SECONDARY VICE PRESIDENT - Cara Sommers
Bringing Music to Life . . . for Non-Musicians
M
usic appreciation can be defined as a subject that includes (but is not
limited to) the comprehension of musical elements, forms, genres, and eras/periods. For music educators who teach a course such as this to mostly non-musicians, where to begin with music appreciation can be a daunting thought. Just imagine, you have to teach a music appreciation class for the first time OR for the first time in a long time. Your non-musicians walk through the door and you are confident as you have it all together: class syllabus, classroom procedures, dos and don’ts... for day one. Day two arrives, now what?
Oſten times, there are a variety of students who are ready and willing to soak up all that’s offered in the way of music appreciation. We will call this group the “can dos.” Tese are the students who are willing and eager to participate and answer questions. On the flip side, there are the students who were placed in your music appreciation class because there was nowhere else for them to go. In the education world, we call this a “dumping ground.” Te foods class is full, shop class is all booked up, and the fly tying/underwater basket-weaving course
was canceled this year. Te students in this particular group are clearly not interested in music appreciation or seemingly, much of anything. We will call this group the “won’t dos.”
As with all our classes, we are expected to bridge the gap so every student is engaged and an equal contributor in our classroom environment. Tere are a multitude of ways in which one can approach teaching a successful music appreciation class that will help the “can dos” and the “won’t dos” work together. Oſten, music educators get the opportunity to do as they wish here. Tis can be overwhelming as it’s difficult to tell where to start. Here are some tips and tricks that have helped me find success in bringing music to life for the non-musicians in my music appreciation classes, both past and present.
• “Work Smarter, Not Harder” Make music
appreciation work in
your favor without creating more work for yourself. If you are a band or strings teacher, you can survey the room to find out where student interests lie as far as instruments are concerned.
If you find
these students have never tried an instrument before, and they show the least bit of interest, with your administrator’s permission, you could turn your music appreciation class
into a
beginning band/orchestra! I’ve had some success with this in the past by doing this very thing. I created a band of kids who became excited about band and being part of something.
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Why not a percussion class? So many students have aspirations to be the world’s greatest drummer. With your help, you can turn some into not just “drummers,” but percussionists. Get an instrument in their hands! What about starting up a guitar class if you don’t already have one? If you’re really brave, you can bust out those recorders they used back in the third grade and really get down to the nitty- gritty of music reading and actually produce
something neat. I know
the thought of the recorder makes some people cringe, but if you can teach this properly, there are some really great things that can be done with recorders. I use “Te Complete Recorder Resource” by Denise Gagne. Sure it’s simple, but you have to start somewhere. If you are a choral teacher, do some voice exploration activities! Tis can even work for those boys who struggle with using their voices confidently. Try doing some fun singing activities such as karaoke day, finish the lyric, or Encore, to name a few.
• A New Spin On An Old War Horse Music history is at the heart of music appreciation. I have taught this a couple of different ways. One way is obviously to start at the beginning of what we would refer to as “Western Music,” OR you can choose to start from the present and work backwards. Tat way, you have music you know your students are going to enjoy and go back in time to see how today’s music came to be. Tat way, you can hook them right off the bat. Tey aren’t so excited about starting off with Gregorian Chant.
Continued on page 17 Wyoming Windsong
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