DISCIPLINARY FOUNDATION OF ARTS AND MUSIC

Teaching Arts and Music without a sound philosophy is like sailing a ship
without a rudder. In order to achieve the aims of arts and music educators, they
should have a sound philosophy to encourage and inspire them. A sound
philosophy gives and directs all educational pursuits. It is an important source of
principles and helps them to know why arts and music should be taught in
school.

The music education's philosophy is based on aesthetics, aside from that,

the nation's concern about values education, and the development of a sense of
nationalism should be given special consideration in teaching these subjects.

According to Leonard & House' - the following forms the basic tenets of
our philosophy of Music Education:
1. Every child must be given the opportunity to develop his aesthetic
potential to the highest possible level through expressive experience with music,
including vocal and instrumental performances, listening to compositions
appropriate to his developmental level.
2. The music education program should be primarily aesthetic education.
3. The only sound basis for music education is the development of the
natural responsiveness that all human beings possess.
4. Every person has the need to transform experience symbolically and
the capacity for symbolic experience with music.
5. Music attains significance only through its expressive appeal and all
work with music must be carried with full cognisance of its expressive appeal.
6. Music education should be cosmopolitan, employing all kinds of music
and giving recognition to the value of all kinds of music.
7. While no type of music can be ignored in the music program, major
attention should be given to provide musical experience that is educative in that
it leads to an aesthetic response to great music, to the clarification of musical
values and to the development of musical independence.
8. All instructional material should be musical material of the highest
possible quality: all teaching should have as its primary objective the
illumination of the art of music and should emphasize musical values and not
extra-musical values.
9. Through extensive experience with music, certain instrumental values
accrue. These include the development of resources for the worthwhile use of
leisure time, the opportunity to participate with peers in a worthwhile group
endeavor and the opportunity to discover unusual talent.
10. Since the appeal of music is to the life of feeling, every musical
experience must be a feelingful experience.

The pupils' taste for art and music is developed by the quality of art and
music he is exposed to and by the quality of his experiences. Thus the aesthetic
art and music education should be geared toward helping the pupils develop a
sensitivity and understanding of art and music. Life becomes meaningful
through aesthetic experiences.

Music deserves a place in the curriculum because of the important

contribution it makes to the development of the pupils. Music education has
intrinsic and extrinsic values. Aside from the inherent values of music, the extra
musical values such as psychological, ethical, social and emotional values
should also be given emphasis.

Herman, a very prominent Music Educator, identified the following

intrinsic and extrinsic values of music.
1. Music is a significant learning experience.
Listening to music, moving to music,, creating music and enjoying
music provide valuable experience activities.
2. Music provides pleasurable experiences.
Music must be enjoyed. Pupils must be given a chance to appreciate
music. They should be encouraged to participate in school singing, in
playing instruments and choral contests where they can find
enjoyment.
3. Music is rich in emotional values.
One of the great appeals of music is its impact on the emotions. It
gives the pupils the opportunity to express themselves.
4. Music provides opportunities fro creative - expression.
There are many opportunities in music for creative expression. Music
is a process of recreation. All musical activities-singing, playing
musical instruments, listening, or moving rhythmically-offer
opportunities for creative expression.
5. Music requires self-discipline.
The music performance demands a lot from the performer. He has to
spend hours and hours of practice to make his performance a satisfying
 one. Also the demands of accurate and fine interpretation of musical
pieces require excellent co ordination of the performer's mental and
physical powers.
6. Music promotes self-development.
Music gives opportunities to explore and develop a person's abilities.
Pupils should be given a chance to develop their potentials to the
maximum.
7. Music is a vital social force.
Musical activities develop the social aspect of life. By the very nature
of mu sic, it is a social art. Pupils become a part of a group. They learn
to cooperate with others. They develop a feeling of belonging and
learn group responsibility.
8. Music enriches and supports other learning.
Music can do much to intensify learning in other areas (particularly in
civics and culture). Music can be used as a background for poetry
reading. Singing songs about nature or a character in history, are
activities that intensify the learning pro cess about nature and history.
9. Music offers a 'change-of-pace' in classroom activities.
One of the great values of music in the classroom is the opportunity
that mu sic affords to add variety to daily classroom activities. The
pupils are given a chance to relax after having a very strenuous hour of
problem-solving.
10. Music is important not only in the "here-and-now" but also in the
future.
Music experiences not only enrich the present but also provide
enrichment for the future through developing proper attitudes toward
music.
11. Music helps in developing nationalism.
Music provides one of the most important means for preservation,
transmis sion and dissemination of one cultural heritage through folk
songs and dances. Pupils can understand better their cultural heritage.
12. Music is a worthy leisure activity.
Music provides a relaxing recreational activity and it is a really safe
satisfying and profitable activity.
13. Music promotes international friendship and understanding.
Music has a way of communicating thoughts and ideas. It is an
important tool for developing international friendship through better
understanding.
Different Musical Concepts
The actual development of concepts of relatedness among the elements of
music must involve perception, identification by name and differentiation and
comparison among the elements that are interrelated. If the learning experiences
are to be appropriate to the learning outcomes they are intended to support.

Concepts About Rhythm

Music always involves rhythm.
Music contains and endless variety of rhythm patterns consisting of groupings
of longer or shorter sounds or silences.
Rhythm usually has a recurring pulse or beat within it.
Meter provides an organization of time values within bar lines.

Concepts About Melody

Melody is a linear arrangement of tones
a) melody is made up of a series of tones moving in a single horizontal
line;
b) Tones in a melody may repeat or change.

The movement of a melody is not only linear but rhythmic.

The structure of some melodies is harmonic.
Two or more lines of melody may move together simultaneously thereby
creating a polyphonic texture.

Concepts About Harmony

Harmony is a vertical organization of three or more tones
Harmony may be an accompaniment to melody
Harmony and melody are closely related.
Melodies having the same harmonic structure may be combined.

Concepts About Form in Music

The organization of the constituent elements in a musical composition
creates its own design-form in music.
The relationship of the parts to the whole is more evident among phrases
than within phrases;
When one or more of the elements of music are repeated identically while
at the same time one or more are altered, both unity and contrast are created
within a composition.
 When sets of melodic or rhythmic groupings are repeated within one or
more phrases, they become identifiable patterns that give unity to a
composition.
When a phrase or melodic pattern is repeated at a pitch higher or lower
than that of its first appearance, it is identified as a melodic sequence.

Concepts About Dynamics

Every musical sound possesses some degree of loudness and softness.
Dynamic contrasts provide a source of variety and expensive meaning in a
compo sition.
Subtle relationships exist between changes of dynamics and changes of
tempo or melodic direction

Concepts About Tone Color

Characteristic qualities of sounds are determined by the types of voices or
instruments which produce them.
When instruments are played in different ways, they produce different
sounds.
When individual instruments are combined, new effects of tone color are
created.