The Art of Listening

     Why and how do we teach listening skills in the music classroom? "Listening is the fundamental music skill....Such listening is a skill in and of itself, as well as a vital part of all other musical skills," (Haack, 1992 as cited in Bauer, 2014, p. 106). I believe that we should be teaching our students music theory and music performance, but our most important responsibility is to teach our students how to listen, interpret, and understand the music they hear.
     Why should we teach listening skills? I think that we must do so because our students will be life-long music listeners. When an elementary student begins to play an instrument, we as teachers have no idea whether they will continue to play through the entire school year, let alone into their adult life. When we encourage them to join a choral group, we may wonder if they will be singing in that type of setting when they are adults. But when we include Bauer's (2014) music listening suggestions on page 110, we are helping them to acquire the skills and information they need to listen and appreciate the music they will listen to throughout their lifetime. Giving students a voice in what they listen to in music class, exposing them to many different world music genres, and giving them the musical tools they need to accurately describe their listening experiences are all important in helping them to become successful music listeners.
     How do we teach these listening skills and give our students the necessary tools to critically listen to music throughout their lives? Technology can play a large role in this process. First of all, through  music streaming sites like Pandora, Spotify, and YouTube, students have access to many different genres of music. This music can be enjoyed using smartphones, computers, tablets, or digital music players. In order to speak intelligently about the music that they hear, students need to have an understanding of music theory concepts like pitch, dynamics, and form. Bauer (2014) mentions tools like Music Ace and MusicTheory.net that students can use to learn and practice these types of concepts. Cross-curricular teaching can also be beneficial to student learning, but Bauer (2014) cautions that "a concern some educators have is that when music study is combined with another discipline, music can be used in a superficial manner," (p. 120). Rather than using music to learn rote facts, teachers should use music in conjunction with the other subject. Students learning about the Civil War in history class could learn about the music used by slaves and the impact that music had on their lives. Finally, WebQuests can be used to guide students in the learning process. The WebQuest provides a structured approach to internet-based research and learning on a particular subject. Students learning about instruments of the orchestra could take part in a WebQuest that guides them to learn more in-depth about a particular family of instruments or even an individual instrument.
     Teaching listening skills to our students takes planning and thought. Different methods and technologies can be employed to support this learning in the music classroom. It is important that music teachers do the planning and teaching to assist their students in acquiring these listening skills. As Bauer (2014) states, "by aligning musical outcomes related to responding to music with appropriate pedagogies and supporting technologies, music educators can assist students in their continuing development of knowledge and skills essential for meaningful, lifelong involvement with music," (p. 122).

Reference:
Bauer, W. I.  (2014).  Music learning today: Digital pedagogy for creating, performing, and responding to music. New York, New York: Oxford University Press.