4 minute read
Feierabend Fundamentals, Missy Strong & Andrew Himelick
Feierabend Fundamentals
There is an exciting and inspiring new resource available for music educators wanting to learn more about the programs and philosophy of John Feierabend. But first, a little history. For over 3 decades, John Feierabend has been creating and publishing resources to help teachers grow their students into what he has termed “tuneful, beatful, and artful” musicians. A tuneful, beatful, artful person can think and sing tunes, easily feel the beat and beat divisions in music, and connect to the expressive part of the music they hear and perform. Feierabend created “First Steps in Music” and “Conversational Solfege,” programs that are used in schools throughout the U.S. and around the world to assist a music educator in teaching students to become beatful, tuneful, and artful.
It became obvious to Feierabend that teachers wanted in-depth training on how to use these two resources effectively in their classrooms. So, summer certification workshops were made available around the U.S. and later, internationally. As the popularity of his work grew, it also became clear to Feierabend that he could no longer spread the word on his own. Therefore, the Feierabend Association for Music Education (FAME) was established in 2012 to help spread and foster his work. In addition to this, Feierabend began training other master educators (called Endorsed Teacher Trainers) who could also teach certification courses.
Missy Strong, elementary specialist in the Mt. Laurel Township, NJ schools, is one of those master educators and is also the current President-Elect of FAME. In 2012 she saw the potential of social media to bring music teachers from around the world together, and created the “Feierabend Fundamentals” Facebook page with Feierabend’s blessing. Her vision was that teachers already using Feierabend resources and programs as well as those just learning about his work could have a place to ask questions and share ideas. Quickly, the Facebook page became popular and today has over 8,000 followers. From the amount of posts and discussion on the page, Strong could see there was a need for a single resource where many of the most common questions and items discussed could be addressed and fleshed out. It would be a “one-stop-shop” of all things Feierabend. A handful of other master teachers in the Feierabend camp (most of them Endorsed Teacher Trainers) were selected to write specific chapters about how Feierabend’s work could and should be understood, taught, and used. The practitioners chosen are experts from early childhood to college and beyond. This resource, “Feierabend Fundamentals: History, Philosophy and Practice” is available from GIA Publications.
Feierabend and Strong are both editors and, along with ten other contributing authors, share their expertise across multiple music teaching areas in the book. The chapters are as follows:
John Feierabend: A History First Steps in Music: A Research-
Based Curriculum First Steps in Music in the Infant and Toddler Classroom Getting Started with a First Steps in Music Business First Steps in Music in the
Elementary Classroom Conversational Solfege Explained Comparing Major Methodologies Conversational Solfege - Special
Considerations Conversational Solfege in the
Choral Setting Conversational Solfege in
Instrumental Settings Assessment in First Steps in Music and Conversational Solfege Adaptations for First Steps and
Conversational Solfege Building a Children’s Church
Music Education Program
Using the Feierabend Approach Conversational Solfege Upper
Levels
As is evidenced by the chapter list, Strong and Feierabend sought to cover as many areas of music education as possible. The intention was that anyone interested in learning the basics of Feierabend’s philosophy, resources, and programs could easily pick up the book and immediately begin to learn. While the in-person certification training offered by the FAME organization is the optimal way to interact with and learn Feierabend’s philosophies and methods, the book serves as an excellent introduction and help for teachers at any level of experience with his work.
“Feierabend Fundamentals” is written for new and veteran teachers, teachers certified by the Feierabend Association for Music Education, college professors, and undergraduate and graduate college students. This book is a major contribution to the music education profession and is a significant step toward bringing this child-centered and powerful approach to an even larger community. As one looks at the above titles, it is obvious that this is a resource from which even those unfamiliar with Feierabend’s work might start learning some of the basic tenets as well as a place where an experienced teacher familiar with Feierabend’s work could learn even more about helping their students to be “tuneful, beatful, and artful.”
Andrew Himelick is an Elementary Music Teacher at Towne Meadow Elementary School, Carmel, IN and a FAME Endorsed Teacher Trainer for First Steps in Music and Conversational Solfege.
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