listening project


Music Listening Lasts a Lifetime Peggy Krasin, WMEA State Co-Chair, Listening Project


“While there can be no better introduc- tion to music than by singing or playing an instrument, the fact remains that the overwhelming majority of our pu- pils will be neither singers nor players.


Whatever contact they will have with mu- sic in their adult life will be as listeners. We therefore have to teach them how to listen if we are to make them true music lovers.”


~ Joseph Machlis


I must say that when I saw the theme of this issue I was very excited to write an article. As you can see from this favorite quote of mine, I feel active music listening experiences are something students can take with them forever. It is wonderful when students become great perform- ers. I am sure you and I have had many students we are very proud of who went on to become professional musicians and music educators, but what about the other 95 percent? Can we say we gave them the musical experiences they needed to keep music an important part of their lives?


How Do You Start?


One great way to start integrating active music listening experiences into your music curriculum is to use the resources provided by the WMEA Listening Project Committee. For $25 (WMEA member rate) you can get at least 50 listening lessons designed by veteran teachers and tried and tested on thousands of Wiscon- sin students. These lessons are adaptable to children of all ages. Later this year the lessons will also be available in an electronic format for use on computers and interactive white boards. While you may have many of the pieces on your own CDs, you and your students can download them from iTunes or you can order a CD from WMEA.


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The materials work for professionals in all stages of teaching. If you are a beginning teacher, wouldn’t you like to have 50 great teaching ideas going into the school year? If your budget is getting cut, wouldn’t it be wonderful to get 50 tried and tested teaching ideas for $25 rather than to order books for $50 that you might only get one or two quality ideas from? If you are in a rural school district and would like to receive and share ideas with other music educators, the Listening Project gives you the opportunity to see what other teachers are using in their music classes and encourages you to share ideas with the other participants. You can use the project materials to enrich your existing curriculum or add a new dimension to your music program.


We provide an interactive web site for students and teachers, designed by Linda Branzolewski, on the WMEA web site (http://scripts.wsmamusic.org/listen- ing_project/donepgs/index.htm). There is even an optional regional and state festival for teams of fourth, fifth or sixth grade students.


2010-11 Listening Festival Results This year we had 41 schools register for the Listening Project which means thou- sands of students were receiving listening experiences to last a lifetime. I am hoping to double the amount of schools participat- ing this year. A new feature we added last


“…active music listening experiences


are something students can take with them forever.”


year was a fourth grade festival, which had fewer transfer questions. We had five fourth grade teams enter in the festival. They were very well prepared and excited to be a part of the festival project. We hope to have more fourth grade participants this year. Thirty-one teams participated in the fifth and sixth grade festival. Here are the results:


Fourth Grade - 68 total questions/ points


First place


66 points - Rib Mountain, Team 1 (Diane Schnell)


65 points - John Marshall (Angela Miller-Lenselink)


62 points - Rib Mountain, Team 2 (Diane Schnell)


Fifth and Sixth Grade - 75 total questions/points


First place


72 points - Lincoln, Team 2 (Christine Hayes)


70 points - Lincoln, Team 1 (Christine Hayes)


69 points - Rib Mountain (Diane Schnell)


68 points - Cashton (Kristin Foree) Westby, Team 3 (Margaret Jothen)


67 points - Westby, Team 1 (Margaret Jothen)


66 points - MHLT (Minocqua, Hazelhurst, Lake Tomahawk) (Ruth Warbalow)


65 points - Lake Country (Nayce Sutte)


Second place


63 points - Lake Geneva, Team 1 (Aimee Swanson)


Westby, Team 2 (Margaret Jothen) Third place


58 points - Lake Geneva, Team 2 (Aimee Swanson)


September 2011


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