Exploring the World of Music

• Course Description
More than just a music history course, students will learn about, and experience musical
traditions from non-Western countries such as Ghana, South Africa, China, Japan, India,
Afghanistan, Hungary, Brazil and many others. Throughout the semester, we will
compare and contrast different musical cultures, notation styles, and traditions to those of
western music, as well as to those that they study in class. Music theory experience is not
needed to be successful (but may be incredibly helpful when comparing to the norm),
because many notation traditions will be completely different from western notation.
Guest lecturers who are experts in ethnomusicology, or are an experienced musician from
a non-Western country, will present their research, and/or experiences with the class to
break up instruction, and to add to the authenticity of the class. Students will also learn
about how to authentically take part or present non-Western music. No final exam will be
given, but the final project will send students off to research a lesser-known musical
culture (found by the student, or suggested by the instructor), and teach the rest of the
class about that culture by giving a thorough presentation, and leading a musical
experience authentic to the culture they studied.
• Need for the course:
Students in vocal ensembles often do a select number of ‘world music’ pieces in their
repertoire, but never fully go into detail about authenticity, meaning, or tradition. Instead
it is used almost as if to check off a box on a curricular planning sheet. These “traditional
engagements can be problematic,” and when viewed by the wrong person, can sometimes
be offensive (Hess, 2015). America has always been a melting pot of different cultures,
and it is about time to address that not all students grow up singing traditional American
songs. Teachers need to break out of their comfort zone and do the research necessary to
connect with their students and community members, and teach others about the different
musical traditions that are so prevalent in America. Authentic non-Western music is
possible to experience in schools if students are willing to keep an open mind, and
embrace the changing world around us.
• Expected impact on students:
Students will gain an overview of several different non-Western musical cultures to
broaden their horizons about what music is and can be, and how it could affect their
musical endeavors in the future. Standards covered are under the Historical and Cultural
Context settings such as exploring historical and cultural aspects of music by analyzing
cultures, and musical styles, comparing and contrasting a variety of musical periods and
styles, analyzing characteristic of a variety of different styles of music, and examining
opportunities for musical performance from a viariety of cultures (HCAD.7.1-4)
Expected impact on the school/community:
Students will be encouraged to go out into their community and meet with people from
different countries to discover new kinds of music. In doing this, I am hoping that they
discover new ways of connecting with people through music, and can be proactive about
introducing other musical cultures into the lives of those close to the students.

Interdisciplinary Arts
• Course Description:
Students are capable of being successful in more than just one art form, so why limit
them to choosing to take only one? In this course, students will acquire a brief knowledge
of the importance of each art form (music, theater, dance, studio art), and will be led
through a few classes in each field. Throughout the year, the students will work together
to explore a ‘whole’ approach to the arts, and understand that splitting up the arts could
stifle creative possibility. Students will work together to create projects that connect more
than one discipline together, and the final project will be a cabaret-style event that will
show off the work done in the class throughout the year. The most obvious connection
between two is music and theater, to create musical theater. Students are encouraged to
go beyond that, and pull resources like technology, lighting, different materials, etc. to
think ‘outside the box’ and create art that is completely new and unique. Guest lecturers,
performers, and presenters from the school or the community will come in to teach
lessons to the students, and may collaborate with the students on a few of their projects.
• Need for the course:
Many students identify with one art form early in life, and tend to stick to it. The
requirement to pick only one art form early on can often hinder a student from reaching
their full potential. Eve Klein, an Australian pioneer in the classical voice technology
field has found a way that she can combine her love of opera with dance and art, while
using technology to create an entirely new vocal sound along with new ‘instrumentation’
in her opera called The Pomegranate Cycle (Klein, 2015). This opera is heavily focused
on the musical aspect, but it is one example of someone stretching the boundaries of their
comfortable discipline to incorporate other disciplines. Students should be able to have
opportunities where their passions and creations can be heightened by another art form,
and could eventually lead to a new found love in an art that they wouldn’t have bothered
with before.
• Expected impact on students:
This course will pull from standards in other areas besides music, but the students will
learn collaboration through other artistic disciplines by first experiencing them, and then
working with other students more fluent. Once crossover standard is responding to music
with movement by using choreography as a form of expression and communication
(HCAD.5.1).
Expected impact on the school/community:
This class will bring together students who have found passion in different disciplines, to
create new artistic experiences that will be shared with the community. This course will
offer the school a collaborative class that may draw students to enroll in ensembles,
theater, dance, or art classes that may had not thought of it before.

Music Creation
• Course Description:
Ensembles can be a very important part of any school’s community, and spirit. But some
students find that their talent is stifled while being surrounded by other musicians that are
doing the same thing as them. In this music creation class, students have the ability to be
the creator, and/or the re-creator of their music. The class will heavily be focused on
composition, songwriting, and arranging in the first half of the year, and during the
second half, the students can choose to either continue composing and arranging, or they
may explore performing solo or in small groups. In this course, the students will be able
to choose their genre of music that they are composing, arranging, and performing, and
will be able to learn from their fellow students by openly and constructively critiquing
each other’s works. Each student will be responsible for performing a new work at least 4
times per year (once per quarter), but they can opt to have others perform a piece if they
would rather showcase the music, rather than themselves. The final project will be
organizing a showcase concert, which is an essential part of any musician’s career. The
students will be responsible for the content of the performance, as well as the advertising
and publicity of the event.
• Need for the course:
Students are always looking for opportunities to find a passion, and this course could help
some students realize their love for creating music. Everybody listens to music, and some
are always actively writing songs, creating beats, harmonizing with the radio, and
covering popular songs and putting them on YouTube. This hobby that students have
developed should be aided in a classroom setting, and should be given the resources to be
successful should they choose to continue after high school. Eve Klein wrote a paper
about virtual orchestras, and incorporating technology into classical style music (Klein,
2015). I find this to be a very interesting idea that many students are probably interested
in, due to the rise in technological accessibility. Although this class would not be a
technology-based class, there should be access to those types of resources should a
student choose to move their music writing towards that path.
• Expected impact on students:
Students will develop an in depth knowledge of their interests in performing, composing
and arranging. This addresses the performance standard of collaborating in rehearsals and
concerts by participating in a variety of performances and other music activities
(HCAR.6.1). The class also addresses a students ability to examine ways in which
personal experiences influence critical judgments about works of music and musical
performances, by constructively critiquing their peers (HCAD.8.2)

Expected impact on the school/community: