Nov
18
2009
To say I have been buried and been behind – including postings on the blog – this fall is like saying “Sales for Chrysler have been a little down lately”. There have been a lot of busy things happening, a lot of demanding things happening, and some good things happening in there too. Parts of my studies at Kent State this fall have included a Seminar in Music Education Class that has given me plenty to think of. It has been interesting getting to some of the writings of Randall Allsup, and revisiting a few entrenched beliefs I have thanks to Bennett Reimer. Though he is new to me, the following is inspired by the writing of Steven Kelly and his book “Teaching Music in an American Society”. First of all, it is a great read – I would recommend it to any teacher educator in music programs. Kelly really brings a great lens to examine our profession from the standpoint of political, socioeconomic, and cultural perspectives that is very revealing. This post has been brewing for a few weeks after reading some thoughts by good friend and colleague Dr. Joseph M. Pisano over at Mustech.net. Some food for thought for those of you on your lunch break…
Oct
29
2009
So the artists work is now starting to roll in – between final rehearsals for our “Fright Night” Concert and (surprise!) getting a touch with the flu, we had a couple week hiatus from our composition work. I sat down today with a number of the students to listen to their 2nd assignment: an 8 measure duet with percussion accompaniment.
Similar to the first assignment, they were given very specific guidelines to govern the creative process. As they are writing 2 parts for their instrument, there were a couple of minor changes that would hopefully assist them. For example, the assignment due during tomorrow’s rehearsal used the following guidelines:
1) B-flat concert and Common Time
2) 8 measures in length.
3) Assigned notes per measure (notes listed in concert pitch)
m.1 m.2 m.3 m.4
(Bb, D, F) (Eb, G, Bb) (C, Eb, G) (F,A,C)
m.5 m.6 m.7 m.8
(G,Bb,D) (C, Eb, G) (F,A,C) (Bb, D, F)
The one thing I discovered is that I had to remind them frequently that there note choices for the harmony line were the same as the melody line. In a couple of instances, we had some definite tension in the sound between the lines, but nothing that Stravinsky would say “wouldn’t work”. In addition to the notes listed above, they may choose to use one beat of non-assigned notes per measure (For example, in measure 1 they could utilize an Eb or G as long as it does not exceed one and a half beats within the measure).
4) The Winds may use any of the following note values so long as it equals four beats:
The percussion may use any of the following note values for the snare drum part as long as it equals four beats:
After the winds finished composing, they would sit down with a partner and perform the duet for a percussionist. After hearing the composition a couple of time, the percussionist would begin constructing a percussion part consisting of two different instruments. While most used snare and bass, a couple of students chose to use triangle, tambourine, and woodblock to accompany the winds to which they were assigned.
Again though it was optional, students were encouraged to begin including expressive elements within their melody including varying dynamic levels (piano through forte), accents, slurs, and also make use of crescendos and decrescendos.
My rule of “If you write it, you better be able to play it” definitely clicked with a couple of students. After playing through their initial melody sketch two different students looked at me and said “That’s not what I wanted at all.” A couple more didn’t realize the awkwardness of what they wrote until they tried performing it – one clarinet in particular has new appreciation for going over the break!
One of the big concerns is evaluating each composition. My biggest concern is not to pass artistic judgment, but find a way to evaluate their music. There are some objective items that can be assessed, but also a number of subject ideas that may not fit so neatly into the assessment process. For that reason, I am using a rating scale to show the students where they are standing with the assignment.
| Mercer Middle School Band – Composition Checklist | |||
| 3 – Good | 2- Average | 1 – Needs work | |
| Notation – music is accurately notated tonally and rhythmically | |||
| Craftsmanship/Authenticity – music shows originality in tonally and rhythmic ideas, music possesses connectivity of ideas | |||
| Sensitivity/Imagination – Student explores multiple possibilities of available materials, student understands expressive capabilities of their instrument in their writing | |||
| Form & Guidelines – Student stays within guidelines provided | |||
| Total (12 possible): | |||
| Notes on student work:
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Tuesday will be a mini-recital during band periods with the students. I am in the process of developing a check list so they can do peer critique of the compositions they hear. Our next assignment on which we will embark will be asking the students to compose in 12 bar blues form.
Oct
11
2009
It was awesome getting a call from Corky Whitacre the other day – the Naples Concert Band will be performing American Visions on their November concert. I also received notice that Irish Jig For Young Feet will be performed at the Midwest Clinic this December. The performace at Midwest will be given by the VanderCook College of Music Symphonic Band. My thanks to both Dr. Charles T. Menghini and Harris Lanzel for programming this music!
Sep
22
2009
First of all, apologies all around as I have been away getting the school year started, meeting some deadlines, attending to PMEA business, and just got done hosting our 14th Annual Band Show at Mercer. Throw in 5 credits at Kent this semester, and my free time is nigh non-existent.
Jul
20
2009
I hope Ed Rendell reads this. I hope he reads and gets off whatever horse that apparently got him elected. Saying he’s a friend of education is like saying Enron cared about its shareholders. It’s like saying Vick was humane to dogs. As the Keystone State Lawmakers continue to exchanger verbal volleys this week, friends of mine go unpaid and all functions of the state come to a screeching halt. I have the solution to free up a lot of money in the budget – kill standardized testing where it stands. But knowing Rendell’s agenda, we will stay the course and ultimately force districts around the state to make their cuts to save the essentials. So now the arts in public education find themselves in another tooth and nail battle because we are non-essential….yeah, right.
