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Interview with Gregory Chase on His Recent Articles (Sneak Peak)

11/28/2015

 
This is a sneak peak of an interview/article that will be coming out in the January 2016 issue of OPUS.   This is an interview conducted with myself and with Soo Jin Chung, a student at the University of Toronto.  I felt she had very good questions for the interview in regard to specific things from the articles that were previously published in OPUS.  This is the last of the the four-article series. 
 
Soo Jin Chung is currently enrolled in her third year of Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance at the University of Toronto. In her short career, she has been awarded numerous scholarships including a full tuition for her four-year program. She is now studying under the tutelage of renowned pianist James Parker. Chung regularly performs solo and chamber music, and has recently appeared as the guest soloist with the Mississauga Symphony Orchestra and Toronto Sinfonietta. 
 
During the fall term of 2015, the Career Project of Teaching Methods - Piano (PMU260Y1) at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto, examines a variety of professions related to music performance and education in our current society. While receiving intensive training in music, the goal of this project is also to inform students of the complexity of music professions in 21st century Canada.  As part of the course requirement, Soo Jin Chung interviewed Gregory Chase with the questions related directly to his previous articles published in OPUS.  The following are excerpts from that interview.
 
SJC: In your article, “Developing the Internal Rhythm within our Students,” that appeared in the Fall 2015 issue of OPUS, you are essentially introducing a new component to learning and analyzing rhythms to students by approaching them with appropriate syllables and putting them in context to the meters.
GC: I guess I would first mention, that I want to give credit where credit is due, and that is, that I personally am not introducing a new component to learning and analyzing rhythms, but rather this is from the work of Edwin E. Gordon, a great music educator and music psychologist in the United States.  He began this work in the 1960s so it has been around for over half a century.  However in saying that, this is a relatively new approach for us here in Canada though.
 
The concept of adding appropriate syllables and putting the syllables in context to meters is not a new concept, once we think about it; as we often teach theory this way, by indicating the beat function. An example of this is when we talk about duple meter we indicate that beat one is strong and beat two is weak.  Or in quadruple meter we say beat 1 is strong, beat 2 is weak, beat 3 is medium, and beat 4 is weak.  Or in triple meter, we say, beat 1 is strong, beat 2 is weak and beat 3 is weak.  By assigning specific rhythm syllables to the beat function, we are indicating what is the function of the beat within the measure, rather than what is the arithmetic breakdown of the rhythmic value of the individual notes.  The former yields a more musical approach, while the latter is a mathematical approach. 
 
SJC: While this has proven to aid the students in recognizing the meters of music, how will this guide the students later on to read, recognize, and understand the numerical values behind the notes and rests that make up the rhythm?
GC: I think often we get caught up that a quarter note gets 1 beat, and a half note gets 2 beats and an eighth note gets half a beat, and so on.  I think we fall into the trap of teaching individual rhythmic values rather than teaching the rhythmic passage as a whole.  What happens is we take context completely out of the picture and deal with the individual content.  For example, if I just say “t”, it means nothing. We know it’s a letter of the alphabet, but that is about it. There isn’t any context.  If I clap an eighth note, it means nothing to us, as there is no context – it’s an eighth note and that’s it.  However if I say the word “rabbit”, now the “t” appears in context of other letters but then we often ask, “okay, so what about the rabbit?”  Now if I clap two-eighth notes followed by a quarter note, I have indicated how that eight note fits in the context of the notes around it, but it still doesn’t tell us what meter we’re in, where does this fit within the overall rhythmic passage, is this at the beginning, middle, or end of the measure, or is it going across the barline etc.?  So if I clap that pattern, we really don’t know, is the first eighth on the strong beat, the weak beat, the medium beat, are we in duple meter, triple meter, or irregular meter?  So there are loads of unknown variables of how to interpret that pattern, and how to play it in the overall musical context in which it appears.  Now going back to the word “rabbit”.  If I put the word “rabbit” within the context of the sentence, “I saw a rabbit running across the park”, now it makes sense; as we have the full context of the word “t”.  Just as if I chant the two-eighth and quarter note pattern as “Du-ta De”.  You now have the following information:
  • I’m in duple meter (rhythm syllables for duple meter are: DU for macrobeats and DE for microbeats – with the “ta” being a division of the macrobeat and microbeat)
  • The first eighth note is on the strong/big beat (macrobeat)
  • The second eighth note is on the division of the beat
  • The quarter note is on the weak/little beat (microbeat)
  • Musical interpretation, the first eighth note will be played with more emphasis since it appears on the macrobeat.
Context has now been established.  If I take the same pattern and chant, Di-ta Du, we now have the following information:
  • Since I used the syllable “Di” we know we’re in triple meter (Beat function syllables in triple meter are: Du Da Di)
  • You also know that the first eighth note appears on the microbeat beat in triple meter (what we would refer to in numerical counting as beat 3), the second eighth note is played on the division of the microbeat, and the quarter note is played on the macrobeat. 
  • Interpreting that pattern musically, we know that the quarter note will be played with more emphasis than the 8th notes, since it’s on the strong/macrobeat.
 
By using a numerical (arithmetic) counting system we really don’t get this same information,  unless it’s all outlined as I have done with the bullets, so there is a lot of explaining that has to happen with the student when we use the numerical approach.  In the first example we would count “1+ 2”.  That doesn’t tell us the meter at all, as we have no indication of what comes next, e.g. are there 3 beats in the measure, are there 4, 6, etc?  In the second example this will tell me a bit more if I count, “3 + 1”.  As then we know, oh, we’re going over a barline because we heard “1”.  But lets move this pattern to the beginning of the measure, again if we count “1 + 2”.  We really have no idea of any meter, how many beats in a measure and so on.  So it’s very inconsistent, whereas, by using rhythm syllables we know exactly what meter we are in, and where we are in the measure in relation to beat function.  So it provides loads of information with just three syllables.  It provides the syntax of that rhythm pattern.
 
Here is where the confusion arises in an arithmetic approach to counting.  In 4/4 a quarter note gets 1 beat/count.  In 2/2 though, a quarter note gets half a beat/count.  In 2/8 a quarter note gets two counts.  So it changes dependent on the meter.  This causes a lot of confusion for students.  Whereas, if we count in regard to beat function we are always thinking in regard to macrobeat (the big beat) and the microbeat (the little beat), a more musical approach.  As you saw in the article, “Developing the Internal Rhythm within our Students” in the Jan 2015 issue of OPUS, examples of Silent Night using the arithmetic approach to rhythm show there are numerous ways of counting the various meters, which is quite confusing.  With beat placement you can count the various meters in the same manner, much easier for students to understand and it makes for a stronger musical interpretation. 
 
Even now, when I teach theory to my students, I’m getting away from the arithmetic approach to rhythm and am basing it on beat function.  There is no need to use the arithmetic approach to rhythm, but rather it’s based on macrobeat, microbeat, divisions and elongations.  Even in teaching theory where students have to fill in rests or missing beats, this can be done through the understanding of divisions and elongations of the beat. There really isn’t a need to take the arithmetic approach to rhythm, as it’s unstable, because it changes, dependent on the time signature.  Rather I take an approach based on what is the macrobeat, what is the microbeat, and deal with enrhythmic values of patterns.  Once the macrobeat and microbeat are defined, all else falls into place.
 
SJC: Is there a point in the training where you make the transition to numerical reasoning?
GC: As mentioned above, no. There isn’t any reason to use numbers with rhythms if using a beat function approach to rhythm.  In teaching students theory, I’m amazed how much easier this is for them and they pick it up way faster than when I use to teach rhythm using an arithmetic approach.  But again, now I know, this is how the brain learns rhythm, so it’s a more organic approach and is an approach based on how the brain learns and processes rhythm.
 
