BEETHOVEN IS KNOCKING!
Beethoven said, “Music is the electrical soil in which the spirit
lives, thinks, and invents.” Today’s research says Beethoven was
right! Connections made from and with music are powerful, cross
brain hemispheres, and allow for depth and breadth of
understanding.
I have been teaching music integrated lessons for 15 years, both
with my students at Texas Tech University as examples of how to
incorporate music in their future classrooms and to the
elementary schools I serve as a Teaching Artist each week. While
still in my undergraduate, I had the honor to study at a summer
workshop with Bonnie Boyd, flute professor from Eastman. While
there, I had the pleasure of taking an elective class with Gary Karr,
world-renowned bassist. He shared with us ways to “take music
to the people.” Ever since, I have been on a mission to open
doors through the integration of music.
The most rewarding challenge, I feel in Teaching Artistry, is using
authentic quality music literature, whether that be art/classical,
world, or traditional children’s music. And yes, I’m a selfproclaimed “music snob.” I find little creative performance
satisfaction by using many of the songs that are often used in
classrooms to teach core concepts.
For example, “piggyback songs,” which are known melodies with
changed lyrics appropriate to a certain topic -think the ABC songare popular. The well known “Clementine” is then changed to
“Evaporation, condensation, precipitation all around.
Accumulation, evaporation, the water cycle goes round and
round.”
While this song is fine and does incorporate music, how much
IMAGINATION is included in this song? More importantly, how
much inspired