My last post I discussed the different technologies available to the average guitar music teacher. Upon reflection this way of posting might not be ideal for in depth analysis of music technology in the classroom. It seems as though it is a surface level way of talking about technology in the classroom. So, this post I want to go more in depth about technology and how it has been integrated, successfully or not. We are going to take our lens and dial it back a couple of clicks. I want to talk about sheet music and its’ influence in the classroom.
Music by definition is the sounds that are created for the purpose of experiencing. Before there was written notation, music was learned by listening and then imitation. This process of listening and imitating has to be one of the earliest forms of human learning and is known as aural tradition which is still very prevalent to this day. If we think of infants, their earliest behaviors is to imitate what is around them. Even though aural tradition seems to be the most fundamental human learning experience, if you have ever played the game telephone then you will know the pitfalls that accompany learning through memory alone.
The technology of paper has changed how we learn music from aural tradition to the more sustainable, written language. Of course paper (and thus sheet music and written notation) is very old, but the difference it has made is crucial to development of the standardization of music repertoire. If we did a quick google search of music classrooms we can see that notation is everywhere. The New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards have a number of different requirements for the learning of written music. Today, it is one of the main forms of music literacy and is reinforced to the college level of music education. Overall, music notation has helped a great deal with the standardization of repertoire. But, there are cons to this technology that I will discuss in my next post.
notation are in the NJCCS but actually so is students repeating a musical concept. A lot of the NJCCS is performance based so reading can be key but if you use methods like Kodai or the beginning of the suzuki method to teach, which do connect with NJ standards and more, they don't require reading. Music is an aural skill, and it for an experience the difference between telephone about a certain sentence is that you don't want a different outcome, but thank god musicians play pieces differently or Bach beethoven and Mozart's music would have stayed in their centuries.
ReplyDeleteThat being said Notation is crucial and is the language of music I do believe it is quintessential in being a good musician. It opens the door to music theory and further collaboration as well as documenting music as specific or non specific as the composer wants. It also helps protect someones creative rights thanks to copyright infringement and such.