Standard 5:Reading And Notating Music music performances is necessary for stu- music reading? Understanding history can
dents to learn to make their own judgments lend a better understanding of how and
This one seems fairly obvious, but about music. As a musician’s aural back- why certain music was created. Thinking
what is it really saying? Reading and notat- ground grows through listening and learn- historically, students could have a clearer
ing music requires many skills. Complete a ing to evaluate (either self or others) they understanding of new piece, just by calling
task analysis to determine the first necessary will be able to make their own decisions to mind that Mozart created it.
concept is in the “reading” part of this stan- about what they perceive as high (or low) Understanding Mozart’s time and place,
dard. Could it be steady beat? That is a con- quality music and/or performance. reading an unfamiliar work by him for the
cept that begins in Pre-Kindergarten or Evaluating a performance is necessary, espe- first time can also incorporate style and
Kindergarten and remains an important cially on the first go round. If music educa- technique required for appropriate interpre-
part of all musicians’ professions, from tors teach serious evaluation, instead of tation. Another example is understanding
novice to expert. This is where teachers moving on with “Okay, that was fine,” stu- where a popular musical composition fits
begin helping students turn their aural dents will gain evaluative skills and make culturally and in musical development. This
understanding of music into symbolic rep- improvements based on self and other’s can lend information for reading and inter-
resentation, turning sounds into notation. evaluations. This is a skill that is necessary pretation. When students understand how
All of the information they have gained for reading music. Most often what is to use history, they know that a song by the
through the previous four and the next four played or sung is notated (of course there is Beatles would not be performed the same as
standards is used to help students connect an exception for folk music). Seriously eval- an excerpt from one of Mozart’s masses.
symbolic information (staff notation) to uating a performance can lead students to
aural and performance information. hear discrepancies between the score and Concluding Thoughts
the sound that can improve their own read-
Standards 6: Listening To, Analyzing, ing and performance. When the community of music educa-
And Describing Music tors joined to create the National Standards
Standard 8: Understanding for the Arts (1994), those pioneers set forth
Listening to and analyzing music is an Relationships Between Music, The Other a way to teach music comprehensively that
excellent way to expose students to Arts And Disciplines Outside The Arts would incorporate all of the many areas in
melodies and harmonies they need to inter- music that exist. Music reading is one part,
nalize for successful music reading. It is this Meeting standard eight requires stu- but it, like all of the standards is dependent
internalization that can help a student see dents to think about music in a new way, upon each one of the other standards.
notation for a I chord in C Major, under- for example comparing a musical style with Teachers using the national standards as a
stand that it is a Major triad, and hear it a similar style in art (like Impressionism) for guide most likely teach comprehensively
internally just by thinking about it. If stu- a fuller understanding overall. When stu- and have students who are musically skilled
dents have never heard musical cadences, or dents explore music as a part of the world as with the knowledge and background neces-
thought about the purpose of a cadence, a whole, rather than a singular element, sary for future participation in music.
they will have a difficult time anticipating they gain perspective. So how does this relate Before we can expect students to read
and singing or playing the correct pitches to music reading? Using Impressionism as an music, we first have to teach them music.
when a cadence comes. If they have heard example again, if teachers use this alternate As teachers, we must open our minds to the
suspensions in different recordings, then way of showing style visually as well as possibility that this “thing” we call music is
those whose parts generally perform the sus- aurally, students would then have a visual really many concepts and skills all expertly
pensions (often altos and tenors in choral idea of Impressionism that can be trans- woven together and the ability to read it is
music) can see it visually and make sense of ferred to performance practice. Another dependent upon knowledge, understand-
it aurally because they know what a suspen- example is as small as using mathematical ing, and skills in all areas of music.
sion sounds like. Understanding that music fractions to teach time signatures, some-
has a structural form can inform both a lis- thing that music educators often do, since References
tener and performer. Knowing that ABA there are mathematical elements in music,
means the first part returns and will be close from rhythm structure to acoustics. Mandel, J., Bergman, A. and Bergman,
to the same, if not exactly the same, is M. (1987). Where do you start?
important. Music readers who understand Standard 9: Understanding Music In [Recorded by Michael Fiensteiu]. On
form, even on the most basic level, know to Relation To History And Culture Isn’t it romantic? [CD]. New York:
expect the same information when the A Electra Asylum.
section comes around again. Since music is not a stagnant or MENC (1994). National Standards for
unchanging medium, students must be Arts Education. Reston: MENC,
Standard 7: Evaluating Music And aware of its place in their own and other 1994.
Music Performances cultures and they must understand how a
piece of music fits in the musical history,
This standard integrates well with the even those works that are considered “pop-
other nine standards. Evaluating music and ular” in nature. How does this relate to
TEMPO 74 MAY 2009
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