ASSIGNMENTS
Get the Lowdown
ROSE AND COUNTRYMAN RESPONSE
The Rose and Countryman article entitled Repositioning ’The Elements’: How Students Talk about Music provides a commentary on how students talk about music and how the curriculum states students should talk about music. This article was split up into two parts: Part One- The elements and music curricula and Part Two- How students talk about music using their‘elements’. Some aspects of this article may seem obvious, especially to high school music students.
Going into music in high school, I thought I was going to be ahead. I had taken private lessons for years and I knew I was above where I was supposed to be in terms of theory. I remember my first written music assignment in grade 10. We were asked to write about how a piece of music made us feel. I failed the assignment. Throughout my eleven years of private study before that class, I had never been introduced to writing about emotions and music. In that assignment, I vividly remember analyzing each aspect of the form. I meticulously deconstructed the melody and themes. When I got the project back, I was very confused and upset. I went to talk to my teacher and he simply told me that I “need to stop over analyzing and just enjoy the music”. That honestly caught me off guard but it taught me a very valuable lesson about communication and music.
I found it very interesting reading the statistic of grade 12 students enrolled in music even though so many students enjoy music on a daily basis. While this statistic is low, I would predict that part of the reason why there aren’t many people enrolled is because of academic stresses. Many people simply don’t have time to fit a music class in their schedule. The curriculum as we know glorifies the “academic” subjects over non-academic subjects. There seems to be more ‘merit’ succeeding in the core subject areas rather than the arts and tech courses.
In lots of cases, students only have access to a music education that “denies subjectivity [and] emotion” (47). This seems very odd to me because music is completely subjective and emotional. Assigning a mark based on how well someone plays or communicates about music is difficult because “there is a sense of intimacy and of affirmation when a person shares [their] personal, bodily, musical response with others” (57). Students take these marks very personally, so giving a ‘bad’ mark, especially when the student does their best, is like telling them they are not good enough. This can be detrimental to their confidence and in turn, their academic and musical career.
It’s time to provide an education that encourages effective communicative learning and does not limit the creativity of our youth today.
Rose, L. S., & Countryman, J. (2013). Repositioning ‘the elements’: How students talk about music. Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education 12(3): 45- 64.
VIDEOS
A LETTER TO MY FUTURE STUDENT
To my future student,
Hello! My name is Anna Temple and I am so glad to get the opportunity to share some of my knowledge of music with you. Before we start this learning journey, there are some things I want you to know about me and what I believe in terms of music teaching and learning.
I have three main points that make up the way I teach.
Teaching should be student led and well rounded.
Teaching through experience is better than teaching through lecture.
Everyone is and can be a musician, regardless of experience and knowledge of the subject.
I believe that each student should get to choose the direction in which they want their education to go. There is no educational value in me teaching you about something you have no interest in all the time. There is also no value in me teaching you in a way you don’t learn. There is, however, lots of value in getting a well-rounded education that covers a vast number of theories and concepts. I believe it is important for students to understand where music comes from, what it is like in different styles and cultures, and where it has the potential to go. Music is such a big concept, and you cannot get a good understanding if you only learn about one small part. For example, you cannot fully understand blues music if you do not understand the roots of the music and where it came from.
I believe that the best way to learn is through guided experiences. For me, I learned a lot through getting opportunities to teach other students and I hope to provide my students with similar opportunities. When I was 15, I attended a lecture on “conducting bands”. It was a three-hour lecture that attempted to layout conducting methods and how to incorporate expression. I can honestly say I did not learn anything from that style of lecture. When I was 16, I had the opportunity to lead my high school band with my teacher guiding as I went. It was not perfect, and I was quite nervous but I really enjoyed it. Even though this was not a formal conducting lesson, the act of just doing it and having fun taught me a lot about conducting and common difficulties. I continued to conduct and have greatly improved.
Music is unique in the sense that it is very vulnerable. As humans, we carry weight and emotion. Music is an innate way we get to express said weight and emotion. I understand that playing music, especially on your own or in front of an audience, is a very hard and emotionally revealing thing to do. I will do my best to help you understand the connection between the music and your reaction, and work on ways to harness the emotion to make a stronger and more musical performance.