SJC: How can teachers guide the students in a way that they fully understand the context instead of simply memorizing and regurgitating the rhythmic syllables?
GC: The secret is start using this from the very beginning, and foremost, the teachers have to change their own thinking.  We generally teach the way we were taught, and so it takes some “un-learning” to fully accept this when we’ve all been taught to count using numbers. It’s important for the teacher to fully understand first (as with most things we teach).  I approach this first with lots of Aural/Oral associations.  We will chant lots of rhythms before students see the notation of these patterns and they will repeat back the rhythm pattern on “bah” or other neutral syllable.  As well, at the beginning rhythm patterns, and tonal patterns are taught separately from one another.  This way they can concentrate on one thing at a time, again a process of how the brain learns.  As we do this, we start building a musical vocabulary for the student, and they have the musical comprehension right from the beginning, of knowing if they are in duple meter, triple meter, the macrobeats, microbeats and so on.
 
To really give students the context and understanding of rhythm, we use lots of movement.  Once they are comfortable with the aural/oral level, then we move to the verbal association level, which is using the rhythm syllables that I mentioned earlier.  In both the Aural/Oral and Verbal Association levels, we start with duple meter, and then move to triple meter; and again this is based on how the brain learns and processes rhythm.  It’s important to remember that the rhythm syllables do not teach rhythm, (just as a metronome does not help students to play the correct rhythm), rather the rhythm syllables are a tool to help students understand rhythm.  That is where to start and then there are a series of sequential levels and activities that follow after this. 
 
 
SJC: Are there method books or music books for young students in the market that are easily adaptable to your method of teaching rhythm? Do you believe it’s applicable to all music?
GC: There is a piano method series called, “Music Moves for Piano” by Marilyn Lowe.  These are published by GIA Publications in Chicago.  Here is Marilyn’s website: http://www.musicmovesforpiano.com/
 
Yes, I do believe this is applicable to all music, and all levels of music.  I use this with all my students, even those at the Associate level.
 
SJC: You suggest similar approaches in your writing, “I don’t teach my students to count, because I want them to feel the beat.” Published in the Fall 2015 issue of OPUS. If you teach the meters and macrobeats/microbeats first to students, how do you propose on making the transition to figuring out rhythms?
GC: Do you mean the rhythmic values of the notes?  I guess I’m not sure what you mean by “figuring out rhythms”.  First we don’t take a look at individual notes, as that would be similar to only saying one letter at a time when we speak.  Rather we take a look at the rhythmic patterns.  However, before we begin, we take a look at the Measure signature (time signature) to determine what is the macrobeat and what is the microbeat.  Or at the higher levels, we take a look at the context of the passage.  Once the macrobeat and microbeat are understood, then we move to the divisions of the macrobeat and microbeat and then to the elongation of the macrobeat and microbeat.  It’s part of the sequential process.
 
SJC: While this may result in more musical growth and understanding, wouldn’t this, in a sense, limit the students’ concepts of “counting” or figuring out rhythms to only the meters they know?
GC: Hmmmmm . . .  I would say the opposite.  That is what I love about a beat function approach to rhythm, is that it gives more flexibility in understanding the various meters.  Where as with an arithmetic approach to counting the student needs to understand the individual rhythmic value of each note.  If I say to students we are in duple meter, they know they will be audiating DU DE, or in triple they know they will audiate DU DA DI, and then we have the various rhythm syllables for irregular meters as well.  With the arithmetic approach, they have to know whether the quarter note gets 1 count, 2 counts, half a count, two-thirds of a count and so on.  So in that sense, the numerical/arithmetic approach is more limiting to only the meters/time signatures that they know.
 
SJC: I see more and more modern music being incorporated into the repertoire selections of the RCM examinations even for lower levels. If you were to encounter a piece without standard meter, how will you prepare the students to work on that piece within the frames of your usual teaching?
GC: When you mention standard meter, I’m assuming you are referring to duple and triple meter?  So with irregular meter, what we (those who base their teaching on the framework of Music Learning Theory, which is the process of how we learn music), we would refer to 5/4, 5/8 etc as Unusual paired meter, and 7/8, 7/4 etc to Unusual Unpaired meter.  For unusual paired meter we use the syllables Du Be Du Ba Bi (if grouped 2 and 3), or Du Ba Bi, Du Be (if grouped in 3 and 2).  In 7/4, 7/8, etc we would use the syllables, Du Ba Bi Du Be Du Be (if grouped in 3 + 2 + 2), again this would vary according to the groupings.  An advantage to this over the numerical accounting to 1 2 3 4 5 or 1 2 3 4 5 6 7, the grouping of the patterns is clearly understood by how it’s counted with the rhythm syllables, which will result in a more musical treatment to rhythm.
 
SJC: The object to your teaching is to personally adjust and cater to every individual student’s needs. However, just by looking at how you approach rhythms, you seem to have your own firm set of teaching methods. How do you generally balance the specific needs of students to your style of teaching?
GC: Okay, I think this is taken a bit out of context, but I understand what you’re asking. J  I think most us do teach to the individual students and to where they are at, one of the beautiful things about teaching private lessons.  So in many cases this isn’t new (to teach to the individual differences of the student), but it’s often not mentioned in the teacher’s teaching philosophy.  Unlike the school system where the teacher has to teach to the whole class, we get to work with students at the level they are learning.  What I mean by that, while Johnny may be at this stage, Susie may be at that stage, and so that guides my instruction. I’m not requiring that all my students learn duple rhythm verbal association this week and they can’t move on until everyone has done this, instead, while one student may be learning duple meter at the aural/oral level, another may be learning it at the verbal association level, while another student may be learning unusual unpaired meter, and so on.  What I mean by I teach to the individual differences of the students, is that while one student may be high in rhythm aptitude, but low in tonal aptitude, I work with this accordingly, giving rhythm patterns that are geared to students with high rhythm aptitude and will give tonal patterns that are geared towards those with lower tonal aptitude.  So not all students will get the same patterns, nor in the same order, nor learn at the same pace.  I follow their guidance and learning level rather than saying that we must get through a unit in the method book every two weeks, or after this piece, lets turn the page and you must do that piece.  So the instruction really varies from student to student, but the techniques used in delivering the concepts are pretty much the same.  Now I even say that with hesitation because again there are even variances in that, due to the individual student. 
 
SJC: How does this apply to transfer students?
GC: You present a very good question in regard to how it applies to transfer students.  This is quite an untraditional approach, although very sound in neuroscience (pardon the pun).  So with my transfer students I do carry on with on how they have been taught (symbol/sign before sound). However, I will still work with them at the aural/oral and verbal association levels and work through the sequential process accordingly. So my teaching then becomes compensatory instruction.  I use their sight reading and ear training lots to incorporate these new concepts and so that helps to bring them up to where I want them to be overall.  It’s a process, and again, that process varies from student to student, depending on where they are at, musically.  And I guess that is the key, as I teach to the musical age of the student, not the chronological age of the student.
 
SJC: You must constantly come across many new things through your research hence discovering the innovative ways to teach rhythm and intervals. What are some difficulties you have as a teacher, mentor, or colleague deriving your own materials away from the popular, common, or traditional methods of teaching?
GC: In regard to “materials” I’m assuming you are talking about physical materials, e.g. books and such?   That is the beauty of how I teach, is that it can be used with any kind of music.  It’s not indigenous to any one type of music.  The framework of Music Learning Theory is used for early childhood music classes, which I teach, any private instrument, elementary music class, high school jazz band, concert band, university music.  I guess because this is a framework that I use it’s a matter of adapting it to what I’m teaching.  I guess the biggest challenge is finding the time to find the materials to use in incorporating this framework for the specific learning level of each student.  So it does mean pulling from various resources if I’m not using the Music Moves for Piano method series.  The beauty of this framework is that it can be used with the popular, common, or traditional method books, I just approach the learning of these pieces differently than what is stated.  Now I’m selective in what pieces I use with my students, and I often do change them, according to learning level of the student, so it does require a fair bit of digging and prep work.
 
