MU 207 Music Appreciation Select one of the articles below and write a one-page reaction (12 pt. Times New Roman font, double-spaced).  This is a journal-like activity involving your opinion fueled by critical thinking.        “GIZMO GIVES COLD COMFORT” (re-print from columnist David Waters) I got an iPod Shuffle for Christmas. I now own and operate the greatest radio station in the world. It’s the only radio station I know that plays Springsteen and Sinatra,U2 and Dwight Yoakum, Marvin Gaye and Benny Goodman, Alison Krauss and Etta James, or whatever I want. Welcome to Planet Dave, where it’s all about me. With the help of a handful of high-tech gizmos, I can create my own music playlists, TV lineup, movie multiplex G-XXX, and daily (or hourly) newspaper or newscast. Combine that with the increasing balkanization of news, information and entertainment, and the world can be exactly what I think it should be. Thanks to technology, I have more power than ever to let what I like into my world and to filter out what I don’t want to hear, see or know about. I have more power than ever to conform the world to me. On Planet Dave, I have freedom of speech, press and religion, but I also retain the right to censor what I don’t like or want. Planet Dave has bop but no hip-hop. Bill Moyers but not Bill O’Reilly. Baseball and football, but not basketball or soccer. Jimmy Carter but not Jerry Falwell. Jews and Greeks but not Republicans or Democrats. Billy Graham but not Franklin. Jon Stewart but not Martha. Bill but not Hillary. Paula and Randy but not Simon. And not a single commercial. Majority rules on Planet Dave, a democracy of one. It’s very comforting. I enjoy a lot of peace of mind on Planet Dave. There’s not dissent or dissonance. Living is easy on Planet Dave. Too easy. The more time I spend there, the more difficult it becomes to re-enter the real world. That’s a problem, especially in the pluralistic society in which we all live. “Pluralism is not a given but an achievement,” Diana L. Eck, founder of the pluralism Project, wrote in Harvard Magazine a few years ago. “Pluralism will require not just tolerance, but the active seeking of understanding…In the world into which we now move, our ignorance of one another will be increasingly costly.” Look at what happened in non-pluralistic societies such as the Balkans, Rwanda and Iraq, and you know she’s right. Planet Dave is a nice place to visit. I can’t afford to live there.	February 27 - workshop for music education students @ UTC; sponsored by the Southeast Chapter of Kodaly Educators
SONGS THAT STICK By Chandra Harris, Knoxville News-Sentinel Science and sentiment combine to make music memorable Songs have a way of opening the floodgate of memories: "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye" - the theme music of many high school graduations. "Butterfly Kisses" - a tear-jerking father-daughter wedding song. "Y.M.C.A" - the song that recalls a memorable bash. Music jogs memories of family firsts, childhood doings and romantic moments. It helps some remember important dates or pass an exam by correlating music with data. Even when you don't want to remember a song, it has a way of getting trapped in your head, leaving behind repetitive echoes of choruses long after the song stops playing. A tune sticks to us depending on our mood and environment and the tempo and lyrics of a song, said Marvelene C. Moore, music education professor at the University of Tennessee, If a person is in love and they hear a love song, "their emotions and senses are heightened to connect their emotions with that song," said Moore. The same is true of an environment, she said. If a person is driving in their car at night with a melody playing, it may have a "different feel" than hearing the same song in the daytime while driving. A song with lots of repetition creates an "itch" in the brain that often can only be scratched by mentally rehashing it over and over again, Moore explained. Pop culture plays a role in what gets stuck in the brain, as well. Radio stations and other media outlets repeatedly play hit songs. There's a play of cognitive, psychological and cultural behavior behind the recall of music that "is indescribable and undeniable," explained Moore. University of Tennessee Medical Center neurologist Dr. John Dougherty says, "We have a biological principle that says 'Neurons that are wired together are fired together.' So if I share a fond memory with my granddaughter and music is playing, then I may always associate that song with the event I shared with my granddaughter. "There's evidence the right and left hemisphere of the brain can play an active role in music recall," he said. "We have Alzheimer's patients that have a hard time remembering basic things but if you play a song, they can remember it," Dougherty said. There is a power to music that we have yet to figure out, he said. Science aside, the phenomenon of music simply is. Moore was an infant growing up in Decatur, Ala., when her musician mother would tote her to church and sing spiritual hymns. "Those same hymns - ''Tis so Sweet to Trust in Jesus' and 'Down at the Cross' - are my favorites to sing today," she said.	Dalcroze Method of Music Education The Dalcroze approach to Music Education teaches an understanding of music -- its fundamental concepts, its expressive meaning, and its deep connections to other arts and human activities -- through a pathbreaking approach incorporating rhythmic movement, aural training, and physical, vocal, and instrumental improvisation. A Dalcroze class divides into three components: Eurhythmics, for which Dalcroze is best known, which teaches concepts of rhythm, structure, and musical expression using movement; Solfege, a reinvention of traditional ear training and sight singing which develops an integrated and expressive understanding of pitch, scale, and tonality through activities emphasizing immediate aural comprehension and vocal improvisation; and Improvisation, expressing an understanding of musical concepts, form and meaning through spontaneous musical creation using movement, voice, and instruments. The Dalcroze approach views the qualities of music as fundamental forces in human life, and emphasizes music's connection to other arts -- dance, drama, and poetry especially -- as well as fundamental human activities involving movement, language, and emotion. As more and more scientists are discovering, the Dalcroze method sees music as a fundamental language of the human brain and therefore deeply connected to who we are as human beings. The Dalcroze approach is most commonly seen today in early childhood and elementary school music education; many innovations and techniques Dalcroze developed to apply his ideas on musical understanding to children have become standard practice and are used by a wide variety of methods and approaches to children's music. However, Dalcroze designed his approach for Conservatory-trained students and adults, and it continues to be used in that environment: Dalcroze classes are offered at many of our country's top universities and conservatories, while ongoing adult classes are on offer at various Dalcroze centers around the country. The universality of the Dalcroze ideas, the method's ability to teach musical truths from pre-kindergarten through graduate school, is a testament to the vitality and power of the Dalcroze approach to music.