Prompt #3

"The culturally competent teacher should be able to use a variety of assessment techniques appropriate to diverse learners and accommodate sociocultural differences that affect learning."

Music is not a language.  It has often been referred to as a "universal" language, in a poetic or metaphorical sense, but by itself, it is not a language.  There is no grammar to music.  No specific series of pitches, or rhythms, or any combination thereof, automatically or clearly represents any kind of person, place, thing or action.  There is, however, a method to the madness.  Music has a syntax:  a common group of recognizable patterns that give the music organization, style and form.  This syntax differs from culture to culture; they are all linked by some theoretical concepts, but musical syntax in Indian music, for example, is quite different from the syntax used in African music.  I am becoming a master of Western music.  I will be teaching students about Western music.  I will be teaching students the patterns, forms and styles that are common to Western music.  Lucky for me, seeing as my students here in the U.S. will by and large be exposed to Western popular music, we have a common ground to work from.  But, for myself, as a man so white that I'm almost clear, that common ground is still a little shaky.  I'm not a pop culture freak; I couldn't tell you what has been popular on the radio in the past month, much less the past few years.  What's a band geek to do?

The trick is to find out what music turns them on; what songs make them listen?  Pop music contains so many of the same, mostly simple, harmonic structures; as a listening tool, it could be very useful.  I guess I'll have to pull out my orbital mind reading lasers.  I'm sure I have them in the basement somewhere.  Or better yet...

Start the first class off at the beginning of the year with a survey, much the way Dr. Mattiauda did with our class.  Include some basic questions about themselves, questions about what styles of music they like most, questions about their favorite artists and their favorite songs.  Then, I can set students off trying to find three people in the class who answered questions on the survey the same they had.  There will be a lot of insight I could gain from breaking down those surveys.  Almost as much insight as I would gain from listening to the buzz in the classroom during the exercise.