Music as a Language - Reading Together - The Teaching of Voice Production and Songs

Home lists here some qualities that any children's choir teacher must have: vitality, an understanding of children, and a genuine love for music.

Music is a means of self-expression.
Home proposes that those who are in charge of making decisions about the structure of schools "should realize the real function of music in education - that it is not to be taken as a mere accomplishment, or technical art, but as a means of self-expression." (loc: 148)
If music then is a means of self-expression, how do we as music teachers help our students connect with this? Some ideas are to teach students how to do basic improvisations, to think about how music connects with and conveys lyrics, and to identify the mood that various music communicates.

Music education should be grounded in the classics.
Home also argues that in the same way that literature classes focus primarily on the classics, so also music classes should revolve around the classics. "Our reason is that the only way to create a standard of taste is to take our children to the classical fountains of prose and poetry. We must do the same in music." (loc: 195)

note: I'm reading this book from through my Kindle app, so quotations are shown by the location in the Kindle document.

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Music as a Language - Reading Together - The Organization of Musical Work in Schools

Home lays out four parts to music classes: ear-training, singing, playing instruments, and performances.

Ear-training should be started with children as young as four. It begins with learning to sing at sight easy melodies; progresses to minor keys, two-part harmonies, and transposition and harmonizing of easy phrases; and climaxes with sight-singing in three parts, working with harmonies and counterpoint, as well as the basics of composition.

Home makes a fascinating point that beginner instrument lessons are best done in groups, in order to help motivate children and keep them interested in the progress. This group work then also allows the teacher to charge a smaller fee for the lessons, which also enables parents to consider having their child start earlier than they might otherwise.

Home urges that students at all levels participate in recitals, so that they all can learn from the experience. This allows students to encourage one another in their musical efforts and builds relationships among the students.

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Music as a Language - Reading Together - The Training of the Music Teacher

In this first chapter, Home presents her ideas on why all students should learn music and how a beginning teacher should tackle the job of teaching music.

Why All Students Should Learn Music
Even though this book was written about one hundred years ago, our society continues to debate the importance of music lessons in schools. We are all too familiar with the stories of school districts cutting back on music departments first when budgets need to be slashed.

So, the question remains, is music an important part of an education? Home argues that it is, and that it should be viewed as vital as teaching a child how to read, write and spell his own language. "The child should be trained when quite young to think in terms of music, in the same way in which it is trained to think in its mother tongue." (loc: 47)

Home also puts forth that music education should be done as a group lesson, in order to best equip children. "The fundamental work should be taken in class, not at an individual lesson, and should be compulsory for all children." (loc: 48) This does not preclude the good purpose that individual lessons serve, but those lessons should be supplementary to structured music classes.

How Does a Beginning Teacher Teach Music
Home presents the functions that she thinks a music teacher should both grasp and master. A teacher "will learn how to organize the general musical life of a schol, through the medium of ear-training and song classes, recitals, music clubs, etc., but will [also] be ready and proud to show initiative in other directions. (loc: 87)

Some Extra Thoughts
I found the presuppostions that the teacher would be a young woman and that her salary would not cover all the out-of-class work that she did, curious. I wonder why it has been (and still is) the pervading idea that teachers are paid for their classroom work, but that any work done outside of the classroom is on their own time, without compensation. Is it not about time that we recognize - and reimburse - teachers for both their teaching and their preparation?

note: I'm reading this book from through my Kindle app, so quotations are shown by the location in the Kindle document.

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Sheet Music - Rainy Day

from Bronwyn Quilliam (flickr)

Rainy Day is a short piano piece set in the key of A minor and is designed for the beginner student.
It includes some position movements for the right hand, as well as interval practice for the left hand.

To order, click here.

I've announced the newest Reading Together series. Check here for information about what book we'll be reading.

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