Chapter 7 questions to consider

Make a list of the sequence of skills necessary for ultimate mastery of the content of your lesson through a constructivist approach. 

 

Which of these learning activities/skills lend themselves to student’s individual or group construction? How might you structure learning activities that lead students to discover these skills/these principles?

     To fully master playing a musical instrument, there are many things that must be learned in specific order. 

For this example, I will use my primary instrument, the trumpet.  A trumpet player must first understand how the trumpet produces sound, which is the lips vibrating in the mouthpiece.  The player must also understand the importance of air when producing the vibrations.  Then the student has to understand what a desirable tone should sound like, which is learned from hearing good players, and work to develop that sound (this takes years of development).  Once the student is playing their instrument, the student must learn to read the notes of the staff, then rhythmic notation, then meter notation, tempo notation, dynamic notation, and finally stylistic notation.  Most of the words written in music are in Italian, and therefore nearly every word must be taught.  For example, music does not say "play loud" there is simply an f below the staff, meaning Forte which is Italian for loud.  From this point, the student will continue to develop for the rest of their playing career, developing style, interpretation, articulation, music theory, and several other aspects of music.

     All of these learning skills lead to develop both individual and group abilities.  The students are always progressing on an individual level, and during band class, the individuals come together to produce music as a band.  These learning activities are structured through daily classes, and each fundamental is worked before moving on to the next.  A student cannot learn different articulation styles until they can produce a sound, and cannot produce different rhythms if they cannot articulate the notes.