Articles Referenced in this blog: “The Vermont MIDI Project” by Steven Estrella
“Creative Thinking and Music Technology” by
Peter Webster
“TI:ME Teaching Standards” in Technology
Strategies for Music Education
Ch. 14: Music Education Applications in Sibelius: A Comprehensive Guide to Sibelius Music Notation Software
The two readings I enjoyed most from those mentioned above was the article on the VT MIDI Project and chapter 14 in Sibelius. After reading the former, I was amazed at what Sandi MacLeod did for students of the VT and NY schools who have now implemented this program. I completely agree that composition teaches students more about the elements of music than do most other experiences. The structure of many current public school music programs is mostly performance focused and does not allot time for writing music or instruction on how to write music. This type of creation, though, would truly excite students to pursue the art seriously. I was impressed with how young these student composers are! The article mentioned several middle school works and even a few created by fourth graders.
The composers who collaborate with these young students must have a very positive effect on the kids. I enjoyed reading that to be a mentoring composer of the Vermont MIDI Project, one must go through some amount of training in how to work with young students. The article mentioned that composers are asked to always be positive about a new work and to state criticism gently. They are not to be overly insistent and know that the students have the right to reject the suggestions made by the composers. The philosophy here sounds very student-focused.
It is also great, that the students are asked to describe their piece along with their artistic decisions. This encourages them to think more closely about their writing. Composers ask simple questions at first, such as, “Is this melody singable or playable” or “Does this remind you of anything a piece you’ve heard in the past?” These prompts are perfect for aspiring composers. The student must complete a series of revisions which means that this instruction is sequenced. Attempting to write a new piece using computer notation software would open-up a world of questions on how music works and how different sounds function within a composition. I like that VMP holds a four-day Summer Institute every summer, meaning that schools have yearly opportunities to join this program and that even teachers with limited technology skills can be trained to avail this resource to their students. I hope to be competent with Sibelius in order to help my future students learn how to use the program.
Although I still feel a little nervous using a sophisticated software such as Sibelius 5, chapter 14 made it clear that the program can be an incredible teaching tool. For the ensemble director, its most important use is the ease in which a melody can be given to all sections of the group. If there is a difficult passage that my young trumpet players are struggling with, but it highlights several musical concepts which I would like the entire band to attend to, I could transcribe the melody for every instrument and hand it out in score form. This would also manifest to the musicians that the notation is different for every instrument. Bassoons cannot look at the same cleft that flutes look at, for example. This might even lead into the beginnings of score reading. It seems that extracting the rhythms from any passage is fairly easy with Sibelius 5 as well. The chapter mentioned that Sibelius includes more than 1,700 worksheets designed for the music classroom. What an amazing resource! Before beginning a piece, I could hand-out one of these worksheets which addresses the particular concepts highlighted in the new music, rather that be a new key signature, a new mode, complex rhythms, or intricate dynamic markings. This would focus the class’s attention on the important features of the piece.
Sibelius can also provide part of a melody with additional staff paper for students to finish the composition with. Students might really enjoy this project if they’re given a starting point to work from. The author also explains that Sibelius includes several poems which students could write a melody to. Some might prefer this, particularly if they were allowed to choose their text. It’s going to take some time to explore all that this program has to offer, and my greatest fear is that when new versions are made, they will be dissimilar from the one I am studying. Technology is constantly changing but hopefully some of the basics will remain unchanged.
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The Vermont MIDI project is an awesome program. Perhaps someday you can attend their summer workshop. I just recently learned that Sandi MacLeod, the founder of VMP, is going to be a clinician at this year's OMEA conference.
ReplyDeleteRegarding changes to Sibelius (or other programs) - usually these are incremental and most things will not have changed at all. Often a few features are added and "bugs" are fixed. But if you regularly use a program, it usually doesn't take much time to adapt to the new version.