Maine Motif Issue 2, Vol. II (Winter, 2018) | Page 19

C: You have a Master’s Degree in Kodály Methodology, so you could have easily
created your own curriculum for Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 1, but you mostly
use John Feierabend’s First Steps in Music: Preschool and Beyond. What is it that
you like about First Steps?
K: I like that First Steps is a sequential, research-based framework, and the
components within the First Steps framework are essential for helping students
develop fundamental musical skills. First Steps has helped frame my thinking. It
affirmed some of the things that I knew to be true or I thought were true about the
musical experience I wanted my students to have, and it gave me a framework to
work from.
First Steps helps students to think about being a musical person. Music becomes
something that is for everyone, and definitely much more than just a class at school.
It allows you the opportunity to share what it feels like to be a part of a musical
community. I also appreciate that the curriculum doesn’t tell me what I have to do.
It’s a recipe, but it’s not a necessity. First Steps is not a one-size-fits-all solution for
every teacher, however in my experience it has provided an opportunity for many
authentic musical experiences. There is flexibility within the “workout” that allows
me to select quality repertoire based on the needs and interests of my students. This
includes the opportunity for cross-curricular connections to strengthen student
learning!
It gives a lot of flexibility. And there are a lot of resources through the First Steps
community and the Feierabend Fundamentals [Facebook] page. There is a large
group of people who want to have the discussion about quality education for our
students. It also helps to establish routine. My kids know what to expect when they
come into the music room. I use consistent language throughout all of the pieces. I
know other curricula have that, but what I’ve found with First Steps, and tuneful,
beatful, artful, is that it’s kid-friendly, it’s adult-friendly….it…
C: It makes the abstract somewhat tangible.
K: Yeah! You can say tuneful, beatful, and artful, but what does that mean? It’s
telling kids we’re not just singing songs and playing games. Tuneful musicians create
their own tunes. Tuneful musicians sing lullabies to their children. Getting them to
think beyond “Singing is fun, and that’s why we’re doing it,”… which is great! That’s
a big piece of what we do. You know, I struggled with the artful part. How do you
explain that? How do you discuss emotions? So you don’t have to necessarily discuss