I found myself very impressed with many of the ideals that were mentioned in this chapter. I have been thinking a lot about what I would want out of a classroom of musicians. What keys can I give to my students that will help them as adults? I found a lot of help in this chapter with a lot of my thoughts.
The first key point I wanted to share about this chapter is a realization that Emile Dalcroze came to; children (as well as adults) fall into a trap of having tremendous understanding of mechanics, but no understanding of music. This means that people may be technical virtuosi on their instruments, but have no way of making their technique musical. As I have been performing much more regularly, I have seen how a technically player can bring down an ensemble.
I think it is very smart of Dalcroze to address this in his style of teaching. Children especially need to know key musical processes such as counting in 4/4 against 2/2 or how to correctly place a triplet. The fact that Dalcroze puts emphasis on this key point of 'breeding' musicians instead of mechanics is brilliant to me.
The second point I found key was also from the Dalcroze section. I actually touched on this point in my last paragraph. Dalcroze attempted, in his teachings, to create a foundation through musicianship. Again, I love this approach to teaching. The way that I took this approach was to take care of the "problems" that occur in later music and learning as the students are still children. I am not sure quite how to do this at the moment, but a good example is to teach what a triplet is.
Playing Paul Ferguson's jazz numbers have required me to be so 'tight' on my Dalcroze eurythmics that I have found them invaluable. Knowing how to correctly place a triplet has been imperative in many jazz arrangements that I have played. I wish that I could teach every student of mine how to do this (it took a good two semesters to accomplish my learning). Just having the tools to figure out rhythms, notes, and time signatures as a child would greatly help out any musician in the future.
The last point I found interesting in this chapter was Kodaly's idea to incorporate the pentatonic scale in his teachings. I do not want to talk too much on this topic, but I will say that the pentatonic scale may be the key for getting the world to appreciate music and keep it in the schools. This video shows why.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ne6tB2KiZuk
I love the pentatonic scale and its powers.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
MUED 350 Chapter 2 Points of Interest
My apologies for being tardy with this assignment, this week has been a little hectic for me. However "Music In Childhood" took me back to my days in Educational Psychology. With the names of Vygotsky and Piaget as well as Bandura being used, it was a little hard not to get nostalgic.
Three points that struck a chord with me were Gardener's Theory of Multiple Intelligences. I have been intrigued by this theory for many reasons. First of all Gardener's theory claims that an individual may possess more than one type of intelligence. This means that a person can be intelligent in many ways such as musically, mathematically, and spatially. This is a very cool way to look at the intelligence of humans and fascinates me.
I have a theory of my own that fits into this model of multiple intelligence. I believe that intelligence is the skill to adapt and modify new and old material to fit present and trying situations. This definition of mine stems from a few observations that I have made.
Sometimes people can be very good at moving their bodies, like being talented at a sport, but they cannot perform well once pressure is on or the sun casts shadows. I feel as though Gardner's theory can only be used if this is taken into account. I do agree with there being many different form of intelligence, but it must be known that being 'unintelligent' at on means being 'unintelligent' at others.
The second point of interest that I found was the three learning modalities; aural, kinesthetic, and visual. a Although it was simple to understand it makes so much sense to me. I find it very interesting when a student is able to connect the three modalities together. Watch the "aha" moment on a child's face is a precious moment. I think I appreciated this section because of how much that moment means to me.
The last interest point was the Myers, Briggs, McCaulley, and Most personality traits. There are 8 traits that can be compared in four groups of two. Introversion/Extroversion, Sensing/Intuition, Thinking/Feeling, and Judging/Perceiving. After a person decides what trait they identify more with, they can then find out what type of personality they are. Then they can compare their personality with others that have also taken this test.
While I do not ultimately agree with this specific personality labeling, I still like to see what I am. I actually took this test not to long ago (my girlfriend suggested it), and I had a lot of trouble identifying what I am. I feel that a lot of people have this problem. Not everyone is a strict extrovert or introvert, as well as a judge versus a 'perceiver'. While the end results of a more extensive test that uses these characteristics may be helpful, this specific one (Myers, Briggs, McCaulley, and Most) may be misleading.
Although these points stuck out to me, this chapter was a nice refresher to the many different ways that children may learn and mature. We may never know the exact way that children learn, but it will always be important for teachers to be there to guide them on their journey.
Three points that struck a chord with me were Gardener's Theory of Multiple Intelligences. I have been intrigued by this theory for many reasons. First of all Gardener's theory claims that an individual may possess more than one type of intelligence. This means that a person can be intelligent in many ways such as musically, mathematically, and spatially. This is a very cool way to look at the intelligence of humans and fascinates me.
