Music Strand Entry 1: Performing - Playing

The Ice Dance from Edward Scissorhands, which can be viewed above, has a variation of pitch, dynamics and rhythm used and voices used, which indicates a three-part texture. This is a good example that will allow students to understand the musical concepts, which will be beneficial to understand the meaning and style of different music. 

I often thought that instrumental music was plain and uninteresting. Listening to this song while thinking about what the high-pitched sounds, dynamics and voices used represents allowed me to see that there is a story behind each music tune. In my future classroom, I would get my students to think about what the pitch, dynamics and voices used represent, rather than merely listening to the tune. This will allow them to understand the meaning of this wordless piece, which is the essence of appreciating instrumental music. 

After getting them to appreciate instrumental music, I would get them to work in groups of 4 to create sounds that represent their interpretations of what may happen after a scene in a story previously read. When students are given the freedom to create their own sounds, their motivation to learn will increase (NSW DET, 2004, as cited in Valerio, 2002, p.33). This will give them ideas when putting it into writing. 

References

Elfman, D. (2014, March 26). Ice Dance live [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkztEK9NnHI

Valerio, K. M. (2012). Intrinsic motivation in the classroom. Journal of Student Engagement: Education Matters, 2(1), 30-35.