Music Tutorial One
What I gained from
this tutorial:
An understanding the key components and concepts of music in order to
teach an effective lesson.
Focus: Listening
Overview
This reflection is
designed as a tool for me to remind and remember key concepts and to prompt
student-centred questions relating to the concepts. All questions have come
directly from the tutorial.
With no music
background and little knowledge sustained from last year’s music tutorials, I
went into this sequence of music tutorials with a desire and need to understand
the key concepts of music. I thus also needed to learn how to incorporate these
concepts into a music lesson.
The tutorial began
with a discussion which required me to push all the dust from the past few
months aside and recall on the key concepts and key components of the music k-6
syllabus. I found this approach quite
useful as it triggered and built on my prior knowledge as for myself music
concepts and terminology are not yet a part of my Long term memory () and thus
I cannot easily recall this information when it’s needed. I believe that task such
as those completed in this tutorial strengthen my understanding and increase my
familiarity, thus improving my performance as a teacher and as a result my
students. I have found most definitions of concepts lengthy and difficult to
comprehend as a person with little music knowledge. I therefore have generated
definitions for each concept which combines many definitions, but are the
easiest and most workable for me. There are simple and thus would be used I
combination with lengthier notes.
Duration: Duration looks at organised sound in
regards to time, rhythm and tempo (Board of Studies K-6 Syllabus, p.85) e.g.
beat (pulse), metre (grouping of beats), tempo (speed of the beat)
(Transforming the Curriculum Through the Arts, p.111). When listening to a piece of music or
practising my knowledge I would use the acronym: “ Tim tams might be really
tasty”
Dynamics: Dynamics refers to the volume of sound — its degree of softness or loudness (Board of Studies K-6 Syllabus, p.86). e.g. emphasis of volume; loudness and softness and change of volume.
Dynamics: Dynamics refers to the volume of sound — its degree of softness or loudness (Board of Studies K-6 Syllabus, p.86). e.g. emphasis of volume; loudness and softness and change of volume.
Pitch: The highness and lowness of notes (Transforming the Curriculum Through the Arts, p.111)
Tone colour: “Tone colour refers to the quality of a sound produced by a sound source.
E.g. which may be a conventional
instrument, the voice, a made instrument or a found object. The quality of a
sound (tone colour) differs according to the material from which the sound
source is made and the way the sound is produced (struck, plucked, scraped,
blown, hit). For example, a tin whistle (which is blown) will produce a
different tone colour from a guitar (which has plucked strings)” (Board of
Studies K-6 Syllabus, p.86).
Structure: The way a piece of music is organise (Transforming the Curriculum Through the Arts, p.111). e.g. patterns (repetition) and recognising that large sections (verses, choruses, movements) and small sections (themes, phrases, ostinato, motifs) (Board of Studies K-6 Syllabus, p.86).
Structure: The way a piece of music is organise (Transforming the Curriculum Through the Arts, p.111). e.g. patterns (repetition) and recognising that large sections (verses, choruses, movements) and small sections (themes, phrases, ostinato, motifs) (Board of Studies K-6 Syllabus, p.86).
So of course I haven’t included all elements but it is a basis to begin and continue my learning in this area. As a way to strengthen the meaning and thus my understanding of the music concepts we undertook a range of activities where we listened to and then appreciated pieces of music for instance, Carnival Animals. Below is an example of one of the listening activities that we undertook in the tutorial. It is a useful starting point and resource as a beginning teacher to generate ideas and build a music lessons that incorporates the five concepts of music individually or used in sync create meaningful lessons which promote an understanding of music and the world around us.
Upon appreciating we reflected on aspects of
the resources in regards to the music concepts, below are questions which were
asked in class and are also useful in using in Primary Classrooms.
Duration: Describe the tempo and rhythm within it.
Dynamics: How would you describe the
dynamics in this piece? How does the Volume change?
Pitch: How does the music change? What instruments get louder or softer?
Tone colour: What do you think the two instruments represent? Here students listen to the pitch and types of instruments being played to relate them to certain animal sounds.
Structure: Are there any sounds that have been repeated in this music? Where is the chorus?
Duration: Describe the tempo and rhythm within it.
Pitch: How does the music change? What instruments get louder or softer?
Tone colour: What do you think the two instruments represent? Here students listen to the pitch and types of instruments being played to relate them to certain animal sounds.
Structure: Are there any sounds that have been repeated in this music? Where is the chorus?
