GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF A MUSICAL TRAINING
Jo?o Carlos Almeida – Music Teacher
"It is by living in society that we become social beings.
It is by living with other cultures that our horizons widen.
It is by living with others - living together – that we can elect one or the one with whom we share our life.
So, it is obvious that will be by the experience of music that we will form musicians.
The musical code is not music, but only one of the possible intermediates between the creator and the performer"
(Pinheiro, 1999: 20).
The first thing I learned in the workshop "New Perspectives for Music Education, Discussion and Practice" in February 1998, under Professor Jo?o Pinheiro, was that there are numerous advantages in using musical repertoire (classical music, music traditional, jazz or other music, as discussed below). The advantages of using musical repertoire in music education are, in short, the work with solfeggio sung in a more real way and more playful (but not less serious) and, at the same time, the contribution to the enlargement of the musical culture of the students.
I advocate a sequence of learning that seems natural, implicit in the design of music teaching advocated by Zoltán Kodály and later referred by Edwin Gordon, which is the following: listening, singing, reading, writing. According to these pedagogues, musical theory only should appear after the musical practice.
According to Jo?o Pinheiro (1993, 1999, 2000), Margarida Fonseca Santos (2006), Ana Maria Ferr?o and Paul Rodrigues (2008), Cristina Brito da Cruz (2010), among many other authors, sensory experience of musical phenomena must precede all other steps, because "the child's musical development processes primarily through sensory interactions" (Ferr?o & Rodrigues, 2008: 60). Therefore, as Pinheiro (1999: 19), one must learn the musical language in the same order that you learn the mother tongue, which is, "listen - speak - read - write".
Pinheiro (1999: 19) argues, questioning whether it is possible to teach someone to play a musical instrument before that person knows how to listen to. Questions still as can foster the development of the inner hearing, fundamental quality of a musician, if it focuses on the reading instead of the true hearing. He also asks about memory, essential attribute for a musician. Then, and after comparing the learning of musical language with other apprenticeships, concludes that "all learning involves several steps, that in certain very specific situations may undergo some changes: 1st The experience 2nd The awareness 3rd The analytical and rational understanding 4th The autonomy in reusing "(Pinheiro, 1999: 20).
The set of all these experiences, gathered and processed throughout life, will enable, later, to collect various income. For example, Pinheiro (1999: 20) states that "when interpreting or creating, we are using an entire cultural heritage that we were assimilating lifelong, voluntarily or not, and that helps us create references in our sense aesthetic and artistic result." Therefore, according to Pinheiro (1999: 21), "the interpreter have to be necessarily a 'consumer' of musical works before being a 'user' of the musical code. If he does not hear himself, how he may be its most rigorous judge of their interpretation?". If he does not hear himself, how may he be his most rigorous judge of their interpretation?". Moreover, he concludes, it seems to be a huge nonsense to prefer the visual training to hearing training in the process of formation of a musician.
According to the above, in planning the lessons, after determining the objectives to be achieved, we must pay particular attention to activities that appear to be able to provide an experience and a fruitful practice of music to the students - the call to cognition, to the musical consciousness, appears only at a later stage. The activities proposed in a plan should be directed to help students in their musical education in the broadest sense. This means a list of skills and knowledge that students should acquire especially while they are still young, holders of a remarkable storage capacity. Essentially, it must be given to the students the opportunity of learning music through hearing, through singing and through musical interpretations. Which song must be sung? On this issue, Cruz (2010: 17-18) states that she believes "that can only be imparting knowledge about the music that the teacher knows in depth, the teacher have experienced, the music that has been experienced and studied. [...] That music which the teacher dominates, from a technical and musical point of view, the music that this teacher enjoy and that learned "to transmit', playing and giving to listen." Cruz (2010: 17) also mentions, negatively, the imposition of reading to the students before they are prepared musically to do so, especially in the instrument classes, even in vocational education of music. However, continues the author, without hearing and without musical understanding (inner hearing and musical intelligence to Kodály; audiation to Gordon), the instrumental reading is in danger of becoming a mechanical exercise"(id.; ibid).
