+ All Categories
Home > Documents > Gordon Approach

Gordon Approach

Date post: 01-Sep-2014
Category:
Upload: logan-bloom
View: 122 times
Download: 1 times
Share this document with a friend
Popular Tags:
24
Logan Bloom Active Approach: Edwin E. Gordon
Transcript
Page 1: Gordon Approach

Logan Bloom

Active Approach: Edwin E. Gordon

Page 2: Gordon Approach

Biographical Information

Edwin Elias Gordon (1925- ) is a contemporary researcher, pedagogue, lecturer,

and theorist in the realm of music education. His work is considered to be as influential

as that of Dalcroze, Kodaly, Orff, and Suzuki. He focuses on the psychology behind

music education on the basis of audiation and aptitude. He has written numerous books,

scholarly articles, and 6 highly regarded musical aptitude tests (Gordon Institute for

Music Learning).

Gordon studied at the Eastman School of Music where he earned his bachelor’s

degree in string bass performance in 1952 and master’s degree in 1953 (South Carolina

University Libraries). He got a job playing bass in Gene Krupa’s band and continued on

to earn his Ph.D. from the University of Iowa in 1958 (GIML). In the following years, he

held positions as a Professor of Music at the State University of New York at Buffalo and

the University of Iowa. In 1955 he earned a master’s degree in education from The Ohio

University (SCUL). Later on, he was made Professor of Research in Music Education at

Temple University in Philadelphia from the years 1979 to 1997 where he received both

the Lindback Award and Great Teacher Award from the school (GIML).

Gordon has been featured on the NBC Today Show, in the New York Times, and

in USA Today (GIML). Some of his most prominent works include Learning Sequences

in Music: Skill, Content, and Patterns (1997), Study Guide for Learning Sequences in

Music: Skill, Content, and Patterns (1997), A Music Learning Theory for Newborn and

Young Children (1997), Introduction to Research and the Psychology of Music (1998),

Page 3: Gordon Approach

Rhythm: Contrasting the Implications of Audiation and Notation (2000), and Preparatory

Audiation, Audiation, and Music Learning Theory: A Handbook of a Comprehensive

Music Learning Sequence (2001) (SCUL). Gordon often states in the preface or

introduction to his writings that he attempts to avoid using the words “the”, “a”, and

“that”. Examples of this can be found in the foreword to Roots of Music Learning Theory

and Audiation (Roots of Music Learning Theory and Audiation 2) and the preface of

Untying Gordian Knots (Untying Gordian Knots 3).

Gordon has an immense appreciation for improvisation, stemming from his

experience touring with Gene Krupa. He relates it to language in teaching in that it does

not necessarily require notation as an aid. It allows children to make their own music on a

more human level (Pinzino 4).

Gordon discovered he has a great respect for children by conducting research and

doing the teaching himself in order to understand it. He maintains that the most important

work he has done throughout his career is working with children. He strives to cultivate

an understanding for the way children learn in order for future teachers to be as effective

as possible (Pinzino 5).

Gordon is known as and considers himself mainly invested in the areas of

research and theory and less in philosophy. However, his work reflects a strong

philosophy that all humans are capable of valuing music. One of his main focuses in his

research and teaching is testing for musical aptitude. Gordon contends in A Music

Learning Theory for Newborn and Young Children, “because a day does not pass without

a child's hearing or participating in some music, it is to a child's advantage to understand

music as thoroughly as she can” (A Music Learning Theory for Newborn and Young

Page 4: Gordon Approach

Children 2) (GIML).

Pedagogy

Edwin Gordon’s work is highly regarded as equal among the likes of Zoltán

Kodály, Émile Jaques-Dalcroze, and Carl Orff. His research and pedagogical methods are

unique among these major figures in the world of music education. Gordon’s methods

reflect the philosophy that all humans should be capable of understanding and performing

music to some degree. Gordon’s pedagogical methods revolve around musical aptitude,

audiation, and music learning theory. These concepts work together to build the

foundation of Edwin Gordon’s pedagogical methods.

Gordon developed a series of musical aptitude tests to make sure students receive

a music education appropriate for their individual ability and interest in music. He uses it

to identify what students already know or have learned and what they still need to learn

about music. He clarifies that the aptitude tests should not be used to prevent a student

from studying music, but rather to put that student’s natural ability in music into a

quantitative figure and to help parents and teachers make unbiased decisions about the

depth to which the student participates in music. Gordon contends that there is a

difference between music aptitude and music achievement. It is important to distinguish

that music aptitude is a form of potential energy, while music achievement is energy that

has already been released. In other words, music achievement is any knowledge of music

that a student already possesses or musical tasks that he or she has already accomplished.

