Standard 3: The teacher of PK-12 music has skills in reading and writing music.
Throughout my time as a student at Kansas State University, I was required to perform a number of tasks that honed my skills in music reading and writing. In Instrumentation and Arranging class, I learned how to notate music, write for instruments/voices, and read scores. Some assignments that I worked include making my own original composition, writing scores by hand, transposing parts between clefs, and arranging pieces for instruments. I believe that this experience will be useful in my classroom by giving me the knowledge to instruct the subject matter to my students, as well as the tools to write music for the class if it were necessary. Another course that helped me improve my musicianship was Aural Skills. In this class, I learned much about what to listen for in music. One example of a typical assignment in this course was that the class would be played a listening example and then we would have to notate it based only upon what we heard. Another example is that the class was required to identify intervals, as well as know how to sing them from a starting pitch. Sight singing was also an integral part of the class. After passing aural skills, students were required to take an aural proficiency exam that included a sight singing portion. In this part of the proficiency, students were shown a piece of music, given the starting pitch, and then expected to sing it on solfege or neutral syllables after a minute of looking at it. I believe that the skills required to pass the aural proficiency exam have made me a better musician by far and will greatly benefit my students. Additionally to all of this, I have experience in making music using electronic notation software such as Musescore, Finale, and Sibelius.
I believe that the experiences I have accumulated in music reading and writing will greatly benefit my students in the classroom. Because of my experience with part writing, arranging, and notation, I know that I will be able to accurately analyze music in our classroom and decipher how it is supposed to sound. If I teach instrumentalists, I am knowledgeable of how parts transpose and will be able to help my students read their music and relate it to the score. Because of my experience with aural skills, I am able to determine if a pitch matches what is written and will be able to help my students develop a greater sense of pitch. Finally, with my experience composing on software programs, I will be able to help my students learn how to compose their own music from notation software.
I believe that the experiences I have accumulated in music reading and writing will greatly benefit my students in the classroom. Because of my experience with part writing, arranging, and notation, I know that I will be able to accurately analyze music in our classroom and decipher how it is supposed to sound. If I teach instrumentalists, I am knowledgeable of how parts transpose and will be able to help my students read their music and relate it to the score. Because of my experience with aural skills, I am able to determine if a pitch matches what is written and will be able to help my students develop a greater sense of pitch. Finally, with my experience composing on software programs, I will be able to help my students learn how to compose their own music from notation software.
Artifact #1
This is a composition I wrote in theory two. Part of the class was centered towards learning counterpoint. In order to fulfill that requirement, we were required to write out our compositions by hand first. I believe this piece shows me capable of writing musical notation as it has a solo part and a piano accompaniment.
Artifact #2
This is a self reflection form from my conducting course. With this, I rewatched videos of myself conducting alone or conducting a small group. I would follow along with myself in the score and mark areas where I made mistakes. I believe that this shows me capable of reading music, as well as conducting it at the same time if needed.