Write like Mozart - Week three - 5ths and 6ths progressions

Manifesto - Final Article - The Place of Music in 21st Century Education

I am a classical guitarist with a large knowledge of popular music such as pop rock and Brazilian traditional popular music (samba, bossa nova, choro, etc.). I made my studies back in the 80’s and 90’s with some of the most important teachers from my country and from abroad.

In those years the access of technology was restricted to some people and the technology we had in hands were completely analogic and encompassed music played in radio stations, long plays (vinyl records), tapes and clips on the television. We still hadn’t the VHS system and buy records was expensive. When we wanted to play one pop song we had to wait until occasionally listening to it on a radio station, then record it on a cassette tape and try to find the chords and how to sing it by listening. The other way was wait until the next publication on a specialized magazine that would bring the chords and/or tablatures.

In the last two decades, with the easy access to new technologies and the Internet, all of these tasks became unbelievably easier. I incorporated the use of programs addressed to write music like Encore or Sibelius and started to use them to write my own ideas of exercises, methods, transcriptions and editions of music.

In my work as teacher these tools represent a central role once I easily find the songs my pupils want to play, print them from specialized web sites and use YouTube tutorials and/or official or cover videos of the songs to learn them faster. As a democratic view I use the same videos with my students too and encourage them to be more independent about what they want to learn or practice researching on the same resources.

As a complement for my work I aim to make my own tutorials and sessions of lessons on how to play guitar without a formal method and lessons addressed to pop guitar players, acoustic or electric, with technical approaches used in classical guitar which could be helpful for their development without the exhaustive use of scores and with the hope that anyone without reading music ability can engage in.

I have already made some of these videos addressed to one or other of my pupils as a model for the songs they are learning. It is an easy task and can be made at home with simple devices like a Zoom HD Camera or even a mobile phone.

Another area that I have been experiencing and want to give more attention in my guitar lessons is the improvisation. Not the improvisation imagined in jazz or rock but just the freedom to create little melodies or create a song with the chords and elements that the pupils have already mastered. It may be a sequence of chords with or without singing and also previous known sequence and melody but using other text created by them. In this case, having fun is fundamental I believe.

In my view, music education, specially playing an instrument, must have as main objective to provide interest in the students and fast response. By fast response I mean to make the student play a song or two in the first lesson, even if it is a one chord song or a simple melody with one, two or three notes. We need to avoid what may seem to them boring technical exercises and choose the repertoire in accordance with they need to develop musical and technically. Most of our nowadays students don’t play with professional objectives. Rather they want to have fun and we must fulfil this will. On the other hand, they don’t have enough time to practice so the lesson must be very practical and incorporate in large scale music making, interest and fun.

I believe teachers must be open minded to contemporary repertoire including both popular and classical music and, with this in mind, learn how to explore any kind of music experience or particular students’ interest to work on music elements such as form, rhythm, harmony, melody, etc. and develop the skills that may be necessary to their purpose in music education. 

Having said that I must say that I am very confident in traditional music methodology used in the past but teachers must have the feeling to filter the students who might want to follow a professional path to work with them using these traditional methods and methodology. As we all know to be a top professional player of any kind of instrument and approach the western classical music and repertoire properly it is necessary to follow a vast and rigid list of methods, exercises and works from all periods. In addition, the amount of time and discipline dedicated to it must be vast too.

To finish my thoughts, I must say that sometimes the methodology may be more important than the method itself. By this I mean that I encourage my students to develop their own exercises or ways of practicing their difficulties rather than always appeal to a written method. I try to show them how too quickly learn and practice chords or how to develop their fingers abilities and independence without the use of, what may seem for them, a daunting sequence of methods.

The Place of Music in 21st Century Education - Week 4 - University of Sydney

Here are my comments about the questions of the week 4 in the  course The Place of Music in 21st Century Education - University of Sydney - Prof. dr. James Humberstone

• You were introduced to the DAW (or sequencer), the step sequencer, and a range of notation software. Do you feel you would like to explore any of these technologies further?
• Have you been persuaded that the DJ-producer does have an awful lot of sophisticated musical skills?

I was very impressed with the DAW. I knew about the existence and usage of many of this kind of devices but I had never given me a chance to see it in real use. Amazing. Now I am surely convinced that a DJ and people who use it on studio must have a good music knowledge, even if they don’t play a traditional instrument. On the other hand, I don’t think this will be one thing I put in use in my life, once I work mostly with classical and acoustic guitar music. The other applications used for music notation and studio make part of my life. I make my own scores and arrangements using Encore. I prepare my music to be published in YouTube or as a tool for broadcasting my work in the music production scenario using tools for videos and audios.

