https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q How to teach an ineffable concept through holistic means en-us 2018-05-14 19:03:03 UTC 2025-09-29 07:20:50 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Lightdecrease.png johnfitztrombone https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/260615133 When we are young we experience the world around us. We are an object of its influence and must allow the world to happen to us as we have practically no control. We learn from this, learn how the world operates, learn what the "RULES" are. It is from learning those rules that we can eventually act within them, master them, and in some cases break them and change them.

Just as with the rules of life, the rules of creating music are a parallel. First we must allows music to be an experience and be influenced by it. We may then learn how it works and what organizes it, and get those "RULES" ingrained. Then we can exercise a mastery of those rules and in some cases bend and break them. 

It all starts with being influenced by your surroundings, so the most natural place to start for a young learner is with something familiar. In the subject of music that is movement. Can you feel how the music moves? if the desired outcome is for one to create and improvise music from their own being, then the place you must start is by feeling music in your body. Thus we begin the first step in our holistic approach...]]> 2018-05-14 19:11:09 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/260615133 johnfitztrombone https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/260620679 In this video a general idea is given about establishing two types of space in the music classroom, self space and general space. Self space allows students to explore musical ideas within the confines of their own body through expressive movements at a stationary location. General space allows the students to continue that expression while moving away from that stationary point, allowing them to incorporate different levels (high, medium, and low), interact with surrounding objects (to reflect different rigidities or fluidities in the music), and even interact with other students ( the incorporation of positive and negative space to represent tension and release of music). This is the crawl phase in its first stage.]]> 2018-05-14 19:30:18 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/260620679 johnfitztrombone https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/260790157 As students grow more comfortable in both general and self space through mirroring the teacher, exploration is the next fundamental step. Now the student must become the teacher and lead the class in the movements that have been established by the teacher (the "RULES"). Students can then be paired up or put into groups where one is the leader and the other(s) the follower(s) and then the roles can be reversed. This continues on and becomes more and more complex with more motions provided and more intricate explorations of those movements by the students over time.

Creating movement flashcards that the students need to travel to, form into with the music, and mitigate positive and negative space is the step which will ultimately lead to a relateable experience. This experience is that of improvisation and composition which can later be reffered to when navigating the more ineffable concept of musical composition and improvisation.


