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Alexander Garcia

Art of Teaching Music I

Philosophy of Music Education

I believe the goal of music education is to promote meaningful expression through music. There

are a plethora of ways to conduct a choir rehearsal or a general music classroom, therefore the idea of

using only one major method seems limited to me. I prefer an eclectic approach to music pedagogy so that

I can use the materials and methods that best enhance my students musicality. A conglomerate of several

major methods, the eclectic approach takes bits and pieces of each to create a well-rounded and

wholesome classroom.

Zoltn Kodly established a method that focused on a set of principles that emphasized a rigid

structure of music education. He believed in a child-development approach that introduces skills relative

to the child's capabilities (ATM Class Notes). The teacher begins with simple concepts which gradually

increase in difficulty as the child progresses. Kodly focuses on guaranteeing that each student will

acquire a full understanding of the concepts being taught. I have consistently been taught by teachers who

have utilized the process of beginning small and eventually progressing towards a larger and more

challenging goal. Now that I have identified their teaching style as an actual method, it is clear that a strict

progression of skills based off of primary principles is a concept influenced by Kodly. While Kodly is

highly effective, it is not the only method which intrigues me. Furthermore, many more methods have

come to be since Kodlys introduction in the 1950s, and as music educators it is imperative that we stay

up to date with current trends.

One concept that struck me as absent in the Kodly method was the importance of parental

involvement. Yet this is clearly addressed within the Suzuki method. As the Suzuki Association of the

Americas stated, As when a child learns to talk, parents are involved in the musical learning of their
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child (SAA). Music should not only be learned by the child, but by the parent as well. I am a firm

believer that parental involvement helps build the foundation of a great musician, for the support and

motivation from a parental figure cannot be replicated elsewhere. I am not proclaiming that the parent

must attend every lesson the student has, rather, the parent should be involved enough to understand what

is truly going on in their child's musical study. Not only does this empower the student, but it also gives

the parent a sense of presence in the students musical life. The gravity of knowing that the parent is

dedicated to the amount of responsibility in music is uplifting, and this is the type of reinforcement I will

establish as a music educator.

Music is all about creativity, and a composition newly published is the heart of creativity. Carl

Orff inspired a form of teaching that builds musicianship through instrumental music, movement, speech,

and voice (American Orff-Schulwerk Association). The whole approach centers around creativity and

what is natural to the student. The Orff Approach establishes a connection with music early on through

the playing of musical instruments such as the xylophone, metallophones, and glockenspiels. Many

aspects of the Orff approach can be applied to any musician, no matter their current musicianship status. I

recall playing the metallophones for the first time in 2006 while in third gradehaving the freedom to

strike away on the instrument was exhilarating. Little did I know I was enhancing my musicality just by

plunking notes on an instrument. Using Orff instruments can be carried out from elementary to even

college level musicians. As a teacher, I would simply take off specific bars to create a pentatonic scale for

the elementary schoolers to practice their improvisational skills, allowing freedom of improvisation

without the fear of a wrong note. While this builds improvisational skills for students at a lower level, it

can help build the understanding of a pentatonic scale for students that are in high school. While Orff

instruments may seem childish to some students at first, soon they will recognize the growth in their

musicianship skills.
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Students must have a basic understanding of how music can move their soul and how it can be

produced without any sound production. Emile Jaques-Dalcroze used the concept of eurythmics to convey

the idea that music can be expressed by bodily movement (ATM Class Notes). Telling a student in the

beginning how each rhythmic value is written will not necessarily benefit them for the time being.

Students have to be taught how to sense the beat at first. For instance, students who determine the

difference between a walking beat versus a skipping beat will have a better understanding of how to

notate the rhythm of the piece. Once the students recognize a steady beat, then they will move onto the

next step by adding emotion with their movement.

Another mandatory skill for all music students is audiationthe ears imagination. Edwin E.

Gordon believed that audiation was the true foundation of musicianship (Gordon Institute for Music

Learning). I deeply recall listening to J.S. Bachs Toccata and Fugue in D minor and being able to hear

it play constantly in my head during the week. To this day, I constantly use audiation skills to figure out a

melody while in choir or during a lesson. I strongly agree with Gordon that audiation is one of the key

building blocks in musicianship. Whether it is a child in third grade or in college, audiation should be

practiced constantly alongside the many other points brought up in other methods.

Whether it is through several combined methods or just one, it is imperative that the students are

at the heart of the decision. With this in mind, teaching concepts from all known methods, the eclectic

approach, will cater to any students needs. We must make our students education worthwhile, and I am

confident that I will succeed in this realm. My classroom will consist of musical intelligence,

gratification, empowerment, and unification. The classroom must be as student centered as possiblenot

by telling students what they have to learn each day, but by receiving feedback and understanding what

they most want to learn.

Works Cited:

29, 2016 November. Music Education Major Approaches. ATM Class Notes. Google

Docs. 09 Dec. 2016

"About the Suzuki Method." Suzuki Association of the Americas. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec.

2016."About the Suzuki Method." Suzuki Association of the Americas. N.p., n.d.

Web. 10 Dec. 2016. <https://suzukiassociation.org/about/suzuki-method/>.

25, 2016 November. "About AOSA - American Orff-Schulwerk Association." American

Orff-Schulwerk Association. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2016.

<http://aosa.org/about/about-aosa/>.

"About Music Learning Theory." GIML - The Gordon Institute for Music Learning. N.p.,

25 May 2012. Web. 10 Dec. 2016. <http://giml.org/mlt/about/>.