• Do you agree with David Price that learning has gone "OPEN"?
• What were the best examples of OPEN learning that you found either in the course content, in your own searching, or the work of your peers?

David Price confirms my belief that now only the one who doesn’t want to learn doesn’t learn. I use open learning tools on the Web for everything: from how to tie a tie, make yoghurt and other recipes and learning more sophisticated stuff as music and languages.

Of course the best examples in open learning that I have been using in the last years are these platforms where we are now doing this course – www.coursera.org – and others like www.futurelearn.com and www.edx.org

• What does Project Based Learning (or the other BLs) have to offer Music Education? And what does Music Education have to offer Project Based Learning, and all learning, in the 21st Century?

PBL can offer a good view of organization, tips for scientific approaches to learning involving the way we put a project on the making. Things like objective, target audience, phases of development and final presentation. This video can offer more information about what PBL is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08D0dBGIzYQ

A musician spends a lot of time practicing and trying to find solutions for the problems we face in instrument of theory studies. We have to learn how to organize our study, plan the steps between the stage we find ourselves and what we want or need to reach, select studies in progressive order and specially how to be determined and persistent. Most of what the musicians know they learn by themselves and I think we can be used as a model for other areas of learning.

The use of technology in Music Education

In my country, Brazil,  we are facing now a big challenge in Music Education. Since 2008 Music became again part of school curriculum after banished around 40 years ago. What to teach and who is going to teach is still an opened question. Many EAD (something like Distance Education Course) opportunities are being given by universities to supply the demand of new teachers or to help them complete their specialties in the field. In this way the use of technology is essential and a primary force to engage these people in this new path.

On the other hand, what to teach is still being discussed and is a subject that each school can decide for itself. They can decide to teach instruments, to have music lectures, to present shows and concerts, to give lessons of music appreciation or even the exclusive use of technology to develop some music skills or knowledge.

My particular opinion is that we must use technology and traditional methods in equal balance. Following the same ideas discussed by the Edinburg-born cellist Peter Gregson, music and arts in general are activities that demand and develop social contact. As he mentions no computer program is able to tell the pupil how to hold an instrument, how to use the bow in a better and proper form, and I add that no computer program can show how to use your fingers, nails, arms and shoulders in a guitar or even a piano and many other instruments.

On the side of the human contact no device can stimulate encouragement, self-confidence and, above all, understand the human being sitting there with their fears, doubts, inquires, etc. A human teacher is an essential tool in education, in all areas.

In my work as guitar teacher I use technology to prepare my lessons. Much of the material that I need can be researched on the web and printed directly from there. The use of pre-recorded material, playbacks and other software’s make the tasks easier. Even when I study I prepare some things in a software like Encore to play together and have a more sense of technical development or as a preparation when I have to play in ensembles.

In general the use of technology can be well balanced if thought as tool and with an oriented use. Of course that there are special cases when the student has already a previous knowledge, self-confidence and has developed some criteria about his studies when the use of self-directed education can have good results. That’s essentially what we do in these MOOC’s.

Music Education in the Week 2 of The Place of Music in 21st Century Education - Universty of Sydney

I’ve just completed Week 2 of the MOOC “The place of Music in 21^st Century Education” presented by Dr. James Humberstone of the University of Sydney on the Coursera platform.

This week was in discussion the traditional methods and the new approaches in music education including the use of technology and the importance (or not) of teaching music theory indiscriminately to all people interested in learning music and those who have to do it in a regular basis inside a standard formal school.

Traditional music education usually considers that all the music students should make their formation in the basis of classical western music. This means to have a deep approach to music theory, learn a traditional acoustic instrument and be able to face the western music repertoire from the last five centuries, at least. In this model it is not taken in consideration whether or not the students want to play and practice music in this format and which is the repertoire that most pleases them somehow.

On the other hand, new approaches to music education aim to take in consideration to understand the students and have their opinion about what they want to play and work on the classrooms. This is the point of view of Lucy Green who defends an informal way of learning music with music theory in second plan and playing by listening in the first plan. More information can be viewed at http://earplaying.ioe.ac.uk/index.html.

In parallel the use of technology consists a strong part of music education and, with good use, a good tool in research and an endless fountain of help and ideas for the practice of music.

I follow much of the opinions of both, Lucy Green and Richard Gill, who was introduced to us in the last video. I understand, spread and use the idea that we, teachers, must be in touch with the musical taste of our students collecting their information about their preferences in musicians and repertoire and believe, as Mr. Gill says, that singing is essential to a good musical education. I insist that my popular guitar students sing and play as well.

