Teaching Strategies and Perspectives for Theory Instructors
Music Learning Theories
This paper discusses how students acquire musical knowledge. It addresses cognition, constructivist learning, the concept of audiation, and the relationship between learning theories and teaching methods. Extensive references are included.
Strategies for Teaching Aural Skills
This paper applies various learning theories to teaching comprehensive musicianship. Instructional tenets developed over decades of teaching are offered to help students develop skills in audiation, sight singing with solfege syllables, and dictation.
Blended Music Instruction: Enhancing Music Courses with Web-Based Activities
This paper identifies methods and strategies for integrating web sites to support traditional classroom music learning. The term “blended” refers to the use of various media types that complement instructor-led activities. Useful resources are evaluated and linked.
Observational Hierarchy
This paper offers an analytical methodology for music of any style or period. It begins with the aural experience, and proposes analyzing parameters on the Micro, Middle, and Macro levels. Dimensions for analysis are Rhythm, Pitch, Texture, Shape, and Interrelationships between elements.
Refocusing Music Theory Curriculum
This paper questions how Music Theory curriculum might be made more relevant and responsive to the evolution of social concerns and student needs in today’s world. It asks us to consider what and how we teach, updating materials and methods, and innovating.
20th & 21st Century Composers
An important aspect of a student composer’s education is exposure to quality examples of contemporary art music. This paper provides lists of composers who have been awarded the Pulitzer or Grawemeyer Award for composition, along with titles of winning works. It also offers lists of widely recognized American and international composers active in the 20th and 21st centuries upon whose shoulders students will be standing.
