Quality
Educational Design of San Diego
A hypothetical Corporation
Initial Analysis of
Problems and Opportunities
Musical Notes: Learning to Read and Write Music
Prepared by Joshua S. Bleier
for
Gabriel Ozgood,
President and Chief Creative Officer
February 27, 2003
Budget cuts that have decimated state music programs, and studies that show music instruction helps develop childrenŐs math abilities lead me to believe that a music notation instructional product could have a significant benefit for our stateŐs school children and represents an unprecedented opportunity for QED of San Diego.
Education plays a crucial role in shaping the future of our stateŐs local communities. The passage of Proposition 13 in 1979 has had a crippling impact on our stateŐs budget in general, and a disproportionately devastating impact on music education, leading to a severe reduction or an entire elimination of music education programs across the state. This reduction has disproportionately impacted schools in poorer communities.
In addition, research has shown that the study of music increases a childŐs ability to perform Spatial-Temporal Reasoning tasks, skills considered to be the building blocks for future performance in math and science (Rauscher, 1997). This study found that students who were provided with music instruction performed better than control groups, and ŇThe magnitude of the spatial- temporal improvement É was greater than one standard deviation of the standardized test and lasted at least one day, a duration traditionally classified as long term.Ó
These are the factors driving me to analyze the potential of a music notation learning product, developed by QED for our stateŐs schoolchildren.
This instruction product would target Southern California children in the 4th through 6th grades in schools in lower socioeconomic communities without music programs. Learners from this social-cultural subcontext would have diminished opportunities to express themselves creatively, a general malaise towards learning in schools that focus almost singularly on preparing for standardized tests, and would be at greater risk of dropping out of school altogether.
The impact of budget cuts caused by Proposition 13 have been deep and are still felt over 2 decades later. The state budget is still only 85% of what it was prior to the passage of Prop 13 in 1979 (Shires, 1999). Pupil-to-Teacher ratios in California schools ŇÉrose 30 percent compared to the rest of the United StatesÓ over this time span (Sonstelte, 2000). This drastic budget reduction has been amplified in music education. Music education has been either dramatically reduced or eliminated entirely. With this, a crucial feature of the overall development of our school children has atrophied, and this has had a cascading effect, negatively impacting many other educational areas.
While instruction alone can help students learn to read and write music, there would likely be a disconnect between the notes and the music itself. The inclusion of a software program that plays what the student has written gives immediate life to the composition, and adds an exciting technological flair lacking in instruction-only services. Adding well-orchestrated recordings to the QED-developed learning product would provide additional brilliance and captivate a childŐs attention, fostering their desire to extend their learning experience.
A music instructor attending to a room full of students with instruments is a costly proposition, and those instruments in the hands of kids can lead to all sorts of discipline problems. Reducing the instruments to a MIDI-controlled device eliminates the temptation of students to play out of turn, but still provides immediate musical feedback. Students making changes to a musical score would hear the real-time impact of their changes. This immediacy, the enjoyment that many students get out of music and out of playing with technology, and the ability of the most modestly-priced MIDI instruments to play richly textured pieces in an array of different sounds suggests that the learners would benefit dramatically from an instructional product that augmented basic music notation instruction.
I spoke with 5 people who would be involved with the development and delivery of a music notation learning product. These sources included:
á Richard Delk, the music instructor at a Fuerte Elementary School.
á Gail Boone, the principal of Fuerte.
á Stephanie Peterson and Susan Plack, two district Site Lead Technology teachers, or SLTs.
á A parent of a budding student musician.
The music instructor would be the learning product Deliverer. He would be responsible for incorporating the learning product into his existing instruction-only course.
The school principal is the Policy Maker. With the aid of district personnel, the principal makes decisions on educational policies.
The SLTs are the Managers of Educational Facilities.
The parent is the Constituent. She is actively involved with the learner on a daily basis, and has the keenest insight into what is and isnŐt working with respect to her childŐs education. This particular parent preferred to remain anonymous.
I conducted in-person interviews with all of the above. I asked a series of questions of each subject, and noted their responses, along with a general impression of what each source thought of the potential learning product.
The general intent of the questions was to determine the level of interest of the participants in a blended music notation instructional product. For the Deliverer, I additionally wished to find out whether he felt that additional materials and practices could improve the learning experience.
Implementing new programs that help students learn to read and write music by focusing on immediate musical feedback would provide the following:
á Help prepare the student to make reading music automatic, so that they can start to focus on music interpretation. By making the reading of music part of ŇMuscle memoryÓ, as Richard Delk puts it, young musicians can begin on the path towards true musicianship (Delk, 2003).
á Connect what students are reading to the music it represents. Mr. Delk said when students are given an abstract lesson in musical notation, ŇÉthey donŐt see the connection between the notes on the page and the notes that come out of the instrumentÓ. Providing augmented instruction that gives immediate musical feedback will help bridge this missed connection.