Music aptitude is a student’s calculated capability of skills in the field of music. It is

affected by environmental circumstances (Introduction to Research and the Psychology

Page 5: Gordon Approach

of Music 4-5). Going beyond the idea of general music aptitude, Gordon categorizes

music aptitude into two subcategories: stabilized music aptitude and developmental

music aptitude.

Gordon contends that between birth and age nine, a student’s music aptitude can

fluctuate. It can change for a child based on the circumstances of the child’s surrounding

environment. After age nine, the aptitude becomes stabilized. This is not to say the

student stops learning anything more about music after age nine. The only change is that

the level of natural ability in the student becomes constant.

Developmental music aptitude is the fluctuating stage of music aptitude that

occurs before age 9. During the development of The Musical Aptitude Profile, Gordon

administered the aptitude tests for meter and phrasing to a group of approximately 150

children between the ages of six and eight in Ottumwa, Iowa. The scores were compared

with those of a group of sixth graders who took the same tests, only the six, seven, and

eight year olds were allowed a parent to help them understand the directions and fill in

the answer sheet in the correct format. The scores were similar, but the circumstances

were different. Based on the data from the test results, Gordon determined that using the

same tests with children younger than nine as with children older than 9 is inappropriate

(The Nature, Description, Measurement, and Evaluation of Music Aptitudes 45). The

concept of developmental music aptitude states that there are factors relating to the age

and physical development of children that do not affect their musical aptitude, but affect

their scores on tests for musical aptitude. With this in mind, Gordon found it necessary to

design musical aptitude tests that would be objective and assess students fairly and

accurately. After all, these music aptitude tests were intended to compare the aptitudes of

Page 6: Gordon Approach

students with each other.

One of the main purposes of Gordon’s music aptitude tests is to test for audiation,

a term coined by Gordon himself. Gordon defines audiation as the process of hearing

music silently, or when sound is not present. He specifies that the term ‘aural imagery’ is

inappropriate because imagery implies notation. Gordon suggests the term ‘aural

perception’ as a more appropriate synonym for audiation Furthermore, Gordon classifies

eight distinct types of audiation and six stages of audiation (The Nature… of Music

Aptitudes 13):

Types of Audiation

1. Listening to familiar or unfamiliar music

2. Reading familiar or unfamiliar music

3. Writing familiar or unfamiliar types of music

4. Recalling and performing familiar music from memory

5. Recalling and writing familiar music from memory or in silence

6. Creating and improvising unfamiliar music while performing

7. Creating and improvising unfamiliar music while reading

8. Creating and improvising unfamiliar music while writing

Stages of Audiation

1. Momentary retention

2. Imitating and audiating tonal patterns and rhythm patterns and recognizing

and identifying a tonal center and macrobeats

3. Establishing objective or subjective tonality and meter

4. Retaining in audiation tonal patterns and rhythm patters that have been

Page 7: Gordon Approach

organized

5. Recalling tonal patterns and rhythm patterns organized and audiated in

other pieces of music

6. Anticipating and predicting tonal patterns and rhythm patterns

With audiation and aptitude in mind, Gordon created a sequence of teaching

music that incorporates both of those elements. This system, which he calls music

learning theory, is more concerned with the learning of music (how students learn) than

the teaching of it. The order of instruction is arranged progressively based on music

aptitude. Each topic becomes more difficult in order to accommodate music students of

varying abilities and aptitude. The goal of music learning theory is for students to audiate

at every level of the sequence. Music learning theory is arranged in three categories: skill

learning sequence, tonal content learning sequence, and rhythm content learning

sequence. These are three separate sequences that are meant to be taught in conjunction

with one another. Skill learning sequence is meant to be taught with either tonal content

either learning sequence or rhythmic content learning sequence. The two content learning

sequences are not intended to be combined (Learning Sequences in Music 34).

The skill learning sequence is based on two types of learning that Gordon points

out: discrimination and inference. Discrimination learning is in essence learning by rote.

It is based on aural skills, verbal association, partial synthesis, symbolic association,

reading and writing, and composite synthesis. Inference learning is comprised of three

parts, each with sublevels. The first part, generalization, is divided into aural, verbal, and

symbolic (reading/writing). The second part, creativity/improvisation, contains the aural

and symbolic subcategories. The third part, theoretical understanding, contains the aural,

Page 8: Gordon Approach

verbal and symbolic subcategories. Each of these subcategories requires some degree of

audiation (Learning Sequences in Music 37).

