Overview:
Music has been considered important academic discipline for several centuries. The Ancient Greeks considered music to be an integral of a liberal arts education and placed it within the quadrivium subjects (arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy) to be taught after the trivium (grammar, logic, and rhetoric). In the United States, music is a core subject in the curriculum. Studying the history of music and the origins of music education helps us understand how our current study of music is different from or similar to other periods.
Objectives:
Students will be able to:
- Examine and describe the history of elementary school music curriculum in the United States,
- Describe the rationale for the inclusion of music in the elementary school curriculum,
- Identify the early influences on the development of elementary general music in the United States,
- Identify and describe the principles of early educators, including Johann Pestalozzi, Hans Georg Nägeli, and Lowell Mason,
- Identify the differences between early public school music education and contemporary programs.
Module Summary
This module defined elementary general music education, described the rationale behind its inclusion into contemporary education and covered the historical development of elementary general music education. The study of early influences on elementary general music and the earliest form of public school music developed by Lowell Mason and his contemporaries provides a foundation for understanding the changes that have taken place over the past 150 years.
Key figures in the earliest days of elementary music education include Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, Hans Georg Nägeli, and Lowell Mason, considered the father of music education in the United States. Mason’s writings and publications of singing school texts are still studied in the present day.
Studying the foundations and development of elementary general music can improve the way you perceive your motivations for becoming a music educator and the way you perceive public education. In this course, you will participate in a variety of class assignments, improve awareness of your personal communication strengths and weaknesses, and develop a plan to improve your teaching skills. As you practice these skills, you will complete a journal and assignments that will broaden your perspective on the study of elementary general music and help you consider its relevance to your future.