Showing papers in "Music Educators Journal in 1971"

Erik Satie: By Pierre-Daniel Templier. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 1969. 127 pp. Discography, illustrations, including photographs, paintings, sketches, notes, and music examples. Hard cover, $6.95

Abstract: sufficiently to involve a sharp or flat. This sruti variation (sometimes called a comma) is recognized by Danielou with his own type of \"shape\" notes plus some other indications by dots and dashes. Those who wish to study the difference between Indian and Western pitch will find the special staff notation of Danielou interesting and perhaps educational. Danielou's classification of raga scales seems to be very much the same as that of Kaufmann, and also of Subba Rao in his Raga Nidhi, Vol. I-IV (Madras Music Academy, 19541966). Occasional departures like Raga Gunkhali are a matter of controversy; no general agreement among Indian musicians seems to exist. Danielou notates some twenty-eight ornaments (gamakas), many of which are commonly used in South India as well as in the North. Raga names and classifications are different in the North and South, and performance practices follow different rules, even though the notes of the scale might be the same in both systems. Ragas belonging to the same parent scale will have some features in common. The treatment of the important notes and the significant phrases give a raga its peculiar flavor and individual character. Danielou can aid the listener in understanding these features. His book provides helpful introductory material, and even more significant, it offers three hundred pages of analyses. -MARIE JOY CURTISS, Chairman, Music Education Programs, School of Music, South Asia Programs, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13210.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Market.

Abstract: For all the talking that is done about programed instruction, it is easy to be uncertain of what programed instruction is. It may be defined as a self-instructional approach that presents an ordered sequence of informational units to the student, requires an overt or covert response to each unit of information, and provides immediate confirmation of the response, whether correct or incorrect. When the response given is incorrect, the student is usually taken back over the material or re-routed to remedial material until his response indicates that he understands the topic. The student is continuously involved in response, and learning is reinforced by the immediate confirmation. Because of these factors, the instructional program is self-pacing. In the following article, Jerome P. Lysaught, Director of the National Commission for the Study of Nursing and Nursing Education, discusses his experiences with programed instruction in the field of medicine, examining pitfalls and reflecting on the applicability of the subject to music education. He is currently on leave from his position as Professor of Education and Research Associate in medical education at the University of Rochester, New York.-ED.

Take on a Digital Assistant. The Computer as a Teaching Aid.

Abstract: * Programed instruction is certainly no longer in the experimental stages. It has not only proved its worth, but has become common practice in music programs everywhere. Computer-assisted instruction (CAI), while based on the principles of programed instruction, is still experimental. Even though it has been proven that computer-assisted instruction can produce results, the question of what CAI does best has yet to be answered. Its proper place must now be found in the teaching-learning process as a part of the overall system of comprehensive curriculum planning.

Jazz Goes to College: Part II:

Abstract: This is the second of two articles based on the author's visits to over one hundred colleges, universities, and conservatories under the sponsorship of the Fine Arts and Humanities Division, UCLA Extension. The first article discussed current practices in teaching courses in jazz history and black music. The following one is concerned with courses in jazz improvisation, scoring, and performance. Mr. Tanner is on the music faculty at the University of California, Los Angeles.—ED.

Whispers, Growls, Screams, and Puffs...Lead to Composition.

Abstract: * Can children compose their own music in the classroom in the way they paint their own pictures, write their own stories or poems, and make up their own dances? The possibilities for this kind of creative activity in music can be explored through four interrelated phases. The first phase emphasizes sound exploration and discovery; the second associates sounds with a wide range of imagery; the third analyzes and groups sounds in terms of their inherent characteristics; and the fourth records and preserves sounds, if this is deemed desirable. Sound exploration and discovery involves both the voice and instruments. Children can explore their own voices with closed-mouth and

Classroom Teachers and Music Specialists: A Preservice Plan for Cooperative Teaching

