Musicians have gained valuable information on how to perform or study music through examination of history. Bela Bartok in his speech given at a Harvard lecture series discussed at length the importance of understanding the concept of the “Specious Present.” In the 1940’s when Mr. Bartok spoke to his audience it took great academic precision to present the concept of the “Specious Present.” He did not have access to the many wondrous films and videos that within an instant make known and clear what the experience of the “Specious Present” is, the ability to imagine one’s self in detail in a different time period.
“Specious Present” bends space and time as that a human being may gain insight of experiences, events, and occurrences from different time periods. In bringing forth the past, there is always a danger of the abuse of history. For the aforementioned reason, I would like to develop a means for both teacher and student to become aware of the potential as well as to increase the teaching of history within the context of music in the classroom.
As a music teacher, one of my goals in the classroom is to create a means for each student to have the “Specious Present” experience. While all art forms contain elements of the “Specious Present” effect, film and video are by far the most natural medium to convey its portent to students. Through the combination of study of film, music and history together, the “Specious Present” experience becomes more than just an abstract concept that is talked about by artists, composers, and academicians. It becomes a visceral approach that students can learn and relate to all forms of study.
The evolution of this type of teaching strategy is based on my experiences in teaching academic skills through an interdisciplinary approach. While at first glance, presenting to students how math, music, history, and science can be learned together as a single activity might give the appearance of being time consuming for teachers and disorienting for students, experience has presented the opposite to be true.
When many disciplines are used in combination to teach a specific set of academic skills, students have the means to think creatively and critically about what they have learned. Too often students are afraid to think and learn for themselves. This is due to fear of not giving the right answers on tests or performing poorly on homework and class assignments. With the use of the interdisciplinary approach, students choose their personal paths of learning that relate to the subject being taught that best work for them as well as seeing and being exposed to the different ways people think about a single idea, concept or academic skill presented in the classroom setting.
The central theme or concept of “ Specious Present “ that binds all disciplines together in the development of this unit is to have students gain an understanding of different time periods as they relate to the present times of which they are aware, and how our personal views opinions can either obscure or provide insight as to understanding their past.
In terms of the use of films and books in this curriculum unit, students shall explore the “truth” that is presented in the pursuit of their understanding of musical history. As students in the classroom, the “Specious Present” of each composer , they will have an experience that becomes the timeless lesson of discovery. An example of this way of teaching might be best described in the following classroom experience. Students often think that when they hear the Classical composers piano music of that he played his pieces on a grand piano.
Just for fun, in your classroom, ask the question, did Mozart perform on a grand piano? Students that have seen the movie “Amadeus”, (which was taken from the play by Peter Shaffer and was turned into a film by Milos Forman), might have observed part of the answer. Students might respond “ no, he played on a spinet piano.” Some students might say, “ Mozart performed of his works on the harpsichord.” Some students might not have known about Mozart at all and might have thought “ oh yes, I saw Mozart perform on stage at Lincoln Center with the New Philharmonic. “ These are actual answers to this question asked in my classroom.
After describing this scenario, the teacher presents a film clip from the movie “Amadeus. “ Students shall be asked to keep a journal of all of what they see. ( In my class, students are allowed to write observations during the viewing ) . Students are also asked to watch for the type of instrument that Mozart plays in the film clip. In the film “Amadeus” , there is footage of one of Mozart’s Piano Concertos played on a Pianoforte and Orchestra No. 27 in B flat Major.
After showing this film clip and some additional discussion the teacher presents information that becomes the “Specious Present” to which this unit often refers. In Salzburg, at Mozart’s birth place, they have turned his house of birth into a museum. In that house, there is the Pianoforte that Mozart owned and sometimes performed concerts for the Court of the Archbishop of Salzburg. There is also a Harpsichord that Mozart owned along with his Violin and Viola on display at his house. The students that have seen this film clip have reached the escape velocity of their own opinions to discover the past as a vast, unexplored continuum of images and possibilities, which are different from what they might have assumed previously.
