Teaching Music Theory in an Effective and Amusing Way

8/12/2019 Teaching Music Theory in an Effective and Amusing Way

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F. Soysal RHESL - Volume 5, Issue 14 (2012), pp. 36-47

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TEACHING MUSIC THEORY IN AN EFFECTIVE AND AMUSING WAY:AN APPROACH TO TEACH MUSIC THEORY BY PAINTING

Fikri SoysalDicle University State Conservatory, Turkey

ABSTRACT

ven though learning music can seem rather easy thanks to the popular methods in use today,such as those of Dalcroze, Kodaly and Orff, new technologies and well-qualified teachers,music theory lessons in elementary schools remain boring, dull and unattractive to students;

they are difficult to understand and easy to forget. This also means that conducting the lesson can beboring for the teacher too. Here a new proposal is made for the solution to these problems, employingnew approaches and methods; and an activity is devised in order to make the lesson an enjoyableexperience. The idea of Teaching Music Theory in an Effective and Amusing Way is to use the activityof drawing pictures with hand-written musical notations. The present research aims to determine, inscientific terms, how the method functions and what kind of learning outcomes and skills children may

acquire by reviewing the research conducted in the fields of child development and educationalpsychology. The results of practices in the 1st, 2nd, 3rdand 4thgrades of elementary schools are hereanalyzed. It is known that the development of childrens visual and auditory cortexes is at its maximumlevel at the age of 2 and 3(Nathan et al., 1999, p.15-17). A student ideally should be prepared forelementary school by learning to draw, attending concerts and experiencing some education in musicalinstruments in the preschool period. These students, and even students who have never had any

preschool education, may vastly gain from a method of teaching music theory that is effective andenjoyable, by drawing pictures with hand-written musical notes. For instance, imagine that while startinga music theory lesson with a group of students aged 6-7 years old, a treble clef is drawn on the first

page. Two eyes, two hands and a smiling face are drawn on the treble clef.

Figure 1

This example excites students. The method of Teaching Music Theory in an Effective and Amusing

Way aims to make students apprehend written musical symbols before teaching them their meanings.Drawing is a pleasure for children. The game of drawing symbolic pictures can be considered as thereflection of intellectual images on paper. In symbolic games, children can represent important

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REVIEW OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND SELF-LEARNING

Journal Homepage: www.intellectbase.org/journals 2012 Published by Intellectbase International Consortium, USA
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experiences that they have never before assimilated and they can properly assess the experience. Thepleasure taken in the game results from the fact that the player can have the same experiences butchange it according to his/her delight(Piaget and Inhalder 1971). From this perspective, it is possible to

provide an effective and enjoyable way of learning if we can convey the correct image to children via

drawing.

Keywords: Musical Education, Method, Approach, Child, Painting, Early Learning, ElementaryEducation.

INTRODUCTION

One of the most important problems encountered from elementary school 1st grade on, is the failure tosave the music theory lesson from generally accepted ways of lecturing, that is, to save it from being aboring lesson. In addition, quarter notes, half notes and whole notes, lines, staves, time signatures andmany other words in the terminology not only make the lesson unbearable, but also make learningdifficult. What more can be done when there are well-qualified teachers and music laboratoriesemploying many popular methods such as those of Dalcroze, Kodaly or Orff, adequate materials andtechnical and technological equipment for learning music? But these factors can mean the experienceof a boring lesson for educators and students alike. An idea is required to overcome these problems,one that uses new approaches and methods, and an activity factor is required for the lesson to beenjoyable. The idea of Teaching Music Theory in an Effective and Amusing Way refers to anentertaining activity for both students and teachers through drawing pictures out of musical symbols.Nine is an important age in a childs life. Until the age of nine a student learns whatever you teachhim/her without questioning. What is meant by without questioning is that students directly takecandies given to them until they reach the age of nine, but they consider whether or not they shouldafter the age of nine. Then, can we say that judgment is an obstacle to education? Everyone perceivesinformation and knowledge according to their intellectual richness and background, but we can eventeach something to a person with no background or richness. Among students over nine, there is aprevailing idea that activities such as singing a song or playing an instrument can be performed withoutthe need for theories. It is not enough to simply change this idea by expressing they are wrong. It isnecessary to lay the foundations for music education when students are in the age group of 0-9 byapplying the idea of teaching music theory by drawing pictures out of music symbols, so that musictheory lessons are turned into a game, one that takes advantage of the fact that art lessons are favoredby children. What is more, there are certain theories which suggest that drawing practices performed inthe form of a game provide children with opportunities to acquire and improve skills which will be usefulfor them in late adolescence (Yavuzer, 2000).

