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MUSE 375
Dr. Palmer
9 December 2017
Over the course of the semester I have read many sources for discussion in my HAT
journals covering many different aspects of the music education profession. In addition to all of
the new ideas that these articles have exposed me to they have also forced me to think on my
experiences as a student, seasonal instructor, and a future teacher; and to synthesize all of
these experiences into my idea of what kind of music educator I want to be. During this essay I
will explore what I have learned and how I have grown by focusing on three main areas: sound
before sight, comprehensive musicianship, and content and sequencing. Although Ive chosen
to focus on these central areas I will also tie in themes such as assessment, classroom
The area that I experienced the most growth was my knowledge of sound before sight
(SbS) principles; particularly how to implement them in a instrumental classroom. Since my first
semester at Ball State I had learned about, experienced, and implemented SbS tenets into my
teaching episodes whether they be in the field or with my peers, but I had yet to employ them
where I would like to spend the bulk of my careerthe band room. From first learning about
SbS I had been interested in using it in my classroom. As Mills and McPherson mentioned in
our third journal article, without a grounding in SbS many students can become proficient at
their instrument, but they are just pushing buttonsseeing ink on paper, pressing down the
buttons they associate with that spot of ink, preparing the embouchure/muscles necessary for
what they associate with that ink spot, and seeing what comes out. I consider myself to have
spent the majority of my musical career as a button pusher, and to this day I am still working to
overcome this. This has severely impaired me in several areas, the most obvious of which is in
improvisation. These experiences of mine have only furthered my resolve to supply my students
with a solid foundation of SbS with which to build off of. I am determined to utilize SbS in my
The articles for journals one through four provided excellent techniques to use SbS in
the instrumental classroom which I will store in my toolbox of techniques for future use. I
believe that one of the most important takeaways that Ive gotten from this course in regards to
starting students out is that you do not need a book at first. In journal article one, the authors
write that notation before sound is like reading before speaking. Children spend years moving
from babbling to uttering single words to forming basic sentences before we ask them to learn to
read; why do we treat learning music differently? In my beginning instrumental class, I hope to
have a summer band program where I can work with like instruments in smaller groupsan
ideal setting to begin learning their instruments. In these classes I can begin with developing
aural skills through singing. This way, as is discussed in journal article two, the students can
develop an aural vocabulary of musical phrases. As Conway says in journal article one,
students cannot learn notation before they learn to play, sing, and improvise, and so my
students will sing patterns and simple songs, learn them by rote with my assistance, and learn
Although I think it is extremely important to begin students with this method, it is all for
naught if I do not continue this method of developing their musicianship throughout the entirety
of their instrumental career. As was mentioned in journal article four, I intend to begin every
single rehearsal with a few minutes of SbS auditing building activities. These can be as simple
as echo imitation, learning patterns on solfege, and finding the resting tone of a song; or as
implementing these SbS activities is using assessment to guide that implementation. In my own
anything. Because of these experiences I will be sure to use formative assessment to guide my
approach day to day, and summative assessment to guide my approach on a larger scale.
I feel that many music educators know of the benefits of the SbS approach, yet so few
actually employ it on a regular basis. This is likely because of the pressures that they feel:
upcoming concerts, desire for a better score at contest, etc. As someone who has yet to enter
the profession, it is easy for me to say that I will always include SbS in my lessons, but once I
actually enter the profession I need to make sure that I stand by that statement. I need to
include it as a core tenet of my program, include a part of it in every single lesson plan, and
plan.
In addition to SbS, another extremely important philosophy which I had not been
exposed to prior to coming to Ball State is Comprehensive Musicianship (CM). During my high
school experiences my directors had included some information regarding history, theory, etc.,
but it had mostly been presented in a lecture format. My lack of CM experience became evident
in college. Working on both solo and ensemble pieces I realized that I knew all of the right notes
to play, but I didnt truly understand the music and how to put it together to create a meaningful
performance. Now, having learned about the benefits of the CM approach, I intend on using it in
my classroom.
The CM approach is a student centered one, where the teacher is constantly questioning
the students and allowing the students to not only learn their own way, but also to develop their
own interpretation. This is touched on in journal article eleven, where the author discusses
rehearsal techniques which allow students to formulate their own informed opinions about
music. Music may be the universal language, but there is no standardized translation of that
music. As an education student we are always told to treat the students as individuals with their
own distinct personalities. Given how personal music can be, I want to let my students explore
the music so they can connect with it in a way that is meaningful to them, which in turn means a
CM can be incorporated in any number of ways in any given lesson. When learning the
Overture to Handels Messiah, student can learn history about the piece which in turn can be
16th because of limitations of print at the time); When learning Shostakovichs symphony no. 5
information about the composer can affect the manner in which it is performed (e.g. the fear and
pressure put on him by the U.S.S.R. after the reception of his last composition); When learning
Del Borgos Do Not Go Gentle Into that Good Night, students can explore the theoretical
aspects of the composition and the interpretation of the piece through poetry and musical
quotes (e.g. unusual form lengths, chromaticism, diminution; Thomas poem, and the hymns Ein
Journal article eleven spends some time discussing the outcomes that the teacher is
looking for. Too often that outcome is something physical such as a trophy or a plaque rather
than an observable difference in the student. Not only do I believe that the CM approach is more
beneficial for students musical progress, but I also think it is more engaging which in turn
means less classroom management issues. An added bonus is that the CM approach works
extremely well at meeting the goals outlined in the 2014 National Music Standards. Although I
acknowledge the time constraints placed on music educators by everything from football games
Lastly, another major area that I have grown over the course of the semester has been
involved me working for a teacher who made the decisions on what I would be teaching and the
general order in which I would teach it, but now I have begun to consider how I would approach
this once I become the teacher. In regards to content, I believe journal article seven summed it
up well, The learning goals of curriculums guide repertoire decisions rather than [the other way
around]. As I choose the repertoire for my ensembles I should consider the outcomes I am
looking for and choose repertoire that will facilitate reaching those goals. To foster deeper
learning, students need to be prepared for certain techniques and conceptsI cannot just
decide to program a piece with arpeggiated triple tonguing and expect my students who have
only ever singled tongued to be able to perform it wellthis is where sequencing comes in.
As a band director, we are one of the few educators that generally has control of our
own curriculum, and so we must be extremely thoughtful with it. The way that I have thought
about it is to consider the goals for a senior in my program and then to consider where my
beginning student starts. Using that framework, I would then design a spiral curriculum to
achieve that goal, programming goal oriented repertoire for each concert cycle. If I want my
freshman band to be able to perform mixed meter works I should begin introducing compound
meter works in the beginning of 7th grade. If I want my ensembles to be better in tune, I should
teach the trumpets about their first and third valve slides in 6th grade and get the brass doing
pitch bends by 7th. If I want my freshman woodwinds to be able to perform all trills in the first
octave then I should program a piece that utilizes that. These are the things that I will need to
Though I have learned a great deal by reading these articles this is only cursory dive into
all that goes into being a music educator. The scope of this course and these assignments are
only able to cover a small fraction of what I will need in my day-to-day life as a music educator,
but the content covered has provided me with a solid foundation on which to build. More
important than the actual information presented in these journals is the introspective thought
that it inspired. These journals have forced me to take all of my experiences in music and