comprehensive musicianship through performance Again, from 2001:
As I reflect on my own practice, I am certain I have avoided responsibility for creating any curriculum con- nection to most music outside of the “band literature domain.” I have ac- cepted my role as the one who trains these children for musical proficiency on their instruments. If there is an interest in a genre other than band, these students have independently pursued application to other musical areas through their own resources.
In order for there to be cultural change, growth or awareness, my students will have to see, understand and value a much larger collection of cultural experiences – particularly if they are to connect the school band experience to the preferred culture of contempo- rary pop and rock. Children inhabit the culture of rock and pop, they see it, they live it, they consume it. I believe
there is a tangible space in which I can connect these two worlds.
The way I connect them is not by making pop music the curriculum, or by teaching students to play arrangements for concert performance, but rather – to use CMP lan- guage – by using them to create strategies to introduce or reinforce larger musical concepts (outcomes).
These songs are affectionately referred to in class as “special songs.” I will make use of anything I can to teach a musical con- cept. The strategy is to teach them about the construction of the music by using their band instrument to play a familiar song. Usually the instruction takes place by rote with solfège figures. The outcome is never literacy or mastery.
Last year the sixth graders mastered si- lent beats in “Uptown Funk.” This year we learned scale sequences in Rachel Platton’s “Fight Song,” and we will learn
EUGENIE MAYER BOLZ
Photo Credit: Jon Harlow
SUNDAY, MAY ��, ���� 2:00 pm
Youth Orchestra and Brass Choirs Please visit
wysomusic.org or call 608-263-3320 for more information
the idea of first and second ending with the Flintstones Theme. The eighth graders understood the concept of key and tonality when they learned “Best Day of My Life” in Bb followed by an attempt to transpose and play it in the recorded key.
I have learned there is plenty of mate- rial to work with if I remember that the outcome is not to recreate pop music on a beginning band instrument. It can’t be done. The idea is to use the pop vernacu- lar to validate the musical concepts they are learning. Finding the right song can inspire and satisfy young kids. If I can provide a 12-year-old the opportunity to find a connection between their flute and Beyonce, I have validated both places in their musical life.
Patty Schlafer teaches band at Mount Horeb Middle School and has been a longtime member of the Wisconsin CMP Committee. Email:
schlaferpatty@mhasd.k12.wi.us
“Enriching Lives by Providing Transformational Musical Experiences and Opportunities” CONCERTS
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Sinfonietta, Concert Orchestra, and Harp Ensemble
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Philharmonia Orchestra and Percussion Ensemble
Wisconsin School Musician
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