Arjen Wynja is a second-year Music Education and trumpet student at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO. He is currently the Vice-President of CSU’s CNAfME chapter, and has been involved in CSU’s MSOE program, CSU Music ensembles including the CSU Wind Symphony, and is an active student member of the Colorado Bandmasters Association. A native of Lyons, CO, Arjen also enjoys gardening and enjoying the beautiful Colorado outdoors.
Statement of Music Education Philosophy
People have always made music, because music is an intrinsic human behavior. We find unique value in translating our experience of ourselves and the world around us into these artistic sounds and silences. Every culture, historic and present, has a musical history. The actions that humans take depend on the needs that we have, and among the most important, and least tangible, is the need to understand. Any time humans share experiences – be it triumph, struggle, grief, worship, or unity – music is a part of it. Music is essential for people to define themselves as a group (the Star Spangled Banner), explore their relationship with their surroundings (the Navajo Song of the Earth Spirit), or make music simply for music’s sake (Mozart, Symphony no. 40). However, music is a learned behavior, having been passed down in aural and notated forms for centuries. This has occurred informally in homes, third spaces, places of worship, and public schools. The only way to democratize learning the behavior of music for all children is by building and sustaining quality music programs at the core of our nation’s public schools’ mission to educate widely competent lifelong learners for a democratic society.
In order to develop musicianship and appreciation of music, students must learn both the conceptual knowledge of music and its skills-based applications. Conceptual knowledge can be organized into the fundamentals of music: pitch, rhythm, harmony, tonality, form, texture, and timbre. Each of these categories represents a pillar of conceptual knowledge that can be revisited in many stages of students’ music education. Rhythm, for example, starts in Kindergarten as keeping a steady beat, but gradually progresses to more advanced concepts such as polyrhythm once a student is in high school. Students should apply concepts in the following areas: (1) live, in-person music-making, (2) composition, improvisation, and arranging, (3) listening and appreciation, and (4) theory, analysis, and critical response. These are achievable in ensembles, general music, and any array of emerging music courses such as guitar, music explore, or music theory. Ultimately, each practice area is an access point to meaningful musical experiences and lifelong musical engagement. And throughout all the activities, the emphasis must be on the shared musical experience, depending greatly on students’ willingness to engage in challenging work, believe deeply in their ability to grow, and to actively provide a supportive environment for all.
Professional music educators should possess professional level musicianship, first and foremost. A great teacher is an expert of a primary instrument, experienced in the technique of every instrument they teach, knowledgeable of the theory, mechanics, and history of music, good at rapid aural and notated understanding and diagnosis, aware and recognizing of many types of music, and an excellent conductor. In short, music teachers must be consummate musicians. In order to cultivate students’ greatest potential to have valuable musical experiences in school that lead to active musical lives, this musicianship must also take shape in the form of great pedagogy – student centered, insistent on appropriately high expectations, and characteristic to the given musical environment (instrumental technique, ensemble development, creative informal music making, impactful conducting, etc.) Furthermore, great teachers are consistent workers, systematic time managers, and deeply invested in the development of a classroom culture of respect, deliberate work, high expectations for musicality, and clear communication. Parents should be informed and involved in their children’s music education to the degree of supporting, but not controlling. Lastly and most importantly, great teachers have longevity and are sustainable and consistent in their investment in students, and continue to learn, challenge themselves, and develop as educators throughout their careers.