I am pretty good at music theory literacy but I have not always been. Just like anything you have to learn how to do, you have to complete simple tasks before you are an expert. We are not all born with the ability to read music. The sad part is there are probably only six kids in the classroom now who can read music. The fact is that I used to hate music theory, I just wanted to sing in the choir and play in the band. The thing is that I have always asked too many questions. In elementary school my progress reports would come back saying I was a very smart kid but I asked to many questions and talked to much. I would get in trouble for asking too many questions in class. I knew that water is blue, but I wanted to know why and no one could tell me. In middle school, I decided that if I really loved music why not ask questions so that’s what I did. In my middle school days my best friend was also the choir teacher’s daughter so I figured I would ask her questions. One day I was in the choir room after school. My friend Rachel and I were sitting talking about the breakdown of note durations and how they can be divided and subdivided. Mrs. Mann walked in to tell us it was time to go home. “What are you guys doing?” She asked. “Just counting notes,” Rachel said. “Can I show you …show more content…
I asked about the fundamentals of music. I knew most of what she was explaining so I wanted her to go deeper. I asked her why things in music were the way they are. I wanted to know who made the rules and why they are enforced. She told me that I should study the fundamentals of music and know them forwards and backwards. “Don’t ever have the questions about how to count a measure and what notes fall on what beats, Know them.” “Before you learn why things are the way they are, know what they are in the first place.” She explained. So that’s what I did. I studied the different time signatures and key
For this second movie reaction, I decided to watch Mr. Holland’s Opus and find practice of cognitive theories and concepts throughout the film. The movie, starring Richard Dreyfuss is a true story about musician and composer who takes a music teaching job to pay the bills and have spare time to compose a masterpiece. Little did he know that his job would soon consume his life for the next thirty years. Over the course of his teaching, he realizes that he wants his students to have the same zest for music as he possesses. This movie is a great example of social cognitive theory in practice and is related to my field of study, which is music education in a secondary setting.
My mom required my three siblings and I to take piano lessons for at least two years when we were younger. I enjoyed playing, so when my two years were up I decided to keep going. I played for another four years, but my life started to get busy and I had too many things on my plate, so I quit piano for good. I have somewhat regretted my decision, and noticed a decline in my math skills during the past two years, and other areas in school as well. The absences of math and cognitive skills will dramatically affect a person’s life, because without these skills it makes it very hard to become a successful person in the world’s view. Contrary to what the New York Times article, “Music and Success” by Samuel Mehr stated, listening to music or playing
From the moment that I entered the Chemistry room at Windsor High School, I knew I was in trouble. That trouble came from realizing that almost every single Chemistry problem involved math, specifically math that required three to four equations along with written explanations about what the results meant. No matter how hard I tried on my homework and exams, I just could not understand how a problem could tell me that I needed the Ideal Gas Law as well as Faraday’s Law to know how many moles sodium chloride contained in one gram. My mind had trouble going along with the logic behind the math in Chemistry. The math in this class was not difficult; it was just confusing to know what steps must be taken to get the correct solution. In addition,
Of course, none of these perceptions are true. Two short months studying music on the college level has exploded these misconceptions. The study of music is a rigorous academic discipline which only gets more difficult as one progresses further into the curriculum. While our professors are understanding and helpful, we certainly are not coddled. Music majors quickly learn that hard work and long hours is the price of success in the world of music. The subject matter demands dedication and discipline.
After his visit to a Shell Research Laboratory, my high school teacher in math told us in class that he was so happy with his education, because mathematics had helped him to understand the explanations and demonstrations that had been given by the Shell researchers. He said, "If you master mathematics then you can understand everything." That was certainly an exaggeration, but it nevertheless sounded like a golden message. Since I definitely wanted to have a better understanding of what was going on around me, mathematics seemed the obvious way to go. Also, if it was not much beyond high school math, then it was pretty easy in addition. What could one wish more? So I enrolled in every advanced math class offered in our high school. Pretty soon I discovered that mathematics was much more than a set of principles that helped one to solve intellectual riddles. It was not a finished system that one could aim to master after some limited time, but it was really a way of thinking, a means of expressing creativity: endless, an old established science, but still fresh and with undiscovered green meadows, nearby and far away.
