I was interested to read about Roger Bourland’s approaches to teaching music theory and making it more meaningful to his students. One of the approaches that stood out as a great idea was having the students bring music they are working on to his class to analyze. This makes so much sense! What types of approaches do you use to make theory meaningful to your students?
Is there collaboration in your department between the theory and ensemble aspects of the music program? Can your students discuss the music they are performing in a way that goes beyond a list of the rhythms and pitches they play? If you teach an ensemble and haven’t taken a look at the comprehensive musicianship through performance model it’s definitely worth your time. There’s even a wiki available for additional information. How can we better integrate the various elements of our music programs to help our students make connections?