GORDONSMUSICLEARNINGTHEORY1

GeneralMusicMethods1
73.420.201

MusicLearningTheory:
EdwinE.GordonsResearchonMusicLearningintheClassroom

by:JacobHajjar

Instructor:Dr.GenaGreher
TheUniversityofMassachusettsLowell
16December2013

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MusicLearningTheory:
EdwinE.GordonsResearchonMusicLearningintheClassroom
ThefirstthingthatshouldbesaidaboutEdwinE.Gordonsmusiclearningtheory
isthatitshouldnotbeconsideredamethodofmusiceducation.Itdoesnotfulfillthe
samepurposeasthestandardmusiceducationmethodsofZoltnKodly,CarlOrff,or
others.musiclearningtheorydiffersbecauseitisprimarilyanexplanationofhow
studentsofallageslearnmusicitisnotintendedtoexplainhowtheyshouldbetaught
music.(Mark,1996,p.169).WhatGordonhasdedicatedhisresearchintereststohas
uncoveredawealthofinsightsintohowchildrenexperiencelearning,andhecompiled
thisintohismusiclearningtheory.Usingthistheory,teacherscanthendeveloptheir
ownlessonplansandeducationalapproachestoimplementtheconceptsofthetheory,
andtoteachsothatstudentshavethebestlearningenvironment.Gordondoes
emphasizethelearningprocessovertheteachingprocess,andthattheendresultof
teachingshouldbetoimpartstudentswiththetoolsneededtocontinueengagingwith
musicinmeaningfulwaysfortherestoftheirlives.Itiswiththisphilosophyinmindthat
allotheraspectsofmusiclearningtheoryarebuilt.
EdwinE.GordoniscurrentlyaresearchprofessorattheUniversityofSouth
Carolina,whereheisstillresearchingandcompoundingonhistheory.Hebegan
developingmusiclearningtheoryinthemid1950s,whenhewasaskedtoteacha
musicmethodsclasstoundergraduatestudentsattheUniversityofIowainIowacity.It
wasintheplanningforteachingthisclassthatGordonrealizedthatnoonereally
understoodjusthowchildrenlearnedwhenlearningmusic.So,overthenexttenyears

GORDONSMUSICLEARNINGTHEORY3

ofteachingthisclass,Gordonandhisstudentsbegantodevelopanideaofhow
childrenlearned.Throughoutthistime,Gordonbeganresearchinginthepublicschools,
anddidthisconcurrentlywhileteachingthemethodscourse.Themusiclearningtheory
wasbornoutofaneedforinformationandresearchonhowchildrenlearn.Gordon
wentfurthertodefinetheimportanceofprocessversusproduct.Heemphasizesthat
studentshaveindividualmusicaldifferences,andthereforeateachershouldfocuson
theprocessoftheirlearning,andnotexpectallstudentstoarriveatthesameproduct
(Gordon,1997,pp.xiiixv)
Centraltomusiclearningtheoryistheconceptofaudiation,whichisa
nowpopulartermthatGordoncoinedhimself.Simplyput:audiationistomusicwhat
thoughtistolanguage(Gordon,1999).Inotherwords,auditionistheabilitytohear
musicinoneshead.Gordondescribestheimportanceofthisabilitybyequatingthe
processoflearningmusictotheprocessoflearninglanguage.Infantsspendthefirst
monthsoftheirlivesunabletospeak,butabletolisten.Theyhearallofthewordsbeing
spokentothemfromallaround,andeventhoughtheydonotunderstandthesewords
yet,theyarestillbuildingavocabularythatbecomesaccessibletothemwhenthey
learnhowtospeak.Next,thelarynxdropsandtheinfantbeginstospeak,attemptingto
makerealthewordsthattheyhavebeenhearingtheirwholelifeupuntilthen.Aftera
whilethechildevenbeginstoimprovisebythrowingfamiliarwordstogetherin
unfamiliarwaystoformnewquestionsandstatements.Onlythen,oncethechildhas
developedtheabilitytospeakcomfortably,doesthechildbegintolearnhowtoread.
ThisiswhereGordonarguesthatmostformsofmusiceducationtodayhaveit

