30th Annual Student Research Conference
A Constructivist Approach to Learning Textual Interpretation and Its Impact on High School Choral Performance
Beth I. Keene♦
Dr. Jay Bulen, Faculty Mentor
Musical expression can be described as the manipulation of musical elements to evoke an affective state. Expressivity is one of the key components upon which large ensembles are adjudicated at the high school level of choral performance. Additionally in the high school choral classroom, musical expression intersects directly with interpretation of text. A constructivist approach to teaching musical expression may encourage students to more deeply connect with a piece and develop their own interpretation of the music and text, resulting in expressive performance. This action research project has been developed to apply constructivist methods of learning to the text of one choral work. One individual and one group activity will be completed throughout the course of learning the piece. After the learning period, a recorded performance will be assessed by four music educators to conclude whether or not the musical expression improved as a result of the treatment.
Keywords: musical expression, textual interpretation, high school , choir, choral, constructivism
Topic(s):Music
Education
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 213-2
Location: OP 2210
Time: 9:45