http://collective.musiced.net/2006/12/19/revision-of-the-menc-national-standards/ A Music Education Blog Collective Thu, 28 Aug 2008 06:02:24 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=wordpress-mu-1.2.1 http://collective.musiced.net/2006/12/19/revision-of-the-menc-national-standards/#comment-16225 Sarah Wed, 19 Mar 2008 22:55:07 +0000 http://collective.musiced.net/2006/12/19/revision-of-the-menc-national-standards/#comment-16225 We always forget composition doesn't need to be done individually or by standard notation. My first graders write a 7 note composition using only so mi and la. I had the class pick the order of the 7 notes, and that was their composition. Then we put it together with some people playing a steady beat, some playing a drum pattern, and the others playing the melody they wrote on various Orff instruments. I did this using star cutouts on magnets on the board and so mi and la written vertically on the left end. They get it! They can do it! You just have to simplify the concepts into much, much smaller components. We always forget composition doesn’t need to be done individually or by standard notation. My first graders write a 7 note composition using only so mi and la. I had the class pick the order of the 7 notes, and that was their composition. Then we put it together with some people playing a steady beat, some playing a drum pattern, and the others playing the melody they wrote on various Orff instruments. I did this using star cutouts on magnets on the board and so mi and la written vertically on the left end. They get it! They can do it! You just have to simplify the concepts into much, much smaller components.

]]> http://collective.musiced.net/2006/12/19/revision-of-the-menc-national-standards/#comment-4597 Sara Tue, 24 Apr 2007 04:15:56 +0000 http://collective.musiced.net/2006/12/19/revision-of-the-menc-national-standards/#comment-4597 It is great to see some discussion about revising the National Standards and keeping them current. I personally find the standard regarding composition to be the most time-consuming- I would like to see a change in it that specifies between improvisation, music writing, and also learning the fine details of music notation. I have noticed that composition assignments tend to take a long time for students and most times end up looking sloppy due to the fact that students are being expected to write music notation with very little guidance in this area, with computers or by hand. It is great to see some discussion about revising the National Standards and keeping them current. I personally find the standard regarding composition to be the most time-consuming- I would like to see a change in it that specifies between improvisation, music writing, and also learning the fine details of music notation. I have noticed that composition assignments tend to take a long time for students and most times end up looking sloppy due to the fact that students are being expected to write music notation with very little guidance in this area, with computers or by hand.

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