Teaching Music Theory Fundamentals Creatively

Author(s):  
Suzanne Court
Keyword(s):  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Snodgrass

Many innovative approaches to teaching are being used around the country, and there is an exciting energy about the scholarship of teaching and learning. But what is happening in the most effective music theory and aural skills classrooms? Based on 3 years of field study spanning 17 states, coupled with reflections from the author’s own teaching strategies, Teaching Music Theory: New Voices and Approaches highlights teaching approaches with substantial real-life examples from instructors across the country. The main premise of the text focuses on the question of “why.” Why do we assess in a particular way? Why are our curricula designed in a certain manner? Why should students master aural skills for their career as a performer, music educator, or music therapist? It is through the experiences shared in the text that many of these questions of “why” are answered. Along with answering some of the important questions of “why,” the book emphasizes topics such as classroom environment, undergraduate research and mentoring, assessment, and approaches to curriculum development. Teaching Music Theory: New Voices and Approaches is written in a conversational tone to provide a starting point of dialogue for students, new faculty members, and seasoned educators on any level. The pedagogical trends presented in this book provide a greater appreciation of outstanding teaching and thus an understanding of successful approaches in the classroom.


1974 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 111
Author(s):  
Per-Gunnar Alldahl ◽  
Bo Alphonce
Keyword(s):  

1974 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 75
Author(s):  
Robert Gauldin
Keyword(s):  

1974 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 46
Author(s):  
Janet McGaughey

Author(s):  
Paul Smith

This chapter positions the teaching of music theory in the online sphere as a powerful and unlikely site for critical pedagogy. Teaching music theory in the online platform should not ask questions of how best to digitally recast music theory classes, but to consider how teaching online can change the way students approach, explore, and respond to theory content. This happens in what the author labels “the cloud of musical knowledge,” which is mutable, accessible, and democratic. Music theory suffers from being largely considered separate from political and cultural discussion, and as a result is a hidden bullet of neoliberalism and conservativism that reminds students from minorities that their opinions do not matter and similarly it does not remind other students to consider their own privileged perspective. By exploring the intersections of critical pedagogy and music theory and detailing the structure of online music theory lessons, the author argues for an open and inviting space in which students do not think of music theory as being other than themselves and their experience.


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