No Fear, Just Fun!: Meaningful, Memorable Musicking in Secondary General Music

Abstract

Secondary general music is hard to define. For some, this denotes an accelerated version of elementary general music or a decelerated version of a college music appreciation course. Others view this as any nontraditional ensemble geared for middle or high school students, such as guitar, keyboard, or steel pans. Still, for others, secondary general music is not so much a stand-alone course as it is any time devoted to teaching fundamental skills to students in band, orchestra, and choir so they may more successfully perform the repertoire. The authors acknowledge each of the above-listed views as valid; thus, rather than debate what is secondary general music, we will highlight each viewpoint in a three-part series. The first of this series will focus on a class structure where students experience various activities all while learning music fundamentals, studying music history, and developing music literacy skills.