SJC: Do you feel that teachers should constantly strive to adjust and adapt their teaching in correspondence to newer researches in early education?
GC: Yes, providing it’s proper research.  With advances we have in neuroscience we are now able to learn so much more about how our brain learns and processes information.  We are finding that often times the traditional way is counterproductive to how we really learn.  It’s really only been in the last 15 years where neuroscience has really taken off, with the use of MRIs, CT scans, and so on.  And there is still so much we don’t know about the brain and how it works, we’re still very much in the infancy stage of this whole process. 
 
SJC: Is it safe to assume that your teaching focuses heavily on the psychology of the students?
GC: If we are speaking of the psychology of how students learn, then yes, that is a safe assumption to make. J  I think the key point to establishing an individualized teaching approach is that one has to understand how we learn and process music.  So we need to understand that whole learning process, and this is huge and why I decided to do my masters degree in Music Learning Theory. 
 
SJC: What are some key points to address when establishing individualized teaching methods to any given student?
GC: I think it’s important to realize that each student is at a different musical age.  And that is especially true in the birth to 6 year of age.  However, we may still get someone who comes to us at age 7 for piano lessons, but they are really at the infant musical age level (acculturation stage), and meanwhile we may get a student who is 5 years of age and has already entered the audiation stages of learning.  So by doing various informal activities a person is able to assess their musical age and then you work on from there.  The other thing to remember is that although they may be at one stage rhythmically, they may be at a different learning stage tonally, and even at a different learning stage harmonically.  However, once the student’s music aptitude has been tested, then of course that gives a more objective approach to the teaching and brings it to another level of individualized instruction. 
 
SJC: You mentioned that learning music is like learning a language. What are some common reverse psychologies that music teachers practice in their teaching?
GC: Well the most common reverse psychologies that music teachers, who use a traditional approach, would be the equivalent of saying to a child that you cannot speak a word until you can read the word. J  We know that is crazy, and would say that is crazy thinking, but yet we do it with music all the time - sight/symbol before sound.  At least I know I was guilty of doing that for 30 years of teaching.  As I mentioned earlier, we usually teach the way we were taught and most of us have been taught to read/decode first.  And we miss the most important stage, and that is the stage of listening to music.
 
SJC: History has shaped teaching music that way it is for decades – so why the change now?
GC: Believe it or not, this is how music was originally taught, way back when.  I’m speaking back in Bach’s time.  It wasn’t until Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press that this approach changed.  Up until that time, music was taught as an “aural” art, rather than a “visual” art.  So in many ways it’s not changing but rather going back, or rather, thinking that all things move in a cyclical manner, that we are now returning to the origin of how music was taught, and that is, aurally.

"I Don't Teach My Students to Count, Because I Want Them to Feel the Beat"

9/20/2015

 
This article originally appeared in the September 2015 issue of OPUS. This is the third article of a four-article series. Please note, this is revised and expanded from an earlier blog post.

The above comment came up on a Facebook page that I “liked”, and unfortunately this statement was made in a disparaging manner by one teacher, in regard to another teacher’s approach.  I was disappointed in the path this conversation/discussion took by those subscribed to the Facebook page, partly because I am one of those teachers who does not teach my beginner students to count because I do want them to “feel” the beat.

When it comes to teaching any concept, the truth is the brain stores information, it does not produce understanding.  The information stored in the brain is acquired through the senses.  In other words, the brain simply retains what has been sent through the nervous system.  The mind (psychological) then takes over and gives meaning to the information by proliferating synapses in the brain (biological). (Gordon, 2004).  Think of the brain as the hard drive in a computer, and the mind as the software.  Without the software, the information on the hard drive is useless, as it can’t be accessed.  This is the same with the human body, with the brain being the hard drive and the senses being the software that provides the information to the brain.  To understand rhythm, the body (senses) must experience it through movement, which then transmits the information to the brain.  With time, one will audiate movement without actually moving.[1]  Here is an example of audiating movement.  Without moving your body or arm think of playing the D major scale, two octaves, with your right hand.  Can you “feel” the movement as you are sitting still?  If so, that is audiation of movement. In many incidences one can listen to a recording, or hear a piece of music in their mind (which incorporates facets of tonal and rhythm audiation), and even though one isn’t playing the piece, we can feel the motions that would be required to play that passage or piece.  Personally, I experience this the most when driving, as my body is physically still, due to staying on the highway in avoidance of the ditches.
 
Generally, as teachers we teach the way we were taught, and most of us were directed to “count time” to understand rhythm.  Often it was explained to us, and in turn we explain to our students, that in order to understand “time” we need to count the underlying pulses in music, which we call beats. Soon after the concept of time was established, we were taught (and in turn we teach our students) the note-value names that are superimposed on, and divide, “time” as indicated by the “time” signature.  Unfortunately, a majority of students use numbers, but they utter them at the wrong time, causing inconsistent tempos, uncertain meter, and inaccurate rhythm.
 
There are many reasons why students have difficulty maintaining a consistent tempo, or in other words, have difficulty “keeping in time”.  Contributing factors may be physical limitations, aptitude, or simply lack of motivation. However, once those are eliminated as factors, research has uncovered why the traditional approach to teaching musical time tends to be unproductive and it is because time is taught before most students have fully experienced space (Gordon, 2008).

“Musical time (tempo) must exist within the realm of space, but space can be experienced apart from musical time” (Gordon, 2004, p. 11).  Students should physically experience space before they are introduced to the concept of musical time; as in tapping the foot or clapping their hands. For students to experience space, they need to explore space with their arms, legs, hands, and with their feet in stationary and locomotive actions.  Associated with the issue that space must be experienced before it is combined with musical time, is the fact that space is best understood through continuous free-flowing movement.  Once continuous movement becomes natural, musical time (establishing tempo) is superimposed on space, and the two become one (Gordon, 2004).
 
I spend a number of minutes in each lesson away from the piano giving students opportunity experience the space in rhythm and “between” the beats.  So often we are worried about the beginning of the beats and spend all our energy in trying to make sure that the beginning of the beat is “on time”.  Because of this, we tend to forget everything that occurs between the beginning of one beat, and the beginning of the next beat.  Continuous movement activities allow students to feel the space “between” the macrobeats (big beats), to become aware of what is happening “after” the beginning of the macrobeat with the inclusion of the microbeats (small beats).  We have all encountered a student who rushes the tempo or clips/shortens the length of a beat. The reason this happens is that the student is anticipating the beginning of the next beat, rather than feeling the space between the beats.  They are not aware of or experiencing what is happening “after” the beginning, they are immediately trying to access the hard drive of the computer without the aid of software.

When we ask a student, “How long is a quarter note?”  We often get the response, “One beat.” (Now, we all know that dependent on the “time” signature this may or may not be true.  For the sake of this example, let’s say it is true.)  When we ask, “How long is a quarter note?” we get the response, “One beat.”  What would happen if we then asked, “How long is one beat?”  I suspect the student may not have an answer, or perhaps answer saying, “The same as two eighth notes?” with the voice rising at the end as if posing a question.  Rather, we should be asking, “Show me how long one beat is.” Now it needs to be stated, when we listen to music and when our students listen, we do not listen in isolated durations of whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, rather we listen to rhythm patterns with specific functions.  We listen syntactically rather than phonologically.  So rather than asking the student to show us how long one beat is, we should say, “Let’s feel/experience/sense this entire rhythm pattern.”  And then model the movement for the child with them following us as we chant the rhythm pattern.  Continuous motion, away from the piano, will allow the student to physically experience the length of one beat, or better yet, the rhythmic pattern/passage as a whole; as music is not made up of one beat but rather a series of rhythmic patterns.  This continuous motion will express the space between the beats and rhythm patterns allowing students to experience the whole beat, not just the beginning of the beat. We need to encourage our students to move continuously while listening to music.  Whether the music is recorded, or played by the teacher or classmate, it is important that they move continuously to the music.  For example, we may ask them to move like a falling leaf, or to move as if they are swimming under water.

