It's been 25 years since I started my undergraduate degree in music education, way back in 1989. As I have worked with student teachers over the years, I'm learning more and more that what is being taught in college classrooms is somewhat different than what I was taught 25 years ago in my undergrad collegiate music classes. Quality music-making is still at the forefront but changes at the federal level in our country have trickled down have forced changes across education from the college level, down through primary schools. I learned some invaluable lessons in college 25 years ago that have stuck with me throughout my career.
1) How to write scales
Dr. William Holda at Kilgore College taught my first semester of Music Theory. The first thing he made us do was write, yes, hand write all of the scales (major and minor) in treble and bass clef. We would have to notate them all with the sharps and flats, not just in the key signature, and turn them in for a grade. If we made mistakes, we had to redo them until they were all correct. What I know now that I didn't know then was you have to have this information at the tips of your fingers at all times. It is one of the most important pieces of knowledge every musician should know. Dr. Holda made sure we knew our scales.
2) How to Listen
Aural Skills take a lifetime to perfect. I learned early on what to listen for and the importance of being able to recognize intervallic relationships. Melodic dictation was one of the hardest classes for me but I can attest that the more you practice writing and singing these intervals, the easier it gets. At age 26, I taught Pre K-2nd grade general music and it was that experience that helped me begin to solidify those relationships in my own voice.
Not only did I learn how to sing but I learned how the voice worked. One of my all time favorite classes in college was Vocal Pedagogy. The late Dr. David Jones taught us about our instrument, how it works, how it made up of muscle, cartilage, and bone. The vocal mechanism is an enigma and Dr. Jones taught us everything we needed to know about how to use it properly.
4) How to Conduct a Choir
My first conducting teacher, Terry Eder, made sure we knew what we were supposed to do with our hands. It was our job to communicate everything to the choir, non verbally. We had to show them what to do through gesture. Dr. Eder made us conduct with metal washers on our hands, practice patterns in front of mirrors, and always use a baton. He taught us the nuts and bolts of conducting: patterns, cueing, cut-offs, and showing dynamics. Charles Smith, my major doctoral professor, took that knowledge to a new level by videoing our conducting lessons and forcing us to be expressive with our gesture. Dr. Smith always wanted us to think about our gesture choices and be sure that they had a purpose. We weren't just "casting spells" while we were waving our arms around, we were helping to shape the sound through movement.
It's hard to imagine that there was a time before Eric Whitacre, but there was. All of my collegiate professors loved similar composers. In 9 years of college I was privileged to get to sing some of the greatest music ever written for choirs: J.S Bach motets and cantatas, Mozart masses & requiem, Brahms waltzes & quartets, Bernstein psalms, Monteverdi madrigals, Verdi choruses, Britten dances, Orff master pieces, and so much more. Getting to perform this music was an education in itself and something I will always be grateful for.
6) People Skills
Most importantly, I learned how to get along with many different kinds if people. I grew up in the south, earned my undergraduate degree in the south and then earned my post graduate degree in the north. Learning to work with, listen to, be around, and get along with many different types of people was so valuable to my young life. I was a different person then, unrefined, simple, and silly (still am). I learned so much from the people I was fortunate to study/sing with: Steve Bristow, Cynthia Douglas, Tod Fish, Andrew Skoog, Mike Bultman, Sean Wallace, David Hein, Judy Kabodian, Joe Bentley, John Bragle, Rich Bell, Jon Jenz, and so many others..... Being a strong manager of people is an important trait for a high school teacher, even more so for a choir director.
I have taught 1/2 of my career, here's to the next 15 years.....
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