Nicholas Busch

Dr. K. Veblen
Music 1800
12/11/2015
Zaffini, E. (2015). Using Informances in general music. General Music
Today, 28(2), 13-17. Doi:10.1177/1048371314555221

Zaffini introduces an interesting idea in this paper: informances.

Informances are ways students can express their learning process, and is
being used here as a substitute for performances. I never considered
classroom performances to be a problem for teachers, but now that I am
considering the work it takes to put on a successful concert, I can understand
Zaffinis point. I still believe that concerts hold some value to students, since
performing for a large crowd is not something that you can easily emulate in
a classroom and is more of an experience than a test. Of course it is possible
for a student to show what they know without performing, but there is more
to performing than just being judged.
Zaffini uses the quote concerts can easily crowd out the aims and
goals for the class, which is understandable. There is a lot more to music
than just performing, but performing for a crowd is a key aspect of music.
Without that aspect introduced to students in the class, many of them may
never be properly introduced to musical performance and may never
develop a love for it. The way Zaffini portrays informances makes it seem like

this is more for the parents than for the students, to show them what goes
on in the classroom. That is always a good thing for parents to know, but that
is why we have parent-teacher interviews. He even admits that this is more
for the parents than the children, when he says I am a proponent of
informances because they help enlighten community members and those
making budgetary decisions for our classrooms. Musicians need to work
under pressure, and taking the pressure off so that the teacher can teach a
public lesson does not substitute for holding a performance.
I am glad that Zaffini outlines how informances apply to the four
overarching standards of Creating, Performing, Responding, and Connecting,
because I wasnt sure from reading the first two pages of this article how this
can benefit the student at all. At first glance the introduction to informances
seems like a way for teachers to get lazy and not properly prepare a concert
and justify their jobs to the parents. I now however, see the benefit to the
students. I still believe that this does not substitute for a concert, and that
this could be held prior to a concert to highlight how much the music has
improved since the informance.
If I could ask Zaffini anything it would be what is your beef with
performances? I still see no problem with having mandatory concerts for
music classes, and I see only benefit to the students and parents. I did not
enjoy this article very much as I still do not see the justification of
informances replacing performances.