At the beginning, when teaching students rhythm, we should refrain from teaching students whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, etc.  Rather allow them to learn about Macrobeats and microbeats in duple and triple metre and about beat function, rather than beat placement and the arithmetic value of individual notes. [2]  By moving continuously to music and chanting rhythm patterns (not beat durations but rhythm patterns), students learn to “feel” the space of time.  In my studio, all of this occurs in the lesson before we go to the piano. This may start by singing a simple song as we move with a continuous flowing motion, e.g. a leaf falling off a tree, or as if swimming under water.  As Gordon (2004) states, “to realistically sense space, students must shed rigidity and self-consciousness, and most very young children do so naturally until they are forced to conform to society’s rules.”  For older students, until they feel comfortable and realise the importance of continuous flow, and until they feel comfortable moving around the room, give them activities while seated in their chair, e.g. think of our backbone as a snake and move in an “s” shape.  Then incorporate the movement of the arms, hands, and head, then the hips, but the concept is to feel and fill the space.  As older students feel comfortable they will then move to standing activities and take advantage of moving in the entire space around them.  As a side note, a very neat experience in attending the Gordon Institute of Music Learning (GIML) Conference in Chicago this summer was that every session of the conference began with a continuous flow activity to a song the presenter sung.  Whether you were 20 or 80+ we all flowed with continuous motion, uninhibited.  I have to say that I have never attended a music conference where so much “musicking” took place, from singing in four-part harmony in multimetric choral works, to moving like a snake, to performing vocal solo improvisations in Dorian mode.  As we become comfortable with engaging continuous movement, so will our students.
                 
Going back to the title of this article, if we want our students to “feel” the beat, we must take the time and teach them “how” to feel the beat.  Believe it or not, this is more natural than we think.  By using our physical symmetry and by being aware of how our brain processes music, we can proudly say, “I don’t teach my students to count because they learn how to experience the space.”

Endnotes: 
[1] Audiation is hearing and comprehending in one’s mind the sound of music that may or may not be physically present.  It is neither imitation nor memorization but rather based on comprehension. (Gordon, 2004).

[2] To read more on beat function vs. beat placement, and the use of rhythm patterns in developing a stronger rhythm aptitude in students, read my article “Developing Internal Rhythm within our Students” in the January 2015 issue of OPUS.
​
References:
Gordon, E.E. (2004). The aural/visual experience of music literacy: Reading & writing music notation. Chicago, IL: GIA. 
Gordon, E. E. (2008). Clarity by comparison and relationship: A bedtime reader for music educators. Chicago, IL: GIA.


The Backwards Brain Bicycle and How We Learn Music

5/30/2015

 

There are so many applications how this, funny but well explained, video applies to how we learn music.  Watch the video first, then read the analogies below.



"Learning a bicycle is a life skill, one that the brain never forgets."  The musical application of this is how we practise and the importance that we practise "correctly".  While in university, a friend​ commented how a student will learn a passage inaccurately, then spend the next 7 months correcting that mistake, to only play it wrong at the time of performance.  Over the last three decades of teaching my friend’s comment has come to me many times.  I have found her statement to be very true. Over the years I have explained to students about neural pathways and how we learn.  A good example is to get a pencil and draw a squiggly line, which represents the neural pathway of the first time something is learned.  Trace over the same line 10 times, following the first line, which represents the practising of that passage we just learned.  What students will see is how the line becomes thicker, more permanent.  After the tenth time, draw a deviation to the line (which is the "correct" way to play a passage).  They soon see the comparison of how thick the "wrong" way is compared to the "correct" way.  If they slip and do the wrong way they are only strengthening that path.  So it takes many times of doing it correctly and never playing it the wrong way, before the brain prunes (removes) the old way of playing that passage.  However, when under pressure, and if the first (incorrect) neural pathway has not been pruned from our brain, most times, students will play the wrong way – the brain will revert to the first impression of the path because it is the strongest.  They say you need to repeat something 27 times in a row correctly to cancel out the ONE time you did it incorrectly.  If a student plays a passage 2 times incorrectly, they now need to repeat it 54 times in a row to cancel out those two times.  If a student gets to number 52, and plays it wrong again, they now need to play it 81 times in a row correctly to cancel out the 3 times they played in incorrectly.  Learning a piece of music is like learning to ride the bicycle – “the brain never forgets”.  As Destin stated in the video, after he could ride the backward bicycle, “It was weird though, it’s like there’s this trail in my brain, but if I wasn’t paying close enough attention to it, my brain would easily lose that neural path and jump back onto the old road it was more familiar with.” The old adage “you need to make a good first impression” is very true when it comes to learning a new piece of music or skill.

"Knowledge does not equal Understanding" (around the 1:20 minute mark).  This has many references to how we learn and process music, so I will pick one reference – “understanding”.  Many times in our teaching we give knowledge to students, but do we really give them the "understanding" of music, one of the key principles of Music Learning Theory.  Edwin E Gordon defined audiation as "Hearing and comprehending in one's mind sound of music not, or may never have been, physically present.  It is not imitation or memorization" (Gordon, 2012, p. 389).  There are six stages and eight types of audiation (more on this in future blog posts). Suffice it to say, for students to understand music, they need to "hear", "experience", and "feel" music.  With some students they "hear" and "feel" that the next chord that is to be played is the dominant, or the subdominant, or that it moves back to the tonic.  And they understand that they are playing: tonic, dominant, subdominant; playing in a major or minor key, and; they “feel” that they are playing in duple, triple, or an unusual metre.  It is when we guide students in their learning of music (rather than teaching them knowledge) that students play with understanding, improvise, experience music, and reach their highest level of music aptitude. 

"Brain Plasticity.  Children's brains have a higher rate of plasticity than adults".  Brain plasticity refers to how the brain changes, the creation of new neural pathways, the pruning of unused neural pathways.  Around the 4-minute mark in the video, Destin comments how his 5- to 6-year-old son “In two weeks he did something that took me 8 months to do, which demonstrates that a child has more neural plasticity. It’s clear from this experiment that children have a much more plastic brain than adults. That’s why the best time to learn a language is when you’re a young child.”  This is very true with children, but does not apply only to language.  A person’s music aptitude is the highest at the time of birth and can change widely during the first years of life, with the earliest years being the most sensitive for learning music.  Before music aptitude stabilizes around age nine, it is ever changing and develops in association with environmental influences.  (The stabilization of music aptitude coincides with the maturation of the myelination of the brain, which occurs around age 10 to 12.)  Neuroscience researchers have found that there is a critical period and sensitive period for learning music, supporting Dr. Gordon’s statement, “The critical age for guidance in music is from birth to eighteen months of age.  The sensitive age is sustained until approximately five years old.  Children learn more during the critical stage than any other period of life” (Gordon, 2012, p. 47).

In a literature review I just completed, it was hypothesized that connections could be made between the field of neuroscience, Gordon’s early theories, and principles of Music Learning Theory (MLT).  The purpose of the literature review was to investigate how neuroscience research lends support to how infants learn and process pitch and rhythm. The following questions were explored in the literature review:
1.  What auditory cortical processing is evident in children and infants learning pitch?
2.  What auditory cortical processing is evident in children and infants learning rhythm?

The hypothesis that principles of MLT are supported with research in neuroscience was sustained.  In Table 1, the similarities between findings in neuroscience research and practical applications of MLT are illustrated (with the respected studies reviewed).   

Table 1.

Neuroscience Findings and Practical Applications to Principles of Music Learning Theory

Element


Timbre

Neuroscience Finding


From 4-months-old to 6-years-old a preference to timbre can be developed (Fujioka et al., 2006; Shahin et al., 2004; Trainor et al., 2011).

Practical Application to MLT


Exposure to different timbres and instruments.


Pitch


Four-month-olds can distinguish pitch, as harmonic relations are merged into a single percept indicating a major shift in how pitch is represented between 3- to 4-months of age (He and Trainor, 2009). 



Sing songs in the same keyality each time it is sung.


