Adapting the Aural Skills Curriculum

2020 ◽  
pp. 450-458
Author(s):  
Susan M. Piagentini
Keyword(s):  
Aural Skills

Teaching Music Theory

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Snodgrass
Keyword(s):  
Music Theory ◽  
Classroom Environment ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Aural Skills ◽  
New Faculty ◽  
Music Therapist ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Teaching Music

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.

Teaching Aural Skills to High School Students

1979 ◽  
Vol 65 (5) ◽  
pp. 54-57
Author(s):  
Richard C. Domek
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Aural Skills ◽  
School Students

A = 440

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick McMakin ◽  
Jennifer Snodgrass
Keyword(s):  
Music Theory ◽  
Practical Knowledge ◽  
Number System ◽  
Academic Training ◽  
Common Language ◽  
Aural Skills ◽  
High Expectations ◽  
The Public ◽  
System A ◽  
Publishing Houses

This chapter discusses the music theory and aural skills practiced daily by an important and influential segment of the public: the session musicians, engineers, songwriters, and producers in the recording studios and publishing houses of Nashville’s Music Row. Through interviews with leading engineers and studio musicians, the chapter reveals that particular kinds of music theoretical knowledge and aural skills are valued in these contexts. Efficiency and accuracy are prized during recording sessions, and there are high expectations for the fluid and immediate application of practical knowledge and skills to writing, recording, producing, and performing music. While some in these situations have had formal, academic training in music theory, that is not true of everyone. Some terminology from academic music theory is valuable, but there is also the need for additional terminology and systems in order to develop a common language for all participants. This chapter provides detailed information about an important aspect of this common language, the Nashville Number System, a musical shorthand developed within the studios of Music Row that now has currency among musicians around the world, bringing music theory to an ever-expanding public.

What the Effective Music Theory Instructors Do

2020 ◽  
pp. 289-294
Author(s):  
Jennifer Snodgrass
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Music Theory ◽  
Effective Teachers ◽  
Aural Skills ◽  
Safe Environment ◽  
New Ideas ◽  
Essential Skills ◽  
Self Discovery

Why should we learn from some of the most effective music theory instructors? Their years of teaching have challenged each to embrace new ideas, to rethink curricula and course outlines, and to better engage with the student populations in the 21st century. There are 10 characteristics that all effective teachers seem to share, but the most important is that they understand their “why,” and they question themselves regularly in order to better their classrooms and scholarship. They realize the importance of their role as a guide in the classroom and strive to create a safe environment for their students, a classroom full of questions and self-discovery, where students understand relationships and the meaning of why aural skills and music theory are essential skills for the complete musician.

Learning Music Composers’ Styles: To Block or to Interleave?

2020 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 156-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Shi Hui Wong ◽  
Amanda Chern Min Low ◽  
Sean H. K. Kang ◽  
Stephen Wee Hun Lim
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Classical Music ◽  
Musical Experience ◽  
Aural Skills ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Education Practice ◽  
Teaching Music ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Musical Styles

The ability to recognize and distinguish among varying musical styles is essential to developing aural skills and musicianship. Yet, this task can be difficult for music learners, particularly nonexperts. To address this challenge and guide music education practice, this study drew on cognitive psychological principles to investigate the effect of interleaved presentation of music pieces by various classical music composers on learning to identify these composers’ styles. Participants with 4 or fewer years of musical experience were presented with music pieces from six composers in an interleaved manner (alternating between listening to different composers’ works) and music pieces from another six composers in a blocked fashion (listening to works by one composer at a time before moving on to the next). A later test in which participants had to classify novel pieces by the same 12 composers revealed the superiority of interleaved over blocked presentation, although most participants misjudged blocking to be more effective than interleaving. This finding provides evidence for the utility of interleaving in teaching music composers’ styles and extends the literature on the interleaving effect in category induction to the auditory domain. Practical implications and future directions for the use of interleaving in music education are discussed.

scholarly journals Erratum

2013 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 100-100
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Advanced Placement ◽  
Music Theory ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Standardized Test ◽  
Aural Skills ◽  
Processing Strategies ◽  
Melodic Dictation ◽  
Big Picture

Paney, A.S. & Buonviri, N.O. (2013). Teaching Melodic Dictation in Advanced Placement Music Theory. Journal of Research in Music Education, 61(4), 396–414. (Original DOI: 10.1177/0022429413508411 ) This article was published with an abstract containing errors made by the publisher during the production process. The abstract should read: In this study approaches to teaching melodic dictation skills used by Advanced Placement (AP) Music Theory teachers were examined. Twelve high school teachers from four states were interviewed. Four themes emerged from the interview transcripts: cognitive frameworks, processing strategies, rhythm, and course design. Participants generally confirmed established understandings of aural skills pedagogy, particularly in areas of pattern instruction, connecting aural and written theory, connecting sight-singing and dictation, incorporating scale degree function, targeting melodic “bookends,” focusing on the big picture, sequencing curricula, and incorporating familiar melodies. Unique to the findings of this study were participants’ positive attitudes toward a standardized test and their concern for the students’ psychological barriers inherent in learning aural skills. A general indifference to rhythm counting systems and a common acknowledgment of students’ difficulties with rhythmic notation also were found. Recommendations for further research include a large-scale survey of melodic dictation strategies taught by AP Music Theory teachers, empirical investigation of the efficacy of specific counting systems, comparison of students’ reported dictation strategies and their success with dictation on the AP exam, and exploration of the influence of psychological fortitude on the dictation process.

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