Once the “Specious Present” effect is introduced in to the classroom, other types of questions of similar kind can be used to teach music history. Such as: What kind of keyboard instrument did J.S. Bach play on ? Did he play on more than one type keyboard instrument? Did Mozart play on more than one type of keyboard instrument, if so, what were they ? Is J.S. Bach from the same musical time period as Mozart ? This might be a homework assignment given after the showing of a film clip .
In the following pages, the teaching of music through its relationship to history, combined with the use of film, video and the “Specious Present” as an “interdisciplinary approach” lends itself to the adaptation for all grades and needs. While this particular unit is designed primarily for High School students, I would encourage teachers of all grade levels to explore ways that this material can be adapted for their classroom . The strategies, goals and procedures to implement the above mentioned teaching method shall be covered in more detail later on in the unit.
I have attempted to address the needs of different grade levels as most teachers work with a variety of levels within a particular school setting. For example, a music teacher assigned to an elementary school might work with kindergarten through fifth grade. There might also be a class or two of students with special needs I have taught in the New Haven School system as a permanent substitute and I loved it. As permanent sub, I was given extra responsibilities such as bus duty, the extended day program, and the Metropolitan Opera’s “Create Your Own Opera Program” at Strong Elementary School. I have also been a substitute music teacher at both Nathan Hale Elementary School and at Katharine Brennan Elementary School.
I am currently teaching part-time at the New Haven Cooperative Arts and Humanities Magnet High School of the Performing Arts. I teach Chamber Music, ( where I have had Flute, Piano, and Cello Trio which has performed for audiences around the local region of the State of Connecticut and a special program done in cooperation in the arts with The Yale University School of Music. The Trio performed during that program for The Honorable Richard Riley, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education visit on 3/19/98 ); General Music, which also had a performing ensemble component where all student of that class performed in a symphonic group, some for the fist time in front of a conductor; Music Theory, Instrumental Strings: violin, viola, cello, bass, guitar, electric bass and guitar, as well as introductory piano.
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I was also the Director for the Yale University February Vacation “Winter Music Camp” at Yale School of Music, where Coop students attended rehearsals, coachings, performances and other special classes at the Yale School of Music; I was also The Coordinator of the Teachers’ Institute Resource Center within Coop High School, which in its first year achieved exemplary status as a center.
I have been Viola soloist with the Hamden and Cheshire Symphony Orchestras. I was a member of the 92th Street “Y” Chamber Music Society. I also teach at Neighborhood Music School Violin, Viola, Piano, and Jazz Improvisation. The above mentioned experiences serve to demonstrate the use of an “interdisciplinary approach” within the context of a public school setting.
This Seminar is part four of the first curriculum unit “Teaching Academic Skills Through the Exploration of Music” from the Seminar “Film and Literature”. This unit has some direct relation to the fourth unit as it is involves the combination of both film and another discipline .
The Second unit is “ Seeing and Learning Astronomy and Cosmology Though the Lens of Music “ which was taken from the Seminar “Outstanding Problems in Contemporary Astronomy and Cosmology”. This unit’s main focus was on the relationship of teaching science, math and music together.
The Third unit is “ The Guide Through Culture to the Blues “ was developed from the Seminar “The Blues Impulse” . This seminar explored Afro-American History and its relationship to music.
The Seminar “ The Use and Abuse of History in Film and Video “ has provided me with exposure to ways of teaching history and music in a integrated way as to develop academic skills. All of the units can be used together or individually. Units can also be used as a guide for interdisciplinary team of teachers. The team approach might have benefits for both disciplines or what ever size team is assembled. Each teacher in the team might find that by working on a central concept together of each of their shared goals will be to the benefit of the students. As each teacher is reinforcing the same concept through differing disciplines.
To accomplish the teaching of the above three disciplines mentioned above, I would start by having each student experience the development of language of film and music. Writing skills shall be addressed through documentation skills in the form of a journal. As a transition plan to support reading and writing skills the teacher using this unit might want to develop the lesson plan with an English teacher, who might be able to explore key concepts that are central to both disciplines.
Through class assignments and activities the teacher might want to have in mind key skills that each student will identify as being developed at the end of each session.