]]> 2018-05-15 10:59:44 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/260790157 johnfitztrombone https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/260794742 2018-05-15 11:15:11 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/260794742 johnfitztrombone https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/260801249 When we heard a progression of sounds we begin to associate different emotions with them. These emotions then translate to physical motions if we desire to move to the music.]]> 2018-05-15 11:41:55 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/260801249 johnfitztrombone https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/260802418 This may seem emotionally reflective, somber, or even sad. Therefore we would most likely move slowly and fluidly with drawn out motion.]]> 2018-05-15 11:46:11 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/260802418 johnfitztrombone https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/260803408 In this example we hear a piece of music that is less linear and comprised of form that is more repetative in nature. Therefore when moving, motions will tend to repeat themselves with some variation. These motions will most likely be short and ridgid just as the music is.]]> 2018-05-15 11:49:51 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/260803408 johnfitztrombone https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/260805771 In this example we hear a combination of the previous two examples, where there is both length and brevity in the sounds. This evokes emotions of happiness and certainty. When tanslated to movement, we will bounce and have forward momentum.]]> 2018-05-15 11:58:47 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/260805771 johnfitztrombone https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/260807275 All of these ideas of how to move to music that have become "RULES" are ingrained in our society both on whole as well as regionally. In this study, individuals were looked at across cultures where emotional responses were evaluated as well as their translation to movement. This article can assist us in understanding the relationship(s) between emotion and movement to better facilitate its nuances for our students. The National Institute of Health conducted this study in 2012.]]> 2018-05-15 12:04:06 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/260807275 johnfitztrombone https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/260813418 In order to be able to translate composition in movement to composition in music the same system applies. Students must experience the "RULES" of music as a structure. This starts by the realization of musical from, which can be experience by (you guessed it!) movement. In this example a folk song in binary form has complex organized group movements assigned to it. The students were instructed to move in a predetermined way for every A section and allowed to create a motion as a group for every B section. ]]> 2018-05-15 12:23:13 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/260813418 johnfitztrombone https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/260822149 While this website is a great resource for many free music learning apps, the one that specifically helps us with the next step towards composition and improvisation is "Rhythm Blocks" . It is a free app that allows students to put together different combinations of rhythmic units. This allows for us as educators to evaluate our students' comprehension of both simple rhythmic patterns as well as the appropriateness of rythmic cadences. This can also be done with physical flash cards individually or as a group. ]]> 2018-05-15 12:45:35 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/260822149 johnfitztrombone https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/260827056 2018-05-15 12:58:43 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/260827056 johnfitztrombone https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/260828478 2018-05-15 13:02:12 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/260828478 johnfitztrombone https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/260830114 2018-05-15 13:04:34 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/260830114 johnfitztrombone https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/260834828 Once students have a general understanding of rhythm and how to interpret it, putting them into groups helps to further solidify their understanding. The students begin to fill in each others gaps and ultimately help other succeed in the ability to compose and improvise. Improvisation is at its heart a group effort and composition is a component of improvisation, therefore composition needs to be mastered first.]]> 2018-05-15 13:15:33 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/260834828 johnfitztrombone https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/260856842 Due to the many different backgrounds that we have as musicians and educators, the way we present melodic comprehension will vary. The easiest way to teach a melodic idea is by the means of how you understand it, whether that be thinking linerally, vertically, or both. The students will only understand melodic ideas as well as you are able to present them. Pacing is crucial in this step as students will often begin mixing up concepts of rhythm, steady beat, and pitch. Just as with learning how to move to music through mirroring, it is best to play echo games with students both through vocal and instrumental means. Learning fundamentals instrumentally with simultaneous integration of levels (just as with movement),  lends to significant parallels being drawn by the students to prior experiences in movement. Thus, the learning is at an advanced level and can be achieved rapidly. ]]> 2018-05-15 13:59:54 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/260856842 johnfitztrombone https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/260873493 Music is comprised of two fundamental elements vibration and the absence of vibration. From vibration we have sound which then breaks down into two more components, consonance and dissonance. Since the absence of vibration has no component parts it is defined in music as silence or resting. These are the components used in the creation of a melody which again are consonance, dissonance, and silence. In this article the author discusses how to teach a group of students to recognized a melody and its structure. The ideas of  natural pauses and progression of thought are discussed in a way that is useful to the modern music educator and the article provides ideas of how to foster discussion and comprehension of these ideas.]]> 2018-05-15 14:35:19 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/260873493 johnfitztrombone https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/260876824 2018-05-15 14:43:11 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/260876824 johnfitztrombone https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/261012408 2018-05-15 20:29:38 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/261012408 johnfitztrombone https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/261013312 2018-05-15 20:33:36 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/261013312 johnfitztrombone https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/261013831 When trying new things, especially with young students, safety is of the uppermost importance.  If students feel judgement whether it be from you as the teacher or their peers, they will not attempt to be openly creative and willing to fail. An environment must be created where students feel comfortable making mistakes and experimenting. The best way to establish this environment is through the use of the pentatonic scale. This is a scale where the leading tones have been removed so there can be no dissonance over a simple set of chord progessions in a given key. This allows the students to transition from rhythmic composition and creation to that of melodic without them having to worry about "Bad" sounding notes. Playing a simple blues progession from an app like iRealPro lays a foundation where they can play with different musical thoughts and employ them in real time. This can be done both vocally (through the use of solfege) as well as instrumentally. ]]> 2018-05-15 20:36:06 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/261013831 johnfitztrombone https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/261676979 Achivement of the compositional and improvisational music standards can be achieved through dedicated and methodic instruction. However, we must move beyond just knowing how to do those things and apply them to life and each other. Whether this be in the form of an in class summative assessment or formative assessment disguised as a performance for the community, we must lay expectations for our students to meet. Constant feedback and differentiation is essential for the success at both the individual and group level. Creativity is key to this entire process, yes it must be controlled and there must be an assesment, but no there are no limits on how far the students should progress nor what they should bring to the table. By nature we are creators and inventors, so let your students create and invent, let them fail and succeed, most of all let them grow and assist them in any way possible.]]> 2018-05-17 17:17:49 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/261676979 johnfitztrombone https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/261682247 2018-05-17 17:30:05 UTC https://padlet.com/johnfitztrombone/zju26zqjq37q/wish/261682247