Finally, I believe that everyone is a musician, whether they know it or not. Everyone has music inside and deserves the right to let it out regardless of musical experience or how “good” they are. I will equally take on experienced and not as experienced musicians as my students.
I will always be encouraging and understanding. I will strive to earn your trust and strengthen our teacher-student relationship. I will take interest of your life both inside and outside of lessons. Your lesson time is YOUR lesson and I will be focused on you during that time. I look forward to seeing where this learning journey will take us, and I am so happy I can teach you.
Anna Temple
UKULELE WORKSHOP REFLECTION
Dr. Nathan Kruse
On September 28th I, along with my class, had to opportunity to attend a ukulele workshop. This was such a great learning experience and it is definitely one of my highlights of the semester. During the workshop we got to play along with some ukulele youtube videos. It was very fun because the whole group got to play together and the songs were already familiar. I learned a lot about teaching. One of the most memorable things was seeing the instructor, Dr. Nathan Kruse, give up his ukulele so there would be enough for the students. I want to be a selfless teacher like him. He had to modify his teaching plan on the spot, which to me seems very difficult. He went with it and it was an amazing experience. At the workshop, we split into groups with the task to write a song. This was such an amazing experience. I had the opportunity to be in a group with a current high school music teacher. She offered so much advice and it was so much fun hearing all of her stories. We got to perform our songs in front of the other groups. It was very interesting seeing how each group chose a different “genre” for their song. This experience was highly individual- we had lots of choices we could make- yet also highly guided- Dr. Kruse had lots of suggestions in place and specific direction within our choices. The ukulele workshop was an amazing experience and I highly suggest taking a class with Dr. Kruse if given the opportunity.
INFLUENTIAL TEACHER PROJECT
Music is a big part of my life. It truly shapes who I am. My music knowledge and ability would be very limited without the amazing teachers I have had in my life. Without them, I truly believe I would not be studying at Western University to become a music teacher. I have had a variety of music teachers for a variety of instruments. My most influential and memorable teacher is my private vocal teacher of almost 10 years. Her name is Jillian McDougall and I look up to her a lot. Throughout the process of interviewing her, I learned a lot about why she teaches the way she does. I also believe we got closer in this process.
Jillian and I have a unique relationship as we have the teacher/ student dynamic but we also carry a form of friendship. The balance that we are able to maintain is quite magical. She is very gifted when it comes to teaching, and is always looking for new ways to explain things. Her natural ability to teach is why I have been able to stay productive in our lessons. Jillian is so passionate about helping her students “find their voice” and goes out of her way to provide opportunities. This became even more apparent in the interview as she mentioned her philosophies.
One of the main concepts Jillian values as a teacher is meeting her students where they are at, and adapting “lesson plans” to best suit the needs of each student. Jillian believes that while lessons should be educational, it is also important for them to be enjoyable. It is not productive to force a student to sing a style that they do not like… especially if that means the student wont practice throughout the week and even further, considers ending lessons. Instead, Jillian believes it is important to give her students a vast education, but ultimately let the student have some choice in style and music.
Another point Jillian talked about was developing her students’ confidence and stage presence. Jillian creates a very safe environment where it is so natural to have fun and learn to laugh at our mistakes. When I began taking lessons, my useful range was less than one octave. I was very quiet and was very self-conscious about my singing. Jillian was very patient and allowed the space for me to grow more comfortable. I was able to learn more about myself while improving so much in my singing. Because of Jillian, I have associated singing with success and comfort and have a significantly larger range and vocal ability.
During my interview with Jillian, I got to see her from a different point of view. It was very humbling to see her putting so much of the focus onto her students instead of onto herself. She is so easy to talk to and makes everything so comfortable and natural. If I could be even a fraction as good of a teacher as Jillian, I will be very lucky. I aspire to have the ability to make such strong connections with my students. I want to be able to foster a safe environment where I can help my students grow in their musicianship and also their self.