Essential Learnings in Music: A Collaborative Effort

Flautista

Our district has adopted a model whereby we identify the things that each and every student will be able to know and do in a given course. These "essential learnings" provide the basis for lessons and summative/formative assessments. Ultimately the collection of essentials represents what it means to become a competent musician in the particular course. They provide the foundation for everything your performing ensembles well, perform. Essentials are very narrow. We don't say "every student will be able to play their band music." A realistic essential for a top high school ensemble might be: "Every student will be able to properly identify major key signatures and perform the associated major scales from memory."

It might seem very simple to identify these essentials, but when you start thinking of it in terms of every single student achieving mastery (not the typical bell curve of results), it can be challenging. I have put out feelers via Facebook and Twitter, but so far I have not found any other music programs who are in the midst of this process. So I am enlisting your help here on the blog, and hopefully a collaborative effort can result in something we all can use.

We are assembling "packets" for every instrument comprised of the skills that a (band/orchestra/choir) student should be able to do as a senior in a capstone music ensemble. One portion will be things that are written (key signatures, rhythm components) and the other portion will consist of performance demonstrations. The packets can provide a basis for ongoing assessments that can be used at multiple levels by altering the tempo requirements. We will also be able to use the packets as audition requirements for the following year. This will provide unprecedented continuity and spiraling in the course sequences. We are starting with the band packets and then moving to orchestra and choir from there.

What I'm asking is that you think of one skill/ability that a senior band student should be able to do, and leave it as a comment below. This will take you just a few seconds and everyone will benefit. I will share the first draft of the packets in the coming month. To get the process going, here is one that we came up with yesterday:

Every student will be able to play the melody to Chester in four-bar phrases (quarter note-based melody, not eighths) at quarter note=60 at a dynamic of mp with characteristic tone. This will demonstrate that the student has learned proper breathing technique while performing a lyrical line.

Or then again, will it? Do you see the challenges of describing these essential learnings? Remember, every student must be able to do it. If they can't, we must revise the instruction and the student stays with the essential learning until they have achieved it. Notice how changing the tempo would make this essential much easier, or much more difficult.

Considering things like range, articulation, key signatures, lip slurs, rudiments, and so on: Name an essential that you feel demonstrates what a senior should be able to know or do. Be sure to include a tempo and dynamic level, and the instrument (or instrument family). Keep the task focused, and set the bar where you think it should be. Thanks for your contributions.

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8 responses
Teach the student, not the music.... If a student works to meet your criteria (above) it proves only that they can play 4 bar phrases of Chester...but perhaps little else. Does he/she understand basic musical concepts or are they simply playing by rote, ear, parroting? Concept based teaching is key (no pun intended). If a student does not understand lines, spaces and the musical staff or basic note and rest values, what good is it if they can play Chester? We have not set them up for future success (like AFTER high school) or given them the tools to be life long consumers of music education material. If on the other hand, you are assuming they understand the concpets needed to meet the criteria, then we should be teaching and testing on those concepts from the very beginning.
— eugene cantera
Eugene,
Frankly I didn't intend to have a debate on whether or not we can assess the manifestation of a concept. Obviously the Chester example does not demonstrate whether the student has learned the phrase by rote. That is not its purpose. Remember, essentials are very focused. Note identification is something we assess at the 9th grade level.
Essentials can be viewed as a manifestation of a particular concept.  If you have a better way to demonstrate that a student has proper air capacity, I'm all ears. How would you assess it?


— Brian Wis
I suppose our goals as educators may be equally important but somewhat different. I don't care if a student can demonstrate proper air support....if they are continuing to learn, are participating whole heartedly in the learning/playing process and are passionate music consumers - we all win. Music is a verb not a noun (musicking). It is the act of making music that should be encouraged and it is valid at every level.
— eugene cantera
There is no disagreement there Eugene, I think we all want students who love to make music. The question remains: Are we confirming that students can "music" and if so, how do we know? What do we expect of them, and how do we check to see if those expectations are met? Simple questions with challenging answers.
— Brian Wis
Right on Brian. Maybe the question(s) should be: 'Do you enjoy making music?" "Will you continue to learn your instrument after high school?" and "Will you encourage your kids to participate in music making activities?". A guy can dream can't he? :) Thanks for the conversation.
— eugene cantera
YOU'RE BOTH RIGHT! :-) Music ed has been missing the "life long musician" part of it for decades, but part of learning a craft is learning the skills and techniques that make the student a better, more well-rounded, yet deeply developed performer, composer, and improviser. Knowing how to properly support the tone with a column of air is essential to playing a wind instrument or singing. You're not going to have a life full of enjoyment as a performer if you can't at least make a characteristic sound with your instrument and have basic proficiency in reading, motor skill technique, etc.

I myself am working on a new benchmark system for my students aimed at giving them graduated levels of proficiency. They will have levels labeled bronze, silver, gold, diamond, and platinum. I'll be blogging about it soon.

— thomasjwest
There's technical proficiency and musical proficiency. And not every student should be asked to master each element at the same level of performance or knowledge. Here's one idea: Every HS music student should be able to identify by ear and by sight tonal patterns in tonic, dominant, subdominant functions (major and minor). See Audiation Assistant by Bruce Dalby. Or Gordon's IOWA tests of music achievement. Both measure audiation achievement, notationally and aurally. The student scores should be balanced with the information garnered from a valid test of music aptitudes. Low aptitude students should have easier content, but master the same skills. High scoring students should receive tougher content. Easily stated, but it's difficult to achieve. Let me know if you want any more information on any of this. Good luck. Very challenging indeed.
— Eric Rasmussen
Brian,
Another thought just occurred to me.
Rating scales or rubrics as most call them are invaluable. Can rate just any achievement. See this great book on assessment with music as its focus.

http://www.giamusic.com/search_details.cfm?title_id=11264

— Eric Rasmussen