Materials for Technology-Based Music Instruction

Author(s):  
Jay Dorfman

Nearly all forms of education make use of materials to support student learning. In the case of traditional music education, the type of material that comes to mind most readily is composed music. Since the dominant form of music education in the United States is the traditional ensemble, composed music is a justifiable representation of what most teachers think of as musical material. In this chapter, we will look at a couple of examples of established criteria for selecting musical materials for various types of teaching scenarios. Then, we will imagine how those criteria might be applied to TBMI and address the crossover between the music we use in traditional music teaching and the music that might be used in technology-based music instruction. We will then examine the types of materials that are specifically related to technology (software and hardware) and sort through some processes for evaluating and selecting those materials. Though most teachers do not articulate any kind of formula for music selection, there are certainly criteria by which music can be chosen for the classroom. A well-known treatise on criteria for wind band music selection is a dissertation by Ostling (1978) in which the author spelled out several guidelines for selecting music with “serious artistic merit.” Among Ostling’s suggestions were the following: The composition has form—not “a form” but form—and reflects a proper balance between repetition and contrast. The composition reflects craftsmanship in orchestration, demonstrating a proper balance between transparent and tutti scoring, and also between solo and group colors. The composition is sufficiently unpredictable to preclude an immediate grasp of its musical meaning. The route through which the composition travels in initiating its musical tendencies and probable musical goals is not completely direct and obvious. The composition is consistent in quality throughout its length and in its various sections.

Author(s):  
Jay Dorfman

This chapter examines the intersections of technology-based music instruction, education policy, and education standards. Theoretical foundations of music teaching and technology-based instruction have influenced the ways in which technology has been integrated into music classrooms. This chapter provides an analysis of the treatment of technology in education policy documents in the United States, and ways in which standards and policies have both shaped and been shaped by theoretical perspectives on technology-based education in music classrooms. Finally, It discusses the outcomes of technology-based music education that should be considered assessable, and suggests ways that preservice and in-service teachers might approach assessment of students’ learning.


2019 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 413-439
Author(s):  
Phillip M. Hash

The purpose of this study was to explore music instruction in selected normal schools of the United States during the nineteenth century. The sample consisted of all eighteen state normal schools organized before the end of the U.S. Civil War and provided insight into the earliest period of music at these institutions. Research questions focused on normal school music (a) faculty, (b) curricula, and (c) diploma/degree programs, as well as (d) influence on the teaching profession, normal school students, and society at large. Normal schools prepared future classroom teachers and eventually specialists to teach music to K–12 students throughout the United States. They also helped professionalize the role of music teacher, solidify music’s place in K–12 curricula, and improve the efficacy of instruction among America’s youth. The preparation normal schools provided contributed to the national culture and the ability of average citizens to experience music as both listeners and performers. Although teacher education has evolved a great deal since the nineteenth century, practices related to music instruction in state normals during this time might hold implications for solving current problems in music education and preparing generalists and specialists today.


2017 ◽  
Vol 104 (2) ◽  
pp. 45-50
Author(s):  
Jean B. Crockett

The public education of students with disabilities in the United States is governed by federal policies that promote school improvement, protect students from discrimination, and provide those who need it with special education and related services to meet their individual needs. This article explains the legal aspects of teaching students with disabilities in the context of music education. Topics address promoting student achievement through the Every Student Succeeds Act, protecting individual access to the music curriculum under Section 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Act, and providing music instruction to special education students under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Guidelines are provided for making music instruction for students with disabilities both legally correct and educationally meaningful.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Pethel

Guitar education has emerged as a discipline in K-12 institutions alongside ‘traditional’ music education such as band, orchestra and chorus in recent decades. Despite the substantial body of literature containing practical advice on teaching guitar, research-supported scholarship is lacking. The purpose of this study was to provide an evidentiary-based understanding of the professional profiles of guitar educators. A large sample (n = 1269) of guitar educators participated in the Guitar Educator Questionnaire (GEQ). Findings from the GEQ suggest a low per cent (7.9%) of music educators who teach guitar class consider themselves to be ‘guitar specialists’. A substantial number of respondents (68.5%) indicated that they rarely or never participated in guitar-related professional development, and 76.1% of respondents reported that their pre-service training provided little or no preparation for a career in guitar education.


