Repositioning The Elements: How Students Talk about Music

Leslie Stewart Rose and June Countryman

The article point out the phenomenon in North America of the wrong pedagogy in music
education.
It is true that music education is dominated by classical european music. Eurocentric way of
thinking about music as mentioned in the first paragraph under the title Naming the elements as a
framework of dominance, that is the dominated pedagogy in North America. The elements of
European music may not all be applicable on other music, for example African Music. Whats more,
if music classes only focus on one genre, the opportunity for students to explore and appreciate
other music will be deprived.
Asking students about what they heard can be another version of the elements as mentioned
in the article. Thinking in a different way, the elements of music can become an assistant for
students to express what they here from a piece of music. The elements can also help students to
understand why would the music sound in that way and what is the reason to involve that element.
Also, the elements may also assist the students to listen to the music more in-depth. That could
inspire students to think more the reason for the composer to write the music, the emotions of
the composer, and the images or message delivered when the music is played.
The effective way for student to learn and appreciate music is to lead them to explore more about
different kinds of music and ask for their own thoughts about music. Interested in music, students
will try to discover more from music and learning elements will be helpful to understand. As pointed
out by the writers,students built connection and community through many affirmations of shared
resonance that accrued from collective music listening open-ended, student-directed, inquirybased listening sessions. For example, writing a concert report is a practical way to understand
music because students need to express their own feelings and opinion about the concert with
what they heard. On the other hand, the educators should encourage students to attend different
performances every time, for example, operas, Chinese Orchestras, Classical Orchestras, and pop
concerts etc. . The more they explore, the more they learn.
The elements of music are necessary during the process of learning music. Those elements,
however, should not be the main focus of the courses. Instead, music appreciation is a more
significant element to be taught. Meanwhile, the elements of music can be used to support
students thoughts of music.