Abstract: * Many music educators have expressed the desirability of securing a cooperative approach between the music specialist and the classroom teacher in the elementary school music program. This cooperative approach is defined in numerous college textbooks, and in all likelihood it is a topic for class discussion in college methods courses for both breeds of teacher candidates. The theory seems quite workable, but unfortunately this is often not the case because it is either not implemented or poorly implemented in the public school situation. The root of the problem, however, must be sought in college and university teacher education programs. A significant revamping of the present undergraduate course content and student teaching experience for the music major and classroom teacher candidate would help to establish a stronger cooperative effort in the teaching of school music. Much of the revamping could take place within the present course, credithour, and student teaching structure. It would define joint goals and methods of achieving these goals, and would provide practical experiences that would lead to a better understanding of the proper role of both the elementary teacher and the music specialist in public school music. Institutions of higher learning generally do not accomplish these tasks very well because they entail The author is Associate Professor of Music and Education, School of Music and College of Education, University of Houston, Texas. much more than discussion in the respective music methods classes. Discussion is of little importance when elementary classroom teacher candidates and music majors hardly ever take a course together or come in contact with each other. Often their respective music methods courses are taught in different buildings on the campus, and they may be taught by different faculties with different basic philosophies. This situation is brought about from time to time by expedient university administration and organization that is governed for its own benefit rather than by attempts to give teacher candidates the best possible experiences and preparation to meet the practicalities of their profession. The situation does not improve as undergraduates approach student teaching, for here the typical elementary classroom major seldom teaches music, and the music major always teaches music. Combined planning sessions for music class and cooperative teaching are quite rare. Moreover, when a separate classroom is available for music classes, the elementary teacher candidate frequently does not enter and participate in the lesson, and in the light of honesty, music specialists sometimes seem to like it that way. It is little wonder that the two teachers not only arrive at their first teaching positions as total strangers, but find it difficult to communicate about the development of a cooperative music program. By the time they reach this point in their careers, certain behaviors and attitudes regarding the teaching of music are usually firmly fixed. These attitudes are shaped primarily by experiences afforded in college or university training. The elementary school teacher prefers not to teach music and has a particular fear of teaching it in cooperation with the music specialist. The specialist tends to believe his role is to teach all music and does not see himself as a resource person, program planner, or consultant for in-service training. It is not suprising, therefore, that school administrators begin to think of music as an \"extra\" subject-one taught by a specialist. This means that the place of music within the basic elementary curriculum is in jeopardy, for the entire situation smacks of the historically contested concept that music is a subject for the talented only. These circumstances are largely responsible for the reduced amount of time students are exposed to music each week, and could result in the subject's complete removal from the curriculum. In teacher education programs, there are possible changes that could strengthen the ties between music majors and classroom teacher candidates. First of all, it is important to the survival of music in the elementary school curriculum that the cooperative approach to music teaching continue to be stressed. School systems, in most instances, simply do not have enough money to hire specialists to do all of the music teaching. With more special areas such as languages, social work, library study, and speech

Exploring Keyboard Fundamentals: By Paul Sheftel. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1970. 266 pp. Glossary of musical terms, two appendixes. Paperback, $7.95

Abstract: There are times when a piano teacher is confronted with the problem of instructing a student who is an education major, a liberal arts major taking piano as an elective, or a music major studying piano as a secondary instrument. Such a student is likely to have a weak background in piano, and it often becomes necessary to explore a variety of books to round out his knowledge. Paul Sheftel's comprehensive Exploring Keyboard Fundamentals, in covering a wide variety of topics, goes a long way toward solving this problem. It is likely to be a great time-saver for both instructor and student. Thorough enough for adult beginners, and adequate for those who will benefit from an academic approach, it has a textbook format and includes extensive, easy-to-play melodies and harmonies. There are twelve chapters, dealing with rhythm, coordination, fingering, keys, scales, and theory. Tonic-dominant progressions, inversions of triads, and progressions using the subdominant are all clearly illustrated. Each chapter has numerous subdivisions that afford a great deal of ease in using the index, and each contains questions and problems whose solutions are given in one of the two appendixes. (The other appendix covers fingering.) The section on syncopation is quite adequate, and the approach to improvisation, which is often discouraging to the beginning student, is lucid and well-presented. Many easy-to-play finger exercises are included, and the book can easily be used for solfege exercises. One of the book's strong points is its encouragement of elementary composing, a subject too frequently neglected by piano books for both young and adult beginners. Students who have had some previous training in piano will find the early sections on rhythm elementary and redundant, but those who have not will find their inclusion quite helpful. On the whole, Exploring Keyboard Fundamentals will make a useful addition to any piano instructor's library. -PAULA STUMACHER, teacher of piano, theory, and harmony, 1625 Meadow Road, Southampton, Pennsylvania 18966.

