Module 3

Activity 2
FRET
Formal properties
Representational meaning
Expressive meaning
Technical properties

1. Before considering the title what emotions does this music

evoke for you?
Listening to this music makes me feel calm and relaxed. I find this music
soothing to listen to. The music also sounds quite romantic, I picture this music
playing in the background of a romantic scene in a movie. In saying that, this
music also evokes sadness in me.

2. When you see the title, does your emotion from the music
listening match that of your feeling about swans?
When I think about swans, I think of elegance, beauty and romance. Yes, the
feelings being evoked do match that of the title ( Swans).
Do you know any myths about swans? (sad, lonely etc - quick! research!) Do
these myths colour your feelings for swans?
There are many mythical stories that involve swans. The most common story
which is popular amongst young children is that of The Ugly Duckiling. This
mythical legend is about a young duckling who did not look like the other
duckilings and was scrutenized for that. In the end the ugly duckling ended up
growing into a beautiful swan and was then accepted. A common conception
amongst these stories are that the swans are beautiful animals and thought
highly upon. Another myth was that of the seven sisters who dressed in cloaks
made from swan feathers. The youngest sister is then left to be human as a
hunter steals her coat of feathers and then makes her his wife.
These myths make me feel sorry for swans. They are blessed with such beauty
but in the end is the beauty really that good for them? It seems that although
being beautiful is hight sought after, sadness comes with it.

3. What is the representational function of the piano. it

represents the!
The piano represents the harmony and the cellody represents the melody.

The piano represents the water. With its repatitive melody and gradual
cruseundos and decruseundos this represents the changes in the water.

4. What is the expressive function of the main melody

instrument (it is a cello) ? it evokes the feeling of !
the cello evokes the feeling of sadness.

5. How would you describe the line of the main melody (if you
drew it what would it look like)?
the line of the melody would look smooth and soft with the occasional
cruseundos and decruseundos. The line would have no points just curves as
there are no high pitched notes. The flow of the melody is constant and therefore
the line would be constant. Long lines with curves.

6. Why was the cello used to represent a swan?

the cello was used to represent the swan because of the smoothness of the
insturment.

7. How does the tempo increase the effect of the music?

8. Why is there no pronounced beat to the music?
9. What are at least 5 adverbs that you could list to describe
this music?
10.
A bonus must-answerquestion - Why is it highly
unlikely that this music would be entitled The Monkey?
It is highly unlikely that this music would be entitled The Monkey because
monkeys and swans are completlely different types of animals. People associate
monkeys with fun, laughter and mischief. Therefore a song that would be more
appropriate for monkeys would be a song that was upbeat, maybe uses more
stacatto.

Activity 3
Choosing suitable music for the Classroom A listening

ACTIVITY 4
Examining my capabilities - building on my abilities and strengths my teacher self
Refer to the Text Book pp. 57-60 (pp. 55-58).

Take a moment to consider your Teacher Profile based on the dotpointed list. Write a short response to each question posed.
Now read the section Building on your abilities and strengths to
map out your skills, interests and (sometimes hidden) artistic
capacities. This map will help you to locate existing confidence areas
with the arts and also areas where you can branch into with a little
creative risk.

ACTIVITY 5
The stimulating environment
Task

From the Textbook (p.74, p.73, and further research), create a list of
items and actions that you will do to ensure your classroom is
aesthetically pleasing from an arts perspective. Make personal
decisions because there is no single right way to do it!
Class website to display childrens art work ( if in the older years
they can upload themselves from home/school)
String for art work to hang
Discovery table
Light, bright coloured curtains so students have efficient lighting
and the bright colours to help promote good moods.
Artwork of the week area
Art display folders
Net securely attached to ceiling. This would be really good
especially if learning about ocean life.
Clearly named draws that children can understand
Posters around the room that promote hard work and positivity
Create a short statement to say why your list reflects your personal
aesthetic for stimulating arts education.

It is important for children to be surrounded by positivity. Displaying artwork that

they have worked hard to create Is important to put on display as this can be
encouraging. When you work in an environment that makes you feel comfortable
and looks good, this can be inspiring and can impact on other classroom life.
Children are in classrooms for most of their early lives, therefore it is necessary
to help them feel good about their learning spaces.

Module 3 Questions Music

From Katies videos

1. What were some of the visual strategies used for representing
different sounds and how were these related to the elements of
music?
The use of line that would be skinny for soft sounds and thick when the sounds
would be louder were used to represent volume. To represent pitch, the visual
icons were ordered from top to bottom, high pitch to low pitch.

2. Consider 2 of the childrens representative chosen sounds. Evaluate!

How were their choices effective?

From the Module

1. What does graphic scoring effectively give children experience with?

Graphic scoring effectively gives children experience with writing a musical score
and incorporative the musical elements involved. Elements such as tone, pitch,
melody, harmony etc.

2. Why is it important to scaffold the conceptual learning of the formal

elements (properties) of music?
Music consists of formal ideas and steps in music making. It is
important to guide children to the understanding of music.
3. Why is beat categorised within Duration?
4. How is beat different to rhythm?
The beat is constant throughout the duration of the song it is the rhythmic pulse
and is generally played by the drums. The rhythm is a numeric pattern of beats
over time.

5. Why is harmony categorised with Pitch?

The harmony is a collection of the same sounds at different pitches.
6. Our Textbook offers many suggestions for incorporating classical
style music into the classroom. The reason is that many pieces are
obvious examples, where the expressive, representational and
colourful use of elements has been creatively applied. Answer the
following questions that relate to this issue (a or b may apply but
read all!)a. If you are prepared to include classical examples in your
classroom it also indicates that you respect tradition and see
education as passing on tradition. Is that proposition
important to you? Why?
That is important to me, yes. Music would not be where it is today
without the musical contributions by Beethoven, Bach etc. Children

need to understand where music originated from and how musical

elements that were included in earlier music are still included in
music today.
b. If you would not include classical music it may be because it is
not your taste or you would prefer to provide children with
more up-to-date styles in order to appeal to their likes. If so,
what styles of music will you include?
c. The two questions above also relate to an educational issue
with music how do we challenge as well as cater for
individual taste, likes/dislikes? In light of this how will you
solve this issue?
Understandably, not being in an environment that listens to classical
music often can result in not being interested in that genre of music.
However I still believe it should be incorporated. Therefore, I will
incorporate both classical and modern music in my music class so
that the children get a taste of both worlds.

Module 3 Questions Being an effective teacher in the arts

1. A relationship of trust is important to the emotional security of the
classroom. Why?

A relationship of trust is important to the emotional security of the classroom

because it is vital that the students feel supported and their work is appreciated.
The children need that trust so that they feel free to express themselves
artistically and know that they wont be scrutinized.

2. Why should we consider the learning environment as not just a

classroom but also as a community of learners?

The classroom should be considered a learning environment with a community of

learners because if children feel they belong, they will uphold the classrooms
community values and support other community members.
This can be promoted by allowing children to come up with agreed on class code
of ethics, art topics etc.

3. Why is it beneficial for an arts teacher to consider that they are

partners in learning?
This is beneficial because this then allows children to feel confident
enough in creative risk taking.
4. How can you both build confidence and get support. What are
some specific items that you would personally undertake in order to
get support as a novice teacher of the arts?
I will build confidence by learning what I can about the arts. When you know
more you can do more and that is where confidence grows. I will read book,
youtube videos and attend art museums and work shops. I will get support from

fellow staff members and hopefully they would be willing to join me on my own
learning journey. Building a foundation with communities and family will
hopefully also gain support.