General Music Today

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Brain-Compatible Music Teaching

Susan Kenney
General Music Today 2009; 23; 24
DOI: 10.1177/1048371309342700

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Early Childhood
Brain-Compatible Music Teaching
Susan Kenney
Miss Waddoups invited her first grade class to sit quietly
on the floor and prepare to learn a new song. She reminded
them that they must listen without wiggles so they could
concentrate. She told them that when they learned the
song, they could play a game with it. She then sang
the first line of the song and invited the class to echo. The
children dutifully responded. She then sang the second line
in like manner and continued through the song. She then
went back and repeated two lines for the children, who
then echoed, chaining through the phrases until she finally
sang the whole song for the children to echo. Miss Wad-
doups thanked the children for working so hard and then
began to explain the game. She explained the entire game
to the children and drew pictures on the board to help them
understand the actions they would take. Finally, the chil-
dren took their places in the space and played the game.
The teacher continually reminded them to use their light,
high-singing voices as they played and stopped several
times to help correct game mistakes.
Teachers of young children probably spend more time
teaching songs than any other aspect of music. Song litera-
ture is the foundation of music learning. Hundreds of songs,
songbooks, and recordings of songs are available for teach-
ers of young children. As we complete the first decade of the
21st century, it may be time to rethink how we teach these
songs. Miss Waddoups presented an excellent example of
teaching a song one phrase at a time, a method that predomi-
nated in the last half of the 20th century. But according to
writers on brain research and education, she may actually be
hindering brain development in her attempts to ensure the
children learn the song.
Geoffrey Caine, coauthor, with his wife, of the book
Making Connections: Teaching and the Human Brain,
believes that fragmenting content is the biggest mistake
schools make (think one phrase at a time). His wife, Renate
Numela Caine, adds that the brain is looking for meaning-
ful connections. She suggests that when we teach bits and
pieces we actually cut [meaningful connections] off.
The brain processes parts and wholes simultaneously,
which is at the heart of intellectual capacity (Willis, 1991,
p. 3).
Leslie Hart (1983), author of Human Brain and Human
Learning, believes that educators attempts to simplify
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General Music Today
23(1) 2426
2009 MENC: The National
Association for Music Education
DOI: 10.1177/1048371309342700
http://gmt.sagepub.com
things are misguided. Step-by-step sequences may be brain
antagonistic rather than brain compatible, Hart suggests.
The brain is designed to deal with the confusion of the
world around us. It learns by extracting patterns from that
confusion. Hart defines the process of learning as the
extraction from confusion of meaningful patterns (p. 76).
Before children enter school, their learning is all about
extracting patterns from their world. No one is breaking
knowledge down into bite-size pieces, and yet their learn-
ing is enormous.
Let us visit Miss Waddoupss first grade class once
more. Imagine the lesson process is presented in a more
brain-compatible way. This time, Miss Waddoups has con-
sidered the singing game as a mini world of confusion from
which the childrens brains can extract meaningful patterns.
Her lesson might look like this:
Miss Waddoups begins singing a song, motioning to the
children to join her in making a circle. The children know
what to do by interpreting her gestures. As she repeats the
song, she also models the game actions, gesturing to the
children as necessary to indicate their part in the singing
game. The children watch, making attempts to understand.
The teacher continues to sing and model, and the children
continue to correct themselves, becoming more successful
with each repetition. Miss Waddoups trusts the childrens
brains to extract the patterns in the game and to hear the
patterns in the song. Mistakes are opportunities for further
problem solving. With each repetition, more children get
it. Some join in singing parts of the song as they play. The
emotional energy in the room is joyful as children interact,
work together, and meet the social challenges provided by
the actions. The children dont mind hearing the song again
and again as they work at the play. Generally, the children
do not begin singing until they have heard the song enough
that when they sing, it is accurate. Sometimes the sound is
heavy and loud because of the exuberance felt by the group.
But with more repetitions, the children seem to become
conscious of their own voice with those of others, and the
accuracy and quality improve. Often, the physical energy
and focus free up the voices of those who are self-conscious
Susan Kenney is a professor of music education at Brigham Young University,
Provo, Utah. E-mail: susan_kenney@byu.edu.
Kenney 25

