Villanova University/University of the Arts - Summer 2014
Course 734 M The Child Voice – Working with Young Voices
Pre Class Assignment
Joy Hirokawa, Instructor
Greetings!
I am very much looking forward to working with you for this class. It will be very experiential in
nature! I hope to challenge some assumptions, get you to think about things a little differently,
reexamine how you are doing things, share what you already are doing well, and give you lots of ideas
to try out! Be sure to read the syllabus thoroughly so that you understand the philosophical
underpinnings and objectives of the course. To start out, I would like you to…..
Consider the following:
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What is music?
Why is music important?
What do you want your students to believe about music when they leave you? Why?
What do you want your students to know about music when they leave you? Why?
Think about the following:
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Is singing important to teach in the classroom or does a choral opportunity provide enough
singing experience for young students?
Why do kids choose to sing or to resist singing?
What guides your choice of repertoire?
Think about your 3 – 5 most successful musical selections you have used with your choir.
What made them so successful? How do you know?
Is chorus a social outlet, or are you teaching them for lifelong musical engagement, or are
you preparing entertainment for the school? Is it important to define this? Does it matter?
What basis have you used to set up your choral ensembles? That is, what are the ensembles
and why did you choose to arrange them this way? If you could change them and arrange
them any way you wanted, how would you do so?
What is your role as a conductor of a chorus?
What is your approach to the rehearsal? What guides this approach?
Jot down your thoughts and be prepared to discuss them on the first day. Bring your notes
with you!
Now read the following summary of a history of music education philosophy:
From Ken Phillips Directing the Choral Music Program. Oxford University Press. 2004.
pp. 26 – 28 (the next two pages.)
…to give you some background on how we got to where we are today. (You do not have to answer
the study and discussions questions at the end.)
But there’s more……..
Now read the following:
from: An Orientation to Music Education by Richard Colwell (p. 92)
“One’s philosophy of music education affects both principles and objectives. Philosophy will determine
the relative emphasis placed upon objectives, the types of experiences chosen to reach the objectives,
and a rationale for what students receive instruction in music. Is the primary purpose of the program to
develop each individual to his or her fullest potential, or to raise the artistic competence of the entire
class? Each of these purposes implies different means of organizing instruction and different priorities
among the possible objectives.”
Applying this to a choral/vocal learning situation, one might translate the above as follows:
One’s philosophy of choral/vocal music education affects both principles and objectives. Philosophy
will determine the relative emphasis placed on music selection, the types of experiences chosen to learn
the music, and the rationale for what students are placed in various ensembles. Is the primary purpose
of the program to develop each individual to his or her fullest potential, or to raise the artistic
competence of the entire choir? Each of these purposes implies different means of organizing
instruction in the rehearsal and different priorities among the possible rehearsal strategies. (Translation
mine.)
How long has it been since you thought about your philosophy of teaching? How about your philosophy of
rehearsing, conducting, and generally leading your choir or classroom singers? Why might it be important to
reexamine this from time to time? Here is where we will begin our exploration of teaching our young students
about singing.
Now, go back and review all that you have noted for yourself in answering the opening questions. Do you see
any common themes emerging? A general direction?
The Assignment:
Part I: With the above in mind, consolidate your thoughts into a one page (double spaced) philosophy statement
of what you believe about teaching children about singing and about the choral experience for young singers.
Be concise, be clear, be passionate, be convincing. This will be 25% of your grade for the class.
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Email a copy to me by Friday, July 4 at midnight, and also bring a copy to class the first day to reference
in our discussion.
Be sure to include your name at the top of the assignment on the page.
Save the document as follows: Villanova.Last name Philosophy.
Put this as your subject line in your email.
My email is: joyhirokawa@comcast.net
Part II: Think about any burning questions you might have that you would like addressed during the week. I will
do my best to incorporate answers for you!
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Put these questions in the body of the email to which you attach your philosophy document.
Bring any additional questions to class!
Part III: Read the attached article by Sandra Snow and Hilary Apfelstadt. Mark sections, sentences, or
paragraphs that really resonate with you, as well as sections that you find confusing or unclear. What questions
does this reading raise for you?
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You should have received an email inviting you to join Edmodo for this class. If you did not, please
email me and I will send you an invite. This is a secure, private discussion board just for our class.
Briefly introduce yourself to the rest of the class in a post.
Feel free to post some of your thoughts relative to this article, or post questions for others to respond
to. Keep checking back to see what folks are saying. We will use this discussion board for the entire
week of class.
Part IV: Self-assess your piano skills. What do you feel comfortable doing at the keyboard? Do you play and
conduct? Have you used accompanists? Have they been volunteers or professionals? How comfortable are you
asking the accompanist for specifics? What sort of keyboard instruments do you use in the classroom as well as
in performance? Please bring a brief written statement summarizing your piano skills to class on the first day.
Part V: Select a song from your music library that you feel was particularly successful in your situation for your
singers. Think about why it was successful and how you knew it was successful.
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Be prepared to talk about your piece and share it with your classmates sometime during the week. The
times will be assigned.
Please bring 30 copies so we can all look at it when you present your piece. Not to worry! You are going
to be collecting them back! The copies are just for us to use in class.
Please include the title of your piece in the same email with the philosophy statement, along with the composer/arranger and
voicing, and the age group with which you used the piece.
To Summarize the email:
In the email you send me by July 4 at midnight, you should have:
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Burning questions in the body of the email
Title/composer/voicing of the piece you want to share with the class in the body of the email
Philosophy statement attached to the email, named Villanova.Last name.philosophy
The subject line named: Villanova.Last name.Philosophy
I look forward to meeting you in a few short weeks!
Joy
The following is from: Eunice Boardman, ed. Dimensions of Musical Learning and Teaching: A Different Kind of
Classroom. MENC 2002.