Lesson Reflection Redux

Let's start with the good. I feel like the whole lesson went much better than the first. To be fair, I was in a much different head space when I prepared this lesson. Planning the first lesson got me over a severe mental block I was having regarding a place to start with the topic of Louis Armstrong. Once I was able to get the ideas together for the first lesson, though a bit shaky and underdeveloped, I was able to better structure and prepare the remainder (over more time than I would have imagined). I feel like I was better prepared both mentally and emotionally, and also with worthwhile teaching material. Most of the information I planned to discuss was touched on and presented aptly. I was able to think on my feet a little, too, when things started to head into territory I hadn't thought to include (but should have...more on that later). I felt like I was able to speak to the class in an engaging way, and tried to include many more activities of the music making variety than I did in the first lesson. The presentation of the rhythms in a MIDI program, and the audio elements were also helpful and worked well. I was also given a much better "review" from Professor Schneider, and I was glad I was able to meet his expectations of continuous improvement. 

Being in the fortunate circumstance of being able to present similar content twice in a row, I was able to learn more about how I could  have improved the lesson. First of all, the video I showed at the beginning of the lesson was too long even though it was barely 2:30 minutes long. While I think it did serve as a good introduction to the lesson, and jazz in general, I do think the time could have been better spent elsewhere (and so did the professor). I also neglected the reason why the polyrhythms that informed jazz were important to music in general....I think a simple statement regarding what type of music people danced to in those times would have done the trick. While it's great to learn the building blocks of how something changed, it's at least somewhat important to reference why (I would also have liked to include a map of the West Indies for a quick reference). Lastly, I feel I could have been a little more fluid. It's tough to seamlessly incorporate AV into your class lesson, and even with some preparation time, I did hit a few slight hiccups.

I am thankful I've had the opportunity to restructure my lessons after reflecting on my experience, and seeing what great things others did. I'd like to thank Professor Schneider and all of my classmates for allowing me the time to try things out.

Are You Not Entertained?

When it comes to building an audience for your school ensemble, I tend to have different viewpoints than some of my colleagues. There seems to be an idea that because an ensemble makes music, there needs to be someone to listen to it. I do not agree. While I do think that performing to an audience is absolutely important, I also think it depends on context.

I would be hard pressed to call the centuries old, mainly European instrumental music performed by wind ensembles and orchestras a form of entertainment in 2016 to the public at large. I do, however, think that learning how to play this music with all of its intended expression, nuance, and color is an incredibly important part of becoming a great musician. A performance might help in motivating a student to learn their music, but having the performance be the end goal can be short sighted, again, depending on context.

Music is an art form and does not exist for entertainment's sake. When we put too much of an emphasis on performance, we're really doing a disservice to the bigger picture. Performing itself is an art form, and being a great performer is part of being a great musician. But to act as if there needs to be some sort of audience for playing music to be worthwhile is inaccurate, in my mind.

When an audience needs to be built for a performance, my first priority would be to make sure the product is performance-ready. If that is the case, then I have no qualms with being tasked, as a music director, with generating an audience. With social media, and good old fashioned flyering and press releases, getting the word out can be done with minimal effort. If your school and community values performances, maybe repertoire should be selected or ensembles formed with that in mind. However, we should never forget that the craft is not in the performance for others, but for the work itself.

Thunder Soul

As someone who has loved music for as long as I can remember, I can't find an easy answer for how to create a love of music in others. One concept I truly believe in is meeting the students where they are, by using music as a means of personal expression and not as a primarily academic exercise. A great example of this concept can be found in the documentary film Thunder Soul.

In the late 1960s, Conrad Johnson met the students where they were when he took the job of music director at Kashmere High School in Houston, Texas. For almost 10 years straight, the group he conducted, composed, and arranged for was the band to beat in competitions, and was even asked to perform in Asia and Europe. While he infused the band's repertoire with a funk sound popular in the day, he also inspired respect and confidence in his students that would change their lives. In the film, Johnson says of his band's success, "it wasn't just playing, it was what you put into it." By teaching the core values of what it took to overcome adversity and become a great musician and person, along with appealing to the students' personal expression and creativity, he was able to touch almost a decade's worth of students in very meaningful ways.

So after watching this film, I'm not sure if I have any new ideas on how to create a love for music and performing in a music program. I did, however, get some confirmation of how music can change someone's life if you bring it to them and let them find their own way in. Once they are a part of a bigger community, then new experiences and collective successes inspire pride and continuous hard work that you can build a legacy on. Along with that, you're giving their soul a voice.

General Music Lesson Reflection

My assignment of giving a series of 8th grade general music lessons on Louis Armstrong has been more difficult than I initially expected. Most likely this is because of my thought process that Louis Armstrong, while an incredibly important person in music and our history, might not be especially relevant to our students. My aim is to find an overarching concept that allows me to incorporate his innovations in music with historical context without having it seems like a purely academic endeavor. I have been using many of the common anchors of the national music standards to facilitate discussion, and to generate questions and activities in an attempt to humanize Louis Armstrong, the artist.

The 10 minutes of the lesson that I presented was the introduction. I was worried somewhat that my ideas would be a little too abstract, and I think that played out. I don't think there was enough structure to the initial exercise, and I also forgot to explicitly tie it in with the Louis Armstrong quote. However I do think it could be augmented with a little more direction and feedback to speak more accurately to what I was intending. Perhaps using cards, magnets, or some kind of props, as suggested by Professor Schneider, would be beneficial. In general, I think I could have been a little more succinct with the lesson outline regarding what awaited the students. I like the idea of a long(ish) introduction. but with only three 40 minute periods, I'm afraid there wasn't enough concrete information and too much abstraction to justify the time spent. I think it would be better to jump in after the first common anchor idea into some history or possibly "set the scene" to add some context to our discussion.

