Essential skills for promoting a lifelong love of music and music kaking: Part 1 of 4

INTRODUCTION

Stereotypes die hard, sometimes. There still are people in the U.S. who think all music teachers are kindly ladies with negligible training and no professionalism, handing out candy for good performances and slaps on the wrist for bad.

Kindly? Mostly. Minimal professionalism? Never! Today's MTNA members are educated, experienced and expert. This is reflected in results from studies that show music teachers are viewed by most U.S. citizens as respected professionals. In the latest Gallup poll, American Attitudes Toward Music (March 2003, conducted for the National Association of Music Merchants), an overwhelming majority of Americans polled--73 percent--believe children should be exposed to music before age 5. A whopping 96 percent consider music part of a well-rounded education.

Why, then, these articles? With today's busy schedules and packed lesson times, teachers sometimes fall into the trap of concentrating on repertoire only. "It's more fun for my students," one said, ignoring the preponderance of evidence that a lifetime of music making depends on well-developed proficiency in listening, sight reading and technique. That is the purpose of this series--to give teachers needed information, resources and time-effective strategies to help students build basic skills at all levels.

For this, the first article in a series of four, we invited one of the top theory teachers in the U.S. to share her ideas with us. We were impressed with the breadth of her thinking and her ability to simultaneously clarify complex topics and offer practical advice. We already have started applying her suggestions in our own studios. We hope you wilt, too!

--Scott McBride Smith, NCTM

As national leaders, the MTNA, Board of Directors constantly asks the question, What can MTNA do to make involvement and enfranchisement in our association more valuable to members?" One question that has been raised is whether or not MTNA should develop a national syllabus. The Board of Directors has not supported that idea for several reasons:

* Many of the state (and even some local) associations have developed extensive syllabi for instrumental and vocal repertoire and technique, theory, ear training, sight reading and music history.

* Each individual member has a unique approach to teaching, preferring to develop his or her own style.

* There are a number of organizations, such as the National Guild of Piano Teachers and the Royal American Conservatory Examinations, that offer examinations with clearly defined guidelines. With such a wealth of available materials and resources, MTNA would only be duplicating the fine accomplishments of others.

Although there are a number of options for those interested in syllabus programs, there are certain skills that all teachers should include in their teaching. The MTNA Board of Directors strongly agreed that MTNA should develop a list of Essential Skills that teachers are encouraged to include in their teaching programs. The Board preferred the word, "Skills," rather than standards, since the latter would require students to attain a certain level of advancement that may or may not be possible. This also would give the teacher the option of creating programs in these skill areas that would meet the needs and goals of students in the studio.

At the December 2003 MTNA Board of Directors meeting, the following proposal was approved:

Essential Skills for Promoting a Lifelong Love of Music and Music Making:

* Ability to internalize basic rhythms and pulse

* Ability to read--musical literacy

* Ability to perform with physical ease and technical efficiency

* Ability to hear the notes on the page

* Ability to work creatively--improvise, compose, harmonize and play by ear

* Ability to understand basic elements of theory, form harmony, etc.

* Ability to respond to the interpretive elements of the composition to express the emotional character of the music

* Ability to conceptualize and transfer musical ideas

* Ability to work independently and to problem-solve

* Ability to perform comfortably individually and with others in a variety of settings

The MTNA Board of Directors decided to develop these Essential Skills in a series of articles coordinated by Gail Berenson, NCTM, MTNA vice president and Ohio University professor of piano, and Scott McBride Smith, NCTM, former Board member and president and CEO of the International Institute for Young Musicians. Members of the Task Force for the development of these Essential Skills were Paul Stewart, NCTM, MTNA president-elect and chair; with Wayne Gibson, NCTM, immediate past president; Berenson; and Sylvia Coats, NCTM, MTNA director 2002-2004. They are to be congratulated for their fine work.

Music literacy requires both skill and knowledge. Skill allows a musician to perform with facility, while knowledge makes it possible to perform with insight.

During my long involvement with college teaching, I have observed theory classes in various institutions. Besides examples of excellent teaching, I have witnessed a few truly deadening presentations in which the teacher spends half the class with his or her back to the students, writing on the board, and not a note of music is heard during the entire class period. The most effective presentation of basic musical skills should be action-oriented.