9/15/10 - 3 Points of Interest on Chapter 8

1. "Children of all ages are players of musical instruments, or they would like to be" (pg. 190). I have not found this to be true in my life. I would say that every child I have ever met certainly likes some kind of music. But liking music and having sincere aspirations to play musical instruments are two different things. I have three younger brothers, and none of them were ever inclined to learning an instrument (much to my dismay). I even tried to introduce them to various kinds of instruments and encouraged them to choose one, but they had no desire to learn. My brothers were always very athletic, and even though they liked music very much, none of them had any special passion for learning an instrument. My brothers are not alone. There are many children who simply do not want to learn how to play a musical instrument. I'm completely okay with this because I would rather spend my time teaching those who are interested in music, then spending my time trying to force someone to do something that they have little or no interest in.

2. "The recorder is among the most common melody instruments played by children in the elementary grades today" (pg. 209). I love the fact that students begin to learn how to play the recorder around third grade. I remember when I was in third grade and began to play the recorder. I was very excited to get a special musical instrument of my very own. I was also comforted by the fact that all the kids in my class seemed to enjoy playing the recorder as much as I did. The recorder is fairly easy to play and master, and it is a perfect instrument to start children on. They can master the basic rudiments of music such as melody, rhythm, time signature, key signature, meter, dynamics, and range. They can also develop dexterity in their fingers and muscle memory by learning the correct fingerings and learning how to properly blow into the tone hole. I think that the recorder was a great precursor to the saxophone, which I learned in fifth grade.

3. "Checklists of exercises and specific phrases, scales, and songs learned can be posted to the classroom wall or stapled to the back of the instrumental manuals, to be filled in by the teacher for each individual student as he or she meets the requirements" (pg. 218). I'm not a huge advocate of checklists, especially those posted in the classroom for everyone to see. Children are sensitive and if a child is struggling to master a piece of music or even play basic tones on an instrument like the recorder, it can be traumatic to see your name on a list with no "stickers" or "stars." This is precisely what happened to me. I came from a very non-musical family, and I had very little help by way of instruction on the recorder. It seemed like I was always behind in general music, and there were definitely no "stickers" or "stars" next to my name. I just became frustrated with music and wanted to quit. If it weren't for experiences I had later on in life, I would have never become a musician. I know the "checklist" backfired for me, and I don't like teaching tools that openly compare a student's private progress to another.