1: Music- Fundamentals and Educational Roots in the U.S.

I. Defining Music

“Music” is one of the most difficult terms to define, partially because beliefs about music have changed dramatically over time just in Western culture alone. If we look at music in different parts of the world, we find even more variations and ideas about what music is. Definitions range from practical and theoretical (the Greeks, for example, defined music as “tones ordered horizontally as melodies and vertically as harmony”) to quite philosophical (according to philosopher Jacques Attali, music is a sonoric event between noise and silence, and according to Heidegger, music is something in which truth has set itself to work). There are also the social aspects of music to consider. As musicologist Charles Seeger notes, “Music is a system of communication involving structured sounds produced by members of a community that communicate with other members” (1992, p.89). Ethnomusicologist John Blacking declares that “we can go further to say that music is sound that is humanly patterned or organized” (1973), covering all of the bases with a very broad stroke. Some theorists even believe that there can be no universal definition of music because it is so culturally specific.

Although we may find it hard to imagine, many cultures, such as those found in the countries of Africa or among some indigenous groups, don’t have a word for music. Instead, the relationship of music and dance to everyday life is so close that the people have no need to conceptually separate the two. According to the ethnomusicologist Bruno Nettl (2001), some North American Indian languages have no word for “music” as distinct from the word “song.” Flute melodies too are labeled as “songs.” The Hausa people of Nigeria have an extraordinarily rich vocabulary for discourse about music, but no single word for music. The Basongye of Zaire have a broad conception of what music is, but no corresponding term. To the Basongye, music is a purely and specifically human product. For them, when you are content, you sing, and when you are angry, you make noise (2001). The Kpelle people of Liberia have one word, “sang,” to describe a movement that is danced well (Stone, 1998, p. 7). Some cultures favor certain aspects of music. Indian classical music, for example, does not contain harmony, but only the three textures of a melody, rhythm, and a drone. However, Indian musicians more than make up for a lack of harmony with complex melodies and rhythms not possible in the West due to the inclusion of harmony (chord progressions), which require less complex melodies and rhythms.

What we may hear as music in the West may not be music to others. For example, if we hear the Qur’an performed, it may sound like singing and music. We hear all of the “parts” which we think of as music—rhythm, pitch, melody, form, etc. However, the Muslim understanding of that sound is that it is really heightened speech or recitation rather than music, and belongs in a separate category. The philosophical reasoning behind this is complex: in Muslim tradition, the idea of music as entertainment is looked upon as degrading; therefore, the holy Qur’an cannot be labeled as music.

Although the exact definition of music varies widely even in the West, music contains melody, harmony, rhythm, timbre, pitch, silence, and form or structure. What we know about music so far…

• Music is comprised of sound.
• Music is made up of both sounds and silences.
• Music is intentionally made art.
• Music is humanly organized sound (Bakan, 2011).

A working definition of music for our purposes might be as follows: music is an intentionally organized art form whose medium is sound and silence, with core elements of pitch (melody and harmony), rhythm (meter, tempo, and articulation), dynamics, and the qualities of timbre and texture.

Beyond a standard definition of music, there are behavioral and cultural aspects to consider. As Titon notes in his seminal text Worlds of Music (2008), we “make” music in two different ways: we make music physically; i.e., we bow the strings of a violin, we sing, we press down the keys of a piano, we blow air into a flute. We also make music with our minds, mentally constructing the ideas that we have about music and what we believe about music; i.e., when it should be performed or what music is “good” and what music is “bad.” For example, the genre of classical music is perceived to have a higher social status than popular music; a rock band’s lead singer is more valued than the drummer; early blues and rock was considered “evil” and negatively influential; we label some songs as children’s songs and deem them inappropriate to sing after a certain age; etc.

Music, above all, works in sound and time. It is a sonic event—a communication just like speech, which requires us to listen, process, and respond. To that end, it is a part of a continuum of how we hear all sounds including noise, speech, and silence. Where are the boundaries between noise and music? Between noise and speech? How does some music, such as rap, challenge our original notions of speech and music by integrating speech as part of the music? How do some compositions such as John Cage’s 4’33’’ challenge our ideas of artistic intention, music, and silence?

read more John Cage 4’33’’

watch this Annenberg Video: Exploring the world of music

II. Music Education in America

Music education does not exist isolated in the music classroom. It is influenced by trends in general education, society, culture, and politics.

