Practical Tools and Strategies for Assessing Aural Skills

2019 ◽  
pp. 678-700
Author(s):  
Nathan Buonviri
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Error Detection ◽  
Music Teachers ◽  
Aural Skills ◽  
Sight Singing ◽  
Music Curriculum ◽  
Relevant Research ◽  
Educational Levels ◽  
Technological Tools ◽  
School Music

This chapter focuses on assessment of three aural skills: sight-singing, dictation, and error detection. Relevant research is synthesized to offer numerous examples of how aural skills assessments can be created and conducted at all educational levels prior to university study, and recommendations for filling several gaps in aural skills instruction and assessment are provided. Issues and challenges in aural skills instruction are addressed, including teacher preparation and confidence, use of technological tools, and “teaching to the test.” The chapter closes with these recommendations: School music teachers should incorporate aural skills practice and assessment into multiple musical course offerings; infuse instruction and assessment with relevant musical material; begin aural skills instruction early in the music curriculum; and incorporate technological tools into instruction for assessment purposes when appropriate.

The Value of Learning Collective Free Music Improvisation: Preservice Music Educators’ Perspectives

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 40-53
Author(s):  
Hoon Hong Ng
Keyword(s):  
Music Teachers ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Music Curriculum ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Music Improvisation ◽  
Free Improvisation ◽  
Entrepreneurial Skills ◽  
School Music ◽  
Collaborative Skills

I conducted a case study to explore preservice music teachers’ behaviors, thoughts, and feelings when engaged in collective free music improvisation. Nine preservice music teachers were taught how to freely improvise within groups as part of a teacher education course and participated in interviews and focus group discussions. Major themes highlighted learning across three segments that emphasized communication and collaborative skills, entrepreneurial skills and risk taking, and reconciliation and transformation. I concluded that the sociomusical outcomes produced by collective free improvisation may complement those of more formal and idiomatic improvisation practices, and that by introducing preservice music teachers to free improvisation activities, they may be more willing to engage PK–12 students in free improvisation lessons that enhance the existing school music curriculum.

Elsie Shawe, Music Supervisor in St. Paul, Minnesota (1898–1933)

2004 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 328-342
Author(s):  
Sondra Wieland Howe
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Music Teachers ◽  
National Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
National Accounts ◽  
Music Curriculum ◽  
School Music ◽  
The Board Of Directors ◽  
Music Supervisor

Elsie Shawe (1866–1962), supervisor of music in St. Paul, Minnesota, for thirty-five years, is an example of a music supervisor in the United States who was active in the formative years of the Music Supervisors National Conference (MSNC). Although she is cited only briefly in national accounts, there is a substantial amount of material on her career in local archives. In the St. Paul Public Schools, Shawe supervised classroom teachers, organized the school music curriculum, and conducted performances in the community. She served as a church organist and choir director in St. Paul and was president of the Minnesota Music Teachers Association. At the national level, Shawe was an officer of the NEA Department of Music Education and a member of the board of directors of the MSNC. Through her committee work, Shawe promoted the standardization of patriotic national songs.May 5, 2004November 10, 2004.

scholarly journals Effect of Christian Related Music on Choice of Music as a Study Subject by Muslim Students in Mombasa County, Kenya

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sumba B. Shitambasi
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Music Teachers ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
National Level ◽  
Sample Population ◽  
Music Curriculum ◽  
Muslim Students ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative Methods ◽  
School Music ◽  
The Subject

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the content of the secondary school music curriculum to establish the effect of the presence of Christian related music in the curriculum on the choice of Music as a study subject by Muslim students in Mombasa County, Kenya. The study used a survey research design. The sample population consisted of 27 participants as follows: 2 music teachers, 8 students, 8 parents, 1 Kenya Institute Curriculum Development Officer at the national level, 1 Quality Assurance and Standard Officer and 7 career masters. Data was collected through questionnaires, interviews and focus group discussion, which was analysed using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Findings show that Christian beliefs compete with Islamic beliefs thus Muslim students find it offensive to pursue the subject and learn Christian related music and values therein. In conclusion, Christianity and Islamic beliefs are two dominant religions that are competing rather than complementing religions; Muslim students find it hard to pursue music subject due to the elements of Christian related music in the curriculum. The study recommends that the choice of music subject by Muslim students is dependent on the provision of Islamic music in the music curriculum and must be incorporated to attract their enrolment.

scholarly journals Music Teachers’ Perception of Music Teaching at the Stage of Early Adolescence

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 97-118
Author(s):  
Petra Brdnik Juhart ◽  
Barbara Sicherl Kafol
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Early Adolescence ◽  
Music Teachers ◽  
Professional Competence ◽  
Music Teaching ◽  
Music Curriculum ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
School Music ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
General School

Based on the descriptive method of qualitative educational research, the present study explores music teaching at the stage of early adolescence in terms of general-school music teachers’ viewpoints on factors defining the planning and implementation of music teaching. The study was based on qualitative analysis of data gathered in interviews with 18 teachers from nine countries (Slovenia, Argentina, Australia, USA, Turkey, Poland, Russia, Italy and Germany). The research found that music teaching based on authentic musical communication through the activities of playing, creating and listening to music was favoured by the interviewees. Among the factors affecting the presentation of music teaching at the stage of early adolescence, the quality of curricular bases and the professional competence of music teachers were emphasised. In this context, the research findings showed that music curricula in the international context do not provide a suitable curricular base for the implementation of music teaching. The problem becomes especially salient when the competences of music teachers are insufficient for the transference of the curricular platform to musical praxis through authentic ways of musical teaching. The research findings provide an insight into the complexity of the factors involved, including authentic music teaching, the music curriculum and teachers’ competences, which determine the planning and implementation of music teaching at the stage of early adolescence. In addition, the findings provide a basis for further research in a broader context and for the development of guidelines for curricular updates and the modernisation of music education in general schools.