Music and Behavior: How Reinforcement Techniques Work

Abstract: o How Reinforcement * Techniques Work >4 BY CLIFFORD K. MADSEN C_. * The behavioral modification approach to learning concentrates on assessment and remedial programs based upon environmental control of behavior. Behavior is modified by explicitly arranging the consequences of responses based upon reinforcement principles. Some modern-day behaviorists use treatment systems based largely upon extensions of the works of B. F. Skinner. Others couch their explanations in terms identified with Clark L. Hull or Edwin R. Guthrie. Many are content to state that their principles are based upon sound experimental evidence. Behaviorists condition, counter-condition, extinguish, desensitize, and role-play to train or retrain students, patients, or subjects. They use relaxation, conditioned avoidance responses, self-disclosure, emotive imagery, modeling, negative practice, expressive rational approaches, stimulus deprivation and satiation, and in situ presentation, all as means of positive and negative reinforcement. The magnitude of new techniques and of articles appearing in the literature makes it necessary for music educators who are interested in the behavioral approach to apply some good clear reasoning to determine where these techniques can be used effectively in music and where they might not be applicable. At the American Psychological Association Convention in New York in 1966, Gordon Paul indicated that both desirable and undesirable consequences follow from a flood of innovations. He indicated that \"new techniques may be prematurely adopted, or rejected out-of-hand when innovations roll in so fast that evaluation of their effectiveness never gets beyond the case study stage.\" Music educators should heed his warning. Although much more experimentation is necessary concerning the use of music in behavior modification, the lack of experimental re-

The Classic Guitar Grows Up

Abstract: 0 Armed with guitars, youth's high priests sit cross-legged on a future woven of protest songs. Bursts of blues electrify the world as progress stops its rush to listen. Yet, far too often the guitar is treated as an interesting toy that young people simply play around with until some agreeable sound (to them) emerges, all of which has practically nothing to do with learning to play music. A young lady, a former student of mine, once related an episode about meeting a prominent member of a conservatory faculty. After some minutes of amiable conversation, the professor asked her what her major might be. When she answered guitar, he fairly exploded. \"Guitar, my, my, my,\" he said, then whirled away. Unfortunately, young people and distinguished professors have no monopoly on the lack of knowledge about this instrument. Many people do not realize that during the past decades the guitar has repeatedly been presented as a solo instrument in the great concert halls of the world, both in recital and in concert with major symphony orchestras. The fact that the guitar is widely misunderstood prompts several questions: Why is it so misunderstood? Why has the guitar been neglected for so long? Why are there so few recognized concert guitarists?

Creativity and the Condition of Knowing in Music. Part 3.

Abstract: prosper, it must be consumed as a seed by the mind of whoever accepts it and emerge again as a natural expression of his thoughts and actions. It is not only that the idea becomes part of the person, but also that the person becomes part of the idea. If procedures are offered for fostering creativity, they can become useful to someone only when the basic principles that support the procedures are properly understood and each specific illustration is either modified or actually discarded. Each of the procedures to be presented in this article is subject, entirely or in part, to the following premises: (1) learning is best effected when a genuine need to know is present; (2) the exercise of imagination and originality by the inexperienced student is best achieved through his unfettered manipulation of unfamiliar materials; (3) technique as such is a natural consequence of experience gained in doing the very things for which the technique is needed; and (4) a genuine sense of proportion, artistry, and creative fulfilinent requires that all problems in composition be complete and musically selfsufficient. The student's first experience in a music theory class should lead him to a new awareness of sound. This is best achieved through the use of sound sources other than conventional instruments-sound sources that do not produce discrete pitches and do not submit to the organizing schemes peculiar to the tempered system. The student might be asked, at the very beginning of the course, to produce a composition of a particular duration using sounds produced on a specified number of commonly available metallic or wooden objects. The piece, when finished, could be presented as an improvisation by the student himself or played by several students from notation invented by the composer. An assignment of this type is easily accomplished by the student; and though it may appear to be a simple-minded activity by some, it requires most of the behavior patterns related to creative processes used by any composer in the con-

Musical Achievement: Difficulties and Directions in Evaluation.

