“Music and Art, whether we are conscious of their presence or not, are integral to our daily experience.” ~Taylor Bredberg, Composer and Teacher
Our Pages online offering will be expanding this year, and everyone I’ve talked to is really excited about this news!
I recently been posting about our amazing Pages teachers .
We are especially excited to announce Music and Art Discovery.
LEARN MORE: MUSIC DISCOVERY (with video!)
LEARN MORE: ARTS DISCOVERY (with video!)
You might ask: How is a language arts connected to music and visual art? Well, I’ve had the chance to talk to the talented teacher and learned the inside scoop.
During my conversation with “Master Taylor” his passion and enthusiasm for both music and art was evident. Taylor has been teaching for 8 years, starting as a peer mentor, private tutor, classroom assistant and then lead classroom teacher. We are grateful to have him join our team of online teachers. Taylor explained how the visual art via the craft of graphic design exists in the world everywhere we go. Music too is often in the background of our daily world, whether in a store or on TV. It’s important to have a more active understanding of these two significant languages. That’s right, he called music and art language! No, wonder Blackbird and Company wanted to offer these classes. Both music and visual art are significant branches of literacy. Taylor went on to say that learning about music and art can not only help us understand, but also help us help us appreciate, the art we see on a daily basis. Learning the history of both disciplines can help us understand what we see and hear.
When I asked Taylor what he would be teaching in music, he said he would be concentrating on the history of music, specially in the classical and jazz era, to help students develop listening skills. Stated simply, his goal is music appreciation. The historical background will offer the insight that, no matter the era, music brings community together. Taylor went on to share that it can be daunting for a student to listen to music for half an hour that has no words. Taylor’s goal is, “to have my students enjoy music and know what they are listening too.” Class will have a required writing element but this will be tailored developmentally. Writing about music ties the languages together through translation. The class format will not require reading, but it will require listening to music inside and outside of class.
Anyone familiar with Blackbird and Company curriculum and our philosophy, know that we promote the pencil work of handwriting from Kindergarten forward. Master teacher, Taylor pointed out that writing is a core to English, and the rules of phonics, for example, are presented to our students starting day one. Art on the other hand is not considered a core subject and most people want a free form class, want fun with crayons! Taylor agrees that free form art is important, but insists we need to supplement with tools, “We don’t just set a child down with high quality art supplies and watch them create amazing art.” When Taylor sees in students that they have a creative idea, “I want to make this happen,” he realizes the state of frustration that happens when that student doesn’t have the tools to do what they want to do.
“My goal is to give my students the tools to assist in bringing their ideas to life through their art.” ~Master Taylor
There is a mechanics to art—a way to hold the pencil and how much pressure to apply. We are taught small finger movements to handwrite. In art we are taught to use the arm to assist in drawing a line as opposed to fingers. Wrist and arm movements can assist in making bigger lines. Learning the mechanics of art is skill learning. Taylor plans on teaching these skills and techniques, getting down to the basic elements of art. He will assist students in slowing down or in his words, “settling down” into the process of art-making to inspire students to make beautiful, important work, that is authentically theirs. Notice the connection between writing and art? In both we talk about s l o w i n g down, doing less but better, doing it well. This all takes time. It’s all important. It’s your work. It’s your idea. It matters. We want your work to be yours. We just want to support you in building your toolkit to get your idea where you want it to be. The possibilities are endless.
Ultimately, writing is art making and so, what better pairing for an ELA curriculum than a study of music and visual art?
~Clare Bonn