The Rationale for an Interdisciplinary Music Program in Orchestra

The Rationale for an Interdisciplinary

Music Program in Orchestra

HHave you considered how you might provide a deeper understanding of the music to your students or how you might promote a global and comprehensive look beyond music performance? Many music teachers tend to focus primarily on the final product and overlook the process’s importance. Most of our students might not continue their formal music education at the collegiate level or become performers; thus, the classroom experiences should lead to educationally vibrant experiences that students can recall throughout their lifetimes. Consider the pieces you have connected with most; it is likely the director delved deeply into the historical and social background and made the composition relevant to you in preparation for the piece. Quality music has salient qualities that facilitate this type of deep connection and allow students to make connections outside of music and with other disciplines. To best reach students and provide a positive musical or vibrant experience, we should consider implementing an interdisciplinary approach to music education.

What is an interdisciplinary approach?

An interdisciplinary curriculum draws from various disciplines to encourage diverse forms of knowing and understanding, revealing social, historical, and aesthetic components of music-making (Barrett et al., 1997). The purpose of incorporating an interdisciplinary curriculum in music education is to provide students with meaningful experiences that allow students to create connections and associations to real-world examples. Barrett (2001) explained that incorporating an interdisciplinary approach allows students to develop “deep understandings on the intersection and interaction of music with other disciplines” (p. 2). Additionally, the implementation of an interdisciplinary approach may promote higher-level thinking, collegiality, real-world application, transfer of learning, improved proficiency, increased autonomy, and increased initiative and motivation (Ellis & Fouts, 2001). In summary, an interdisciplinary approach to music education brings exterior non-musical principles into the teaching of musical concepts. An interdisciplinary approach can turn into a large collaboration between various school departments or can easily manifest itself in expanding on a general background of the composer’s intent and background. Regardless of the depth you choose to take with each composition, I hope you will recognize the value of this approach.

by David J. Cruz

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Photo by Maria Carvajal

Why does an interdisciplinary approach matter?

Two years ago, my school orchestra collaborated with the art department in a performance of Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky arranged for string orchestra. This piece is challenging, and certain movements have dissonant harmonies that my students tend to avoid. I was concerned that the piece was too difficult or that I would encounter resistance; however, to my surprise, the students embraced the experience and made significant musical growth. The piece provided my students with the opportunity to create their own compositions based on artwork that art students at our school created, and the art students created their artistic interpretations based on our musical performance. We attended a combined field trip to an art gallery with the art students to learn about shared artistic expressions both visually and aurally, as well as other varied and collaborative experiences that enabled an increase in focus on a composer’s intent, musical phrasing, and purpose.

Throughout the preparation, the students expressed an increased motivation to practice the piece at home because they understood Mussorgsky’s musical ideas and, in some cases, had a visual representation of what the sound qualities represented. The increased motivation aligns with research that suggests that an effective interdisciplinary approach may increase student initiative and motivation (Ellis & Fouts, 2001). The Gnome movement became one of the most preferred movements for both the orchestra and art students and inspired a lot of the students’ artworks. Perhaps the movement was so inspiring because of the difference in perception of what one might expect a movement called gnome to sound like and how it actually sounds.

Pictures at an Exhibition is rich with historical, artistic, and social qualities, making it an accessible candidate for developing an interdisciplinary curriculum. When choosing repertoire, finding the right piece is very important and should have a high interdisciplinary quotient. Barrett (2006) advised that the interaction between music and other disciplines must be central rather than superfluous. In the case of Pictures at an Exhibition, there was high value between both disciplines of art and music in addition to other non-academic traits of collaboration, friendship, and aesthetics. Both art and music students explored the music of Mussorgsky, the sketches created by Viktor Hartman, and the realist portrait of Mussorgsky by Russian artist Ilya Repin.

Barrett (2006) recommended selecting a composition that is related by inspiration or historical evidence and that engages students with music and the discipline. If these conditions are met, an interdisciplinary curriculum can be favorable in teaching musical concepts, developing musicianship, fostering a deeper understanding and value of music, building confidence and competence, and exploring

connections beyond the scope of music and into the real world where things may not be compartmentalized, as they are in school subjects (Barrett, 2001, 2006; Ellis & Fouts, 2001).

Compositions With a High Interdisciplinary Quotient and Recommendations

«The Nutcracker by P. Tchaikovsky:

This piece is of value to music and dance students.

Recommendation: Present a collaborative performance between the orchestra and the dance department. Music students can learn elements of ballet, and dance students can benefit from musical « training related to rhythm. Pictures at an Exhibition by

M. Mussorgsky: This piece is of value to music and art students.

Recommendation: Have art students create original pieces for movements for which there is no surviving artwork and then display them at a gallery where the « piece is performed. Carnival of the Animals by C.

Saint-Saens: This piece is of value to music and potentially creative writing and/or zoology.

Recommendation: Present a collaborative performance at a zoo where students can recite poetry or short stories to accompany the various musical movements.

«The Planets by G. Holst:

This piece is of value to music and science/astronomy, as well as Roman mythology.

Recommendation: Present a concert performing these pieces and share the similarities between the mythological representation of the planets and facts about each planet.

Further Thoughts

I found that as a result of these interdisciplinary projects, the orchestra students began to think more globally regarding their performance, developed a deeper connection to the repertoire performed, and were more eager to learn, as evidenced by their anticipation of the upcoming year’s theme or collaborative partner. Other salient elements of an interdisciplinary approach were a general expansion of world views and increased tolerance and acceptance for different viewpoints. A few months following our visit to the art museum, I noticed some of my music students waiting in the hotel lobby gazing at the artwork on display. I approached them and realized they were having a conversation analyzing the artwork and asking each other what the artist’s intention might be and how that artwork might sound musically. Immediately, I realized that this intellectual conversation must have rooted from the work we engaged in school throughout the curriculum, and now the students were applying the lessons learned in school to their lives outside the classroom.

Overall, I believe collaborations in an interdisciplinary setting have the potential to be very successful as long as you have the support of the other teacher(s) and select a piece that has relevant qualities of equal importance to both disciplines. An interdisciplinary approach increases student initiative and motivation to practice beyond the classroom; develops an improved musical proficiency; and improves students’ higher-level thinking and real-world application as evidenced by an increased and deeper engagement to the structural, contextual, and expressive qualities of music, the arts, and related fields. I hope you will consider implementing an interdisciplinary project to help expand your students’ understanding and tolerance of people outside of their music circle, challenge them to find meaning, and encourage them to seek further connections on a mission of lifelong learning and collaboration.

David J. Cruz is the middle school orchestra director at Singapore American School. He received the Bachelor of Music in music education and music therapy from the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami and a master’s degree in music education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Mr. Cruz holds credentials in Smithsonian Folkways World Music and American Eurhythmics Levels I & II.

References

Barrett, J. R., McCoy, C. W., & Veblen, K. K. (1997). Sound ways of knowing: Music in the interdisciplinary curriculum. Schirmer Books. Barrett, J. R. (2001). Interdisciplinary work and musical integrity. Music Educators Journal, 87(5), 27-31. https://doi.org/10.2307/3399705 Barrett, J. R. (2006). Highways and byways:

Interdisciplinarity, teacher knowledge, and the comprehensive music curriculum. The

Mountain Lake Reader, 24-37, 39. Ellis, A. K., & Fouts, J. T. (2001).

Interdisciplinary curriculum: The research base. Music Educators Journal, 87(5), 22-26, 68. https://doi.org/10.2307/3399704 August 2021 15