Tonal content learning sequence as explained by Gordon is based on identifying

various modes in music. This can be accomplished with any of the skills in the learning

skills sequence, hence the need for the two to be taught in conjunction. The modal

classifications in Gordon’s tonal content learning sequence are major, minor, Mixolydian,

Dorian, Lydian, Phrygian, Aeolian, Polytonal/Polykeyal, and Harmonic. Gordon

incorporates a series of categories or functions for each of the modes. These categories

include tonic, subtonic, supertonic, dominant, subdominant, modulatory, chromatic,

cadential, multiple, expanded, and characteristic tone (Learning Sequences in Music

126). The following are examples of various tonal patterns (Tonal and Rhythm Patterns

11-12):

Major Tonic:

QuickTime™ and aNone decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Major Dominant:

QuickTime™ and aNone decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Major Chromatic:

QuickTime™ and aNone decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Rhythm content learning sequence involves breaking down rhythmic concepts

into general terms. Meter is considered either usual or unusual. Meters such as 4/4, 2/4,

3/4, 6/8, or 12/8 would be considered usual meter. Meters such as 5/4, 7/8, or 8/8 would

be considered unusual meter. Gordon refers to series of beats in which no beat is accented

and the beats are of equal length as macro beats. When macro beats are equally divided,

the result is micro beats. Meter is also specified as duple, triple, or combined. Paired

Page 9: Gordon Approach

meter is when macro beats are audiated in groups of two. If macro beats are audiated in

groups of more three, it is called unpaired meter (Learning Sequences in Music 129-30).

Macro Beats:

QuickTime™ and aNone decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Micro Beats – Usual Duple Meter:QuickTime™ and a

None decompressorare needed to see this picture.

Micro Beats – Usual Triple Meter: QuickTime™ and a

None decompressorare needed to see this picture.

Macro Beats – Unusual Paired Meter: QuickTime™ and a

None decompressorare needed to see this picture.

Macro Beats – Unusual Unpaired Meter:QuickTime™ and a

None decompressorare needed to see this picture.

Gordon suggests that there are three stages of learning: introduction, application,

and assimilation (Learning Sequences in Music 211-2). Ideally this three-stage sequence

is used when teaching a specific piece of music. In the first stage, introduction, students

are introduced to a piece of music in terms of tonality and meter by hearing and

performing it in classroom activities. In the second stage, application, students study the

tonal patterns and rhythm patterns in the tonality and meter of the piece. It is not required

that they be the exact tonal and rhythm patterns found in the piece. In the third stage,

application, the music content and skills taught in the previous two stages are reinforced

throughout other classroom activities. Students should be able to understand and extract

meaning from the piece through audiation and additional classroom activities by this

stage. The application stage is the most important because it forces the students to audiate

Page 10: Gordon Approach

through the reinforcement of the skill and content taught in stages one and two. This

allows the students to develop precision in their ability to audiate the piece of music they

studied. Additionally, the students should gain a specific understanding of the song from

the reinforcement. It will give the song meaning for the students.

In the classroom, the aptitude tests serve the purpose of allowing the teacher to

teach according to the individual musical differences of students. Gordon suggests that a

music aptitude test be administered to a class of students and for the class to be divided

into three groups based on the students’ scores. The groups should not be labeled, but one

group should contain students with lower scores, one with students with average scores,

and one with students with higher scores. There are no set criteria for the percentile

ranks, or ‘cutoff points’. The group of students with average scores should be the largest

group with relatively few students in the outside groups. The students in each group will

use tonal and rhythmic patterns that are consistent with their aptitudes as determined by

the test. The group with the lower scores will use easy tonal and rhythmic patterns while

the group with higher scores will progress more quickly to harder tonal and rhythmic

patterns (Learning Sequences in Music 232-6).

Gordon’s pedagogy revolves around his research in the topics of audiation, music

aptitude, and music learning theory. His three-stage approach to lesson planning

incorporates all of these concepts. Gordon’s goal in teaching music is for students to be

able to audiate by understanding the music and making connections between other areas

of the music curriculum. He believes in accommodating students of all levels and abilities

in the same classroom by testing for music aptitude and using the results to teach to the

needs of individual students.

Page 11: Gordon Approach

Works Cited

Gordon, Edwin E. A Music Learning Theory for Newborn and Young Children.

Chicago: GIA Publications, 1990.

Gordon, Edwin E. Introduction to Research and the Psychology of Music. Chicago:

GIA Publications, 1998.

Gordon, Edwin E. Learning Sequences In Music: Skill, Content, and Patterns. Chicago:

GIA Publications, 1989.

Gordon, Edwin E. The Nature, Description, Measurement, and Evaluation of Music

Aptitudes. Chicago: GIA Publications, 1987.

Gordon, Edwin E. [eegordon9997], “Roots of Music Learning Theory and Audiation.”

Scribd. Scribd, 18 May, 2011. Web. 11 Feb. 2012.

Gordon, Edwin E. Tonal and Rhythm Patterns: An Objective Analysis. Albany: State

University of New York Press, 1976.

Gordon, Edwin E. “Untying Gordian Knots”. giml.org. The Gordon Institute for Music

Learning, n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2012.

