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Teaching General Music
Midterm Fall 2004
1. List the functions of music according to anthropologist Alan Merriam:
1.) Emotional expression
2.) Aesthetic enjoyment
3.) Entertainment
4.) Communication
5.) Symbolic representation
6.) Physical response
7.) Enforcement of conformity to social norms
8.) Validation of social institutions and religious rituals
9.) Contribution to the continuity and stability of culture
10.) Contribution to the integration of society
2. “All children are musical.” Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not and how will this opinion affect your teaching?
Yes, all children regardless of background or ability can find some aspect of music education
valuable. Proper music education will incorporate all of Merriam’s functions. For the students
who cannot participate on a the same levels as their peers due to physical or mental handicaps,
they can still apply to most of the functions and find music rewarding. This will affect my teaching
by challenging, including and touching all of my student thru music.
3. Lowell Mason initiated the first public school music education in America in:
a. Baltimore, 1838.
****b. Boston, 1838.*** (This one)
c. Baltimore, 1938.
d. Boston, 1938.
4. What did Mason’s method of instruction emphasize?
Mainly Vocal, Mason’s Method is based around experience then label. Doing something
and then learning what it is you did.
5. What were the earliest methods of American public school music education based on?
The basis for American public schools music education is Mason’s method. Listening
and singing leads to understanding music notation and theory.
6. Number these methodologies in chronological order of development:
Second Kodaly
First Dalcroze
Third Orff
7. The three main recommendations of the Tanglewood Symposium were:
1.) Music should include broader repertoire
2.) Greater importance in creativity and expression
3.) Technology and Media More incorporated
8. List Birkenshaw’s musical and developmental goals:
Musical Developmental
1.) Understanding musical concepts 1.) Co-ordination
2.) Musical Literacy 2.) Motor skills
3.) Appreciation of different kinds of music 3.) Listening skills
4.) Whole body Learning
5.) Acquisition of basic facts
6.) Social skills development
7.) Understanding of cultural heritage
9. Give five examples of pitch-matching exercise questions you could sing:
1.) Hello, what’s your name? My name is (student’s name).
2.) How are you today? I am (blank).
3.) What did you have for breakfast? I had (blank).
4.) What’s your favorite color? My favorite color is (answer).
5.) What do you want to be for Halloween? I want to be a (answer).
10. Where should these exercises be pitched for elementary singers and why?
The key of D ensures a comfortable singing range and a better chance of pitch
accuracy.
11. List the levels of understanding linear pitch, beginning at the most basic level:
A.) Discrimination
B.) Recognition of contour
C.) Form aural images of songs resulting in recognition
D.) Register
E.) Direction
F.) Motion
G.) Interval Size
H.) Tonality
I.) Melodic Phrase
J.) Scale
12. What is the difference between skills, activities, attitudes, and concepts?
Skills develop gradually through the teaching of concepts. Concepts are addressed
thru activities. Attitude is how the student feels about their skills, the concepts
taught and the activities being utilized. Attitude is shaped by the other three and the
students success.
13. What can you do as a music teacher to help melodic development of babies
6 months – 18 months old?
Continue vocal play. Sing nursery songs and other simple songs from child’s culture.
Play recorded music.
14. To a child, what is confusing about the statement “Turn down the TV, it’s too loud!”
“Down” can be interpreted in a couple of different ways. Down can mean the volume
but, it might also can mean the direction of the pitch in music. Make the TV flat makes no sense.
15. At what age do children develop a clear sense of strong and weak cadences?
11 - 12
16. What are the three components of a theory of music instruction?
1.) Instruction
2.) Learning processes of kids
3.) Learning outcome
17. What are the solfege syllables of the typical playground chant?
So - Mi - La
18. What is the pitch range in which most 4-5 year olds accurately match pitch?
D - A
19. At what age can singers begin to perform canons, rounds, descants, and countermelodies?
3rd grade
20. Explain the difference between range and tessitura:
Range is how many different notes a person can sing or a melody includes and tessitura
is the range of notes where the melody or song lies in the voice.
21. When teaching a song, what three things must be established by the teacher?
1.) Tempo
2.) Tonality
3.) Starting Pitch
22. Discuss the effect of the teacher’s vocal model on the child’s performance:
The teacher’s vocal model shapes the child’s performance. The student will do exactly
what the teacher does when they sing. Therefore if the teacher scoops, sings flat, etc. so
will all of their students.
23. What are the advantages and disadvantages of male teachers modeling in falsetto?
The advantage of a male teacher singing in their falsetto is it is easier for the student
to match pitch. The disadvantage is it is more difficult for most male teachers to
present a musical, aurally pleasing vocal model. It takes a very high level of comfort
with their falsetto to model the music well.
24. Explain the difference between ideal and operational types of curricula:
Ideal curricula is curriculum in a vacuum. It is the utopian approach to teaching. It is a good
but impossible goal. Operational curricula is curriculum in the real world. Ideal curriculum
should be what we base our operational curriculum on.
25. Name four elements of a year’s curriculum:
A.) Skills
B.) Concepts
C.) Attitudes
D.) Repertoire
26. List the 9 National Standards in order:
1. Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
2. Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
3. Improvising melodies, variation, and accompaniments
4. Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines
5. Reading and notating music
6. Listening to, analyzing and describing music
7. Evaluating music and music performance
8. Understanding relationships between music, the other arts and disciplines outside the arts
9. Understanding music in relationship to history and culture
27. List the 5 main goals of the Ohio Academic Content Standards:
1. Historical, Cultural and Social contexts
2. Creative Expression and Communication
3. Analyzing and Responding
4. Valuing Music/Aesthetic Reflection
5. Connections, Relationships and Applications
28. List the six levels of Bloom’s taxonomy (1=lowest level)
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1. Knowledge
2. Comprehension
3. Application
4. Analysis
5. Synthesis
6. Evaluation
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29. Write an example of a behavioral objective using analysis and an appropriate evaluation of the objective:
Objective: The student will accurately identify and contrast the perfect authentic cadence
and the imperfect authentic cadence.
Evaluation: Informal, imbedded, objective, individual
30. Name the six important components of a lesson plan:
1. Goal
2. Objective
3. Curriculum Link
4. Materials
5. Procedure
6. Evaluation
31. Name the additional component of a lesson plan newly presented in TGM and explain its importance in lesson development:
Prior knowledge is the additional component. The teacher must teach on a logical progression
of knowledge in order for the students to be successful. i.e. the student must learn sharps and flats
before they learn key signatures.
32. Explain the concept of embedded assessment:
Embedded assessment is assessment that takes place during the lesson. In the midst of the
activity the teacher deciphers the level of the students understanding.
33. List five tips/strategies you learned from watching the peer-teaching exercises:
1.) Always establish and keep a steady tempo
2.) Singing the students first note in a melody while your counting them in is important.
3.) A teacher should pay attention to how the students are performing, not themselves.
4.) The teacher should try to establish a positive and comfortable learning environment.
5.) The teacher should have a very detailed yet flexible “plan of attack.”