Standard #3

As a well-educated teacher in the areas of music theory and aural skills, I will use my education and teaching experience to make reading and writing skills the foundation on which the rest of my teaching is built. I was fortunate enough to study music theory pedagogy at the University of Tennessee which has the most comprehensive program in the country, above Yale and Michigan State according to an article posted in 2019. In this program we were required to take at least two music theory courses each semester that focused on evaluation of music and different ways to analyze music written in a wide rage of style periods. In addition to these classes, I taught aural skills for two years of my masters degree. The class focused on the aural identification and transcription of musical examples. Before I assigned anything to my class, I would complete the assignment to determine the skill level and difficulty. This included any sight reading examples that I might give. Beyond my teaching experience in this topic, I use these skills every day as a performer, composer, and conductor. As a Horn player, I am frequently transposing music to fit my instrument. The Horn, being a transposed instrument, often requires that I read concert pitch in both treble and bass clefs. As a conductor and composer, I have found myself using my knowledge of contemporary music notation in more of a large scale format, often juggling the notation and transpositional needs of multiple instruments at once. 

Students will benefit from my instruction in this area because I have been trained by some of the best music theory pedagogues in the country. Many of which I keep in contact with and can aid my instruction if need be. Additionally, I value the fundamental aspects of music literacy, reading, and notation, so much that they have become the epicenter of my pedagogical techniques. Students leaving my program will be some of the most literate and educated students in the areas of reading and writing music among their peers.