We continued by answering and discussing these questions. Thus, in this tutorial I learnt a lot
about the key concepts of music and how to identify them in pieces of music and
thus incorporate them into music lessons.
Furthermore,
here are some question that the teacher may ask themselves when generating a
music lesson plan to incorporate concepts:
- Which pieces of music do I chose to benefit my students? Is it appropriate?
- What do I love about the piece of music chosen? What would my students love about it?
- Am I providing a range of pieces in order to reach a level of understanding for all my students?
- Are the questions I am asking open-ended to some extent and allowing for creativity?
- Am I extending the students vocabulary?
- Am I following the syllabus loosely and incorporating the key music concepts?
Using
the theme of Carnival Animals, a whole unit could be devised to develop
students knowledge and awareness of the key concepts of music. Using similar,
yet different music to develop concepts is an important method to not overload
students with information, they can gradually internalise what they are
learning.
Here
is an example of a music piece also in the Carnival Animals sequence which
could be a follow on piece:
Critical Reflection
In this tutorial I learnt about adapting the key concepts of music in an imaginative, creative and fun way, which could easily be employed in the classroom. We looked at the 'listening' component of the music syllabus (Board of Studies, 2006) and determined which concepts were most appropriate when analysing a range of different pieces of music. It became evident as the lesson proceeded that the music stimulus that a teacher provides must be age appropriate, and thus relevant to students level of ability, ensuring that the best opportunity for learning is provided. The resources used in this lesson would be age appropriate for Stage one, two and three depending on which components and elements of music are being portrayed.
As discussed above there are numerous definitions for the music elements in the K-6 Creative Arts syllabus, some provide a dense insight into the concepts and others a brief overview. As a teacher it is important to provide definitions and example of the music elements in ways which best suit the students in the classroom. For instance, the definitions provided in the first sections are way too dense and complex for stage one, however, could be far to easy for stage six. In this tutorial I learnt all about the importance of choosing age appropriate material for students.
Above I have reflected on what I benefited most from the tutorial and what components I would incorporate into my own classroom.
Reference List:
Board of Studies, New South Wales. (2006). Creative Arts K-6 Syllabus. Australia, NSW.
In this tutorial I learnt and will take with me as a teacher:
As discussed above there are numerous definitions for the music elements in the K-6 Creative Arts syllabus, some provide a dense insight into the concepts and others a brief overview. As a teacher it is important to provide definitions and example of the music elements in ways which best suit the students in the classroom. For instance, the definitions provided in the first sections are way too dense and complex for stage one, however, could be far to easy for stage six. In this tutorial I learnt all about the importance of choosing age appropriate material for students.
Above I have reflected on what I benefited most from the tutorial and what components I would incorporate into my own classroom.
Board of Studies, New South Wales. (2006). Creative Arts K-6 Syllabus. Australia, NSW.
Ewing, R, & Gibson, R.
(2011). Transforming the Curriculum through the Arts. Australia, NSW, Palgrave
Macmillian.
Saint-Saëns, C. (2009).Carnaval des animaux-camille st saens. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AnEzdlv0dE&feature=related
_________________________________________________________________________________
Music Tutorial Two:
What I gained from
this tutorial:
A deep understanding of how to structure a music lesson
Most Useful;
“Beachcoming by Andre Robertson, Jozzbeat
Focus: Performing; singing & moving
Focus: Performing; singing & moving
Overview and Critical Reflection
In this tutorial, I not only enhanced my understanding of the key components of the music K-6 Syllabus (Board of Studies, 2006), but I became more familiar with how to use and therefore structure a music lesson involving the key elements of music. As a teacher it is important to provide music lessons which incorporate components of performing: singing, playing, moving, Organising sound and Listening, each component provide students with to "develop knowledge, skills and understanding in performing music of different styles... " (Board of Studies, 2006, p. 7).
The music syllabus was a key component of this tutorial, where we looked
at the major skill areas that need to be incorporated into a music lesson (not
necessarily all). We learnt about how to use these components by
working through a few lesson plans which incorporated these aspects, thus
giving us a working
model to work and learn from.
Each lesson plan included:
- Appropriate stage
- A list of musical concepts included at the beginning and included on the side of the lesson plan at each appropriate section.
- Rationale
- Outcomes and indicators
- Resources
- Teaching and Learning sequence (main body of the lesson)
- Evaluation
This lesson plan would also include; the key concepts of music, the
components of music and thus making, performing and appreciating.
