MUED 350 Article Reaction

This article was a bit tough for me to get through. I am not sure if it was the writer, theme, or the PDF, but I found it extremely difficult to get through. However I took a lot from this article that I found very fascinating.

The first point I would like to share is the 'music babble'. I thought that this concept was very intuitive and most likely a good way of explaining how young children learn music. I like the fact that it is based (a little bit) off of language. The one question that I was left with was that of a musical impediment.

Just like speech, a child must hear their respective language spoken. If that child manages to somehow screw up what he hears, then he will mess up how he will repeat what he hears. I am wondering if a child could end up with an impediment in which they cannot fully play notes correctly or cannot fix certain rhythms that they have physically and mentally memorized.

I am not at all sure that this is possible, but it is some nice food for thought.

The next point I would like to talk about is more of a question that came up from this reading. What do we do with the talented children that just have no interest in music whatsoever? I have seen many kids that I deem musically talented and have watched as they perform at a high standard and could not care less.

I understand that as music educators we are supposed to reach every student and give them musical experiences, but it seems unfair that this child will not be sharing his talent with the world. This brings me to my next point of what do you do with a student that wants to continue in music, but as no musical intuition at all? Again I do not expect a direct answer, and I am sure there is probably not one, but I feel that I have met my fair share of music educators that seemingly have less than optimal musical intuition.

My last point of interest was the part that talked about the musical aptitude before the age of 9. I was very intrigued by the facts that came up during this section of the chapter. I was a bit wary to believe them, and I still am considering what I have experienced. I am not expert on musical aptitude, but I find it impossible that someone has an almost stagnant aptitude after the age of 9.

Humans continually learn throughout their life. As humans we must accommodate our changing bodies as they age, therefor we must always be learners. I have my doubts that someone aptitude to learn something stops at such a young age. I am not sure if I misread that passage, but as a music educator I do not want to give up on students who have had their aptitude diagnosed at 9. As long as someone has the love to learn music, they should have the right to, and because they love it, it will not matter what aptitude they have because they will succeed no matter what.