Relation of the Method to Preschool Music Education [0-05 AGE]

As far as the development of children is concerned, the visual cortex is at its maximum at the age oftwo and the auditory cortex is at its maximum at the of three (Huttenlocher, 2002, p.27). Synapses thatestablish a connection as a result of stimulation remain, while those synapses not stimulated are lost(Nathan et al., 1999, p.15-17).Based on this idea, it is clear that music education received in the pre-school period as from prenatal period has a great importance. Research shows that activities plannedfor introducing mental and motor skills in this period are beneficial (Shaw and Greenstein, 2006). The

fact that students only scrawl around the age 2, draw particular figures at the age of 2-3, and drawmeaningful figures and circular lines at the age of 3-4, shows that the form perception of the childdevelops (Kellogg, 1970). That is to say, after the age 4, a child may draw a human being, an animal


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Teaching Music Theory in an Effective and Amusing Way: An Approach to Teach Music Theory by Painting

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and a building; accordingly, it can be concluded that children may draw pictures from musical symbols.It is certain that skills acquired by painting, or by listening to or performing music, will lay an effectivefoundation for the Teaching Music Theory in an Effective and Amusing Way method to be applied inthe elementary school period. Children must be made listen to music when performing activities such

as playing a game, eating a meal, painting or drawing or listening to a story or fairytale. It is seen thatenvironments enriched with music contribute to learning and become useful for children in their futurelives (Rauscher et al., 1998, Vol. 20, p.427-432). It has been shown that playing music along with theactivity of listening to music has various results and leads to stunning mobilizations in various corticalareas (Delige and Wiggins, 2006). Additionally, it should be pointed out that even touching aninstrument would enable synapses connected to highly important mental and motor skills to connectand develop during infancy. Babies will sense sounds by noticing musical sound and rhythmicvariations.

Relation of the Method to Painting

Painting is an enjoyable activity for children. Drawing is considered as a symbolic game and as areflection of mental images on paper. During symbolic games, children may relive events and importantexperiences which they failed to assimilate previously, accordingly they may make sense out of theseexperiences. Pleasure gained from the game stems from the possibility of reliving experiences bychanging them in accordance with desires of the player (Piaget and Inhalder, 1971). Based on this idea,if we can transfer correct images to children through paints, we can provide an effective and enjoyablelearning experience. Teaching Music Theory in an Effective and Amusing Way aims to help studentscomprehend musical symbols before teaching the meaning of the musical symbols.

Relation of the Method to Technology

Technology is used as an educational instrument by educators in various countries. The use oftechnology in Music Education begins in the pre-school period and provides a wide range ofopportunities (Kersten, 2006, p.15-28). Teaching Music Theory in an Effective and Amusing Way mayhave a relation with technology in the sense that note writing programs such as Sibelius are adapted soas to be used in compliance with smart boards and tablet computers used in the classrooms.Furthermore, a computer program that is compatible with the programs of the technological devices inthe classroom environment may be written. It seems that such a computer program would be usefulespecially for teachers.

Relation of the Method to Musical LiteracySigns which enable us to learn the necessary rules for putting music into note form, to comprehendworks which we do not know and to perform music are called musical symbols. A person must beliterate in order to read and write literary works. It is of great importance in music that students grow upas literate individuals. In the process of teaching how to read and write, students are taught firstly howto draw a line, then to obtain a letter by combining these lines. However, this path is not followed forproviding students with music literacy skills, which leads to many problems. One of the elements of theTeaching Music Theory in an Effective and Amusing Way method is the work on acquiring musicalliteracy skills. Through this practice, students will learn the language of music just as they learn letters

from the elementary school 1st grade on.


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Firstly, the student must work on a line until half of a whole note is properly drawn. If there are morethan 3 mistakes according to the results of this practice, the teacher must correct the mistakes of thestudent and ask him/her to practice again. See figure 1.

Figure 2

Secondly, the student must work on the other half of the whole note. In this practice as in the firstpractice, the number of mistakes is examined according to the results obtained, mistakes are corrected,and if necessary, the student must be asked to practice again. See figure 2.

Figure 3

Finally, the student is provided with practice requiring him/her to combine parts of the whole note, whichhe learnt previously. See figure 3.

Figure 4

In the practice on drawing the whole note, students with 3 mistakes at most must be asked to repeatthe practice.