The ‘Beachcoming’ lesson
plan was to me the most valuable and memorable. Below I have annotated the
piece of music, with the lesson notes I found most important to include.
In this tutorial I learnt and will take with me as a teacher:
1.
how to structure a music lesson which includes
singing and constructing music
2.
new music teaching techniques such as; teaching the
lyrics of songs, through repetition, yet in creative ways as to not allow
boredom to set in.
Reference List:
_________________________________________________________________________________Reference List:
Board of Studies, New South Wales. (2006). Creative Arts K-6 Syllabus. Australia, NSW.
Music Tutorial Three:
What I gained from
this tutorial:
Resource which develop student’s awareness of music concepts
I
ACTUALLY LEARNT HOW TO READ NOTES
Focus: Organising sound
Focus: Organising sound
Overview
The introduction of the lesson looked at
useful ipad and/or electronical resources; here is the list I generated as a
result:
- Finger stomp: records rhythms
- Singing Fingers
- Garage band
- Simple music
- Latin percussion
- Wrightstuffmusic.com
Each of these resources provided guidance
for students to begin and extend their musical knowledge. I found them all very
appropriate as they can be used individually, in groups or can be transferred
onto a smartboard for a whole class activity.
Here is
an example of an application I found
myself:
Students
are able to experiment with sound through using a range of instruments not
usually readily available to them.
Following this I learnt that the lesson
was going to be about reading and playing songs, I became very anxious. Luckily
I was next to a musically talented friend who cured my nerves and expressed
that she would help me out. I then thought that working in pairs or in groups
to understand music before working at a whole class is a useful technique to
reduce anxiety.
Song One (Jellybeans by Jozbeat) for
untuned instruments:
Looking at the piece of percussion music
in front of me was like looking at a foreign language. I didn’t know where to
begin; however, I knew that I had played percussion when I was younger so it
had to be achievable. Nancy walked through the music step by step allowing for
practice time and thus comprehension. I learnt that breaking down music into
manageable smaller section relieves anxiety and allows students to fully
interpret and understand what they are reading and playing. By the end of the
session I could read the music, I was aware of the structure, pitch, tone
colour, dynamics and duration of this piece. Where I learnt not only to
understand how to read the notes, but a few other music symbols such as the
repeat sign. This activity reminded me of my percussion teacher in Primary
school who made music an enjoyable and valuable learning experience. Percussion
for me is/was an important learning tool in learning about more difficult
musical concepts.
Song Two (Nice and Easy & Indian
Pacific Blues from Reach for your recorder) for tuned instruments:
Providing students with this piece of
music and instrument would be daunting, especially if the skills needed to
comprehend the task have not been developed. In this tutorial I felt like one
of these students. My friend next to be explained how notes worked and how to
read them, which was helpful guidance along with the notes on the board. With
her information and the notes I was able to quickly jot down the musical notes
in my notebook and read from them as opposed to the music which for me would be
impossible to quickly interpret and play at the same time. Although I currently
do not have the skills to read a piece of music fluently, I now understand how
to read the notes and thus can SLOWLY decode the music.
In these sequence of music tutorials I
have learnt how to incorporate music into the classroom in a simplistic form. As
a result I feel more confident and equip with the knowledge and tools to
complete an appropriate music lesson.
Critical Reflection
If creating a lesson plan for the main tutorial activity today 'Jelly Beans', then I would break the activity into smaller manageable levels of learning for students. As a pre-service teacher with little to no understanding music notes, or playing instruments at first glance of the task ahead I felt nervous and as though i wouldn't be able to complete the task at hand. If providing students with stimulus, I would follow the lesson structure given in a prior tutorial, to guide and assess learning and understanding throughout the entire learning experience.- Appropriate stage: Depending on which piece was chosen and how the lesson was created would determine which stage was appropriate.
- A list of musical concepts included
- Rationale
- Outcomes and indicators
- Resources
- Teaching and Learning sequence (main body of the lesson): Performing, Organising Sound and Listening.
- Evaluation
Using this layout the teacher is able to provide students with a learning experience which best suits their level of ability. For example in stage one, I would firstly, allow all students to experiment with the untuned instruments, so that they are aware of how they work and what noises they make. Going through them one by one, and changing the one they are played to demonstrate the different sounds that can be made. The lesson would then progress in these small manageable stages so that no student is left behind.
Reference List:
Pxing Game Studio.(2010). Ipad Music APP. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojzIO879WSc