—Harold Abeles, Critical Issues in Music Education, 2010

How did music education develop into its current form? Did music specialists always teach music? What were classroom teacher’s musical responsibilities? Well, to answer these questions, we need to look to the past for a moment. Initially, music and education worked hand in hand for centuries.

Early Music Teaching

18th century: Singing schools and their tune books

Before there was formal music education in the United States, there was music and education, primarily experienced through religious education. Music education in the U.S. began after the Pilgrims and Puritans arrived, when ministers realized that their congregation needed help singing and reading music. Several ministers developed tune books that used four notes of solfege (Mi, Fa, Sol, La) and shape notes to train people in singing the psalms and hymns required for proper church singing. By 1830, singing schools based on the techniques found in these books began popping up all over New England, with some people attending singing school classes every day (Keene, 1982). They were promised that they would learn to sing in a month or become music teachers themselves in three months.

Some consider the hymn music of this time to be uniquely American—borrowing styles from Ireland, England, and Europe, but using dance rhythms, loose harmonic rules, and complex vocal parts (counterpoint) where each voice (soprano, alto, tenor and bass) sang its own unique melody and no one had the main melody. Original American composers such as William Billings wrote hundreds of hymns in this style.

19th century

Johann H. Pestalozzi (1746–1827)

Pestalozzi was an educational reformer and Swiss philosopher born in 1746. He is known as the father of modern education. Although his philosophies are over 200 years old, you may recognize his ideas as sounding quite contemporary. He believed in a child-centered education that promoted understanding the world from the child’s level, taking into account individual development and concrete, tactile experiences such as working directly with plants, minerals for science, etc. He advocated teaching poor as well as rich children, breaking down a subject to its elements, and a broad, liberal education along with teacher training. In the U.S., normal schools would take off by the end of the 19th century, and advocates of Pestalozzi’s educational reform would put into place a system of teacher training that influences us to this day.

Lowell Mason (1792–1872) and the “Better Music” movement

Lowell Mason, considered the founder of music education in America, was a proponent of Pestalozzi’s ideas, particularly the rote method of teaching music, where songs were experienced and repeated first and concepts were taught afterward. Mason authored the first series book based on the rote method in 1864 called The Song Garden.

Mason was highly critical of both the singing schools of the day and the compositional style. He was horrified at the promises that singing schools made to their students—namely that they could be qualified to teach after only a few months of lessons, and the general composition techniques used at the time. Mason felt that the music, including the work of composers such as Billings, was “rude and crude.” To change this, he promoted simplified harmonies that made the melody the most prominent aspect of the music, and downgraded the importance of the other vocal parts to support the melody. He accomplished this through the establishment of shape note singing schools, which carried out his musical vision. The result was that the original hymn style became the purview of the shape note singing schools, mostly in the South, where they flourished for many years. The most famous shape-note book is called Sacred Harp.

Hosted at the U.S. Library of Congress (U.S Library of Congress and [1]) [Public domain], via WikiCommons

Under the title “New Britain”, “Amazing Grace” appears in a 1847 publication of Southern Harmony in shape notes

The songs in Sacred Harp were religious hymns. “Amazing Grace” was one of the songs published in this book.

Amazing Grace

John Newton (1779), Sacred Harp Songbook (1844)

watch this Shape Note Singing

watch this Sacred Harp Shape Note Singing

read more Shape Notes

In 1833, Lowell Mason and others began to introduce the idea of music education in the schools. Mason, along with Thomas Hastings, went on to establish the first public school music program in Boston, beginning with the Boston Singing School, which taught children singing under his methodology. Eventually, regular classroom teachers were educated in normal schools (later called teachers’ colleges), developed in the mid-19th century, where they were taught the general subjects and were expected to teach the arts as well (Brown, 1919).