The points to be taken into consideration during this practice are as follows: The teacher should use adifferent eye-catching crayon color to distinguish the teachers work from that of the students and toattract the attention of the students. The first bars should be drawn by the teacher as an example (seefigure 3, the first bar is red). Negative expressions such as, this is not what you are supposed to do,mistake, you failed to do it, you could not achieve it, again you failed, again this is not what youare supposed to do should not be used when evaluating the drawings of students. Instead of negativeexpressions, positive expressions such as, it would be better if you did that in this way should bepreferred. If students work on an assignment more than twice and fail to do it, the teacher should drawexamples of the first, middle and last bar himself/herself (see figure 3, red, green and blue). By thismeans, the teacher should help students achieve their own auto-control.

If music literacy practice is not conducted, students will form their own tastes and judgments under theinfluence of mass media and their circle of friends in the later grades. Whether music theory lessons forlistening to music and performing music are necessary may be debated. As a result, music theorylessons are easily dismissed as uninteresting and boring as well as unnecessary. It goes withoutsaying, that what is covered during music theory lessons is immediately forgotten.


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Musical Notation and Symbols (Materials)

Figure 51

Musical notation is materials employed with the idea of teaching music theory through drawing picture.The main purpose is to convert music theory lessons into a game, to make them more enjoyable andengaging. Any symbol used in music theory is associated with something: it may be used as a part ofan explanation of a greater theme, but it may also be the theme in itself. The teacher must select thesymbols of music theory he/she wants to teach and draw an example on the notebooks of the students.The rest is about the creativity of the student. If he/she desires, the teacher may create his/her ownmaterials. The subject can be covered in an order, by prioritizing certain symbols.

Classroom Implementation

Theme: TrafficAge Group: 6-11Materials:

Duration: 40 minutesParticipants: 10-15

Figure 6

Directions: A well-known memory technique, to keep something in the mind, is through associatingone thing with another. Traffic is a component of life that people see and experience every day. Thepicture was completed by drawing wheels using 4-beat whole note, hats brim using a 2-beat rest signout of the bar-line, and drawing roads that connect two cities with each other out of ligatures, drawingtraffic lines out of points meaning continuing, and drawing traffic lights out of chords written as blockharmonies. Firstly, the teacher may set an example by using the ligature. For example, he may draw atwo-lane road, then he may visualize a pattern consisting of five-chords as traffic lights through givingthe example of a half note. Having completed these explanations and exemplifications, the teacher may

1 These signs were taken from the Sibelius Notation program


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ask his students to visualize something with the theme of traffic in their imagination by using musicalsymbols.

Figure 7

Evaluation and Recommendations

Prior to the lesson the teacher should definitely have prepared for the lesson by drawing up a plan tocover the theme and made the necessary provisions. The teacher should evaluate the pictures of each

of the students according to the procedures suggested above, and make recommendationsaccordingly. He should ask questions about the pictures drawn by the students and he should plant theideas he wants to convey to the students through positive feedback and encouragement. The secret ofthis theory is that, thanks to making suggestions to the students one by one and turning the lesson intoa game, students are enabled to relive experiences that they had failed to assimilate in the past byusing the characters and signs from their inner worlds. Thus, students are here provided with anopportunity to make sense out these experiences.


Theme: BicycleAge Group: 6-11Materials:Duration: 40 minutesParticipation: 10-15

Figure 8

Directions: Having drawn notes, rest symbols, repetition symbols, alteration symbols and various basic

musical alphabet symbols on the board in the materials section above, the teacher asks students todraw pictures in their imagination by using musical alphabet symbols on the board. For example, theteacher might suggest lets draw a bicycle picture on the board by using a 4 -beat whole note, a 2-beat


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half note, a bar-line and ligatures. Lets make wheels out of 4-beat whole note, lets make a seat out of2-beat half note, lets make a steering wheel out of a bar-line, and lets make the bridge combiningwheels with one another out of ligature.

Figure 9

Evaluation and RecommendationsWhat did you want to express here and which symbols did you use? It is highly meaningful that youused the 4-beat whole note and ligature. While making suggestions, it is necessary to enable symbolsto be properly understood through an appropriate use of explanations that will support music theoryeducation, as well as teaching symbols by use of direction sentences. In particular, the names of themusical symbols should be fully and clearly pronounced in different sentences at every opportunity.


Theme: Smiley Face

Age Group: 6-11Materials:

Duration: 40 minutesParticipation: 10-15

Figure 10

Direction: The picture was completed by making a headphone to listen to music out of 2-beat halfnotes, making a smiley face and glasses out of 4-beat whole note, making a mouth out of a ligature,and making a tongue out of a 4-beat rest symbol. Eyes can be made out of dotted notes.