2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 20-28
Author(s):  
Tiger Robison ◽  
Blair Williams ◽  
Edward Hoffman ◽  
John Eros

The purpose of this literature review was to gather and examine current research related to the recruitment of precollegiate students into traditional music teacher education programs in the United States. Research has shown that precollegiate students who pursue music education as a career are influenced by their secondary ensemble directors. Further analysis also indicated that there is a limited body of research on recruiting as it pertains to marginalized populations, especially on students of color, indicating a need for a more sustained effort to mitigate such barriers. Additionally, university-affiliated outreach programs have shown great promise in music teacher recruitment and should be replicated and expanded wherever possible. Implications for practice and for further research are provided.


2019 ◽  
pp. 153660061987611
Author(s):  
Paul D. Sanders

Many of the first public school music teachers in the United States came from the singing school tradition and taught from the same tune books that had been used in singing schools. After the war, renewed interest in education and the establishment of graded schools soon led to the introduction of music series that were designed to serve the individual needs of each grade and the classroom teachers who often assisted with music instruction. The major music education history texts in the United States claim that music series soon replaced single-volume songbooks since they better served the needs of the new graded school system. Music series represented the new progressive views of education in the years following the Civil War, and the single-volume songbooks that descended from antebellum tune books of the singing school movement are largely dismissed as relics of a bygone era. This study explores the use of these school songbooks in the years following the Civil War, extending many years beyond the introduction of the first music series.


2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 61
Author(s):  
Shadreck Mataruse

Traditional music may be used to transmit and preserve cultures of various societies in schools. To address the above concern, the researcher carried out a study on traditional music performances in three Zimbabwean districts. The study employed a qualitative approach. Audio visual recordings, interviews and questionnaires were used for data collection. The population comprised members from three districts and music teachers from the selected schools. The study revealed that music education may be of meaningful value to societies when local traditional songs are used. The study also disclosed that traditional music plays a pivotal role in instilling the expected norms, values and standards in children.  Respondents advocated that traditional songs should be taught to young generations because, through these, the young can learn the behaviour they are expected of, to become functional members of the society. The research recommends that local traditional songs should be used in teaching music. What is taught in schools should be culturally relevant to and affirming of the students’ lived realities. The school authorities should encourage the inclusion of local traditional songs in music instruction. Teachers and parents should also work together to transmit culture through generations using oral and literal means. 


Author(s):  
Robert H. Woody ◽  
Mark C. Adams

This chapter discusses the innate differences between vernacular music-making cultures and those oriented in Western classical traditions, and suggests students in traditional school music education programs in the United States are not typically afforded opportunities to learn skills used in vernacular and popular music-making cultures. The chapter emphasizes a need to diversify music-making experiences in schools and describes how vernacular musicianship may benefit students’ musical development. It suggests that, in order for substantive change to occur in music education in the United States, teachers will need to advance beyond simply considering how to integrate popular music into their traditional large ensembles—and how preservice music teacher education programs may be the key to help better prepare teachers to be more versatile and philosophically open to teaching a more musically diverse experience in their future classrooms.


The Oxford Handbook of Preservice Music Teacher Education in the United States aims to work from within the profession of music teacher education to push the boundaries of P-12 music education. In this book, we will provide all of those working in music teacher education—music education faculty and administrators, music researchers, graduate students, department of education faculty and administrators, and state-level certification agencies—with research and promising practices for all areas of traditional preservice music teacher preparation. We define the areas of music teacher education as encompassing the more traditional structures, such as band, jazz band, marching band, orchestra, choir, musical theater, and elementary and secondary general music, as well as less common or newer areas: alternative string ensembles, guitar and song-writing, vernacular and popular music, early childhood music, and adult learners


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