about their singing. Each child grasps the game, the song, teaching. The Caines (1991) suggest that educators need to be
and the social challenges at different times and in a differ- willing to live on the edge of chaos. They say that the key
ent order, but the repetition of the wholeness of the song to teaching all students for excellence lies in our being able to
and game together provides an opportunity for every child function at more complex levels. However, the most difficult
to find all of the patterns in this mini world that began as part for music teachers may be learning to switch teaching
confusion (the new singing game) and now has become a paradigms. And the singing game may be an easy place to
world of success and knowledge. begin. Once the teacher learns to trust that the children will
The brain has had a feast, extracting patterns from the learn in the context of the whole singing game experience, the
experience: searching for meaning from the words, solving teaching is actually easier because the children take more
the problems of game actions, sorting through the rhythm responsibility for their own learning. In addition, the experi-
and melody to find patterns, solving socioemotional chal- ence is more joyful, often resulting in fewer management
lenges required in choosing a partner, taking turns, and issues and more thorough mastery of the song.
learning about self in space, to name just a few. And if neu- What is your experience? Do you have thoughts, sug-
rologist and writer Frank Wilson (1998) is correct that the gestions, questions, or ideas on this topic? Send them to
mind does not come into being or grow without bodily susan_kenney@byu.edu.
movement (p. 41), then the brain received further nourish-
ment from all of the movement that was taking place in this Appendix
lesson.
The brain requires a great deal of input to detect pat- Figure 1: The singing game is first experienced by the learner in
terns, and it needs time. Each time the game is played, the its wholeness, as a mini world of confusion. Each squiggle in the
brain is given more time to solve all of the problems. If the diagram represents a problem for the brain to solve. The brain
teacher trusts the childrens brains, they will solve the prob- extracts patterns from the confusiona veritable feast for the
lems. If the words, melody, or actions have not been brain.
mastered at the end of the experience, the emotional excite-
ment prepares the brain for further learning the next time
the song is sung.
To illustrate the point, see the diagrams in the appendix.
The first example suggests the song as it might appear to the
children the first time they experience it, as a world of con-
fusion. The second diagram represents how the world of the
song appears after the childrens brains have sorted it all out.
Of course, they have not compartmentalized each little
piece, but they have made sense of it, and they did it in
brain-compatible ways by what Caine and Caine refer to as
processing parts and wholes simultaneously (1991, p. 83).
Throughout my teaching career, two ways have been
suggested as appropriate for teaching songs by rote: the
phrase-by-phrase approach and the whole-song approach.
In the last half of the 20th century, the phrase-by-phrase
approach predominated. The whole-song method, or what
Rita Klinger (1996) has called the immersion approach,
is more consistent with the oral/aural tradition of transfer-
ring music culture among the folk. In addition, it provides a
way of learning that is more consistent with the natural way
children learn songs at play (Harwood, 1996). Now we Problems to solve might include the following:
have brain evidence to suggest it may be more appropriate Musical challenges: song words, rhythm, melody, meter,
for growing the brain. beat, form, intonation
At first it may seem that brain-compatible ways of teach- Physical challenges: self in space, coordination, body
ing are more difficult. Clear singing from the students is not parts
immediate, and teachers must be willing to wait and to trust Cognitive challenges: memory, patterning
the children to self-correct if initial inaccuracies occur. Social challenges: turn taking, choosing, being chosen,
Children must be allowed more freedom to explore to solve leading, decision making
problems. Those involved in brain research education
acknowledge that it does take a more sophisticated way of (continued)

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26 General Music Today 23(1)

Appendix (continued) References

Caine, G., & Caine, R. N. (1991). Making connections: Teaching and

Figure 2: The singing game after multiple experiences. The brain the human brain. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision
has made meaning from the confusion and solved the problems
and Curriculum Development.
the experience presented, including learning the song.
Hart, L. A. (1983). Human brain and human learning. New York:
Longman.
Harwood, E. (1996). Listening to learn. Orff Echo, 29(1), 18.
Klinger, R. (1996). Childrens song acquisition: Learning through
immersion. Orff Echo, 29(1), 35-36.
Willis, S. (1991). Teaching to the brain. ASCD Update, 33(8), 1-3.
Wilson, F. (1985). Music as basic schooling for the brain. Music
Educators Journal, 71(9), 39-42.

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