GORDONSMUSICLEARNINGTHEORY4

backwards.Manymusicprogramsinpublicschoolsareteachingreadingor
standardizednotationbeforestudentshavedevelopedavocabularyinmusical
understanding.Gordoncontinuesthemetaphorinthefinalstepoflanguagelearning,
whichisthetheoreticalstructureandgrammaroflanguage.Thisisthestepthatcomes
lastinlearninglanguage,butoftencomesfartooearlyinmusiceducation.Ifstudents
arelearningnotationandtheorybeforetheyarecomfortablewiththemusicalideas,
thenthenotationandtheoryarebeingtaughtoutofcontextandthoseskillswillbe
uselesstothestudents.ThisiswhyGordonemphasizesthedevelopmentofaudiation
aboveandbeforeallothermusicalskills(Gordon,1999).
Anothercrucialpartofunderstandingmusiclearningtheoryaretheideasof
musicaptitudeandmusicachievement.Thesetermsareoftenconsidered
interchangeable,butGordon(2011,p.9)insiststhatthereisabsolutedifference
betweenthetwo:musicaptitudeispotentialtolearnmusic.Musicachievementis
musiclearned.Thisdifferenceissoimportantbecauseheclaimsthatpeoplecanonly
increasemusicaptitudebeforetheageofnine.Afterthisage,Gordonbelievesthat
whilelearninginmusiccanstilltakeplace,thehighestpotentialofhowmuchsomeone
canachieveinmusicisdeterminedbymusicalexperiencesbeforetheageofnine
(Gordon1999).Healsosaysthatchildrenarebornwithdifferentlevelsofinnatemusic
aptitudethatarethenaffectedbybytheirenvironment.Inthisway,asinmanyother
casesofhumandevelopment,neithernaturenornurtureisadominatingforceinmusic
aptitude.Allchildrenarebornwithsomelevelofmusicaptitude,anditisthosefirstnine
yearsoflifethatwilldeterminethechildspotentialformusicachievementfortherestof

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theirlife(Gordon,1997,p.42).
Ibelievethatthesefindingsshouldhaveahugeimpactonmusiceducation.If
Gordonstheoryistrue,itmeansthatthemusiceducatorsroleinthelifeofachild
belowtheageofnineisimmense.Ifthemusicprogramforthechildislackingoreven
nonexistent,itmeansthatthechildmightberobbedofthechancetobeamusician
laterinlife.Thisputsalargeresponsibilityoneducationtoprovidechildrenwiththe
opportunitytodevelopmusicaptitudebeforeitistoolateforthem.Musicaptitudeis
alsosomethingthatshouldcausemusicteachersofolderstudentstotakeactionforthe
elementaryschoolprograms,becauseifaschoolsystemhasaweakmusicprogramat
theelementarylevel,itmeansthatthemiddleandhighschoolswillbegettingstudents
withlowmusicaptitude,andtheentiresystemwidemusicprogramcouldsuffer
becauseofit.Itisuptoparentsandeducatorsofchildrenbelowtheageofnineto
providethemwiththismusicaptitude,sothattheyhavethepotentialtopursuemusic
achievementsoftheirownchoicelaterinlife.
MusicaptitudeisalsoGordonsfoundationforencouragingdifferentiallearningin
themusicclassroom.Becausenoteverystudenthasthesamebaselinemusicaptitude,
noteverystudentwillobtainthesamemusicachievementsinanyoneclass.This
meansthatteachersmustbepreparedtoteachtoalllevelsofstudentsatthesame
time.Gordon(1997,p.41)providesaninsightfulquotefromPlato:thereisnothing
moredevastatingandunequalthantheequaltreatmentofstudentswithunequal
aptitudes.Itisimportanttostrikeabalanceintheclassroomthatdoesnotleave
studentswithlowmusicaptitudeoverwhelmed,norstudentswithhighmusicaptitude

