Music Play Teaching Methodology

The teaching methodology used in Music & Movement classes is based on research and teaching of Dr. Edwin E. Gordon and his students Dr. Alison M. Reynolds, Dr. Beth H. Bolton, Dr. Cynthia C. Taggart, and Dr. Wendy H. Valerio. Gordon has spent his professional career investigating the idea of "audiation," or thinking in sound. Audiating music is like thinking language. If you sing "Happy Birthday" in your head, you're audiating. Gordon theorized that guiding persons to audiate music of greater and greater complexity is the goal of music education; being able to audiate supports the ability to perform, understand, improvise, and compose music. Gordon developed a Music Learning Theory to describe the musical learning processes of infants and toddlers through children and adults; he and his students also developed curricula to guide and support this process.

Gordon's A Music Learning Theory for Newborn and Young Children (2003, GIA Publications) identifies and explains the following seven stages of preparatory audiation in young children:

1. Absorption (Child is absorbing musical material)
2. Random Response (Child responds to music; responses are not directly related to musical material presented)
3. Purposeful Response (Child responds to music in a related way; responses are not direct imitations)
4. Shedding Egocentricity (Child realizes his/her responses are not direct imitations; may show a funny look of recognition on his/her face)
5. Breaking the Code (Child imitates with some accuracy; responses are not preceded by a preparatory breath and do not indicate full understanding of tonal/rhythmic context)
6. Introspection (Child realizes his/her imitations do not include the preparatory breath or coordinate fully with movement)
7. Coordination (Child imitates accurately with a preparatory breath; there is evidence of understanding of the tonal/rhythmic context)

A more in-depth explanation of these stages can be found at http://www.giml.org/mlt_earlychildhood.php or in Gordon's books. These sources also show the typical age range for each stage. It is important to note that the goal is not to progress as quickly from one stage to the next as possible. Rather, we seek to nurture children in each stage along the way. There's no hurry!