early childhood music
The Joys of Teaching Gifted Students: Allowing the Gifted to Develop Beatriz E. Aguilar, WMEA State Chair, Early Childhood Music
Paul arrived at his private piano les- son excited about having memorized all the first move- ment of the “Clem- enti Sonatina in C major Op. 36 No. 1.” At 6 years old, he seemed highly
motivated and unusually fast to learn his assigned pieces. His piano teacher felt chal- lenged by the questions Paul asked every lesson. On that particular day, the question was: “Have you noticed that, if you play all the notes of the first two measures at the same time, you have a C chord? Have you noticed that the G scale uses F#, and in here (pointing to the end of measure 7) you have an F# and immediately after, you play the G scale?” Yes, the teacher had noticed.
This was clearly a gifted student. Not only could he play the notes, but he engaged in a complex level of classification, generaliza- tion and specification of musical concepts. (Marzano, 2008)
According to the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) (What is Gift- edness?, 2022), gifted students are those “Students with gifts and talents perform – or have the capability to perform – at higher levels compared to others of the same age, experience, and environment in one or more domains. They require modification(s) to their educational experience(s) to learn and realize their potential.”
It is the responsibility of the music teacher to offer an adaptive curriculum for these bright youngsters as well as to have an idea on how to handle and care for them.
Some of these children ask pointed ques- tions in class for which the rest of the class might not be prepared for; some avoid asking questions for fear of attention and singling out.
Music education of the gifted requires a special curriculum, one that is extraordi- narily challenging and engaging. This could be done in the general music classroom at the P4-K level.
Exploring Rhythm and Beat
Gifted students tend to have an unusu- ally large attention span when working on what interests them. They absorb material faster, earlier and need less repetition to recall information. They can comprehend concepts that other students of the same age could consider abstract or too complex.
CMP Summer Workshop
CMP Summer Workshop 2023 for K-12 Band, Choir, General Music, Orchestra and Private Studio Teachers
Monday, July 10 – Friday, July 14, 2023 UW-Eau Claire Campus
• Bring intention to your planning and purpose to your teaching. • Spend the week alongside great colleagues & master teachers. • Help your students develop a deeper understanding of the music they are learning.
• For all levels of CMP interest and experience in band, choir, orchestra, studio and general music.
Watch for more details to come at
wmeamusic.org/CMP 26 January 2023
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