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bored.Forthispurpose,Gordonhascreatedaseriesofmusicaptitudeteststhatcan
assisttheteacheringaugingthelevelofthestudentsinordertocreateadifferential
learningenvironment.Thoughthesetestscanandshouldbeusedtoaidtheteacherin
gettingagoodreadontheirstudentstodevelopappropriatelessonplans,itisalso
importanttokeepinmindthatthetestsarenotperfect.Itishighlypossiblethata
studentwasjusthavingabadday,orsomeotheroutsideinfluencecausedthemtoget
apoorscore.Thiscanbeeasilyfixedbyanobservantteacherrealizingthatthestudent
isnotbeingchallengedbytheactivitiescreatedfortheirlevelofaptitude.Luckily,itis
unlikelythatastudentwithahighaptitudescoregotafalsescore,sotheteachercan
theninferthatifthisstudentisdoingpoorly,itislesslikelybecauseoftheiraptitude
scoreandmorelikelyduetosomeotherfactor(Taggart,2005,p.129).Thereare
severalwaysthatlessonsusingmusiclearningtheorycanteachtomultipleaptitude
levels,includingfollowingtheGordonlearningsequenceactivities(describedbelow),or
bylayeringlessonsgivingeasierpartstoloweraptitudestudentsandmore
challengingpartstohigheraptitudestudents,ratherthanteachingallpartsofalesson
toallstudents.Throughoutalllessons,itisvitaltoensurethattheteacherisnot
definingstudentsbytheirmusicalaptitudescore.Theaptitudescoreisaguidelineand
anapproximation,andastudentshouldneverbeheldbackfromtryingsomethingmore
challengingbecausetheiraptitudescoresaystheycant(pp.136137).
Togoalongwithmusiclearningtheory,EdwinGordonalsocreatedahierarchy
ofskillsthatchildrenshouldlearnandbuilduponinorder.Theskilllearningsequenceis
theprimaryteachingtoolinmusiclearningtheory,andstartstoprovidesomepractical

GORDONSMUSICLEARNINGTHEORY7

useforthemajorconceptsinthetheory.Theskilllearningsequenceisdividedintotwo
parts,differentiallearningandinferencelearning.Discriminationlearningisteacher
drivenandinvolvestheteacherdirectingthestudentsinactivitiesthatbuildtheir
musicalvocabularies.Inferencelearningisstudentdriven,allowingstudentsthe
freedomtoexplorewithincontextsthattheywanttolearn.Theentireskilllearning
sequencelookslikethis:
Discriminationlearning
Aural/oral
Verbalassociation
Partialsynthesis
Symbolicassociation
Compositesynthesis
InferenceLearning
Generalization
Creativity/improvisation
Theoreticalunderstanding
(CampbellandScottKassner,1995,pp.5859)
Itisstructuredasahierarchy,muchlikeBloomsTaxonomy,thatinfersthatastudent
shouldbeconfidentinonelayerbeforemovingtothenext,andshouldconstantlybe
reinforcingthelowerlayers.Theabovelistisreadtoptobottom,sothataural/oralin
discriminationlearningisthefoundationandmostimportantskillarea,andtheoretical
understandingininferencelearningisthelastandleastimportantskill.Thesequence
beginswithaural/oral,wherestudentsaretaughtmelodicandrhythmicpatternsona
neutralsyllableandareexpectedtolistento,audiate,andrepeatthepatterns.Verbal
associationthenaddstheusageoftonalandrhythmicsolfegetothepatterns.Partial