Familiarity

Infants develop pitch representation preferences to particular timbre, which suggests that infants as young as 4-months-old can reflect learning (Trainor et al., 2011).  



Sing the same songs 4 to 6 times over a short period of classes.


Harmony

Six-month-old infants are capable of segregating mistuned components of a harmonic frequency suggesting they use harmonicity cues to distinguish simultaneous sounds (Folland et al., 2012).



Sing songs in various modalities and keyalities.  


Metre

As early as 2-months-old infants show a preference to unusual metre through novelty preference (Gerry et al., 2010; Hannon and Trehub, 2005a.b; Trainor et al. 2009).



Singing of folksongs in usual and unusual metres.


Rhythm  

Twelve-month-olds, with no prior exposure, are capable of distinguishing rhythmic variations in foreign folk music (Hannon & Trehub, 2005b).



Use of rhythm chants in varying metres.


Movement

Infants learn metre and rhythm through physical movement (Gerry et al., 2010; Hannon and Trehub, 2005a.b; Trainor et al. 2009). 



Movement and activities incorporated into songs and rhythm chants.


Enculturation

Shortly after birth rhythm perception develops in infants in regard to culture-specific biases, before stabilizing around 1-years-old (Gerry et al., 2010; Hannon and Trehub, 2005a.b; Trainor et al. 2009).



Acculturation: Use of folksongs in various keyalities, modalities, and metres.


Brain Plasticity

Plasticity and normal maturation of the brain is developed by a year of musical training in children aged 4 – 6 years (Fujioka et al., 2006; Shahin et al., 2004). 


Leaving Preparatory Audiation Stage and entering Audiation Stage – informal to formal guidance.


The Problem with Intervals: The Two-Note Melody

5/15/2015

 
This is an article that appeared in the June 2015 Issue of OPUS.  The second article in a series of four. 

It is two weeks until the exam and a particular student STILL can’t identify most of the intervals required for the exam!!!!  In desperation the teacher pulls every trick out of the hat.  Often the teacher will revert to a list of songs where the first two notes of the song relate to a specific interval.  The teacher plays the interval and then asks, “What interval is this?”  The student responds with the wrong answer and the teacher exclaims, “No, no, no! It’s a minor sixth!  It’s the Theme from Love Story!”  The student sheepishly comments that they don’t know that song. The teacher then exclaims, “You don’t know that song?  Well it’s a great song, a classic!!  You need to learn it, go on YouTube and find and listen to it over and over and over, so you recognize it so you can get this interval if it’s asked on the exam.”  This comment may be followed by, “Have you not been doing the Comprehensive Ear each week?”  or “Have you not been using (inserting any number of iPad apps, or ear training websites)?”  The teacher may then suggest that the student sings the notes between the two pitches (silently) and see if they can figure out the interval that way.  Or the teacher suggests . . . . . and the list of tactics continues in trying to help the student with intervallic identification.  By the end of the lesson the student is almost in tears, the teacher is pulling his or her hair out, and a prayer is sent upward asking for Divine intervention on the exam.  The student leaves and the teacher shakes their head in disbelief and mutters to themself, “Have I not taught this student anything, all year?” 

The problem isn’t that the teacher didn’t teach the student anything, nor is the problem that the student didn’t practise ear training all year; the problem is the absence of “context”. When children learn music three things are important to remember: sequential learning, context, and audiation.  Sequential learning is the logical progression in which students achieve along a continuum of sequential levels or skills, in other words, “scaffolding”.  Scaffolding includes a variety of instructional techniques that are used to move students progressively to a stronger understanding and greater independence in their learning. Each level builds upon what was previously learned.  Scaffolding, or sequential learning, as it is referred to in Music Learning Theory, is considered to be an essential element of effective teaching.  All teachers, to a greater or lesser extent, use various forms of instructional scaffolding or sequential learning in their teaching.  

Accompanying sequential learning is context.  Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines contextualize as “to think about or provide information about the situation in which something happens.”  Contextualize is the act of making sure that things are done within context.  This will be discussed in greater detail very shortly.   

Once students have context they can then be successful at the third component being discussed in regard to students learning music, audiation.  Audiation is hearing and comprehending in one’s mind sound or music that may or may not be present.  It is not imitation or memorization, but rather hearing, in one’s mind, with understanding.  “Audiation is to music what thought is to language” (Gordon, 2012).  So how does all this fit in the above scenario of an exam around the corner and the student is struggle with identifying intervals?

Go back to what was previously claimed to be the problem in the opening scenario, the absence of “context”.  As you read this, get up from your chair and walk to the piano.  Play the melodic interval of an ascending major 3rd – G and B.  What does it sound like?  What is the context in which you played it?  What do you hear coming next?  Some may answer, “It sounds like a major 3rd” or “it doesn’t sound like it goes anywhere.”  Carry on with reading while at the piano.  Play a I – V – I chord progression in C major.  Now play the G and B as a melodic interval.  Ah . . . did you hear it?  Did you hear how that major 3rd wanted to resolve?  Did you hear how the B (the leading-note) wanted to resolve to the C?  Now play a I – V – I chord progression in G major, and once again, play the G and B.  How did it sound?  Did the B want to move to the C?  Not with the urgency that it wanted when played in the “context” of C major.  Rather you probably audiated the G, the tonic, after playing the B.  That is the importance of “context” when it comes to intervals.  When you initially played the G and B, you heard it as a major 3rd.  So what did that tell you?  What did it mean musically?  Ultimately it was two random notes, one played after the other, with little to no musical meaning, other than it was a major 3rd.  However, when G and B are played after playing the I – V – I chord progression in C major, it is heard as being part the dominant harmony.  When it was played in G major, it was heard as part of the tonic harmony.  Same notes, same interval, but the difference in how it sounded the three times it was played is the result of “context”.
           
A question posed is, “What is the purpose of intervals?”  What musical function do they hold while playing or singing?  If singing or playing in the key of G major, and G – B – D is played or sung, does the listener hear it as a major 3rd followed by a minor 3rd, or is it heard as a major triad?  Or more importantly, is it heard as the tonic triad?  Staying in the key of G major, when the listener hears D – F# - A, is it heard as a major 3rd followed by a minor 3rd, or is it heard as a major triad?  Or more importantly, is it heard as the dominant of G major?  In both cases, the triad is major, and both triads are comprised of a major 3rd followed by a minor 3rd, but the function of the major triad is quite different, one being the tonic, while the other is the dominant.  Now, throw D major into the mix.  Play a I – V – I chord progression in D major, and play the G and B interval.  This now takes on the role of the subdominant chord and if it is taken within context, it will be heard in the manner that it wants to pass through the dominant harmony, and then to the tonic harmony.  So now G and B take on another meaning, because the context has changed.  Perhaps it should be rephrased and worded, it takes on meaning because the “context is present”, therefore the G and B now “serve a musical purpose”. Without context, what is the purpose?
           
The way children learn music is a sequential process.  Why did the student in the above scenario have difficulty with identifying the interval of the minor sixth?  One reason is the lack of context.  Was it heard as a descending tonic triad or a descending dominant triad? Who knows, as it was not played within context.  If a I – V – I chord progression in C major was played, followed by the G and the lower B, the student will hear that it is the dominant harmony that needs to resolve to the tonic.   If the I – V – I chord progression in G major was played first, that descending minor 6th interval would have been heard as the tonic harmony.  When played in context, a student is able to successfully identify a two-note tonal pattern, or interval.  Aside note, it has been a major challenge to find a complete composition or melody that is comprised of only two-notes, but yet, students are expected to identify a two-note melody all the time on the Canadian examination systems, without any context.  To be honest, with some music that is heard on today’s radio it would be nice if they only lasted for two notes.   

With the above scenario, not only was the context missing, but the lack of sequential learning may have also occurred.  When students first learn intervals, not only should the intervals be in context, but they need to be intervals based on the intervals found in the tonic and dominant chords of both major and minor tonalities (Gordon, 2012).  Students learn this best through the use of tonal patterns that consist of 2 to 5 notes per pattern; first at the Aural/Oral level, and then at the Verbal Association level. 