I also forgot to ask what the class knew about Armstrong so as to generate some communal understanding of who we're talking about. I had that in my plan pretty early, but I accidentally skipped over it.

This run-through gave me a little better of an understanding of how to steer discussion, but also how much time can be taken up doing this when a hands on activity might have been better. It was observed that I "lost the class" at some point, and this is especially a problem in the introduction to a long lesson. I need to add more structure to these discussions and with structure comes easier assessment of the students. These self-observations, along with much of what I saw other students do with their lessons, have given me some idea of how to better approach my lesson for my final.

The Moneygoround

The question of whether music educators should have to rely on parents and fundraising to fund their music program is theoretically easy to answer: absolutely not. The numerous benefits of having music in schools have been well-documented. A recent survey speaks to the desire of parents and teachers to keep a music program in their schools despite trending budget cuts in the arts. Unfortunately, good will isn't currency.

One could see certain music programs, particularly in financially stable districts, as being able to sustain themselves on fundraising and parental contributions. But this model may not work as well in low-income areas where music is too low a priority to see any of a family's money. This is unfair on a variety of levels, but probably not enough to make political waves.

Of course, there are scholarships and foundations that donate to music and art education, so teachers can certainly go after those. But this puts undo pressure on a teacher who is already overburdened, and makes financial planning almost impossible.

Unfortunately, I lack the experience to speak to this question through my own experience. I am hopeful through future education reforms, we can better examine the varied needs of our students in this country, and potentially shift away from the "teaching to the test" approach that has inadvertently pushed a well-rounded education, including the arts, to the sidelines.

The Technicality of Music

In spite of my undergraduate degree being in sound recording, I would not have considered myself even remotely adept at music technology for quite a few years after graduating. It wasn't until a friend needed music for a video production that I really started to open my eyes to the immense growth of musical production oriented technology available. In the years since, I have managed to compile a pretty reasonable library of virtual instruments and plug-ins that I believe supply me with the tools I need to express myself musically in the digital realm. While not completely up to date, much of what I've composed almost completely virtually can be found on this website.

To make a long story short, my cursory knowledge of MIDI and DAWs allowed me to contribute musically to many productions I would absolutely not been able to as someone with limited proficiency on melodic instruments. It has also empowered me to accept recording and mastering projects I otherwise would have balked at, and to take on a role as a sound designer and in-house composer I've had for 4 years now with a company in Bethesda called GraphicAudio. Through simply taking the time to learn how to use some elements of musical technology, I was accepted to a Film Scoring Workshop last year at NYU, where I was able to work with renowned film composers and studio musicians in their incredible facilities. I am an example of someone who uses music technology professionally with moderate success.

While there are countless avenues to pursue in regards to using music technology in an educational capacity, the main thing that still blows my mind is the quality of virtual instruments available. With these fantastic sounding and easily used virtual instruments, composing takes on a life of its own. Years ago, well before I decided to become a music teacher, I felt that having a student sit down with an orchestra at his fingertips would be a potentially life-changing experience. I still feel that way today, and I am hopeful that I will someday find myself in a situation where bringing this experience to students is possible. As educator Scott Watson wrote in his book Using Technology to Unlock Musical Creativity, "music teachers, using a certain methodology and technology tools, can draw out authentic musical creativity from students of all levels of experience and, in the process, deliver meaningful education."* I am a firm believer in this concept, and I'm only just starting to see how to do this in the real world. 

A great example of this concept put to use is in Melissa Salguero's class at an elementary school in New York City. I was fortunate to see her give a presentation at a CMEA conference this year at the University of Bridgeport. Music technology takes the front seat in her class via various interactive websites, DAWs, and remote MIDI controllers which enable her young students to sing, create, learn, and work together in new and exciting ways. In addition to having an inspiring story, she has received acclaim and awards for her approach of meeting the students where they are and building a successful music program out of nothing.

While I have much to learn and more classroom experience to gain, using music technology as part of my curriculum is potentially the most authentic thing I can provide for my students. By meeting them where they are, I believe we can make music an important part of their development and self-expression even with limited traditional musical expertise.

 *Watson, Scott. Using Technology to Unlock Musical Creativity. New York: Oxford UP, 2011. Print. 

Choir Lesson Reflection

Choir has only recently become a part of my musical world. In school I was always in concert and jazz band, and only once did we ever interact with the chorus in the form of Mozart's Requiem. Last year, I became a member of the small choir at my church in Milford, CT. Luckily for me, the music director is very good at what he does (and helpful to those of us who need it most). I have learned a lot by observing how he warms us up, presents pieces, and works through them. I was able to use some of that experience in helping my very competent group formulate a mock lesson plan.

Some techniques I saw in other groups that I found particularly effective were having the choir sing in various intervals and in rounds. I thought this generated great sounds and also could be used when tricky intervals within a piece are common. In fact, all of the differing warm-up exercises were helpful insights into different approaches.

Some other insightful comments from Professor Schneider regarding the efficacy of movement while singing to promote expression, making a conscious choice regarding conducting vs. snapping, and the accepted norm of warm-up exercises descending from head voice to chest voice also proved extremely helpful. I feel like this exercise has given me many approaches to getting my feet wet in leading a choral group.