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Enhancing Middle-Level General Music: Suggestions from the Literature

2009; SAGE Publishing; Volume: 95; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1177/0027432109335805

1945-0087

Kevin W. Gerrity,

Musicians’ Health and Performance

n his book Teaching Music in the Secondary Schools, Charles Hoffer reported a lack of consensus among music educators when considering the essential components of a middle-level general music course.' Today, this condition persists. The increasingly diverse nature of students and schools makes a singular, model curriculum for middlelevel general music virtually impossible. Differences in schools' grade configuration, scheduling structure, unique local requirements, and student achievement and behavior inhibit widespread adoption of any one model.2 Middle-level general music, then, continues to depend on sensitive teachers to use professional judgment when identifying content, methods, and materials appropriate for instruction.3 Despite endless possibilities, however, curriculum exemplars for middle-level general music remain noticeably absent in our nation's schools.4 One obstacle preventing music specialists from developing exemplary curricula is a lack of training. Indeed, few colleges and universities require specialized methods courses that prepare teachers for work in middle-level general music classrooms. Consequently, it is not uncommon to find a guitar-playing teacher who devotes all instructional time to passing his affinity on to students. Similarly, successful conductors, more comfortable in front of performing groups, often direct their general music classes as if they were choral or instrumental ensembles, ia la Whoopi Goldberg in Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit. This phenomenon is hardly surprising considering that nearly all new music education majors come directly through the middle and high school performing group pipeline,5 having never participated in a secondary general music class themselves. But more often than not, tracing the history and development of Western music (or a specific genre, e.g., rock and roll) remains the default curriculum used by teachers of middle-level general music. Without specialized training or personal experience, teachers understandably gravitate toward curricula that reflect their personal interests and strengths. Unfortunately, these unidimensional models fail to capture the true essence of music, and serve mostly to stifle student interest.'