NAfME-Collegiate guet article
New Music in the Middle School Classroom by Ian Meyer, University of Missouri - Columbia
In searching for quality repertoire, many choir teachers have been discouraged by the dearth in quality middle school music for choir and general music purposes. In an attempt to “hook students,” we, as educators have been tempted by quick fixes. But, as Sally Herman states in her review of junior high literature, “There are no quick fixes in anything! The trend toward literature that the students can learn quickly and ‘like’ has greatly disillusioned many teachers. The students may like a piece of music that they learned rapidly for the moment, but the long lasting effects are superficial” (Philips, 2016). This leaves the middle school teacher at an important crossroad: How do we connect to the modern student without “selling out” our repertoire? The goal of this article is to affirm the use of new music within middle school choir and general music, and to provide sources as a jumping off point for teachers to explore the vast world of new music.
The Benefits of New Music at the Middle School Level Middle school students possess a quality known as “open-earedness” (coined by Hargreaves, 1982). This quality is known as the ability to be tolerant to a vast array of musical sounds and styles. In fact, in a research study of multi-aged students responses to 20th century art music, Madden and Geringer found that “children’s responses… indicated that younger children gave higher mean liking ratings [for 20th century art music] than did older students.” Unfortunately, many music teachers were exposed to this style of music in adulthood, and, therefore, are less likely to use it. In fact, “…although many teachers advocate the use of a wide variety of musical styles at different school levels, most music educators rarely include 20th century art music” (Madden and Geringer, 2015). As educators, we must demonstrate open-mindedness through the music that we show. If we don’t, our students may never get exposure. If we do not move ourselves out of our own comfort zone with new music, how can we expect our
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students to do the same? To them, all music within our program is new music, whether it be classical, folk or pop.
The benefits of this new music come in many forms. First, it allows students to see living composers of many diverse backgrounds. The danger of teaching only the “tried and true” repertoire is that it creates a dangerous narrative that all composers are a certain way: mostly white, male, and embedded within the Western European fine art tradition. Contrastingly, in new music, students can see prominent women, like Caroline Shaw, young men of the LGBTQ community like Nico Muhly, Asian artists like Chen Yi and respected black composers like Rollo Dilworth. Second, new music’s concepts and text choices showcase modern issues and history, which gives students a closer connection to their meaning. Third, students can trace how music reacted and influenced culture within the 20th and 21st centuries with film and electronic music. Finally, with new music comes more exposure, which “…has been shown to be an important determinant for music preferences” (Madden and Geringer, 2015). In other words, “you can’t love what you don’t know.”
Choosing Quality mid-to-late-20th/21st Century Pieces The following checklist provides a guide for music teachers in identifying specifically mid-to-late 20th and 21st century music that is both accessible and exciting for their middle school choirs or general music classes to explore: Logistics: Is it technically accessible? What notation is used? What are the technological demands? Musicality: Does it explore new sounds? Is it relatable? What is it’s temperament?
Presenting and Engaging with the Music The presentation of this new music is as important
See MEYER, p. 59 MISSOURI SCHOOL MUSIC | Volume 71, Number 3
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