Preparing Students for the Collegiate Music Environment by Amir Zaheri
It is my pleasure and honor to join AMEA and to serve on the President’s Cabinet as the Advanced Placement Theory Chairperson. As this is a new position, I will be working diligently to better understand the needs of our high school students who participate in AP Theory courses, and will also encourage those who may be considering taking part in the curriculum.
While it is no surprise that entering a collegiate musical environment is the hope and goal of many of our students; it is also apparent that joining a community of musical peers, at such a critical point of learning and development, can be very daunting and oftentimes overwhelming. While most students enter a collegiate musical environment with a great deal of experience in enjoying the performance of music, it is also true that many students enter with insufficient training in the language of music. My experience suggests that this lack of fluency in the fundamentals of our musical language does not only contribute to the stress of the beginning collegiate musician, but it also creates disheartening stumbling blocks in the student’s academic growth.
In her recent article, “Music Literacy and Language Literacy: Parallel Connections,” (Cooper 2014) Shelly Cooper very aptly describes the correlation between both the musical and the linguistic languages. Just as we do not teach our youngest students to identify subjects and predicates on the first day of any elementary language course, having no prior knowledge of the letters of the alphabet, we should not expect our musical students to engage in collegiate- level theory courses, without the equivalent preparation.
In my new position, one of my goals is to help teachers find the most effective and successful strategies for preparing students, particularly through the vehicle of the AP Theory course, but certainly through whatever other means are necessary and available. AMEA President, Dr. Carl
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Hancock, has suggested creating a summer immersion camp for students (and teachers), generating lists of resources, and offering presentations on this topic at future conferences. I believe these suggestions are fantastic and will be working over the course of the year to bring them into reality. Similarly, as he has suggested, I will work to coordinate teachers, forming an advisory committee, which will be charged with the sharing of pertinent resources and developing in-service opportunities.
Currently, 308 high schools in the state of Alabama offer AP courses; however, there are only 33 schools in the state that offer AP Music Theory.1
I sincerely hope to see this
number increase dramatically in the coming years, and am seeking your support for this effort and your willingness to be a part of this positive change. Successful completion of the course will provide the necessary foundation for students aiming for musical studies at the collegiate level, and will help to ensure a successful outcome.
I will be eager to work with all of you who are hoping to make this offering a reality in your schools. I am also more than happy to join those of you who are already providing this curriculum and wish to learn of
additional resources. If you are interested in being a part of this initiative in any way, please do not hesitate to be in touch with me. There is much good work to be done, and I am anxious to be a part of the process. Over the course of the year, I sincerely hope to hear from many of you and I also look forward to any opportunity to visit with you and discuss the ways in which I may be helpful in assisting your students’ efforts to reach their goals.
Works Cited Cooper, Shelly. “Music Literacy and Language Literacy: Parallel Connections.” ala breve, February/March 2015: 52-53.
Data provided by
apcoursecredit.epiconline.org. Dr. Amir Zaheri
Instructor of Music Composition and Theory The University of Alabama E-mail:
amir.zaheri@
ua.edu
Amir Zaheri serves as AMEA Advanced
Placement Theory Chair
Band Camp for Middle Schoo ................................ July 5-11 Band Camp for Senior High .........................June 21 - July 4 Choral Ensemble Camp ..........................................June 7-13 Double Bass Workshop ........................................June 17-20 Elementary Music Day Camp.................................June 8-12 ar Workshop....................................................June 16-20 **Honors Chamber Winds Camp
Band Camp for Middle Schooll ................................. July 5-11 Band Camp for Senior High Chor Doub
al Ensemble Camp........................ .................
Jazz Ensemble Camp for Senior High.................June 14-20 Marching Band Leadership Camp .......................... July 5-10 Piano Camp.............................................................. June 7-20 **Piano and Organ Institute................................... June 7-20 String Orchestra Camp.................................. June 21 - July 4 uba & Euphonium Workshop ............................ June 17-20 **Audition Required
onors ChamberWinds Camp ................June 21 - July 4 Jazz Ensemble Camp for Middle School Jazz
ble BassWorkshop .........................................June 17-20 Elementary Music Day Camp ................................June 8-12 Guitar WiGu ta **Ho Jazz
Ensemble Camp for Senior Hi .gh Ensemble Camp for Middle Scho ........
June 7-13 June 14-20
...................................................June 16-20 .........June 21 - July 4 ol...............June 7-13
Marching Band Leadership Camp........................... July 5-10 Piano Camp ............................................................. June 7-20 **Piano and Organ Institute .................................. June 7-20 String Orchestra Camp ................................. June 21 - July 4 Tuba & Euphonium Workshop ............................. June 17-20 **Audition Required
Registration Opens January 5, 2015 850-644-9934 /
http://music.fsu.edu
850- Regi
istration Opens January 5, 2015 -644-9934 / http://mus
ic.fsu.edu
February/March 2015
.........June 21 - July 4 ...................June 7-13
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