I have a theory of my own that fits into this model of multiple intelligence. I believe that intelligence is the skill to adapt and modify new and old material to fit present and trying situations. This definition of mine stems from a few observations that I have made.
Sometimes people can be very good at moving their bodies, like being talented at a sport, but they cannot perform well once pressure is on or the sun casts shadows. I feel as though Gardner's theory can only be used if this is taken into account. I do agree with there being many different form of intelligence, but it must be known that being 'unintelligent' at on means being 'unintelligent' at others.
The second point of interest that I found was the three learning modalities; aural, kinesthetic, and visual. a Although it was simple to understand it makes so much sense to me. I find it very interesting when a student is able to connect the three modalities together. Watch the "aha" moment on a child's face is a precious moment. I think I appreciated this section because of how much that moment means to me.
The last interest point was the Myers, Briggs, McCaulley, and Most personality traits. There are 8 traits that can be compared in four groups of two. Introversion/Extroversion, Sensing/Intuition, Thinking/Feeling, and Judging/Perceiving. After a person decides what trait they identify more with, they can then find out what type of personality they are. Then they can compare their personality with others that have also taken this test.
While I do not ultimately agree with this specific personality labeling, I still like to see what I am. I actually took this test not to long ago (my girlfriend suggested it), and I had a lot of trouble identifying what I am. I feel that a lot of people have this problem. Not everyone is a strict extrovert or introvert, as well as a judge versus a 'perceiver'. While the end results of a more extensive test that uses these characteristics may be helpful, this specific one (Myers, Briggs, McCaulley, and Most) may be misleading.
Although these points stuck out to me, this chapter was a nice refresher to the many different ways that children may learn and mature. We may never know the exact way that children learn, but it will always be important for teachers to be there to guide them on their journey.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
PLN Week 15
http://www.finetune.com/
Finetune.com has been a wonderful source for me as a music lover. I accidentally stumbled on this site. I was looking for a way to download free music (funny I know), and I found this intriguing site.
Finetune is an online radio in a way. Except you pick the exact tunes that you want to hear. What is even cooler is that it is also a social network where you can look at other people's profiles and look at what they like to listen to as well.
Since I have a very wide range of music that I listen to, I found this site extremely useful. I was able to find many new artists that I have grown to love, as well as new music. I find that finetune has enabled me to broaden my music vocabulary once again.
Even though it has its limitation (you can only have three songs per artists on your playlist) it does offer a way to experience new music. I would encourage those who want to experience new music to try this site out. I love it, and when I am not around my own library, I know I have one close at hand
Finetune.com has been a wonderful source for me as a music lover. I accidentally stumbled on this site. I was looking for a way to download free music (funny I know), and I found this intriguing site.
Finetune is an online radio in a way. Except you pick the exact tunes that you want to hear. What is even cooler is that it is also a social network where you can look at other people's profiles and look at what they like to listen to as well.
Since I have a very wide range of music that I listen to, I found this site extremely useful. I was able to find many new artists that I have grown to love, as well as new music. I find that finetune has enabled me to broaden my music vocabulary once again.
Even though it has its limitation (you can only have three songs per artists on your playlist) it does offer a way to experience new music. I would encourage those who want to experience new music to try this site out. I love it, and when I am not around my own library, I know I have one close at hand
Thursday, November 19, 2009
PLN For The Week
http://www.reedmusic.com/
I have used this site so many times, I cannot even tell you how useful it has been.
ReedMusic is an Australian site that allows its users to listen to music before they buy it. It also allows it users to buy music.
As a saxophone player, this site has been really helpful in finding literature. I enjoy hearing some of the world's top players performing the top pieces. Please check this site out, it really comes in handy when you are serious about buying a piece to perform.
I have used this site so many times, I cannot even tell you how useful it has been.
ReedMusic is an Australian site that allows its users to listen to music before they buy it. It also allows it users to buy music.
As a saxophone player, this site has been really helpful in finding literature. I enjoy hearing some of the world's top players performing the top pieces. Please check this site out, it really comes in handy when you are serious about buying a piece to perform.
Readings Week 13
This weeks readings were centered around "Assistive Technology" or AT for short.
AT is technology that has been mechanically enhanced for individuals with physical or mental impairments. AT can be anything homemade, purchased off the shelf, modified, or commercially available which is used to help an individual perform some task of daily living. AT includes a broad range of devices from "low tech" (e.g., pencil grips, splints, paper stabilizers) to "high tech" (e.g., computers, voice synthesizers, braille readers).
Musically, AT is starting to show an impact, especially with the "Soundbeam".