Of course from what the students bring I select what is good or possible to play and introduce the stuff that I think would be good for their learning.

Technology makes an important role in this process. Thanks to this tool I can make easier researches, buy or print material from the Web and can use pre-recorded material such as playbacks or even the songs to give the chance to the students of playing as if they were part of a band or an ensemble.

In the case of repertoire, as I said, I see what they want, see how positive it can be, including the lyrics (if appropriated or not) but, in case of thinking in an instrument like the guitar, I try to include the basis of the practice of the instrument like scales, arpeggios, good posture and some pieces of the repertoire. As an example of this: if the student is not inclined to learn classical music and make essential studies of arpeggios or scales I will try to find popular music in which they can develop those skills.

All the points above refer to my work as a private teacher. This balance is harder to be reached when you work in a traditional school that follows the model of having classical music in the center of the studies even when it is clear that this is not what the students are inclined for and you are not making the main role in their education. That’s my case too.

Education in our times

I have just read two articles about education. One of them, written by Anna Cunningham named “Steiner schools should adopt modern reading methods” which appears on the website The Conversation verses about how, after a research, the author concludes that these schools should adopt forms of learning how to read that are used in standard schools in UK. According to her the methodology adopted in Steiner schools is bringing results that tend to be less effective in learning how to read well and even spelling. Other subject explored is about what happens when one child, one family or both do not match the philosophy of the school and the possibility of bullying when the child is not able to follow the school’s proposal.

The other article, written by Stephen Heppel in his own blog talks about an education that can be more instrumentalist. He claims that we should be worried about allowing students and teachers to be more proactive in terms of providing the world people more prepared to our challenges and that can be more useful in a modern society. In terms of his thoughts, technology and creativity develop a central role.

In my opinion and as a teacher schools should be able to provide both ways to students. In our modern world, technology can be a central part of apprenticeship if well used as we can see in the interview with Natalie See, principal of the Hilltop Road Public School in Maryland about the challenges and the results of doing so. This interview being part of the first week of Music and Education in XXI Century by University of Sydney - Coursera. Certainly children who are kept apart of this new world may find difficulties to adapt when confronted to it once probably they will have to live amongst a technological world. Maybe it is like someone who used to live in the country and is suddenly forced to live in the big city.

On the other hand, as it is justified in the interview with Virginia Moller, principal of the Kamaroi School (Australia), the creativity and social behavior provided in schools that follow Steiner’s philosophy or some pedagogy similar to is certainly another important tool in this technologic and industrialized world. We also need to foster these abilities to our students in order of preparing them to an ever-changing world with economic and social crises that overcome our capacities and bring us the need of surpassing new obstacles all the time.

Education in our times

I have just read two articles about education. One of them, written by Anna Cunningham named “Steiner schools should adopt modern reading methods” which appears on the website The Conversation verses about how, after a research, the author concludes that these schools should adopt forms of learning how to read that are used in standard schools in UK. According to her the methodology adopted in Steiner schools is bringing results that tend to be less effective in learning how to read well and even spelling. Other subject explored is about what happens when one child, one family or both do not match the philosophy of the school and the possibility of bullying when the child is not able to follow the school’s proposal.

The other article, written by Stephen Heppel in his own blog talks about an education that can be more instrumentalist. He claims that we should be worried about allowing students and teachers to be more proactive in terms of providing the world people more prepared to our challenges and that can be more useful in a modern society. In terms of his thoughts, technology and creativity develop a central role.

In my opinion and as a teacher schools should be able to provide both ways to students. In our modern world, technology can be a central part of apprenticeship if well used as we can see in the interview with Natalie See, principal of the Hilltop Road Public School in Maryland about the challenges and the results of doing so. This interview being part of the first week of Music and Education in XXI Century by University of Sydney - Coursera. Certainly children who are kept apart of this new world may find difficulties to adapt when confronted to it once probably they will have to live amongst a technological world. Maybe it is like someone who used to live in the country and is suddenly forced to live in the big city.

On the other hand, as it is justified by Virginia Moller, principal of the Kamaroi School (Australia) in her interview, the creativity and social behavior provided in schools that follow Steiner’s philosophy or some pedagogy similar to is certainly another important tool in this technologic and industrialized world. We also need to foster these abilities to our students in order of preparing them to an ever-changing world with economic and social crises that overcome our capacities and bring us the need of surpassing new obstacles all the time.