​Students should first hear the tonal patterns on a neutral syllable (aural) and then sing it back on the neutral syllable (oral).  In aural/oral learning, listening to music is the “aural” process and performing music (singing back) is the “oral” process.  “When aural and oral learning are combined in skill learning sequence, they reinforce each other and stimulate development of students’ audiation skills” (Gordon, 2012, p. 97).  A neutral syllable that works well for aural/oral learning is “BUM” (yes they will giggle at first but will soon get over it). “BUM “works best because it doesn’t interfere with any other syllables used in the process of learning music.  It is also ideal from a vocalization perspective (rather than LA or DUM).  Being labial (a sound made with the lips together) it forces pitch accuracy, resonance, and better vocal quality.  After a student is successful at the Aural/Oral level on tonic and dominant chords, in major and minor tonality, they can move to the Verbal Association level.  Use tonal syllables such as those used in a movable Do system that uses Do-based major and La-based minor.  See Table 1 for examples of tonal patterns related to the tonic and dominant chords.
Table 1. Examples of Tonic and Dominant Tonal Patterns in Major and Minor Tonality*
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​* First establish tonality in relation to the tonality.  In Aural/Oral Level sing tonal patterns on BUM, at the Verbal Association Level sing the tonal patterns using the tonal syllables; given above.
​
Once students are able to audiate the tonic and dominant tonal patterns, meaning that they can identify which patterns are tonic-related pitches, and which are dominant-related pitches within context, then they can move to including tonal patterns based on the subdominant chord;[1] first at the Aural/Oral level and then at the Verbal Association level.   The key to all this is “in context”.  To establish context before singing the tonal patterns, a simple tonic-dominant pattern can be sung:

Establishing Major Tonality**

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Establishing Minor Tonality**
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**While at the Aural/Oral Level sing the above patterns on BUM.  In the Verbal Association Level, sing the patterns on the tonal syllables.
When singing tonal patterns with students, sing each note separated, rather than legato.  As well, the tonal patterns should be non-rhythmical/non-metrical.  The former is due to the process of developing audiation, while the latter is due to how the brain processes pitch and rhythm separately.  After singing a tonal pattern indicate to the student (as a conductor would) when to sing back the tonal pattern.  Vary the length between when you finish and the student begins.  It is during the silence where audiation takes place, if it’s all sound there is no room for audiation (to think musically) and becomes mere imitation.

When we think of how children learn music, identifying intervals become a problem.  Why? Because the intervals are not presented in musical context, nor are they usually based on the learning sequence of how children learn music, nor on how the brain processes music.  At the moment, we are somewhat stuck with the activity of identifying intervals because it is a requirement on all our Canadian examination systems.  One day, it is hoped this component will take on a more musical approach, and that it will be done in context, and that it will be based on how children learn and process music.  Until that time arrives, we can help students by having them sing tonal patterns in a sequential manner, within context.  Then at the exam they will hopefully be able to audiate the context, and answer the two-note melody, with accuracy, and with musical meaning and understanding. 

[1] Read Learning Sequences in Music: Skill, content, and patterns by Edwin E. Gordon to learn about the order in which students learn and process music. ​

Developing the Internal Rhythm Within Our Students

1/15/2015

 
This blog post is my actual article that appeared in the January 2015 issue of OPUS.

One of the challenges that music teachers face is that of teaching students rhythm.  How many of us have pounded on the piano bench while the student was playing, to enable the student to “feel” the rhythm and maintain a steady tempo?  How many of us have had our students stand up and move to the beat, in an attempt to feel a steady tempo?  How many of us have asked a student to sit on an exercise ball while playing, and bounce to the beat?  How many of us have an exercise trampoline in our studio where we ask students to bounce to the beat?  I am sure that many of us, myself included, have said “I’ve done that,” to one or more of those scenarios.  These are all techniques and tools that we use in teaching rhythm.  These techniques are used in an attempt to teach the student about rhythm.  Often, an even bigger struggle than getting a student to feel the beat and tempo is teaching students how to count the rhythm so they play with rhythmical accuracy.  How we count the rhythm can remedy the first problem of feeling the beat or playing with an even tempo.   Instead of thinking about how we “teach” rhythm to students, perhaps we need to think about how students “learn” rhythm.

In “teaching” rhythm, we as teachers are often quick to say that a quarter note gets one beat and an eighth-note gets half a beat.  Or we say that a quarter note is counted as “ta” and two eighth notes are counted as “ti-ti”, or we take a mnemonic approach where we count the quarter note as “quart-er” or “walk” and eighth notes as “eighth-note” or “run-ning”.  The more common approach is using numbers, 1 + 2 + and 1 e + a 2 e + a and so on.  Although there are many rhythm-counting systems for “teaching” rhythm, unfortunately these counting systems lack the context in which students “learn” rhythm.

Here is an example of the importance of context.  How would you pronounce the following word “ghoti”?  What would you think if I said the way we pronounce “ghoti” is how we say “fish”?  Yes, it is pronounced “fish”.  Let’s put the pronunciation of “ghoti” into context.  The “gh” is the “f” sound that we find in “enough”.  The “o” is the “i” sound we find in “women”.  The “ti” is the “sh” sound we find in “nation”.  When given the context, we can now understand how “ghoti” could sound like the word “fish”. 

​Context is everything in learning.  As we saw above, “gh” can have a hard “g” sound as in “ghost”, or it can have an “f” sound as in “enough”.  To say that “gh” always has a hard “g” sound would be inaccurate.  To say that “gh” always has an “f” sound is also inaccurate. Once sound is put into context, greater understanding and learning take place.  The same is true when it comes to how children learn rhythm.  To say a quarter note always gets one beat is not necessarily accurate.  Although it may be accurate in a time signature of 4/4, it is not accurate in the time signature of 2/2 or 6/8.  Dependent on the time signature in which the quarter note appears, its context changes.  If we look at the context, we’ll see the quarter note is equal to one beat in 4/4 time signature, half a beat in a 2/2 time signature, and two-thirds of a beat in a 6/8 time signature.  So is a quarter note really equal to one beat, as so many piano methods “teach” students?

When it comes to learning rhythm it is important that students learn beat functions before they learn the arithmetic values of individual notes.  This can be equated to how children learn language, which uses the same parts of the brain as learning music.  To say to a child that they must be able to read, spell, and write a word before they can speak it, would only get a laugh from those around us, and probably be accompanied by a sarcastic comment indicating well wishes of this approach actually being successful with the child learning the word.  Yet, this is often how we teach music.

Students learn rhythm best when they learn rhythm with musical meaning, and in context.  Rhythm is comprised of three basic elements: 1) macrobeats, 2) microbeats, and 3) melodic patterns (Gordon, 2012).  Macrobeats are the bigger beats or strong beats and provide the foundation for the tempo, i.e. the walking, marching, or skipping beat:  


                                                   Macrobeat
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Microbeats are the little beats and are the equal division of the macrobeats.  In other words, microbeats define metre.  

​                                                    Microbeats
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Melodic patterns correspond to the rhythm of the melody or to the rhythm of the text (Gordon, 1971).    

As with learning a language, where an individual letter of the alphabet has little meaning without being grouped with other letters of the alphabet to form a word, so it is with rhythm.  A note by itself has no musical meaning or rhythmic context until it is grouped with other notes.  In the mind of the listener, a note only has rhythmic meaning when there is a relationship between two or more notes (or rests), which then make up a rhythm pattern.   Because every rhythmic pattern is indigenous to a specific metre, patterns can be organized according to metrical type.  Since the two most common metres are duple metre and triple metre, that will be the focus here.  The same principles apply to irregular time signatures and changing time signatures within a piece or song.
When it comes to children learning rhythm, they learn best using a counting system that emphasizes metre and beat function, rather than fractional value name.  In other words, a note (or rest) is associated with a rhythm syllable by virtue of the positional (metrical) relationship of that note (or rest) to the other notes in a given rhythm pattern and not solely according to its arithmetic value (Gordon, 1971). 