Now, I am at a point in my life where I realize that academics are not everything and that learning goes much beyond the traditional classroom setting. Music has opened up my eyes to the world that surrounds me, and I have indulged myself in numerous new passions because of it: playing the guitar, composing music, and joining new clubs and activities. Most importantly of all, however, I had discovered the joy of learning that became lost in my perfectionist ideals. Now, school no longer requires impeccability, but making mistakes that lead to furthering my education and bettering me as a
One specific teacher in my public instruction pushed me further using negativity. My passion for music started in 5th grade beginning band. She was a phenomenal elementary director, and music quickly became my favorite subject. Elementary and middle school swiftly p...
Music is one of the most fantastical forms of entertainment. Its history stretches all the way from the primitive polyrhythmic drums in Africa to our modern day pop music we listen to on our phones. It has the ability to amaze us, to capture our attention and leave us in awe. It soothes the hearts of billions, and it is so deeply rooted in my life that it has touched my heart as well. Everyday I walk to the beat of the song stuck in my head and hum along to the melody. For me, to listen to music be lifted into the air by the hands of your imagination and float around for a while. You forget about your worries, your troubles and find peace within the sound. Every chapter in my life is attached with a song. Every time I listen to a certain song, thoughts of my past come flooding back
The Scholar (that lives in my mind): What is that woman saying!? Drop my AP classes so that I'll have more time for piano? Does she realize that piano isn't life? Or at least not my life? I've taken ten years of music, I think that's enough. I'd rather be spending my time becoming a more prolific writer. That's were my passion lies, not in music. Music is just romanticized math. It doesn't say anything deeper than its title. Not anything specific, at least.
Ever since I was a small child, I have loved music. The strong, steady beats, the
Musical intellectuals can create and reproduce music. Studies shows, that music and mathematics share a connection because they have similar thinking process. A study "showed that when groups of first graders were given music instruction that emphasized sequential skill development and musical games involving rhythm and pitch, after six months, the students scored better in math than students in groups that received traditional music instruction." (Zhan, 2002).Musical intelligence deals with rhythm and u...
Using literacy strategies in the mathematics classroom leads to successful students. “The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM, 1989) define mathematical literacy as an “individual's ability to explore, to conjecture, and to reason logically, as well as to use a variety of mathematical methods effectively to solve problems." Exploring, making conjectures, and being able to reason logically, all stem from the early roots of literacy. Authors Matthews and Rainer (2001) discusses how teachers have questioned the system of incorporating literacy with mathematics in the last couple of years. It started from the need to develop a specific framework, which combines both literacy and mathematics together. Research was conducted through
I have always been curious. My go to question in every situation has been “Why?”. I was immensely fascinated with the way things worked, going so far as to take apart an entire computer and trying to put together the circuit board. I was six at the time, so success was not something I achieved. This curiosity carries over into school, making me excel at science subjects and invigorating my interest to do research on any topic I stumbled upon.
To some people, it may not seem that classes such as band, choir, and orchestra are important, but these classes aren’t just for entertainment. “Kids who receive music training often improve across the board in academics,” finds psychologist Martin Gardiner of Brown University. “They [music students] just shoot ahead in math. This can’t be explained by social effects or attention alone. There’s something specific about music,” says Gardiner (Begley 3). These classes can help students improve in school, including in certain math classes. In 1997, Gordan Shaw, of the University of California and Irvine and Frances Rauscher, of the University of Wisconsin, did a study. It included a test given to 83 students. Twenty-six of the participating students were given instruction on how to play the piano, plus instruction on how to play...
When I first started this class, I was not sure what to expect in terms of the overall content. Would I be listening to various pieces of music and then have to identify them? This class turned out to be so much more. First, I think one of the most important elements in learning about music, is learning about the history that shapes each piece.