinforcement -Practice -Create

Motivating Students In The Music Classroom

Motivated students result in higher engagement and better learning How to motivate students: -Become a role model --Show excitement and passion for the lesson -Know the students well --If teachers are actively involved in the students' education, the students will be motivated to do well. -Use positive reinforcement and constructive criticism -Use frequent activities for students to demonstrate their achievements -Set realistic performance goals.

Principles of Sequencing A music Curriculum

Music curriculum can be sequenced using three different techniques: -Content sequencing: content should be analyzed for the main item and organized into hierarchal structure; the most general and inclusive content should be presented first, followed by more details relating to the content. -Task sequencing: analyze the skill involved and teach the techniques/learning content from simplest to more complex. -Sequencing of elaboration: students are given a general view of the content/subject before they are taught the basic concept and progress to more detailed information.

Musical Content Standards For Grades 5-8

National Standards for Arts Education General Content Standards for Grades 5-8: -Sing independently and in a group accurately in two or three parts with expression in various genres. -Perform on instruments independently and in groups with accuracy, expression, and good technique. -Improvise short melodies and simple harmonic accompaniment in a consistent style, meter, and tonality. -Read standard notation including sixteenth and dotted notes, and understand compound meters. -Describe and analyze specific elements in music while listening. -Evaluate their own and other students' performances. -Compare and contrast music with other fine arts and other disciplines. -Classify and describe various genres and styles of music in history and other world cultures.

Music Content Standards For Grades K-4

National Standards for Arts Education General Content Standards for Grades K-4: -Sing independently and in group on pitch and rhythm, with dynamics, articulation, and phrasing. -Perform instruments in a group with easy rhythmic, melodic, and choral patterns while maintaining a steady tempo. -Improvise simple musical answers and accompaniment for familiar melodies. -Compose simple short songs to accompany readings or dramatizations. -Read basic notation to eighth notes, basic dynamic markings, and understand 2/4 and 4/4 meters. -Move purposefully to music and identify a variety of instrumental sounds. -Explain their personal preferences to certain music with proper music terminology. -Identify similarities and differences in various arts and other disciplines. -Identify various genres or roles of music in their daily life.

Musical Content Standards for Grades 9-12

National Standards for Arts Education for grades 9-12: -Student should be able to: --Sing a large selection of vocal rep in four or more parts with expression, technical accuracy, and good ensemble skills. --Perform a large selection of instrumental rep with technical accuracy, expression, and good ensemble skills. --Improvise original melodies and harmonize parts in a consistent style, meter, and tonality. --Compose for a variety of instruments and voices. --Read standard and non-standard notation in full vocal and instrumental scores. --Describe and analyze specific elements of music in listening. --Critically evaluate performances, improvisations, and compositions. --Meticulously compare and contrast music with other fine arts and other disciplines. --Identify and describe various genres and styles of music in history and other world cultures through aral examples.

Orff-Schulwerk Method

Orff-Schulwerk Method: developed by Carl Orff and Gunild Keetman, both believed music should be experienced and taught through a child's natural tendency to play. Music could be explored through drama, speech, and movement. Students could participate in improvisation on pitched and unpitched musical instruments. The method emphasizes rhythmic development through chanting, bodily rhythm patterns, and movements, and melodic development through improvisation of speaking patterns and specialized Orff instruments. The pentatonic scale is most commonly used for this method and most accessible on the Orff instruments.

Orff-Schulwerk Lesson Plan

Orff-Schulwerk method: emphasizes children's children's natural tendency to play as a key component to musical discovery and development. Central activity components: including speech, singing, movement, and playing instruments. -Speech: using chants, and rhymes to explore rhythmic stress patterns. -Singing: introduce tonal patterns and strengthen singing abilities. Activity includes songs and games. -Movement: typically implemented through games. -Instruments: body percussion, hand instruments, and specialized Orff instruments including the bass, alto, and soprano xylophones and metallophones, and the soprano and alto glockenspiel.

Pyramid Model of Balance And Blend

Pyramid model: higher-pitched singers and instruments should play softer than the lowest-pitch singers and instruments. -The higher-pitched section can easily hear the bass section for better intonation and blend.

Student Exhibiting Behavior Problems

Reflect on the misbehavior: -Adjust teaching style or lesson sequencing to redirect the misbehavior. -Observe for any learning disability or impairments. *Set clear boundaries or behavior. Ways to address the misbehavior: -Silence -Physical cues -Close proximity -Quickly stating the student's name *Be careful not to disrupt the flow of the lesson. If the techniques do not work, the behavior should be addressed after class.

Every Pupil Responds Instructional Technique

Requires the students to simultaneously respond by demonstrating or displaying the appropriate response. -Allows to quickly check for understanding. Examples: -Hand out "yes" or "no" cards -Show different musical notational signs -Allow students to write on a white board and hold it up.

Rote Learning Vs. Intervallic Note Reading

Rote method: teaching a student to read notes from memory. -Techniques include mnemonic devices ("Every Good Boy Does Fine") for reading notes on the staff. Intervallic note reading: reading by intervallic relationships, i.e., a third up, a second down, etc. Cons: -Rote reading: sight reading may be slightly slower because of the added mental processing of labels. -Intervallic reading: note naming may be more difficult as students must first process intervals.

