The Old Drawing Board

Well, here I am 24 hours into my 2nd semester reform campaign, and so far it isn't a bad start. I finally did something that I've been wanting to do for years - I wrote out my own scale sheet for the 12 major keys. I know, I know... there are tons of resources already out there for something so common as major scales. But you know how it is when you want something written the way you want to teach it. It's the same reason that I always use tests of my own design (which hasn't always been a good thing - I'm prone to errors)

One of my pitfalls started to kick in - Sometimes I can set myself on a path to complete a task and I get distracted by 'side quests'. There was one time, back when I was teaching AP Music Theory, that I grew frustrated having to always write certain music symbols in by hand when making handouts and tests. I'm talking about stuff you won't find even when using Finale or Sibelius, because they aren't used in actual notation, only when analyzing music: inversion symbols, 7th chord symbols (raised), numbers with scale degree chevrons over them, accidentals, etc. So to that end, I downloaded a simple font editor and I basically made my own music font. That took some time. I was meticulous, and it actually delayed a quiz for a couple of days. I mean, I'm glad I did it - now I have it to use if I ever teach theory again, and it's a cool resource to share with colleagues.

I also spent a couple of weeks developing a universal chart that can be used to calculate intervals, scales, modes triads and 7th chords. I'm actually surprised that no one ever thought of doing something like that before. If it's out there, I haven't seen it - which means that I may even want to think about getting a copyright on that little baby.

Anyway, I found myself pouring over this scale sheet, and realized that I needed to step back and focus on threshing out the weekly schedule a little more. I also started sketching out a rough draft of my idea for having a skill-level designation system for assessing my instrumental classes (basically, a way of assigning different sets of goals and expectations based on the student's experience - something that I need to do if I'm going to continue to work with 7-12 students in the same class.) I was freaking out because I wanted to get everything right before I imposed this new system on my students. I had to remind myself that I'm in experimental waters, and that I need to put it together as best I can and try it out. Then I can tweak it any way I like as I continue to use it.

There are a few pros and cons to my undertaking:

Pro: Being that this is music instruction that we're talking about, there is no pressure to have solid results quickly. I don't mean to sound lazy - but it is nice to plan progress without having the knowledge that someone's college acceptance, or the schools standardized test results are riding on my success. That gives me time to plan, experiment and adjust. It may even take a few years to stabilize. No worries.

Con: There are no guidelines to fall back on. I'm basically forging ahead in uncharted waters. Oh sure, there is the state framework - but it's fairly useless, since none of the standards for music in the elementary grades are being met. It's like looking for standards for teaching English to a high school sophomore who hasn't learned the alphabet yet. And I can guarantee you that there are no published methods for dealing with a program that mixes middle school and high school students in the same class.

Pro: If I actually come up with something that works, I'll publish a book or two, and probably make a lot of dough on the music education lecture circuit.

Again, we'll see if this round of promises actually plays through. But I've taken the first steps beyond just saying "I should....", and that's probably the hardest part - kind of like exercising.