Jan Osburn

 

Every child is inherently musical.  It is my job to awaken and develop this potential.  The following are six basic progressions for organizing material that help facilitate successful learning.  They are not arranged in linear order and all tend to overlap each other, from year to year and grade to grade.  Each also is a cycle in itself rather than a linear progression (as in aural to written to aural).

SIMPLE TO COMPLEX: Each activity or concept is broken down to its most basic parts.  When one step is successfully mastered, the next is introduced.  Each activity is complete in itself, but is also preparation for the next level of difficulty.   The emphasis is on an immediately satisfying and successful experience that encourages further exploration.

IMITATION TO CREATION: Music education should reflect our most basic mode of learning practiced since infancy - imitation.   One person leads and the other follows.   After sufficient imitation, students are ready to "make it their own" through the invitation to create.   The opportunity to interpret, re-shape or extend any given material not only tests the depth of comprehension, but also allows the students to assume the role of teachers, sharing their own unique ideas with the class.

BODY TO INSTRUMENT: All musical elements are experienced physically in the body through body percussion, gesture, movement, dance and voice.   The playing of instruments are extensions of the kinesthetic and aural understanding of the body and mind.   This physical preparation not only serves to create a deeper musicality, but also is an appropriate channeling of children's abundant energy.

UNISON TO ORCHESTRA: The music class is a community experience.  Working as a group provides a cover for the initially shy student, gives energy to the event and provides supports to help students learn faster.   Once the group is comfortable with an activity, individual responses or splitting the group into two or more contrasting parts is a possible next step.

AURAL TO WRITTEN: Following the progression of learning language, we begin with the aural experience.   After considerable aural experience, notation, both traditional and graphic, can be introduced, both as a visual reinforcement of aural experiences and a key to remembering one's own compositions and playing others.

EXPERIENCE TO CONCEPT: Conceptual understanding always grows from an experiential base - first doing, then naming, then conceptualization of underlying principles.  Musical concepts serve to clarify, reinforce, deepen and extend musical experience.