an educational beat

Though I am not innately talented musically, I feel as though I have always appreciated and loved music. For me, music holds energy that has the ability to affect my mood. It was interesting learning about a musical ‘hook’ and relating this to teaching. Educators can only really be effective once they have hooked their audience. A good lesson plan is reliant upon the initial hook that acts as the bait to draw in the attention of the students. Then it is our hope that the rhythm of what we are explaining will develop momentum and that the students will become engaged and contribute actively to their own learning. Good songs generally have a consistent rhythm that allows listens to find comfort in the beat and caught up in the motion of the melody. Teachers also rely heavily on repetition when trying to reinforce central ideas for students.

Aaron Copland mentioned that, “one of the main concerns in the making of music, either as a creator or as interpreter, is the question of how it will sound.” Often teachers struggle with communicating effective lessons that provide ample opportunities for their students to engage on multiple levels. We struggle to teach higher order thinking skills. It is our hope that we can convey clearly what the curriculum is demanding but at the same time, avoid spoon feeding students so that they can also learn to interpret and synthesize and look critically at the material and find ways of applying it to their world on a larger scale.

Copland commented in, Music and Imagination, that “one of the quickest ways to recognize talent in the youthful composer is to note the natural effectiveness as sound of even the most casual combination of tone colors. It is a sign of inborn musicality.” This made me think of those teachers who despite their lack of actual teaching experience, seem to have what is commonly referred to as the ‘gift of the gab.’ They are able to speak naturally and eloquently in a passionate way that somehow draws in the student and makes the lesson they are about to learn feel more like a treat than a chore.

Furthermore, Copland stated that, “yes composers struggle with their instruments- and not infrequently with their instrumentalists. Yet despite restrictions imposed by necessity, they do not view this entirely as a hardship. In fact, in certain circumstances the discipline enforced by the limitations of an instrument or a performer acts as a spur to the composer’s imagination.” I believe that this is often true for many teachers who struggle with various time constraints and curriculum demands as well as administrative guidelines; all of which call for innovative and creative solutions. Sometimes sufficient pressure activates the process of thinking outside of the box.