Alisha Reeve MUSE 358 Citation Sound Connections 2005 Chapter 2: From Theory and Research to Practice Don

P. Ester Chapter 2 Good teachers know how students learn and what works and why Learning Theories o Behavioral theories Emphasis on stimulus-response connections Views learning as the gradual change of specific behaviors because of external factors o Cognitive models Stress self-determination, readiness, impact of human development o Chaining-simple stimulus-response connections are linked in a sequence Creation of higher-order association o Piagetian theory Four stages 1: sensorimotor stage-rely on senses o Age 0-2 2: preoperational stage-beginning of symbolic learning o Age 2-7 3: concrete operational stage-ability to classify and observe o Age 7-11 4: formal operations-abstract thinking begins o Gange New info must be processed in a form that is meaningful and retrievable Encoding Learning is complex and multi-faceted Music Learning Theory of Edwin Gordon o Audiation is both hearing and comprehending in ones mind a sound which not actually exist o Rote learning is progressive and goes through various stages o Ability to audiate must exist in order to create and improvise music Pattern learning provides the skills necessary to improvise o The musical potential of students is malleable until the age of 9 Research on Music Learning o Readiness

Emphasis on activity-based learning Conservation-ability to coordinate several different aspects of perception Allows for the ability to recognize a melody is the same even if sung at different pitch level Is the gateway into musical learning Aural skills are very important Voice is the medium of choice Children are reading for music literacy by school age based on research o Role of Memory Three components Sensory register-records and holds information briefly before deciding to encode or discard Working memory-also short term memory, stores info for 5-20 seconds Long-term memory-meaningful learning is connected to this stage, unlimited storage capacity Music Perception and Cognition o Research indicates that initially tonal and rhythm should be taught separately o To perform a musical task using more than two sub-modules would mean the brain has to understand how to coordinate them into bigger modules o Beginning music instruction at a young age allows for increases brain activation and better connections o Beat is the most crucial beginning point o Children can comprehend both beat and division of the beat As they gain experience they can also distinguish beat groupings o Meters Unchanging beat called constant-beat meters Changing beat called variable-beat meter o Patterns used for instruction should use no more than 5-9 notes Initially only beat and division of the beat In two beat units Ability to visualize only occurs when patterns are stored in chunks in aural and visual memory o Context is very important Meter is the context for rhythm Tonality is the context for pitch o Most people can most easily remember that which conforms to western musical ideas Tonic triad is the most distinguishable Other diatonic pitches the next

Non-diatonic pitches the least distinguishable o Children are becoming used to the western major-minor system earlier in life Because of media influences Music instruction o Instruction Triad should be the basis Children learn best from a female voice without vibrato Sequencing Guided music making, listening, and activities related to tonality and meter Small 5-9 note chunks o Few patterns each day Begin to match syllables with patterns Match known syllables and patterns to the correlating symbols Begin to create melodic patterns Sound Connections Approach o Learning Triangle Connects sound, symbol, and syllable How it should be taught o Development of vocabulary before association with symbols Via simple echoing on neutral syllable

Reflection This chapter serves as not only an introduction to the method, but also research about how children learn, and how this method caters to the way we learn. It will be very important when I am forced to defend why am I teaching as I am. I can refer to this chapter and say that this is why I use this program. The research really speaks for itself. The outline provided of the program is also great because it will be helpful when planning long-term lesson plans. This chapter is really jammed packed with information and it is a great resource to refer back to as it explains much of the basis for the program in somewhat simplified terms.