The up-to-date primary school, realizing the limitations of the 3 R’s curriculum, has enriched its program by adding such activities as singing, drawing, constructive occupations, story-telling, and games, and has endeavored to organize its work in terms of children rather than the subject matter (Temple, 1920, 499).

Resources

Gregory, A., Worrall, L., & Sarge, A. (1996). The development of emotional responses to music in young children. Motivation and Emotion. December 20 (4), 341–348.

Boone, R., & Cunningham, J. (2001). Children’s expression of emotional meaning in music through expressive body movement Journal of Non-verbal Behavior. March, 25 (1), 21–41.

• Children as young as four and five years old were able to portray emotional meaning in music through expressive movement.

Metz, E. R. (1989). Movement as a musical response among preschool children. Journal of Research in Music Education 37, 48–60.

• The primary result of “Movement as a Musical Response Among Preschool Children” was the generation of a substantive theory of children’s movement responses to music. The author also derived implications of the seven propositions of early children education and movement responses to music.

Sims, W., & Cassidy, J. (1997). Verbal and operant responses of young children to vocal versus instrumental song performances. Journal of Research in Music Education, 45(2), 234–244.

• Young children’s music attitudes and responses do not seem to be based on specific musical characteristics; children may have very idiosyncratic responses and listening styles.

References

Abeles, H. (2010). The historical contexts of music education. In H. Abeles & L. Custodero (Eds.), Critical issues in music education: Contemporary theory and practice (1–22). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Abeles, H., and Custodero, L. (2010). Critical issues in music education: Contemporary theory and practice. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Andress, B. (1991). From research to practice: Preschool children and their movement responses to music. Young Children, November, 22–27.

Atkinson, P., & Hammerley, M. (1994). Ethnography and participant observation. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (248–261), Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Attali, J. (1985). Noise: The Political Economy of Music. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Bakan, M. (2011). World music: Traditions and transformations. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Blacking, J. (1973). How Musical is Man? Seattle: University of Washington Press.

Boone, R. T., & Cunningham, J. G. (2001). Children’s expression of emotional meaning in music through expressive body movement. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior 5(1), 21–41.

Bresler, L., & Stake, R. E. (1992). Qualitative research methodology in music education. In R. Colwell (Ed.), Handbook of research on music teaching and learning (75–90). New York: Schirmer Books.

Brown, H. A. (1919). The Normal School curriculum. The Elementary School Journal 20(4), 19, 276–284.

Chen-Hafteck, L. (2004). Music and movement from zero to three: A window to children’s musicality. In L. A. Custodero (Ed.), ISME Early Childhood Commission Conference—Els Móns Musicals dels Infants (The Musical Worlds of Children), July 5–10. Escola Superior de Musica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain. International Society of Music Education.

Cohen, V. (1980). The emergence of musical gestures in kindergarten children (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Illinois, Champaign, IL.

Flohr, J. W. (2005). The musical lives of young children. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice-Hall Music Education Series.

Goodrich, H. (1901). Music. The Elementary School Teacher and Course of Study, 2(2), 132–33.

Graue, M. E., & Walsh, D. J. (1998). Studying children in context: Theories, methods and ethics. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Heidegger, Martin. (2008). On the Origin of the Work of Art. In D. Farrell Krell (Ed.) Basic Writings (143-212). New York: Harper Collins

Holgersen, S. E., & Fink-Jensen, K. (2002). “The lived body—object and subject in research of music activities with preschool children.” Paper presented at the meeting of the10th International Conference of the Early Childhood Commission of the International Society for Music Education, August 5–9, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Janesick, V. J. (1994). The dance of qualitative research design: Metaphor, methodology, and meaning. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (209–219). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Jordan-DeCarbo, J., & Nelson, J. A. (2002). Music and early childhood education. In R. Colwell & C. Richardson (Eds.), The new handbook of research on music teaching and learning (210–242). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Keene, J. (1982). History of music education in the United States. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England.

Kim, H. K. (2007). Early childhood preservice teachers’ beliefs about music, developmentally appropriate practice, and the relationship between music and developmentally appropriate practice (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.