Abstract: and the reasons why some music educators may reject the proposal should be analyzed. In the past, there has been a great resistance to some of the language and terms used by the behaviorist to describe what he does. One often hears that the behaviorist attempts to negate the complexities of human behavior, that he deals only with minutia of minor motoric behaviors, that his students will become mechanized or in some unknown way dehumanized. These misunderstandings can quickly be answered if one goes to the writings of the many well-known behaviorists. In this literature the word \"behavior\" includes motor behavior, but it is also used to denote emotional responses and cognitive and ideational behavior. As used by many behavioral clinicians, it encompasses \"mediational processes\" as well. The term \"condition\" is a descriptive general term. In addition to referring to simple Pavlovian procedures, it also includes learning by association of a central nature as well as the methods by which this learning is completed. Even though the term \"behavior\" does include a more complex set of operations, the crucial question is not whether the term may be stretched to encompass most behavior, but whether the manipulations involved have been subjected to scientific scrutiny. Our basic concern should be for experimentation based upon control and manipulations of the behaviors and instruments involved. After this experimentation, applications of music instruction that prove successful can be incorporated into a more extensive body of behavioral techniques. It will then be possible to proceed with more scientifically formulated information. Such experimentation might include the use of music for desensitization, music for hypnosis, music for specific conditioning, music as a reward for appropriate behaviors, and the contingent use of music for shaping all aspects of desirable behaviors. These remain in the foreseeable future. * In the 1950s, when education was rather secure, no one was very interested in evaluating the outcomes of music. The pressures and prejudices were known, and they were relatively easy to deal with. Then came the dynamic sixties, as confused in music as they were in world affairs, human relations, scientific competition, and the entire cultural milieu. Words took on new meanings; it became increasingly difficult (or easy) to define what education is, what the good life is, what legal rights or moral rights are. The demand for change was accompanied by a demand for instant programs. The past was immediately outmoded, and the cry was for new music, contemporary music, AfroAmerican music, youth music. This approach seemed alarmingly similar to a war strategy: the military was saying that it is often necessary to destroy a town in order to save it from the enemy, and music teachers seemed to feel that it was necessary to destroy what had always represented the best in music in order to save music education in the schools. The bandwagon could not hold everyone who wanted to climb on. Machines were developed for teaching, grading, and scheduling, but along with their development came a reaction against the impersonality of machines. Many people resented being graded by computers; they felt they deserved more than being a dot on the normal curve. In the search for more meaningful education, there was a strong move to do away with grades of all kinds. First, the grading system dwindled to a \"pass-fail\" differentiation; however, it is now realized that this, too, may be harmful to the learning process. The campaign against grades should not be a deterrent to evaluation; measurement is an essential source of feedback in the teachinglearning process, especially when grades are not used. But the new freedom seems to prevent efforts to The author is Professor of Secondary and Continuing Education and Music, University of Illinois, Urbana. arrive at a standard curriculum, and assessment is difficult when there is confusion as to what should be

A Composer's Creed.

Abstract: By Paul Creston * In the early 1930s, a musical activity was inaugurated in New York City under the title "Composers' Forum-Laboratory," the purpose of which was to bring the contemporary American composer into a closer relationship with his public. The music of a particular composer was presented in concert and a question period followed during which the composer tried to clarify his theories and practices. The most recurrent question was "Why do you compose?" In my two appearances at the "Composers' Forum-Laboratory" I was, strangely enough, spared that particular question. I regret that I was not asked; I was really prepared to answer, because I had devoted a great deal of soul-searching thought to the question and had formulated a philosophy of creativity that has sustained me through all the tribulations that usually befall the serious composer in America. Why do I compose? Is it because I have a certain talent for musical composition and must express my thoughts and feelings through the medium of sound? On examination, such a reason will not fully justify my devotion to the art. For it has always been my belief that musical composition is not for the chosen few but for every normal person; that it should be as much a part of academic studies as literary composition-not necessarily to make professional composers of everyone, as we do not intend to make authors of every student of literature, but for the joy of individual creation. There is no more effective way to learn the evaluation and enjoyment of music than through creative participation. What has restrained the launching of such a program of musical composition within general academic studies? Perhaps the greatest deter-

