Pedagogy of Aural Skills

2020 ◽  
pp. 190-227
Author(s):  
Jennifer Snodgrass
Keyword(s):  
Error Detection ◽  
Effective Teachers ◽  
Musical Experience ◽  
Aural Skills ◽  
Sight Singing ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Creative Music ◽  
Academic Class ◽  
Musical Literacy ◽  
Creative Music Making

There is no academic class where the students and faculty can participate in an active musical experience like the traditional aural skills course. There is a new trend in aural skills pedagogy in that effective teachers are moving away from the focus on just sight singing and dictation to a focus on musical literacy. Topics such as improvisation and error detection are now being taught in the traditional aural skills core, and students are asked to engage with music through contextual listening and creative music making. Traditional methods of solmization and rhythmic reading are still considered to be effective in the aural skills classroom; however, instructors are using these systems in new ways, along with audiation, to create a musical experience that encourages sound before sight.

scholarly journals Re-imagining Creative Music-making

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Parmela Attariwala
Keyword(s):  
Music Making ◽  
Creative Music ◽  
Artistic Director ◽  
Creative Music Making

Within days of Vancouver locking down in March 2020, NOW Society’s artistic director, Dr. Lisa Cay Miller, crafted an imaginative means of engaging local and international improvisers in an online series, Creative Music Series #8 (CMS#8). The series showcased not only the musicians’ improvisatory skills, but their compositional abilities. Drawing upon conversations with musicians who took part in CMS#8, Parmela Attariwala reflects upon how the series shaped the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic for her and fellow improvisors involved in the series. She also considers the artistic potency enabled by the mode of creation developed for CMS#8.

Pedagogy of Fundamentals and Diatonic Harmony

2020 ◽  
pp. 125-160
Author(s):  
Jennifer Snodgrass
Keyword(s):  
Harmonic Function ◽  
Music Theory ◽  
Voice Leading ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Creative Methods ◽  
Creative Music ◽  
New Material ◽  
Music Experience ◽  
Methods Of Learning ◽  
Creative Music Making

The earliest levels of the undergraduate music theory core might be some of the more challenging courses to teach. Because students enter the undergraduate theory core with a variety of backgrounds, experiences, and knowledge, instructors face the challenge of inspiring some students with new material while keeping the more experienced students involved. How can educators make this material both relevant and engaging for all students? Teaching the lower levels of written theory is more than just memorization of patterns and rules; it is an opportunity to engage students in creative music making from the very first day with an introduction that helps them understand why a certain element of music works. By participating in engaging and creative methods of learning scales, key signatures, intervals, triads, harmonic function, and voice leading, students are immersed in a music experience that is more than just printed notes on the page.

scholarly journals Teaching creative music in El Sistema and after-school music contexts

2021 ◽  
pp. 025576142199082
Author(s):  
Sean Corcoran
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
After School ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Creative Music ◽  
School Music ◽  
El Sistema ◽  
Teachers Perspectives ◽  
Creative Music Making

El Sistema music programmes have blossomed over the past decade, with the aim of fostering social development through intensive orchestral music instruction. Many scholars agree that creative music making can facilitate student agency development, increase a sense of belonging and promote creative expression by allowing students to bring their perspectives to the learning context. With these benefits apparent, it seems rational that El Sistema should incorporate creative music making into its curriculum. To build understanding of how creative music approaches function in some programmes, I used a multiple qualitative case study to examine eight teachers’ perspectives of creative music making within El Sistema and after-school music programmes in Canada and the United Kingdom. Findings revealed that teachers conceptualized creative music making as activities that develop agency through collaborative music creation, that have the benefit of creating a sense of belonging and that give students the opportunity to contribute to their community. Successful nurturing of creative music making seems to rely on connecting students to their wider community, which is achieved in part through incorporating students’ own musical tastes. Teachers’ experiences with creative music making in their own music education played a crucial role in preparing them to teach creative music.

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