Mason, L. (1839). Manuel of the Boston Academy of Music for the instruction of vocal music in the system of Pestalozzi. Boston, MA: Wilkins and Carter.

Mason, L. (1866). The song garden. Boston, MA: Oliver Ditson and Co.

Metz, E. (1989). Movement as a musical response among preschool children. Journal of Research in Music Education 37(1), 48–60.

Moog, H. (1976). The musical experience of the pre-schoolchild. (C. Clarke, Trans.). London: Schott Music. (Original work published 1968)

Moorhead, G. E., & Pond, D. (1978). Music of young children: General observations. In Music of Young Children (29–64). Santa Barbara, California: Pillsbury Foundation for Advancement of Music Education. (Original work published 1942)

Nettl, B. (2001). Music. In S. Sadie (Ed.), New Grove dictionary of music and musicians (Vol. 17, 425-37) London: Grove’s Dictionaries of Music Inc.

Peery, J. C., & Peery, I. W. (1986). Effects of exposure to classical music on the musical preferences of pre-school children. Journal of Research in Music Education 33(1), 24–33.

Retra, J. (2005). Musical movement responses in early childhood music education practice in the Netherlands. Paper presented at the meeting of Music Educators and Researchers of Young Children (MERYC) Conference, April 4–5, at the University of Exeter.

Sims, W. L. (1987). The use of videotape in conjunction with systematic observation of children’s overt, physical responses to music: A research model for early childhood music education. ISME Yearbook 14, 63–67.

Sims, W. L., & Nolker, D. B. (2002). Individual differences in music listening responses of kindergarten children. Journal of Research in Music Education 50(2), 292–300.

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Titon, J. T. (2008). Worlds of music: An introduction to the music of the world’s people. Boston, MA: Cengage.

Tobin, J. J., Wu, D. Y. H., & Davidson, D. H. (1989). Preschool in three cultures—Japan, China, and the United States. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.

Tufts, J., and Holt, H. (1911). The New Normal music course. Need location of publisher: Silver Burdett and Co.

Vocabulary

articulation: the manner in which notes are played or words pronounced; e.g., long or short, stressed or unstressed

counterpoint: the art of combining melodies

dynamics: indicates the volume of the sound, and the changes in volume (e.g. loudness, softness, crescendo, decrescendo).

harmony: the simultaneous combination of tones, especially when blended into chords pleasing to the ear; chordal structure, as distinguished from melody and rhythm

homophony: a melody with an accompaniment; e.g., a lead singer and a band

indigenous groups: people associated with a certain area who formulate their own culture

melody: musical sounds in agreeable succession or arrangement

meter: the organization of strong and weak beats; unit of measurement in terms of number of beats in a measure

monophony: single layer or sound; e.g.; a soloist

notation: how notes are written on the page

pitch: the frequency of a note’s vibration

polyphony: two or more independent voices; e.g., a round of a fugue

psalms and hymns: examples of church music

recitation: reading a text using heightened speech, similar to chanting

rhythm: the pattern of regular or irregular pulses caused in music by the occurrences of strong or weak melodic and harmonic beats

rote method: memorization technique based on repetition, especially when material is to be learned quickly

shape notes: notation style used in early singing schools in the U.S. where each note had a unique shape by which it was identified

silence: the absence of sound

solfege: a music education method to teach pitch and sight reading, assigning syllables to the notes of a scale; i.e., Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti, Do would be assigned to represent and help hear the major scale pitches

sound: vibrations travelling through air, water, gas, or other media that are picked up by the human ear drum

tempo: relative rapidity or rate of movement, usually indicated by terms such as adagio, allegro, etc., or by reference to the metronome. Also, the number of beats per minute

texture: the way in which melody, harmony, and rhythm are combined in a piece; the density, thickness, or thinness or layers of a piece

timbre: the tone color of each sound; each voice has a unique tone color (vibrato, nasal, resonance, vibrant, ringing, strident, high, low, breathy, piercing, rounded warm, mellow, dark, bright, heavy, or light)