An analysis of four instructional strategies used by secondary school music teachers in Uganda

2021 ◽  
pp. 025576142110509
Author(s):  
Lawrence Branco Sekalegga
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Instructional Strategies ◽  
Teacher Professional Development ◽  
Music Teachers ◽  
Experienced Teachers ◽  
Classroom Observations ◽  
Music Making ◽  
School Music ◽  
Teacher Professional

This paper provides an analysis of how secondary school music teachers (N = 10) in Uganda apply instructional strategies (peer teaching, practical music-making, modeling, and feedback) in their music lessons. Analysis was undertaken to establish if there were any similarities or differences amongst the urban, suburban, and rural music teachers and between experienced and inexperienced teachers in ways they employed instructional strategies. Data were gathered through videotaped classroom observations and analyzed via SCRIBE (Simple Computer Recording Interface for Behavioral Evaluation). Results showed that practical music-making was the most observed strategy while negative feedback (disapprovals) was the least observed strategy. Experienced teachers provided more feedback in form of approval and engaged their students more in practical music-making activities. Results from the study are discussed in terms of implications for improved teacher preparation. The strategies discussed in this study should be encouraged through teacher professional development, and through greater emphasis in teacher preparation courses.

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.

Teacher as Guide: The Teacher's Role in the Secondary School Music Lesson

1985 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Cain
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Music Teachers ◽  
Music Curriculum ◽  
Music Lesson ◽  
Teacher’S Role ◽  
Music Lessons ◽  
School Music ◽  
Teacher's Role ◽  
Teaching Composition ◽  
And Performance

This article is an attempt to explore what we Secondary School Music Teachers should do in our music lessons. To illuminate this problem the author postulates two rôles which he believes many music teachers adopt more or less whole-heartedly: the ‘Instructor’, who passes on a body of received skills, information and perhaps values; and the ‘Enabler’, who sets up conditions in which his or her pupils may discover music.Although both rôles can be fruitful in some areas of the music curriculum, the author considers them inadequate, and attempts to describe a new role which teachers might find more helpful. He outlines ways in which the teacher who adopts this role might operate when teaching Composition, Literature Studies, Audition, Skills and Performance (C(L)A(S)P).

scholarly journals MODERN APPROACHES TO TEACHING SIGHT SINGING AND EAR TRAINING

2021 ◽  
pp. 083
Author(s):  
Nico Schüler
Keyword(s):  
College Level ◽  
Aural Skills ◽  
Sight Singing ◽  
Teaching Approaches ◽  
Approaches To Teaching ◽  
Ear Training ◽  
The Past ◽  
Technological Tools ◽  
Difficult Subjects ◽  
Better Than

Sight singing and ear training are difficult subjects to teach. Over the past decade, however, many new technological tools were developed that support educational endeavors. Several of those tools, SmartMusic, SingSnap, EarTrainer (MusicDictation.app), and YouTube, were used at the beginning college-level aural skills courses to enhance sight singing and ear training instruction, especially in the context of enhancing audiation skills. This article summarizes their use within aural skills courses and present experimental and anecdotal evidence of increased sight singing and ear training skills. More specifically, experimental (test) data as well as anecdotal (essay) evidence showed that (1) students were much higher motivated to complete exercises compared to ‘traditional’ aural skills exercises, (2) in a shorter period of time, students performed much better than in ‘traditional’ exercises of at least the same difficulty, (3) the students’ audiation abilities increased much more as a result of the exercises, compared to ‘traditional’ exercises, and (4) students showed a greater increase in solfege proficiency, compared to ‘traditional’ exercises. The teaching approaches we have discussed also led to a greater independence from in-person instruction.

Four Ways Technology Has Negatively Changed Education

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 10-20
Author(s):  
Khadija Alhumaid
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Classroom Technology ◽  
Relevant Research ◽  
Reading And Writing ◽  
Internet Connection ◽  
Educational Environments ◽  
Technological Tools ◽  
Teachers And Students

Abstract Our experience with technology is a bitter-sweet one. We relish its presence in our lives, but we dread the effect it may have on our manners, attitudes and social interactions. We open the gates of our schools to all types of technological tools, yet we fear it may badly impact our students’ performance. This article investigates the ways through which classroom technology such as iPad, Internet connection, laptops and social media, impacts negatively on education. Relevant research has proven that technology could change education negatively through four paths: deteriorating students’ competences of reading and writing, dehumanizing educational environments, distorting social interactions between teachers and students and isolating individuals when using technology.

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