“Music is like pizza. It’s all good when ur a little kid then you learn what you like, sauce, crust, cheese: distinctions” – @MusicEdTech

Participants of the #MusEdChat held on April 19th, 2010 discussed various topics that are important to teach in classroom music. Many ideas were proposed right off the bat, including listening, analyzing, composing, performing, and improvising. The chat delved into s0me of these topics individually.

Composition

There were varying definitions of composition and its purpose. As stated by @jimfrankel, “To me it is using music as a vehicle to express themselves”. To @DoremiGirl composition is,”creative process, listening, editing/revising, synthesizing, planning, developing ideas and more.” Multiple forms of composition were discussed with many ideas of how to incorporate it into the music classroom. Some educators felt that it was best to introduce some guidelines and restrictions when starting students on composition. Others suggested having students compose as a group project. It was also suggested that programs like Garage Band be used to help students compose. The quality of student compositions was discussed a bit. Some participants thought that our standards and expectations are too low for student projects. Other participants responded by stating that we as educators need to use students’ compositions as a starting point, and then help them improve from there.

Composition or Improvisation?

Participants then delved into discussing the distinction between composition and improvisation. @irangarcia drew the distinction as being this: “composing is the process of notating music down to be reproduced. improvising is instant expression.” Building upon this idea, participants seemed to be in agreement that  improvisation and composition are essentially the same. Composition is simply the process we go through to preserve an idea. As stated by @britishbuegler, “Improvisation is spontaneous composition.” Despite which definition was used, participants could all agree that creativity is a vital component of the music classroom.

Listening

Listening is the next subject that music educators discussed, citing it as an important part of music curriculum. As stated nicely by @rizzrazz, “Listening, if you’re not teaching that, you’re missing everything” @alexsax suggested comparative listening. This would involve playing two versions or arrangements of a piece, having students compare and contrast them. Multiple participants cited the importance eurhythmics, or having students respond to the music they are listening to with movement. Listening for the sake of listening, while it would be nice, is not a vital part of music curriculum. Rather, critical, active listening was preferred.  Participants seemed to agree that the teacher must guide the ears of the students to a degree, but must be careful to allow students to develop their own opinions about what they are hearing at the same time.  A few participants even suggested using critical listening exercises with students that involve their own performances. This way they can discover their own mistakes, and will hopefully not only improve their listening, but their playing as well. How to facilitate active listening was discussed as well. @musician412 suggested having listening sheets prepared for festivals. Then students can critique other groups that they hear. @Musically8 suggested,”For K-5 listening, we do tempo, dynamics, instruments, smooth/choppy, mood (feeling)… using grade appropriate terms/vocab.”

Performance in General Music

For the last ten minutes of the chat, #musedchat discussed how to provide performance opportunities in a general music setting. @mystro2b tweeted that his general music class performs on recorders before the weekly school assembly. Other participants suggested doing biannual concerts. Not all agreed on the importance of performance though. Some participants thought that performance should be one of the goals of the general music class, while others thought that the same concepts could be relayed without the actual performance. With talking about performance came the problem of dealing with nerves. But participants had many tips that would work. Most believed that the more students performed, the less nervous they would get. Others suggested that the nerves of the teacher play a vital role with the nerves of the students. If the teacher is nervous, then the students will also be, and vice versa.

Tweet With Us!

Everyone is welcome to join us in the #MusEdChat held weekly on Twitter at 8:00 PM EST. For those of you who already participate, please invite your colleagues to chat with us. Also, if you have an idea for a topic for us to discuss, submit it here!