The Gordon Institute for Music Learning. The Gordon Institute For Music Learning,

n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2012.

South Carolina University Libraries. Edwin E. Gordon Archive. University of South

Carolina. n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2012.

Pinzino, Mary Ellen. “A Conversation With Edwin Gordon”. Come Children Sing.

Come Children Sing, 1998. Web. 11 Feb. 2012.

Page 12: Gordon Approach

Three Sequential First Grade Lesson Plans

1. The first lesson should involve students learning the song “The Bell Peter”. The

teacher should first demonstrate the song while having the students actively

respond by clapping quarter notes. After the first demonstration, the teacher

should teach the rhythms in the piece and have the students clap the rhythms

while he or she demonstrates again. This part should be done phrase by phrase. To

conclude the lesson, the students should clap the rhythms throughout the whole

piece.

2. The second lesson should incorporate the tonal content found in “The Bell Peter”.

The tonality is Aeolian. The teacher should isolate the intervals, or spots where

the notes in the melody change and write them on the board. The teacher should

lead the class in singing each tonal pattern on a neutral syllable independently.

Once each interval in the melody has been sung, the teacher should progress to

teaching the song phrase by phrase. To conclude, the class should sing the whole

song.

3. The third lesson should focus on audiation. The same piece, “The Bell Peter”, can

be used to demonstrate this concept. The teacher should begin singing the song,

stopping on beat three of the second measure (the word “is”). The teacher should

motion to the class to sing the next word. The teacher should explain that the

students knew what to sing because they could hear it in their heads. The teacher

should introduce the term “audiation”. To further demonstrate this concept, the

Page 13: Gordon Approach

teacher should play a short I – IV – I – V - I progression. The teacher should stop

on the V chord and motion for the students to sing the root of the I chord to show

they know where the music is headed. To conclude, the teacher should explain

that the students can predict certain music.

Page 14: Gordon Approach

Additional Sources

GIMLPublications. “Edwin E. Gordon Music Learning Theory Overview Part 1.” Web.

Youtube.com, 21 Jan. 2011. 17 Feb. 2011.

Page 15: Gordon Approach

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRUCZp9uYOM>

This is the first in a series of 12 videos on Youtube of a presentation Gordon made at Rhode Island College. He outlines his research and talks about how it can be implemented in the classroom. He lectures and answers questions on the subject of instrumentation, audiation, music aptitude, and components of music learning theory.

Gordon, Edwin E. “A Factor Analytic Description of Tonal and Rhythm Patterns and

Objective Evidence of Pattern Difficulty Level and Growth Rate.” Chicago: GIA Publications, 1978.

This study analyzes the responses of students to various tonal and rhythm music aptitude tests. The book contains all the tonal and rhythm patterns used in the study organized by tonality and meter. This is a good resource for a teacher to find tonal and rhythm patterns to use in his or her own lessons. Information about student’s reactions to these patterns is included in the study as well.

Gordon, Edwin E., Bolton, Beth M., Taggart, Cynthia C., Reynolds, Alison M., and

Valerio, Wendy H. “Jump Right In: The Music Curriculum. Book 1.” Chicago: GIA Publications, 2000.

This textbook series is organized by the four seasons, each with a list of songs and activities for the students to learn. The teacher’s edition has information about Gordon’s research and pedagogical approaches. The lesson plans and songs in the teacher’s edition have the tonal and rhythmic content specified.

Gordon, Edwin E. “Musical Aptitude Profile.” Chicago: The Riverside Publishing

Company, 1965.

This manual provides instruction and advice for administering music aptitude tests and interpreting the results. Gordon breaks the test down into the different categories of tonal imagery, rhythm imagery, and musical sensitivity and provides suggestions for adapting curriculum to suit the needs of students with higher and lower scores on the various parts of the test.

Gordon, Edwin E. “Primary Measures of Music Audiation (Kit).” Chicago: GIA

Publications, 1986.

This kit includes copies of answer sheets for a music aptitude test and a CD-Rom with audio for practice exercises, a tonal test, and a rhythm test. There are several booklets with instructions for administering the tests and interpreting the results.

Page 16: Gordon Approach

There is also information on Gordon’s research relating to music aptitude. The purposes of the tests are explained in this material. The test format consists of identifying if two examples are the same or different.

Gordon, Edwin E. “Study Guide for Learning Sequences In Music: Skill, Content, and

Patterns.” Chicago: GIA Publications, 1984.

This book is unique in that it serves to test the reader on its content. The text is a series of questions, some multiple choice and some fill-in-the-blank. There is a comment for each question with information on the subject. The questions cover all of Gordon’s research and pedagogical techniques. Classroom techniques are addressed as well as the more theoretical research aspect of Gordon’s work.


Recommended