Figure 11


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Evaluation and Recommendations

What is important in the process of drawing pictures by using musical symbols is that children makesense out of these pictures through something in their inner worlds. Accordingly, it is necessary to keepin mind that a wide range of different ideas might be encountered. A students visualizing an element in

his/her inner world allows us to enter into the inner world of this child by taking this element as a basis,and to be able to communicate through the language of this world.

METHODOLOGY

Prior to coming into the classroom, the teacher should have made preliminary preparations, selected atheme and fixed a representation of musical symbols on a place clearly visible to students in theclassroom. The duration of the lesson should be 40 minutes, and the classroom should be comprised of10-15 students. For the first five minutes, the theme of this days lesson should be conveyed andexamples provided. Then, students should be given the opportunity to draw pictures within the

framework of the determined theme by using musical symbols. With crayon in hand, the teacher shouldcheck each of the students work, completing their pictures one by one. The stage of surveillance is themost important part of this idea. As a matter of fact, the seed of the idea of the project is planted at thisstage. For example, lets assume that the theme of the lesson is vehicles, and a teacher has drawn apicture of a bicycle. The following conversation should take place between teacher and student.Teacher, What a nice bicycle you created out of the music symbols. Its wheels are made of 4-beatwhole notes, and its steering is made out of a ligature. In addition, you made seats out of crotchets inorder for it to carry you. Well done. If there is a point that is not understood in the picture, the teachermay ask the student what he wants to explain in the picture. However, negative expressions such aswhat the hell is that picture must not be used. There may be a student failing to draw pictures from the

music symbols. The teacher should deal with this student and open up the horizons of this student bydrawing a sample picture on his notebook. Every contact made between a student and the teachershould be regarded as an opportunity, and what is required of the students should be presented to thestudent through a naturally formulated path.

RESEARCH RESULTS

One part of every picture chosen from among the pictures drawn by children in the music theorylessons was selected (that is, just one part of one picture was cut out and removed from the picture).The names of the students drawing the pictures were written under the pictures together with theirrelated age groups. It was not possible to put all of these pictures in the present article due to spaceconsiderations. Statistical data concerning these pictures are presented.


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evval AteAge 7

Fatih Emin YankAge 7

Emirhan KarakelleAge 11

Rumeysa AkblblAge 11

Figure 12

smail Yiit NaarAge 7 Sena HocaoluAge 7 Sena HocaoluAge 7 Asude Esra AyAge 11

Figure 13

ura EskikyAge 11

Sevdenur GrAge 7

Selmani ReisAge 7

Selmani ReisAge 7

Figure 14


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Nurettin ztrkAge 10

Nurettin ztrkAge 10

Nurettin ztrkAge 10

Salih KaraAge 10

Figure 15

Esma Bken

Age 10

Sevde Nur Girgin

Age 10

Sinan ?

Age 10

Sinan ?

Age 10Figure 16

Using Different Music Written Language

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Difference

Age 7

Age 10

Age 11

Figure 17

How many different music symbols are used in the picture drawn by a student should be regarded. Italso reveals how many different music theory symbols a teacher can find the opportunity to teach


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through just one activity. Taking into consideration that the lesson lasts for 40 minutes, theteaching/learning outcomes within this time period revealed by means of the chart are as follows: Theformation of an enriched teaching environment through converting a lesson into a game. The pleasuretaken by students in drawing pictures will enable them to assimilate subjects which they either could not

master or understand, or that they found boring in the past. Considering the difficulty of fitting theteaching of 12-16 musical symbols into this time period, the study reveals unexpectedly successfulresults.

ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION

This practice aims to make music theory lessons effective and enjoyable. This approach is only asimple idea, rather than a comprehensive music education system. This is an activity that makes thelesson enjoyable for both teacher and students. This is not a study intended to replace approachessuch as those of Orff, Kodaly and Dalcroze. This is only an in-class practice that can supplement thoseapproaches. Every idea that can be useful for music education is valuable. That is because musicaleducation eases and enriches peoples lives, and it enables them to take more pleasure in life. Itincreases their energy for life. Teaching Music Theory in an Effective and Amusing Way intends tomake theory lessons more effective and amusing by using musical symbols in the course of 40-minutemusic lessons. It plants the knowledge obtained from a music theory lesson, enriched by pictures andgames, in the subconscious. Firstly, it helps to endear musical symbols to students through its use ofpictures and games, and then it conveys their meanings to the subconscious through mutual directionsthis is a practice open to interpretation and other teachers may develop, adapt and apply its methodsdifferently. Education should be regarded as a whole. The period before formal education should betaken into account as should the period which follows its end. The relation of this idea with musiceducation, painting and technology in early childhood is explained briefly in another section.

