general music
General MusicStrong Kathy Bartling, WMEA State Chair, General Music
General music is the bedrock of all of our music pro- grams . General music provides a strong foundation that supports all of the band, orchestra and choir programs at the middle school,
high school and college levels. It is im- portant that instruction at the elementary level establishes a tradition of excellence in music instruction so that students are prepared for the upper levels as well as enriched by the music at their own level. At the elementary level, all students are involved in music class and our strength is in giving all students an opportunity to experience a meaningful connection
between themselves, the music and the world around them.
General music instruction at the middle school and high school levels is equally strong and enhances the lives of students who are not involved in performing groups. Students choose to investigate music making in courses like world drum- ming, guitar, garage band, composing, music technology, music theory and music history. These courses also enhance the student’s musical experience through the study of music and experiencing music making in other ways than our choirs, bands and orchestras.
How Are We Strong?
Strong general music teaching is based on comprehensive curriculums that
“General music is the bedrock of all of our
music programs.”
emphasize the teaching of knowledge, skills and the affect. These curriculums create an environment where students can excel in their performance and understand- ing of the music as well as grow emotion- ally through the expression of music.
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In order to be comprehensive, we need to provide a wide variety of experiences in listening, dancing, composing, improvis- ing, singing and playing instruments. The skills that are needed for these experiences are embedded in our teaching. Students are exposed to music from other cultures and time periods.
We teach the knowledge that supports the performance of music including the his- tory of music and its cultural background. Music literacy is a huge component of the general music curriculum and includes reading, notating, analyzing and under- standing of music symbols. Students are asked to analyze, describe, label and un- derstand the elements of music that make up our performing repertoire.
Play now. Play for life.
Most importantly, the strength of a general music program is to promote and nurture the joy of music making alone and with other people. So, we need to provide stu- dents with a depth of experience that helps them grow emotionally and enables them to be thoughtful human beings. We strive to ask the questions that enable students to experience how the music emotionally moves each individual, how the music was created by the composer to evoke a specific affective response and how the music explores their personal connection
52 September 2016
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