GORDONSMUSICLEARNINGTHEORY8

synthesisisthefirstassessmentstage,wherestudentsshouldbeabletoaurallyidentify
familiarmelodicandrhythmicpatterns.Untilthispointtonalandrhythmicexercisesare
keptcompletelyseparate,butatthisstageactivitiescanincorporateboth.Symbolic
associationisaninterestingstagewherestudentswillbeshownthetraditionalnotation
forthepatternstheyareusing,butnottaughtwhatitmeans.Irelatethistoachildbeing
readastorybookwheretheycanseeandpointtothewords,butcannotyetreador
writethem.Discriminationlearningendswithcompositesynthesis,whichisanother
assessmentstagewherestudentscanidentifyallfamiliartonalitiesandpatterns,and
canbegintodictatefamiliarpatternsbothverballyandusingstandardnotationfor
patternsthathavehadsymbolsassociatedwiththem(CampbellandScottKassner).
Again,studentscanstillnotpointatanoteandsaythisisawholenoteCbutcanwrite
standardnotationandsaythisiswhatthissoundslike.Studentsaretaughtthewhat
andhowbutnotyetthewhy.
Inferencelearningiswherestudentsbegintoexploreunfamiliarpatternsontheir
owninastructuredenvironment.Generalizationisastagewherestudentsapply
familiarpatternstounfamiliarpiecesofmusic.For(averybasic)exampleonestudent
mayidentifythatMaryHadaLittleLambisinamajortonalitybecauseitsounds
similartoTwinkleTwinkleLittleStar.Creativity/improvisationisthefirststagethat
studentsfinallybegintocreatetheirownmusic.Ithinkthismaybeoneweaknessof
musiclearningtheory,inthatitintroducescompositionsolate.Gordondefinescreativity
ascomposition,orcreatingmusicfromsomethingcompletelypersonalandnew,and
improvisationascomposingsomethingwithintheharmoniccontextsofanothersong

GORDONSMUSICLEARNINGTHEORY9

(Gordon,2011,p.15).Improvisationisalsodescribedasthespontaneousexpression
ofaudiation(Azzara,2005,p.399).Bothimprovisationandcreativityaretaught
throughtheuseofthetonalandrhythmicsolfege,sothatstudentsarealwaysusing
patternsfromtheirmusicalvocabularytobuildnewmusicalconversations.Finally,
studentsareabletoexploretheworldofmusictheory.Inthislevelhowever,theteacher
doesnotlecturethestudentontheory.Itisassumedthatstudentswillbythispointwant
todiscoverthewhytothemusictheyarelearning,andthatnaturalcuriositywillcause
thestudenttoprompttheteacherintoansweringanyquestionsabouttheoretical
knowledge.Itisnotconsideredanecessarilyelementtotherestoftheskilllearning
sequence(Gordon,1997,pp.132133).
Theskilllearningsequence,inkeepingwiththerestofthemusiclearningtheory,
emphasizesaudiationandthebuildingofauralskillsbeforetraditionalnotationis
introduced.JohnVitale(2011)claimsthatweliveinavisuallybiasedworldandthat
thishindersthelearningofmusic.Educationinschoolstodayisbasedsomuchon
seeingsomethingbeforeyoudoit,butitiscounterintuitivetobeexperiencingmusic
visuallybeforeitisexperiencedaurally.
AlthoughformalWesternmusiceducationhasalongandinstitutionalizedpast,
musiceducationshouldprovidemoreopportunitiesforexperientialformsof
learningthatfosterauditoryperceptionthroughplay,exploration,anddiscovery,
andlessfocusonestablishedmusicnotation,whichisinherentlyvisual.
ThisiswhereIfindtheskilllearningsequenceismostunique,inthatitintroducesthe
auralcomponentasinmanyeducationalmethods,butthenitintroducesthevisual

GORDONSMUSICLEARNINGTHEORY10

componentwithoutanytheoreticaldiscussion,whichissomethingthatmostother
methodsdonotincorporate.Inthisway,standardnotationisneitherahindrancetothe
musicalexplorationofthechild,norisitcompletelyabsentfromtheirlearning.They
makethevisualconnectionsothatwhenitistimeforthetheoreticalunderstanding,
theyjusthavetomatchthepropertermstothingstheyalreadyunderstand.
Themusicalvocabularyusedinaudiationisbrokendownintotwomajor
categories:tonalandrhythmic.Whenbuildingtonalvocabulary,studentsarefirsttaught
melodicfragmentsonaneutralsyllablebyrote(aural/oral),sothattheyarecomfortable
listeningto,audiating,andsingingthesebasicpatterns.Whenitistimeforverbal
association,thestandardsolfegeisused(do,re,mi,fa,sol,la,andti).Gordonuses
moveabledo,whichiscommon,butwhatisuniqueisthedefinitionoftonalityinmusic
learningtheory.TonalityisdefinedbyGordonasmajor,minor,oranyofthechurch
modesusedincommonpracticetheory.Eachofthetonalitieshasarestingtone,that
inmajorisdo,minorisla,dorianisre,andsoon.Keyalityisaseparatetermusedto
describetheletternameofatonality.Forexample,thecommonpracticekeyofEb
minorwouldinmusiclearningtheorybereferredtoasminortonalitywithEbkeyality
(Gordon,2011,p.5).Duetothemovablerestingtone,theonlychromaticsolfege
syllablethatwouldeverbeneededinbasicmusiclearningtheoryissifortheleading
toneinlabasedchromaticminor.
Rhythmisapproachedinasimilarfashion.Firststudentschantrhythmsona
neutralsyllableintheaural/oralstage,andintheverbalassociationstagetheyare
introducedtotheGordonrhythmicsolfege.Thisisasystemofmnemonicsthatexpress