​The most effective way for children to learn and understand something is through the comparison of similarities and differences.  Children learn and understand rhythm best when a rhythmic syllable system differentiates between duple and triple metre.  The rhythm syllable of the macrobeat, in all meters, is DU (pronounced “doo”).  Whether it is duple, triple, unusual or irregular, the macrobeat (tempo beat) is always DU.  Rhythm syllables for microbeats (metre beats) in duple meter are DU DE (pronounced “doo day”) and in triple meter are DU DA DI (pronounced “doo dah dee”):  
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​For unusual (irregular) metre, such as those in five and seven, the macrobeats are divided into groups of twos and threes.  Microbeats are chanted DU BE (pronounced “doo bay”) and DU BA BI (pronounced “doo bah bee”), respectively.  
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​When a microbeat in usual or unusual metre is divided, regardless on which macrobeat it appears, TA is always used (Gordon, 2012).  The following are examples that include the division of the beats.
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​One of the challenges in learning rhythm is that “time signature” and “metre” are used synonymously.  Time signatures only refer to the fractional values of a whole note found in a measure.  Whereas, metre defines how macrobeats are divided and grouped.  As Edwin E. Gordon stated, “Such is the differences between musicians and mathematicians” (Gordon, 2012, p. 194). 

A great example of the difference between time signature and metre can be found in the time signature of 6/8.  At some point, most of us have been taught that 6/8 is compound duple metre.  The time signature of 6/8 is labeled as compound duple metre for the purposes of “teaching” the fractional values for notation and theory, but it does not reflect how we hear or audiate[1] rhythm.  In the time signature 6/8, two macrobeats (dotted quarter notes) are heard in each measure and each macrobeat is divided into three microbeats (eighth notes).   Metre is not determined by how many notes are grouped in a measure rather, how macrobeats are divided into microbeats and audiated, regardless of the time signature (Gordon, 2012).  To understand this further, let us take a look at the Christmas carol “Silent Night”.  The following table shows “Silent Night” notated in a variety of time signatures using rhythm syllables based on beat functions below the staff, and variances to counting with numbers based on fractional values above the staff.
Enrhythmic[2] Notation of Silent Night with Rhythm Syllables

Above the staff: numerical counting based on fractional values of notes.
 
Below the staff: rhythm syllables based on beat functions.
​
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The above examples show how complicated it can be for a child to count using fractional values as the basis for counting rhythm.  (To be honest, I have used all forms of this type of numerical counting with my own students in the past.)  Whether the time signature is 3/4, 3/8, 6/4, 6/8, the metre is triple.  Chant the above excerpts (aloud) using both types of counting.  Which has a more musical and rhythmic feel to it?

The question that now begs to be asked is, why is this important?  When students understand music, they appreciate music more.  They understand what they are listening to, or performing.  The following is an example of how well using rhythm syllables works.  Having used this approach with my (at the time) five year old son, after only a couple of months learning rhythm based on rhythm syllables and learning metre first, we thought we would do an experiment with him.  During church we were singing a hymn, one in which was unfamiliar to him, and we asked him, “What metre is this in?”  He stopped his fidgeting, listened, moved to the macrobeats, audiated the microbeats, and whispered, “Duple metre!”  He was correct.  It is not uncommon he will hear a song on the radio, TV, stereo, or at a concert and ask, “What is this in?” referring to the “meter” of the piece.  Going through the process of parital synthesis[3] we figure out the answer together.  He is now at the stage where upon hearing something he will ask, “Is this in duple metre?”  So far, he’s been accurate 98% of the time.  In the incidences where he is not correct, we bridge back to the partial synthesis level to establish the answer.

As the above example illustrates, when rhythm syllables are based on beat functions and not fractional values of notes, children can easily and effectively associate the familiar rhythm patterns with music and sounds.  After children have learned to audiate beat functions and metre, they are able to group durations in terms of rhythm patterns and, thus, phrase music expressively.  Rhythm syllables based on beat functions advance a feeling of movement with weight and flow, as well as time and space, when performing rhythm patterns.  The flexibility of rhythm syllables, ​based on beat functions lend themselves to, and are appropriate for all styles of music (Gordon, 2012).  


Endnotes:​
[1] Audiate or Audiation is a term coined by Edwin E. Gordon.  Most of us will understand it as “inner hearing” or hearing music in our mind.  However, audiation goes a step further to include hearing with comprehension.  It involves hearing and comprehending in one’s mind sound that is not present, or may never have been physically present.  It is not imitation or memorization, but rather hearing music in our head with comprehension.  A simple example of audiating would be hearing music in our head and understanding that what we are hearing is in usual triple metre and in major tonality.

[2] Enrhythmic: Rhythm patterns that sound the same but are notated differently.  Also, different time signatures are used to notate the same sounding meter.  Enrhythmic is to rhythm notation and audiation what enharmonic is to tonal notation and audiation (Gordon, 2012, p. 394).

[3] Partial Synthesis: A level of discrimination learning that children go through when learning music.  At this level of learning, students audiate the tonality of series of familiar tonal patterns and metre of a series of familiar rhythm patterns (Gordon, 2012, p. 405).​

References
Gordon, E. E. (1971). The psychology of music teaching. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, Inc.
Gordon, E. E. (2012). Learning sequences in music: Skill, content, and patterns (2012 ed.). Chicago, IL: GIA Publications.

"I don't teach my students to count because I want them to feel the beat."

1/14/2014

 
This comment came up on a facebook page that I subscribed to, and unfortunately, this statement was stated in a disparaging manner.  I was disappointed in the path this conversation/discussion took, partly because I am one of those teachers who does not teach my beginner students to count, because I do want them to “feel” the beat.

When it comes to rhythm people think of beats, rather than thinking of continuous movement.  Although beats are an important part of rhythm, I do teach my students that beats mean very little if you cannot move in a relaxed, artistic way, with a sense of flow and fluency.

I spend a lot of time in the lesson away from the piano.  I teach my students how to move to the music and how to feel the space “between” the beats.  So often we are worried about the beginning of the beats and spend all our energy in trying to make sure that the beginning of the beat is “on time”.  Because of this, we often forget everything that occurs after the beginning of the beat.  Continuous movement aids my students to feel the space “between” the beats, to become aware of what is happening “after” the beginning of the beat.  Have you ever had a student who rushes the tempo or clips/shortens a beat? I think we all have encountered such a problem.  The reason why this happens is that the student is anticipating the beginning of the next beat, rather than feeling the space between the beats.  They are not being aware of what is happening “after” the beginning.

I take pride in the fact that I can state, “I don’t teach my students to count because I want them to feel the beat.” However, in order to accomplish this I must first teach my students how to move as the music moves – continuously.

When we ask a student, “How long is a quarter note?”  We often get the response, “One beat.” (Now, we all know that dependent on the time signature this may or may not be true.  For the sake of this example, let’s say it is true.)  So when we ask, “How long is a quarter note?” we get the response, “One beat.”  What would happen if we then asked, “How long is one beat?”  I suspect the student may not have an answer, or perhaps say, “The same as two eighth notes?” with the voice rising at the end as if posing a question.  Rather, we should be asking, “Show me how long one beat is.”  Continuous motion, away from the piano, will show the length of one beat.  The continuous motion will express the space between the beats.  Continuous motion aids the student to “feel” the whole beat, not just the beginning of the beat.

Rhythm is made up of three main elements: Big (strong) beats, small (weak) beats, and melodic rhythm.  The big beats are referred to a Macrobeats and the small beats are referred to as microbeats.

This is an activity I have done in many rhythm workshops and it works well, try it yourself.  Turn on the metronome and listen to it tick.  Before long you will notice that one tick seems to be stronger than the other and it takes on a strong . . . . weak . . . . strong . . . . weak . . . . feeling.  Due to how our brain works it does not allow us to hear these ticks objectively, but subjectively pairs the beats.  These paired beats are the macrobeats.