Jazz Goes College: Part I

Abstract: Under the sponsorship of the Fine Arts and Humanities Division, UCLA Extension, the author of this article visited over one hundred colleges, universities, and conservatories to determine attitudes, problems, and solutions regarding the teaching of jazz in higher education. The institutions were selected from more than 450 that responded to a preliminary questionnaire. This article, on the organization and administration of courses in the history and development of jazz, has resulted from Mr. Tanner's talks with teachers, administrators, and students on these campuses. It is the first of two articles. The second will appear in the April issue of Music Educators Journal and will discuss courses in jazz improvisation, scoring, and performance. Mr. Tanner, who spent many years with the Glenn Miller Orchestra, is on the music faculty at the University of California, Los Angeles.—Ed.

British Brass Bands

Abstract: ain are unique among musical organizations. Few groups can compare with their tremendous spirit and enjoyment in making music. The tradition of the British brass band was born in the northern counties of England where, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, many factories sought to foster an interest in wind bands among workers in an effort to provide them with a leisuretime activity. This was a sagacious and diplomatic maneuver on the part of the industrial management, as it served to divert the workers' minds from the frequently appalling conditions under which they labored. These early industry-sponsored wind bands had no standard instrumentation but included such woodwinds and brasses as flutes, oboes, clarinets, bugles, valveless horns, and ophicleides. Since their instrumentation depended on what they could find and afford, the groups were often small. In the middle of the nineteenth century, the development of the valve began to bring brass instruments into prominence, individually as well as collectively. Adolphe Sax, a Belgian instrument-maker, produced a graduated set of brasses called saxhorns, which were equipped with his improved valve mechanism. These instruments were pitched in either B flat or E flat and represented the first complete family of brass instruments capable of chromatically covering the entire practical range of pitch. One of the first groups to be outfitted with such a set of saxhorns was the Distin family, a brass quintet from England. Through their successful demonstrations of the versatility of these instruments, the saxhorns received wide acclaim. In 1846, Henry Distin was named the agent for Sax's products in England, and the saxhorns became available to British musicians. Distin eventually started an instrument-making business himself but sold it to Boosey and Co., the forerunner of the largest European manufacturer of brass instruments today, Boosey and Hawkes Ltd. In the meantime, workers in the industrial wind bands were discov-

The Source of Musical Aptitude

Abstract: is a similar predicament for the researcher, because once \"implications for the field\" are made, the researcher loses his objectivity. In the music education profession, we do not appear to suffer from lack of editorial coverage, so there is not a glaring need for researchers to incorporate that function. The primary function of the researcher is to gather data about musical behavior, summarize that data, and report it to the profession. By accomplishing this purpose, the researcher performs an invaluable and unique service for the informed music educator. It does not seem unreasonable to expect music educators to develop the scientific sophistication necessary to project research results into the field. Having a minimum of scientific sophistication, the music educator can also ask researchers the important questions about the science of music

There's Therapy in Rhythm

Abstract: By Doris E. Robison * The new boy stood quietly saying nothing, perhaps seeing nothing, completely wrapped in his own misery. He would have been an attractive lad, with his sturdy build, thick blond hair, regular features, and blue eyes, except for the closed expression of his face. Johnny was the youngest of five children in a family in which bitter quarrels, beatings, arrests, court appearances, and jail sentences were the rule rather than the exception. He had run away from home and school many times. Now the family court had sent him to us with the hope that he would benefit from a stable living experience, something he had never known in his seven years. Smiling at the boy, I asked if he would like to make music on our big bass drum. There was no indication that he heard me. I tried again; still no response. Then I took a timpani stick from the small chair behind our big drum and struck the edge of the brass cymbal hanging from a rod above it. Johnny's eyes turned toward me, and I struck it again, harder this time. He walked over slowly and held out his hand for the drumstick, hitting the cymbal, at first tentatively, then striking it over and over until it swung and bounced and clanged in a rising crescendo of sound. Knowing that he was working off some of the hostility he felt for the cruel world he had lived in, I let him continue for two or three minutes. Then I put my hands over my ears, announced that his music was too loud, and reached for the drumstick. Johnny's arm was tired and he gave it up willingly. "Do you like playing the cymbal?" He nodded. "What does this sound like?" I asked, tapping it to produce one mellow clang. Johnny thought for a minute, then