| Elementary general music education
is so critical because it lays the foundation for lifelong involvement
in music. There seems to be a developmental “window of opportunity”
within which children best acquire fundamental musical skills and knowledge.
Skills like keeping a steady beat and matching pitch are often taken for
granted by musicians. But these things do not come automatically to all
children nor are they a function of innate talent; these are skills that
must be learned. The manner in which this is accomplished is important.
People who go on to have musical success later in life have fond memories
of enjoyable childhood music experiences. One role of an elementary music
teacher is to provide as many positive and memorable childhood musical
experiences as possible.
Effective elementary music instruction is active. That is because
children learn the best when they are doing something. Such activities
in music classrooms take the form of singing, playing instruments, moving
and dancing to music, composing music, and music listening that includes
active tasks to be done in response to the music heard. Elementary basal
music series provide teachers with resources and ideas to serve as springboards
to activities with young students. These materials, however, should not
be viewed as textbooks from which students receive reading assignments
or other forms of inactive “book learning.” Without active involvement
in some kind of music making, students can only learn about music
instead of truly learning music.
As elementary teachers share important musical concepts, they do so
most effectively by guiding their students in experiencing those
concepts. For example, before learning a definition to the term “crescendo,”
students can first be led in singing an increase in loudness and playing
one on instruments. Students can also feel the concept through physical
movements to recordings of music containing crescendos. Before children
can build a meaningful musical vocabulary, they must have experienced the
concepts to which the musical labels are assigned.
Recommendations and Reminders
-
Make learning active. Give children a chance to do music through
singing, playing, moving, creating, and other active projects.
-
Provide a variety of activities within a single music lesson. This is necessitated
by children’s limited attention spans and differences in learning styles.
-
Make music fun!
-
Give attention to the expressive and emotional aspects of music. Because
expression is the primary purpose of music, it deserves priority over other
elements.
Favorite Activities and Projects
Recommended Resources
-
Music in Childhood: From Preschool through the Elementary Grades,
by Patricia Shehan Campbell and Carol Scott-Kassner, Schirmer Books, 1995.
-
Music in Childhood: From Preschool through the Elementary Grades (Companion
CD), Schirmer Books, 1995.
-
The Experience of Teaching General Music, by Betty W. Atterbury
and Carol P. Richardson, McGraw-Hill, 1994.
-
Strategies for Teaching K-4 General Music, ed. by Sandra L. Stauffer
and Jennifer Davidson, MENC, 1996.
-
Strategies for Teaching Prekindergarten Music, ed. by Wendy L. Sims,
1995.
Links
|
