My first point of interest of this chapter was about the phrase "folk-song singing has been replaced by rock-song shouting." I was rolling this idea around in my head for a while. I finally came to a conclusion that I do not mind this statement. In fact it makes me happy.
Aside from the 'shouting' part of this phrase I would absolutely agree with it. Many children do not sing folk songs and would much rather hear the melodies of modern music. I personally do not see why this is such a problem. Rock music today is much simplified from the classic rock that my mother grew up with. Complex rhythms are mostly left out, melodies are simple and catchy, and they reach a wide range of humans around the world.
If anything, I see rock music as a huge benefit to the music educator. Because the songs are easy to teach and are so accessible they become great teaching tools. I am actually glad that students know so many rock songs because, at the very least, they are listening to some type of music.
The second point of interest that I landed on was the simile of the marionette. I have more recently been acquainted with this simile and actually like it a lot. However I have never seen it used in conjunction with an actual puppet.
I like the fact that the students can see what is going on with the marionette's and adjust their own to match it. I find this concept of visual comparison very useful, especially because an adult's body is so much different than a child's.
The last point that struck me was the assessment tools that were used. I have a great respect for these tools and was trying to find a huge fault in them; and I could not.
The only concern that I would have is that something was left out of it. I cannot put my finger completely on it, but I have a gut instinct that something else should be assessed in addition to what is on the list.
I do particularly like the expression assessment. Because wind players have to keep so many facial muscles in place for optimal sound, they show little emotion. So having an assessment that deals directly with expression and intent is really interesting to me.
1 comment:
The use of popular music in the music classroom is a frequent conversation in our field today. If you haven't done so already, Ian, you might want to check out the current addition of Teaching Music. There is a feature article on pop: "Pop Goes the Classroom". It is interesting...
Post a Comment