If we want our students to feel the beat, then we must teach them “how” to feel the beat and how to “move” to the beat.  First, we need to encourage our students to move continuously while listening to music.  Whether the music is recorded, or played by the teacher or classmate, it’s important that they move continuously to the music.  An example may be to ask them to move like a falling leaf, or to move as if they are swimming under water. As they are moving continuously we should then encourage them to shift their body weight from side to side (they may have already done this movement in their continuous movement activity simply due to the fact of our physical symmetry and how our brain listens/processes music).  By asking students to move their body weight back and forth, or side to side, they will discover, through movement, their own physical symmetry.  This then lays the foundation for them relating their body’s symmetrical design to symmetry in music, to the pairing of beats, to rhythm patterns, and to phrases.

I know you are thinking, but what if the music the student is listening to is in triple metre, how will they find this symmetrical movement?  As Bernstein wrote, “A waltz, whose greatest claim to fame is that it’s in three-quarter time, turns out to be just as much a slave to dupleness as anything else.  A waltz is a dance, and dance is performed on two legs.  It’s not 1-2-3, 1-2-3, but left-2-3, right-2-3.  The metre may be triple, but in a larger rhythmic sense a waltz is every bit as duple as a march. (p. 97)

We are physically symmetrical.  We have two ears, two eyes, two legs, to arms, two feet, I think you get the picture.  Think of how our heart beats, or how we breathe – duple metre. Due to our built-in “dupleness”, we pair everything.

When Bernstein talks about the waltz, he talks about two different types of beats.  One beat is the “left . . . right . . . left . . . right”, which produces the big/strong beats, referred to earlier as the macrobeats.  He also talks about the 1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2-3 type of beat. These form the smaller/weaker beats, which we referred to earlier as the microbeats.

When we listen to music, and when our students listen, we do not listen in isolated durations of whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, rather we listen to rhythm patterns with specific functions.  We listen syntactically rather than phonologically.

At the beginning, when teaching my students rhythm, I do not teach them whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, etc.  Rather I teach them Macrobeats and microbeats in duple and triple metre.  By moving continuously to music, and chanting rhythm patterns (not beat durations but patterns), my students learn to “feel” the beat.  All of this occurs in every lesson BEFORE we go to the piano.  Now, of course the rhythm patterns we move to, and chant, are rhythm patterns that they will incur on pieces they will learn in that lesson or in the next few lessons.  Therefore, my students don’t need to count, as they feel the beat.  Through the continuous motion they not only feel the rhythm, they have internalized the rhythm.  By chanting the rhythm pattern (on 'BAH'), they have taken ownership of the rhythm pattern.

If we want our students to “feel” the beat, we must then take the time and teach them “how” to feel the beat.  Believe it or not, this is more natural than we think.  By using our physical symmetry and by being aware of how our brain processes music, we can proudly say, “I don’t teach my students to count because I teach them how to feel the beat.”

Sources:
Bernstein, Leonard. 1966. The Infinite Variety of Music. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Bluestine, Eric. 2000.  The Ways Children Learn Music.  Chicago: GIA Publications, Inc. 


How do your students, and children, "think" music?

11/16/2013

 
Picture
Edwin E. Gordon coined the term "audiation" in 1975 and explains it as, hearing music in your mind with understanding.  Audiation is to music what thinking is to language.  Others have explained it as, audiation is to sound in the same way imagination is to images.  Audiation is more involved than just "hearing" music in your head, rather it's hearing music in your head while your brain gives meaning and understanding to what it is hearing.

If I ask you to hear "Mary Had a Little Lamb" in your head, you probably could sing this in your head, without hearing a recording of it.  Now, hear it in a minor key.  Now change the metre to triple metre.  Now hear it in dorian mode?  We could play this came all day by changing how we hear it. :-)  This is audiation, hearing it in your head, but having the understanding of "how" you are hearing it.

We process music the same way as we process language.  Let's take a moment and look at the five steps in how we learn language.  

When our son was born he spent months, and really years, listening to us, and others, speak to him. Why I say years is that he took a LONG time to speak and only began speaking shortly before he turned three years old.  We were anxious to have him speak so he could tell us what he wanted and we were looking forward to hearing his first words. Everyone told us to enjoy the peace and quiet.  Of course we couldn't wait for him to speak and eagerly waited.  Well, let me tell you . . . . now that he just turned six, we look forward to the moments of silence and ask ourselves, "Why were we so eager to have him speak?" :-)  

After "listening" for months our son did begin to babble in response to what we said to him.  After "listening" for years, he did begin to speak a few words to let us know what he wanted.  Needless to say my wife and I were ecstatic when he spoke his first words. A wonderful moment and time of celebration. With each additional new word he spoke the greater the celebration and joy. It is such an exciting time every time your child speaks a "new" word.  It was wonderful and words truly can't express our joy.  Even to this day, as he uses a new word, we recognize that it's a word he hasn't used before.  Joy, joy, joy!!!!

After our son was able to speak a few words he then began to experiment with the words.  He started stringing words together making short phrases, and eventually, started speaking in sentences.  Again, more joy and celebration as we heard him string words together. Often times as he experimented with speaking our language he wouldn't always say the words in the correct order. Some of the sayings were pretty funny. Nonetheless, being the proud parents that most parents are, we took great elation in sharing some of his phrases with grandparents and friends; as he experimented with learning the English language.

As our son developed and understood the language better, we prompted him to read.  Like other parents in their eagerness to teach their child to read, we would point out individual letters and then words (sight words) as we guided him in the first steps of reading. He would often see the letters within the words and exclaim in excitement, "There's a "T"!!!"

After his reading began and he could recognise individual letters, we then aided him in learning how to print his name.  And a proud moment this is for child and parents.  As in the case of our son, who has a very long first name (9 letters), we started him with the first 3 letters, then 4, and now he is almost able to print ALL 9 without any prompting.  We have yet to start on his second name, which is also nine letters long.  Okay, to be honest, we did realize it was a long name but we knew that if we gave him long names, we may actually have some peace and quiet as he learned how to print, in order, all 23 letters in his name.  Needless to say, with my earlier comment about his non-stop speaking we are hoping to stretch this process out as LONG as we possibly can.  :-)

My wife and I love watching our son's language skills develop.  We love watching him learn new words and express, "Hey, 'snake' begins with a 'S'. It starts with a 'sssssss' sound."  The doors to words, letters, and reading have swung open and our son is being exposed to a new and exciting world.  Everyday, he has new discoveries of either a word, or a letter within a word, due to the sound that it makes.  He is learning to read and write with understanding.  He knows what a snake is, he knows what a 'S' looks like, he knows the sound it makes, and he knows how to print it.  Everything he is learning has meaning.

When we learn music, and as teachers when we teach music, we need to remember the five steps of learning a language:
  1. Listen
  2. Speak
  3. Experiment
  4. Read
  5. Write  

Music Learning Theory approaches learning music in the same manner we learn a language.  The brain process is the exact same.  When my son was 10 months old and if someone asked, "Can he read yet?"  I'm sure I would have had some comment to reply with, such as,  "Of course he can't read, he can't even speak yet."  Most of us would say what a ludicrous question, "Can a 10 month old read?  Of course not."  But, for some reason we expect this of our music students and children.  We expect them to "read" music before they know how to "listen" to music; we expect them to "read" music before they can even "speak" music; and we expect them to "read" music, before they can even "experiment" with music.  We teach our students without understanding rather than with understanding.

Music Learning Theory approaches learning music as we learn language.  We "listen" to music, then we "speak" music, we "experiment" with music and then we learn to "read" and "write" music.  This is how our brain learns language, and this is HOW our brain processes music, with understanding.

My goal as a teacher is to teach students with understanding.  To teach children/students to be true musicians by approaching music so that their brain gives meaning to what they are learning.

I welcome you to share my journey of teaching as I guide my students to "think" in sound, with understanding.

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