GORDONSMUSICLEARNINGTHEORY11

rhythmwithaudiationinmind.

image:http://giml.org/mlt/lsarhythmcontent/
Therhythmicsolfegealsoemphasizesthemacrobeatsandmicrobeatsinapattern.
Macrobeatsarewhatarecommonlyknownasthepulseinmusic,andarealways
calledduinGordonrhythmicsolfege.Microbeatsoccurwhenthemacrobeatissplit
intoequalsubdivisions(i.edudeinduplemeterordudadiintriplemeter)(Gordon,
2011,p.6).Therhythmicpatternthatoccursoverthemacrobeatsandmicrobeatsis
referredtoastherhythmicmelody.
Overall,musiclearningtheoryappearstobeasoundoptionforteachingmusicto
studentsofallages.ItrelatesdirectlytomanyoftheconceptsdiscussedintheGeneral
MusicMethods1classattheUniversityofMassachusettsLowell,includingthe
importanceofprioritizingmusicalexplorationandaudiationovertheemphasisof
notationandtheory,andthevalueofdifferentiallearningintheclassroom.Themajor
flawthatIcanseeinrelationtothediscussionsinmethodsclassistheimplementation

GORDONSMUSICLEARNINGTHEORY12

ofcompositionandimprovisationtoolateinthelearningsequence.Childrendobenefit
greatlyfromthecreativeexpressionincompositionandimprovisationevenbeforethey
arewellversedinperformanceandunderstanding,butGordoninsiststhatstudents
musthaveasolidvocabularybeforeengagingincreation,whichdoesconflictwith
manyotherphilosophiesonmusiceducation.Ithinkintheend,musiclearningtheoryis
agreattoolformusiceducators,butshouldnotbetheonlytoolusedinmusic
education.Asynthesisofmanystylesandmethods,includingGordonsmusiclearning
theory,iswhatwillprovemostsuccessfulinthemajorityofmusicclassrooms.

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References
Azzara,C.D.(2005).Understandingmusicthroughimprovisation.InM.Runfola&
C.C.Taggart(Eds.),TheDevelopmentandPractical
ApplicationofMusicLearningTheory(pp.399423).Chicago,IL:GIA
Publications,Inc.
Campbell,P.S.,&ScottKassner,C.(1995).MusicinChildhood:Frompreschool
throughtheelementarygrades.NewYork,NY:SchirmerBooks.
Gordon,E.E.(1997).LearningSequencesinMusic:Skill,content,andpatterns.
Chicago,IL:GIAPublications,Inc.
Gordon,E.E.(1999).Allaboutaudiationandmusicaptitudes.MusicEducatorsJournal,
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Gordon,E.E.(2011).UntyingGordianKnots.Chicago,IL:GIAPublications,Inc.
Mark,M.L.(1996).ContemporaryMusicEducation.NewYork,NY:SchirmerBooks.
Swain,J.P.(1997).MusicalLanguages.NewYork,NY:W.W.Norton&Company,Inc.
Taggart,C.C.(2005).Meetingthemusicalneedsofallstudentsinelementarygeneral
music.InM.Runfola&C.C.Taggart(Eds.),TheDevelopmentandPractical
ApplicationofMusicLearningTheory(pp.127142).Chicago,IL:GIA
Publications,Inc.
Vitale,J.L.(2011).Musicalexperiencesinavisuallybiasedworld.CanadianMusic
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