á Develop an enjoyment for the creative aspects of learning. The parent of the current music student was very pleased at her daughterŐs ŇTotal absorption when sheŐs playing. ItŐs like sheŐs in a different world.Ó (Parent, 2003). This kind of excitement often translates into passion for learning in general, and can foster turnarounds for at-risk students.
Principal Gail Boone and SLT Stephanie Peterson reiterated the parentŐs point of view. Boone noted that instruction in a creative area often Ňsparks interestÓ in other topics (Boone, 2003). Mrs. Peterson concurred, pointing out that she noticed her students who were active in the music program seemed to be performing better in other subjects as well.
Students, and especially students from families of lower economic means, want something exciting to learn. Music provides that opportunity. When students understand that reading music opens up the possibility of being more musical, they gravitate towards the idea. Reading music isnŐt just an end, but a means towards a future in music that kids can aspire to.
QED has the opportunity to become involved in an area too long neglected in California education. Students want to learn music and educators see the need to make the connection between the notes on the page and notes in the air. QED is in a unique position to help bridge the gap and get students reading music, propelling them along the path towards true musicianship.
Based on the interviews, development of a music notation learning product appears to have merit. Ideally, this product would be instructor-based, augmented with music writing software, online help facilities and connected to a MIDI-controlled keyboard for immediate musical feedback.
The goals of the elementary school music students are relatively straightforward.
1. To be able to read and play music.
2. To spend less time reading the notes, and more time thinking about how it sounds.
3. To be good at something. To feel good about themselves in the process.
4. To perform in front of people.
5. To make parents proud.
The following are instructional goals, not objectives, and are not intended to act as tests to confirm that a learner has successfully learned the topic.
1. The music student will be able to read music notes.
2. The learner will be able to read time signatures, music key, tempo, rhythmic, and dynamic notations.
3. Students will be able to adjust notes on a music sheet and hear the difference when played back.
4. The student will begin to make music reading automatic, so he or she can focus on the musical interpretation.
5. The student will learn the basics skills for music composition and arrangement.
Boone, G. (2003). Personal Discussion on Music Learning Programs for Elementary Schools. El Cajon.
Delk, R. (2003). Personal Communication on Music Notation Instruction. El Cajon.
Parent. (2003). Personal Communication on Her Child's Music Instruction. El Cajon.
Peterson, S. (2003). Personal Discussion on Implementing Music Learning Products. El Cajon.
Plack, S. (2003). Personal Communication on Implementing a Music Notation Educational Product. El Cajon.
Rauscher, F. H., Shaw, G. L., Levine, L. J., Wright, E. L., Dennis, W. R., & Newcomb, R. L. (1997). Music training causes long-term enhancement of preschool children's spatial-temporal reasoning. Neurological Research, 19, 2-8.
Shires, M. (1999). Patterns in California Government Revenues Since Proposition 13. San Francisco: Public Policy Institute of California.
Sonstelte, J., Brunner, E., & Ardon, K. (2000). For Better or For Worse? School Finance Reform in California (No. 30): Public Policy Institute of California.
Questions for Deliverers
1. How long have you been teaching music?
2. What are the ages of the students youŐve worked with?
3. Can you tell me a little bit about the current programs you teach?
4. How motivated are students to learning to read and write music, as opposed to playing it?
5. How important is it that each student has an instrument? Are they distractions during music reading instruction?
6. Do the benefits of knowing how to read and write music come up during instruction?
7. What are the most common pitfalls students face when learning to read and write music?
8. Do you notice differences in studentŐs attitudes before and immediately after a lesson?
9. Do you notice any differences in studentŐs attitudes in general after long-term music instruction?
Questions for Constituents
1. How long has your child played music?
2. Does your child know how to read music? Is he or she learning to read music currently?
3. Does your child seem to enjoy playing music? What about reading music?
4. What changes have you noticed in your child since he or she has been learning music?
5. Has your childŐs interactions with other children and family members changed since he or she has been learning music?
Questions for Policy Makers
1. What drives you decision on whether to include or cut music education from your program?
2. Does overall student mental health and achievement factor into your determination on whether to include music education programs?
3. How long have you had a music program going at your school?
4. How has the program been funded? Does funding play a large role in the decision to have a music education program?
5. How do you feel about your current music program?
6. How has your community responded to the program?
7. Do children learn to read music in the existing program?
8. Do you feel that it could be positively impacted by the addition of a music writing and reading instructional package?
Questions for Managers of Educational Facilities
1. How difficult is it to facilitate the schoolŐs current music program.
2. Does the studentŐs each having an instrument impact putting the program together?
3. How do the students seem to feel about the experience?
4. Is their feeling about learning in general affected by the instruction?