Laban's Theory of Movement Education

Rudolf von Laban was a Hungarian dancer who developed fundamental theories for dance and they were adopted by music educators for movement-based music education. Laban believed people should learn the four elements of movement to develop mindfulness and creativity: -Flow: free and tense movement -Weight: heavy and light movements -Time: quick and slow movements -Space: direct/straight and indirect/arching movement Laban also outlined eight basic actions: -Punch, slash, dab, flick, press, wring, glide, and float. *These movements have incorporated in performance (for expression and interpretation) and by conductors to convey musical gestures.

Preventing Student Behavior Issues

Rules and guidelines are essential for groups with more than 15 students. Instructions should be clear and concise. The teacher should model the activity, ask students to repeat the instructions, or have a student give an example to check for understanding. *Always establish rules, awards, and consequences for the classroom. Have guidelines to operate within to prevent rash reactions.

Section Rehearsals and Full Ensemble Rehearsals

Sectional rehearsals allow students to fine-tune their parts and fix any problems that come up. Precautions: -Sectional time should be schedules immediately before or after ensemble rehearsal. -Players should know and clearly understand the objectives before beginning rehearsal.

Sample Six-Week Curriculum And Objectives For Grades 1-2

Students in grades 1-2 learn by doing an activity. -Create a balanced curriculum that includes experiential learning. Six-week curriculum: -Week one: include games and songs to introduce the concept of a steady beat. -Week two: reinforce the concept while introducing beat counts (quarter note, half note, etc.) -Week three: steady beat and notes should be reinforced through movement and songs. -Week four: compose rhythms of quarter and half notes. -Weeks five and six: continue to reinforce the concepts and improvise on the learned rhythms through games, dance, and songs.

Appropriate Classroom Objectives For Grades 5-8

Students in grades 5-8 should be reinforcing skills learned in K-4 and preparing to achieve standards set by the National Achievement Standards by grade 8. Students should be able to: -Sing with expression from a variety of styles and genres. --By memory, on pitch, alone, and in groups. -Perform on at least one instrument. --Alone and in groups with good technique, posture, bowing, or breath, and with good fingering. -Play simple tunes by ear. -Improvise short melodies and simple accompaniment patterns. -Compose simple compositions in a variety of styles. -Read treble and bass clefs, whole, half, quarter, eighth, and sixteenth notes and rests in a variety of meters. -Analyze basic history, other arts, and disciplines outside of music.

Suzuki Method

Suzuki Method: developed by a Japanese violinist Shinich Suzuki. -Musical development should be structured through a mother tongue approach. --Children hear and learn to play music from an early age, similar to speech. Suzuki emphasizes substantial parental involvement, an early start, listening, and repetition. *Creating an encouraging environment helps the child's musical development. Learning by the Suzuki Method: -Step 1: learn by ear (similar to learning speech in language) -Step 2: learn to read musical notation (after developing competence on an instrument). Schools incorporate the Suzuki method by using Suzuki repertoire, memorization of pieces, repetition, learning by rote, and continual parental involvement.

Helping Students With Dyslexia Understand Written Musical Notation

Students with dyslexia may have difficulty with visual tracking, visual stress, visual-motor comprehension, sound discrimination, and symbol-sound relationships. Teaching techniques: -Remove all barriers to the student's learning and help build their strengths. -Use color-coded overlays to prevent visual stress. -Use multi-sensory approach to teaching notation such as Dalcroze or Kodaly, technology, pattern learning, and graphics.

Simple Semester Assessment Plan

The use of assessment strategies should include individual achievement and group ensemble achievement. Comprehensive rubric: provides accountability for each student's musical growth within an ensemble setting. Sample semester assessment plan: includes individual grading criteria such as performance of technical scales and musical excerpts, correct pitch matching, and correct rhythm matching. Students should be able to demonstrate historical and contextual knowledge of the appropriate music, and demonstrate analysis and evaluation of music. Group grading criteria: can include attendance at performances, local concerts, chamber music participation, and solo/ensemble festival prep/participation. Classroom criteria: can include rehearsal preparation and readiness. Weight of each graded section: -Individual performance: 30% -Ensemble performance: 30% -Classroom participation: 30% -Other: 10%

Establishing Classroom Rules

Thoroughly explain classroom expectations and give examples of good behavior and class participation. Explain consequences of negative behavior Use positive reinforcement as a primary, but remind the class of rules, expectations, and consequences if needed. If a student still does not follow the rules and expectations, speak to him/her individually.

Practical Teaching Techniques: Accommodating Visual Learners

Visual learner: learn best by seeing educational content. Teaching techniques: -Provide a visual explanation through a projector or handouts or demonstration. -Make flash cards. -Provide pictures, diagrams, and concept maps. -When demonstrating, ensure all students can see.

Phyllis Weikart

Written multiple books on musical pedagogy and movement: -Movement Plus Music; a music education guide for learning through movement for ages 3-7. -Round the Circle: Key Experiences in Movement -Teaching Movement and Dance: A sequential Approach to rhythmic Movement. Faculty of the Division of Kinesiology at the University of Michigan. Found of Education Through Movement Building the Foundation: a research-based approach to learning through movement and music. Weikart method: -First, movements must be isolated and modeled to the students. -Second, movements may be simplified and built upon. -Third, students may use the movements in personal and creative ways.