Necesidades de formación en el Ecuador

Leonhard & House (1972) argue that “since learning leads to changes in behavior, any analysis of the learning process must give attention to the types of behavior involved and the kinds of changes desired” (p. 132). That is, what behaviours result from musical learning?

What are the indicators or „products‟ of musical learning? What qualities are expected of a learner who has acquired musical learning? Several products of music education have been identified (Leonhard & House, 1972) and they all seem to apply to instrumental music learning:

 Musical Appreciation

Appreciation is defined as the apprehension and enjoyment of the aesthetic import of music.

Appreciation includes responsiveness to all the expressive elements of music such as rhythm, harmony, melody, texture, timbre, tonality, form and phrase line. To appreciate music is to perceive its embodied meaning, to become immersed in the unfolding and development of the musical idea. Appreciation requires awareness of tonal motion and tonal tendencies, the development of expectations in the presence of musical stimuli, sensitivity to the inhibition of tonal tendencies, and, finally, awareness that one‟s expectations have been either fulfilled or denied. The basis for the development of appreciation lies in the cultivation of sensitivity and responsiveness to the consistent movement of music, to the undulations between intensity and release, and to the expressive import of the moving line in music. Leonhard & House (1972) explain that:

Appreciation regrettably has come to be associated principally with listening and the

“music appreciation” class. Appreciation operates in listening but it is also present in artistic musical performance, ranging all the way from the beautiful singing of an elementary school general music class to the highly developed artistry of the concert performer (p. 133).

 Musical Understanding

Musical understanding is defined as the ability to bring accumulated musical learning to bear on the solution of musical problems. It involves the conscious use of information, skills, appreciation, and musical concepts in a cognitive framework when one is involved in such musical endeavours as listening, performing, composition, improvisation, and music reading.

The principal ingredient of musical understanding is the ability to apply consciously one‟s knowledge of and sensitivity to embodied musical meaning, musical structure, and musical style to all types of musical experience. It seems evident that the development of musical understanding, along with the development of musical appreciation, represents a major cornerstone of any serious programme of music education.

 Musical Knowledge

Knowledge, or knowing, is a construct (a complex image or idea resulting from a synthesis by the mind), while recall, or recognition, is the overt behaviour from which we infer the presence or absence of the construct (Leonhard & House, 1972). Knowledge about music, when properly associated with the development of musical appreciation, understanding, and skill, represents an important facet of musical learning. Knowledge and information not related to the expressive meaning of music, like most isolated information, have only transient meaning and are very likely to be forgotten. Knowledge about music may be extrinsic or intrinsic to musical understanding and appreciation. Much of the information included in programme notes, record covers, and music appreciation courses is not directly relevant to these behaviours but aids appreciation by strengthening belief and creating a willing attitude in the listener or performer. Thus, information about the composer‟s life, the circumstances and reception of the first performance of a work, and so on, although not essential to musical understanding, does have a place in musical learning. Intrinsic knowledge includes information on the nature of musical materials, knowledge of musical form and musical styles, or knowledge of the descriptive programme used by a composer for a given work. Such knowledge is essential to musical understanding and properly merits greater emphasis in music education than extrinsic knowledge.

 Musical Skills

Although musical skill is often considered synonymous with musical technique, the present analysis of musical learning is marked by a broader conception of skill, encompassing skills

of listening, performance skills, and music reading. Each aspect of musical skill is considered in turn:

Skills of Listening: The listening activity frequently goes no further than the development of a pleasurable response to music. The listener learns to enjoy rich tone quality, a pleasant melody, or an exciting rhythm. Hearing of this type represents a point of departure for musical learning, but we must go further than this. Listening should always be pleasurable, but it should lead to the development of the ability for tonal thinking. The skilled listener has learned to discriminate in matters of melody, rhythm, and tempo, and to apprehend large tonal patterns. His listening skill includes awareness of tonal progression, sequence, phrase, motif, and contrast.

Skills of Performance: Two problems are identifiable in learning performance skills, the problem of control and the problem of action pattern, and the key to both lies in the „musical intention‟ and the „musical conception‟ to be realized. Musical understanding, appreciation, and listening skills are basic to the development of performance skills. Mere proficiency or technique, however fluent, cannot function expressively without these basic learnings. The focus of all efficient learning of performance skill and of good technical practice is upon the musical meaning one desires to express, the musical goal he has in view. This means that the learner must begin performance-skill development with the clearest possible conception of his expressive purposes and shape his technique in terms of those purposes.

 Musical Attitudes

Attitudes are defined as general emotionalized reactions for or against a thing (Leonhard &

House, 1972). They may be positive or negative, with intensity ranging all the way from strongly for to strongly against. Attitudes affect the efficiency of all learning, since they form a basic part of an individual‟s readiness to learn. A student with a negative attitude towards music is certain to make little or no progress in learning music unless his attitude can be changed. Musical attitudes are learned, and a change in attitude represents a change in behaviour. Musical attitudes are acquired through four major means. First, long exposure to cumulative experiences which influence the individual. For example, a student whose musical experience has resulted in pleasure, satisfying accomplishment, and approval from his peers and parents is likely to have a highly favourable attitude toward music. If, on the other hand, lack of success, frustration and ridicule from parents or peers have attended his musical experience, a negative attitude is equally probable. Second, musical attitude is

acquired through a vivid or traumatic single experience. For example, the attitude of a student formally indifferent to music may be transformed by performing under a highly inspirational conductor, or by appearing with success and acclaim in a public recital. Another student may develop negative attitude towards music as a result of an embarrassing debacle in public performance. Attitudes are also acquired as a result of emulation of a person or an organization. For example, a child is likely to reflect the attitudes which his parents or other persons he admires hold towards music. Likewise, a band member in a school where the lack of cooperation and mutual regard between the band and vocal departments generates competition and antagonism is likely to have negative attitudes towards vocal music. Finally, attitudes are formed through association. If a person likes or dislikes one factor in a situation, the entire situation may assume similar coloration. For example, as a result of persistently unrewarding experience with sol-fa syllables in a general music class, a student may develop a negative attitude toward the class, even though he may have found some of his class experiences rewarding. Similarly, through association a student‟s attitude toward music may reflect his like or dislike of the music teacher.

 Musical Initiative

Musical initiative implies active musicianship which eventuates in musical independence. A person who has developed desirable musical initiative does things with and about music. He has a consuming interest in music and has gained the knowledge, understandings, skills, and other musical competencies which enable him to further pursue musical learning on his own and to take responsibility for shaping and enriching his own musical experiences. Musical initiative develops in music learning situations in which the student has the opportunity to explore music on his own, to exercise his musical preferences, to initiate musical projects, and to analyze his own musical problems and work toward their solution. The development of musical initiative requires interest in and responsiveness to music, coupled with a broad base of musical competencies.