Check out the other articles in my "Teaching Modern Music" series by clicking on the images below!
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I recently came across an interesting discussion in a piano teachers’ forum about teaching modern music. How can we inspire students who are more comfortable with pop music to listen to (and to play) pieces that use contemporary sounds?
It’s true that the majority of our students are most familiar with the melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic language of Western European classical music and pop music. However, you might be surprised by how many non-traditional sounds appear in the music of popular genres and even in current teaching pieces!
With that in mind, I’m launching a new blog series that highlights popular music incorporating contemporary elements, alongside my own works for students that introduce modern sounds in an approachable and engaging way.
By sharing these listening examples with our students and having them study accessible pieces that use contemporary elements, we can create a frame of reference that makes it possible for us to introduce students at any level to the vibrant colors and interesting sounds found in modern music.
In the fourth and final part of this series, I will be sharing tips for how to teach students to listen to contemporary art music, along with some of my favorite pieces by modern composers that will appeal to students of all ages!
Keep reading to learn more...
It’s true that the majority of our students are most familiar with the melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic language of Western European classical music and pop music. However, you might be surprised by how many non-traditional sounds appear in the music of popular genres and even in current teaching pieces!
With that in mind, I’m launching a new blog series that highlights popular music incorporating contemporary elements, alongside my own works for students that introduce modern sounds in an approachable and engaging way.
By sharing these listening examples with our students and having them study accessible pieces that use contemporary elements, we can create a frame of reference that makes it possible for us to introduce students at any level to the vibrant colors and interesting sounds found in modern music.
In the fourth and final part of this series, I will be sharing tips for how to teach students to listen to contemporary art music, along with some of my favorite pieces by modern composers that will appeal to students of all ages!
Keep reading to learn more...
If you have read the first three articles in this series, hopefully you have gotten some helpful ideas for how to introduce your students to the sounds of contemporary melody, harmony, and rhythm through listening examples and accessible student repertoire.
In this article, we will be discussing how to help students learn to listen to modern art music.
Just like playing an instrument, listening to art music is a skill that takes practice! Especially in today's world of 30 second TikTok videos, students may not be equipped to listen to a long instrumental piece without our help to guide them through the listening process.
Added to this is the extra challenge of helping students learn to listen to modern music that often uses a completely different melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic language than what they are used to.
Here are my top tips for helping students learn to listen to and understand modern music:
Tip #1: Start with short pieces that are no more than 3 to 4 minutes in length.
Most elementary piano pieces are less than a minute long. Most pop songs are under 3 minutes long. So, it can be a big ask to expect young students to listen to and follow a 10 or 15 minute piece of instrumental music out of the gate!
Start with short pieces, then work up to longer pieces as students develop their listening skills.
For students that have trouble focusing, using a visual component, such as a performance video or listening map that guides them through the piece, can be helpful. Many excellent videos can be found on YouTube that work well for this purpose.
Tip #2: Choose programmatic pieces that tell a story.
Instrumental music can often be harder for students to grasp since there aren't words to communicate what is happening in the piece. In addition, modern music often relies on elements outside of traditional melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic patterns to tell a story.
By choosing programmatic pieces that were written to tell a story or set a scene, we can encourage our students to use their imaginations to picture what is happening in the music.
Encourage your students to create a story, or imagine a character that fits the music. What is this character doing in each section of the piece? Young students might even enjoy drawing a picture as they listen to the music.
Tip #3: Discuss which musical elements are used in a contemporary way to communicate the story in the piece.
Does the piece use a non-traditional scale or dissonant harmonies? Are there syncopated rhythms or irregular meters that contribute to the mood of the piece? Or maybe the piece uses the piano in an unusual way to create a unique sound?
Encourage students to identify the contemporary elements they are hearing in the music and to decide how each element is used by the composer to contribute to the story that is being told through the piece.
Tip #4: Listen again!
Contemporary music in particular often takes a few listens to hear all of the details and to understand what is going on the in the music. After discussing the music with your student, listen to the piece again--you may be surprised at what you notice the second time around!
Below are a few programmatic, modern piano pieces that you might enjoy listening to and discussing with your students. Based on the title alone, ask your students what sounds they expect to hear in each piece. Then, help your students make note of the contemporary elements they hear in the melody, harmony, and rhythm as you listen together.
In this article, we will be discussing how to help students learn to listen to modern art music.
Just like playing an instrument, listening to art music is a skill that takes practice! Especially in today's world of 30 second TikTok videos, students may not be equipped to listen to a long instrumental piece without our help to guide them through the listening process.
Added to this is the extra challenge of helping students learn to listen to modern music that often uses a completely different melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic language than what they are used to.
Here are my top tips for helping students learn to listen to and understand modern music:
Tip #1: Start with short pieces that are no more than 3 to 4 minutes in length.
Most elementary piano pieces are less than a minute long. Most pop songs are under 3 minutes long. So, it can be a big ask to expect young students to listen to and follow a 10 or 15 minute piece of instrumental music out of the gate!
Start with short pieces, then work up to longer pieces as students develop their listening skills.
For students that have trouble focusing, using a visual component, such as a performance video or listening map that guides them through the piece, can be helpful. Many excellent videos can be found on YouTube that work well for this purpose.
Tip #2: Choose programmatic pieces that tell a story.
Instrumental music can often be harder for students to grasp since there aren't words to communicate what is happening in the piece. In addition, modern music often relies on elements outside of traditional melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic patterns to tell a story.
By choosing programmatic pieces that were written to tell a story or set a scene, we can encourage our students to use their imaginations to picture what is happening in the music.
Encourage your students to create a story, or imagine a character that fits the music. What is this character doing in each section of the piece? Young students might even enjoy drawing a picture as they listen to the music.
Tip #3: Discuss which musical elements are used in a contemporary way to communicate the story in the piece.
Does the piece use a non-traditional scale or dissonant harmonies? Are there syncopated rhythms or irregular meters that contribute to the mood of the piece? Or maybe the piece uses the piano in an unusual way to create a unique sound?
Encourage students to identify the contemporary elements they are hearing in the music and to decide how each element is used by the composer to contribute to the story that is being told through the piece.
Tip #4: Listen again!
Contemporary music in particular often takes a few listens to hear all of the details and to understand what is going on the in the music. After discussing the music with your student, listen to the piece again--you may be surprised at what you notice the second time around!
Below are a few programmatic, modern piano pieces that you might enjoy listening to and discussing with your students. Based on the title alone, ask your students what sounds they expect to hear in each piece. Then, help your students make note of the contemporary elements they hear in the melody, harmony, and rhythm as you listen together.
| "The Tides of Manaunaun" by Henry Cowell (1917) | "The Banshee" by Henry Cowell (1925) |
| "The Cat and the Mouse" by Aaron Copland (1920) | "The Robin" by Olivier Messiaen (1985) |
| "Gargoyles, No. 1" by Lowell Liebermann (1989) | "Water Dance, No. 1" by Karen Tanaka (2008) |
What do you think? Do you have any favorite modern pieces that you enjoy listening to with your students? Let us know in the comments!
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