I have ordered this unit to be the final unit in this project because it should be seen as a culmination of the work put forth in the previous three units. The purpose of the unit is to help the teacher rethink choices they make in a very broad sense throughout the school year. The unit works best when efforts are made to refocus “what” we teach and not as much “how” we teach. Simply adding a piece or two to a concert program that represents diversity is nice, but broadening the curriculum, giving voice to counter-narratives and amplifying under-represented communities should be seen as the ultimate goal of our pedagogy if we are truly seeking an egalitarian society in which all are equal stakeholders in all successes and failures within that society.
These are original arrangements that I composed for the middle school-level string musician. In my years of teaching this age bracket I have found it difficult to find arrangements that allowed me to teach my students in a manner that met their ability level where they are at this point in their development. Repertoire should be seen firstly as a vehicle for developing musicianship. All too often we see students attempting pieces that are too far above their musical ability too early in their studies. Sure, parents want to hear Beethoven’s 5th Symphony in c minor or Mozart’s 40th Symphony in g minor. This is done all too often at the expense of the music as it was written for master level performers. As a solution, some educators opt for a watered-down arrangement of these great works that compromised the integrity of the exercise of learning the masterwork in the first. When our students take the stage, it is time to put on display the fruits of the labor that one acquires through the study of music. It should sound beautiful and, at times, not so beautiful as they are beginners. I wrote these arrangements with this goal in mind. Because of the parameters I used in composing these arrangements, students should gain command over the content with steady progress and positive reinforcing experiences in pursuit of mastering them. Furthermore, the students should be given background on each piece and the stories behind them. This will ensure that the music will connect with the students’ lives outside of the rehearsal room, as they might tell these stories to family members (music as social praxis). This will also provide an opportunity to dialog about history, race, and counter-narratives within our society.
Remember: Search. Program. Perform. Repeat...