I believe, therefore, that the priority should be given to the oral strategies that appear to be able to provide potentially important experiences in the musical growth of the students, including strategies in which the singing takes a leading role. According to Santos (2006: 60), "the singing, the song, the harmonic and timbric experience, [that] are true drivers of motivation of musical learning, should not be overlooked." For this reason should be given particular attention and a very great importance to the sensory strategies in a hearing level. In this point, Cruz (2010: 18-19) argues that
"[...] Helping to hear orally, singing, sensorially, allows the realization of a greater number of activities per class. On time, reading notation and writing will be introduced much more quickly because the musical work was done sensorially, the musical skills were developed, the skills acquired and the knowledge consolidated.”
Oral strategies are not only potentially more motivating, they are also quite effective. Therefore they help to a greater level of student motivation. However, it appears more difficult to implement, either because it is not 'only' to implement technical exercises, or for demanding enough commitment from the teacher - the preparation, concentration and performance in class, and analysis of results. However, in this case I believe that the end justifies the means.
I conclude that the general basic objectives of a sustainable, effective and useful musical training are: to develop hearing acuity; to develop the ability to memorize and listen inwardly; to develop the ability to feel and keep the pulse; to develop their sense of pitch; to develop the ability to express themselves musically (taking into account the epoch and the style of the composer; the character, movement and the time signature; dynamics, articulation, among other characteristics of a given musical work); to contribute to the enrichment of the musical culture of the students; to develop the ability to make music individually and in groups; to develop the ability to hear the other and himself (herself).
In short, a music teacher should always take into account the following long-term goal: to contribute to increasing autonomy (of the students) in the approach / study of a musical work.
One of the principles that should guide the planning is the diversification of the strategies. In achieving a certain goal up through various strategies, it is intended that the sessions have more interest, because they are more varied. I believe, therefore, students are better prepared because rehearsed several ways to achieve the intended objectives. On the other hand, one goes out to the students who have more difficulties in acquiring particular knowledge or competence through a particular strategy.
Similarly, one should seek to diversify the musical activities to propose, suggesting composition activities, literature, hearing, acquisition of skills and performance, according to the 'concept' of C(L)A(S)P[1], created by Keith Swanwick (1991: 47). On this subject, Ana Maria Ferr?o and Paulo Rodrigues (2008: 60) point out that "the same musical activity - that is, the same experience to the sound level and its timbric, rhythmic, melodic and expressive components, - [is] likely to produce different reactions in children and have more or less significant impact on his musical maturity." They also consider the way the teacher intervenes as well as the musical environment created by him. That is, "his attitudes as a performer, with relation to creative capacities, communication and expression. [...] These attitudes may make the way children relate to music" (Id.; ibid.).
A variety of processes can, therefore, help to break certain routines. By way of example it is cited Santos (2006: 57), who states "that we can - and we should! - whenever possible, vary the harmonies." As indicated Ferr?o and Rodrigues (2008: 60), it would appear, therefore, advantageous to offer children diverse musical sessions, regarding the use of resources, the implemented strategies, to the focus on the elements of musical language and to the times of day-to-day in which music plays an integral and integrating function, "because children do not grow all equally and in the same direction – even though they experience similar experiences and processes" (id.; ibid.).
Nevertheless, the consolidation of knowledge and skills acquired has to be always into account under penalty of the students do not take advantage of the important musical experiences which were done.
Another principle we must consider is to teach and to learn by comparison. I agree with Santos (2006: 60) who states that if the students learn by comparison, they will learn better (the notions of major / minor mode, binary / ternary time division, tonic / dominant / sub-dominant, melodies that enter on time or in anacruse, among others).
Finally, I believe in the interconnecting of the music with other arts, such as literature, dance, drama and painting. I believe that in this way the process of teaching and learning is richer, and the degree of involvement, and therefore the level of student motivation is greater. In this regard, Santos (2006: 56) states that
"[...] it is through the interconnection between the various arts that will come the true artistic education. Projects covering music, dance, writing, drama, visual arts are very rich in learning and allow each child involved to make its contribution in one or more areas, leaving to get involved in the whole process."
[1] C(L)A(S)P - English acronym designed by the music teacher Keith Swanwick, whose initials mean Composition, literature studies, Audition, Skill acquisition and Performance (Swanwick, 1991: 42).