SoundBeam is a device that converts physical movement into sound. So people who are stationary, and confined to a wheelchair can make music. Without getting too scientific, the higher pitches are played when the person is farther away from the receiver and lower pitches are played when they are closer.
From the example video it appears that the sounds move in scale degrees, but I am sure that there are other programs that can change that. I can say in confidence that I am happy to see this program working out.
My views on special education aside, I think that AT can be very useful for disabled individuals. I like how simple AT can be; it does not need to be advanced or well planned. All AT has to be is a way to make technology easier to use.
In my future classroom, I think I will use AT all of the time. I like to solve problems in innovative ways, so I think that AT will become a staple in my curriculum. I know I can find interesting ways to utilize AT in many of my teaching strategies.
AT is technology that has been mechanically enhanced for individuals with physical or mental impairments. AT can be anything homemade, purchased off the shelf, modified, or commercially available which is used to help an individual perform some task of daily living. AT includes a broad range of devices from "low tech" (e.g., pencil grips, splints, paper stabilizers) to "high tech" (e.g., computers, voice synthesizers, braille readers).
Musically, AT is starting to show an impact, especially with the "Soundbeam".
SoundBeam is a device that converts physical movement into sound. So people who are stationary, and confined to a wheelchair can make music. Without getting too scientific, the higher pitches are played when the person is farther away from the receiver and lower pitches are played when they are closer.
From the example video it appears that the sounds move in scale degrees, but I am sure that there are other programs that can change that. I can say in confidence that I am happy to see this program working out.
My views on special education aside, I think that AT can be very useful for disabled individuals. I like how simple AT can be; it does not need to be advanced or well planned. All AT has to be is a way to make technology easier to use.
In my future classroom, I think I will use AT all of the time. I like to solve problems in innovative ways, so I think that AT will become a staple in my curriculum. I know I can find interesting ways to utilize AT in many of my teaching strategies.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
PLN 12
http://www.wfg.woodwind.org/
This is the infamous fingering guide for woodwinds. I am not sure how I stumbled upon this site, but wow! This site is really impressive.
The amount of instruments it covers is amazing as well as how many fingerings they have found for each instrument. This is such a good tool for both students and teachers. Curious students can access the site and learn a great deal. Teachers are able to refresh their memory on fingerings they may have forgotten.
This site is such a good tool for anyone that stumbles upon it like I did.
This is the infamous fingering guide for woodwinds. I am not sure how I stumbled upon this site, but wow! This site is really impressive.
The amount of instruments it covers is amazing as well as how many fingerings they have found for each instrument. This is such a good tool for both students and teachers. Curious students can access the site and learn a great deal. Teachers are able to refresh their memory on fingerings they may have forgotten.
This site is such a good tool for anyone that stumbles upon it like I did.
Readings Week 12
This week's readings were focused on digital photography. In class we went over the program GIMP, a free version of the better known PhotoShop.
I was not that interested in the actual concept of digital photography, I was more interested in the problems that can arise from using it. There are many copyright laws that must be taken into account as well as legal issues that come from doctoring photos.
As musicians we must be very careful about copyright laws. We are always under the mirror for using "illegal" music or recording illegally. I feel that it is very important to know when you can and cannot do things as a musician and an educator. One must know where they can step on some toes, and where they cannot.
For digital photography, the doctoring of images is always a problem. Programs such as Gimp and Photoshop are very easy to use and can cause many issues. I really enjoyed the reading on copyright and fair use. I understand that there are many laws in place that put restrictions on what you can and cannot copy or doctor. I was very happy that I had an article to read that dealt with this issue.
I cannot stress enough how important it is as music educators that we do things by the book. We cannot afford to be in trouble with the law. No shortcuts should be taken and help should be given when needed. This is a very serious issue that needs to be addressed more often.
I was not that interested in the actual concept of digital photography, I was more interested in the problems that can arise from using it. There are many copyright laws that must be taken into account as well as legal issues that come from doctoring photos.
As musicians we must be very careful about copyright laws. We are always under the mirror for using "illegal" music or recording illegally. I feel that it is very important to know when you can and cannot do things as a musician and an educator. One must know where they can step on some toes, and where they cannot.
For digital photography, the doctoring of images is always a problem. Programs such as Gimp and Photoshop are very easy to use and can cause many issues. I really enjoyed the reading on copyright and fair use. I understand that there are many laws in place that put restrictions on what you can and cannot copy or doctor. I was very happy that I had an article to read that dealt with this issue.
I cannot stress enough how important it is as music educators that we do things by the book. We cannot afford to be in trouble with the law. No shortcuts should be taken and help should be given when needed. This is a very serious issue that needs to be addressed more often.
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