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ClaireDubas

READ420
Read&Respond2
IfoundtheIrwinchaptertobelargelycircuitousandsuperfluousinitsexplanationof
comprehension.Thedescriptionsofthevariousprocessesthatoccurduringreading,
however,werehelpful.Iwasmoststruckbythepointtheauthormadeaboutthedifferences
inreadercontextthataffecthowagivenstudentmayinterpretatext.Thesociocultural
backgroundofthestudentiscriticalindeterminingtheirunderstanding,aswasshowninthe
examplesinthechapter.Itsimportantthatweunderstandthisasteachers,becauseitcanbe
temptingtomisattributeastudentslackofunderstandingofthematerialasbeingduetoa
widevarietyofthingsreadinglevel,howthoroughlytheyreadit,whetherornottheyre
focused,oranynumberofthings,whenoftentheproblemmaysimplybethattheydonthave
anappropriatecontextinwhichtosynthesizethematerial.
Acomparisoncanquiteeasilybemadetomusic.Howwe,asindividuals,understand
apieceofmusicislargelybasedonourbackgroundinmusicandthecontextwehavein
whichtoplaceit.Thisiswhyperformersvarysowidelyintheirinterpretationsoftheworksof
themasters,andwhythesamemusiccanbeperformedinaninfinitevarietyofdifferentways,
completelyuniquetotheindividual.Indeed,notwoperformancesofthesamepiecearequite
alike,justasnotworeadersinterpretatextinexactlythesameway.Importanttothe
equation,too,istheauthorcontext,whichisanalogoustothecomposer.Whatthereadingdid
notmentionisthatknowingthebackgroundoftheauthorcangreatlyaffectourinterpretation
ofatext,justknowingacomposersbackgroundtheirinfluences,history,personallife,
etc.shapesourunderstandingofthemusictheywrite.
Justlikereadingcomprehensionsubskills,skillsforunderstandingmusicbetteror
morefullycanalsobetaught.Partofthis,asinreading,isknowingthefundamentals,or
buildingblocks,thatmakeupmusic,likescales,modes,chordprogressions,andlongtones.
Butthisgivesusonlyatechnicalunderstandingknowingwhatmodeapieceisinisuseful
andultimatelycontributestoonesunderstandingofthemusicoverall,butisonlyonepieceof
thepuzzle.Wehavetounderstandhowthatmodeworkstogetherwitheverythingelse,from
chordprogressions,tomelodicline,todynamicshapingandstructure,inordertobeginto
comprehendthemusic.Itisonlywhenweweavealltheseelementstogetherthatwestartto
haveanideaofthemeaningofapiece.Wecanteachstudentstoidentifyandevaluateeach
oftheseindividualparts,aswellasmodelinghowtothinkabouthowthepartsinteractand
influenceeachother,inordertohelpthemincreasetheircomprehension.
Warmupexercisessuchasourbeforereadingroutinesalsomakeadifferenceinthe
waythatstudentscomprehendmusic.Whenpeoplehearwarmupsinthecontextofmusic,I
thinktheyoftenthinkaboutscales,arpeggios,andothertechnicalexercises.Thesehavetheir
purpose,butagaincontributeinonlyaverysmallwaytoourunderstanding.Moreuseful,
perhaps,intheclassroom,arethesortsofwarmupsthatgetstudentsthinkingaboutmusical
expressionandformulatingopinionsaboutthemeaningofmusic.Forinstance,guided
listeningexercisescanbeincrediblyeffectiveinhelpingstudentstorecognizevarious
techniquesinthewildandcangivethemideasabouthowtoincorporatethingstheylikeinto
theirownplaying.

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