LIMITATIONS

In this study, 0-5 age category was examined only briefly in order to create the basis for the idea ofteaching music theory by drawing pictures and this section included only suggestions. The mainworking group of this study is comprised of 6-11 age group students. The research practice wasconducted in elementary schools1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th grades. No distinction was madebetween female and male students. Course hours were not specifically determined. After the teacherhad demonstrated how to perform the activity using one example, students were free to actindependently on condition that they would act within the framework of the theme. However, the teacher

never departed from the theme of the days lesson. No restrictions were imposed concerning musicalsymbols. On condition that they would remain within the framework of the theme, students wereallowed to use one or more musical symbols if they desired. Since no special preparation was made forcolor pictures, students made drawings in black and white. Concerning paper preference, what wasavailable to the course was made use of. No special choice was made for a music notebook or for lineor unlined papers. The musical symbols were displayed at a position clearly visible to the students. Theduration of the lesson was determined as 40 minutes. Within the scope of this practice, the classroomsize was set to accommodate 10-15 people. In applications, the theme to be covered in the lessonmight be chosen by the teacher, and the teachers might create models. The first practice regardinglearning music theory by drawing pictures out of music symbols was carried out in 2008. In the following

years, this practice was employed in the music lesson curricula.


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CONCLUSION & SUGGESTION

In music theory education practices carried out at elementary schools, problems such as a lack ofunderstanding, students easily forgetting a lesson or finding it unlikeable and boring, and the failure toacquire music literacy skills are encountered. The fact that students attribute meanings to musicalsymbols by using objects from their own worlds for this lesson helps makes lessons moreunderstandable and memorable. Thus a difficult lesson can be converted into an enjoyable and likeableone. It is possible to multiply these examples, but the main aim here is to explain that a child can beenabled to draw the pictures in his/her own imagination, using musical symbols that relate to thesubject of the class and be able to attribute meanings to these symbols. The pictures drawn by eachstudent should be evaluated within the duration of the class, and the theoretical knowledge that thecourse intends to introduce to students should be planted into the subconscious of the students via themethod of suggestion. Some examples of suggestion sentences are as follows: What a nice harmonyyou created by using different colors and shapes together. What did you want to express in this picture,and which signs did you use? Connecting bicycle wheels made out of 4-beats to one another vialigatures is a highly meaningful idea. It is possible to augment these suggestion sentences. It would beappropriate for every teacher to form sentences according to the creation, knowledge level,comprehension ability and imagination of his students.

REFERENCES

Frances H. Rauscher, K. Desix Robinson and Jason J. Jens. (1998). Improved Maze Learning ThroughEarly Music Exposure in Rats.Neurological Research, Forefront Publishing Group, USA, Volume20, p.427-432.

Huttenlocher, P. R. (2002). Neular Plasticity: The Effects of Environment on the Development of the

Cerebral Cortex. Harvard University Press. London, England.Irne Delige, Geraint A. Wiggins. (2006). Musical Creativity: Multidisiplinary Research in Theory and

Practice. Psychology Press, New YorkJ. Piaget, B. Inhalder. (1971). Mental Imagery in the Child. Basic Books, New York.Kellogg, R. (1970).Analyzing Children's Art.M. Publishing Company, USA.Kersten, F. (2006). Inclusion of Technology Resources in Early Childhood Music Education . GMT Fall

2006, p.15-28.Nathan A. Fox, Lewis A. Leavitt, John G. Warhol. (1999). The Role of Early Experience in Infant

Development.Johnson & Johnson Pediatric Institute Pediatric Round Table Series, USA.P. Shaw, D. Greenstein. (2006). Intellectual Ability and Cortical Development in Children Adolescents ,

Nature 440.Yavuzer, H. (2000). Resimleriyle ocuu Tanma. Remzi Kitabevi, stanbul.


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I n t e r n a t i o n a l C o n s o r t i u m a n d i t s c o n t e n t m a y n o t b e c o p i e d o r e m a i l e d t o m u l t i p l e s i t e s o r

p o s t e d t o a l i s t s e r v w i t h o u t t h e c o p y r i g h t h o l d e r ' s e x p r e s s w r i t t e n p e r m i s s i o n . H o w e v e r , u s e r s

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Teaching Music Theory in an Effective and Amusing Way

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