Whole Music Learning is the name I’ve given to my belief, and subsequent teaching methodology, that we learn music best when we’re taught in a whole-part-whole sequence. When we are presented with music in context first (either as the entire song, or in song-like patterns), then have it broken down into the parts necessary to understand and sing or play it with understanding, and finally reassemble it into a whole song that we ourselves express, then we have achieved the ability to make music in a meaningful way.
I didn’t come up with this idea. Rather, Whole Music Learning emerged most significantly from my time studying with music learning theorist Dr. Edwin Gordon, working with very young children in the Sally’s Music Circle program, and from my many teaching, rehearsing and performing experiences.
Four vocabularies; context vs content
We learn music and language in similar ways. They both share four vocabularies: listening, speaking, reading and writing. In language we usually listen and speak before we learn to read and write, a logical outgrowth of informal social development. Listening and speaking are the preparatory vocabularies for reading and writing.
In music, we also learn best if we engaged in listening and expressive activities first.* To some extent, this happens alongside of language learning, but we require exposure to a variety of musical tonalities, scales, styles and cultural qualities to give us enough “water in our well” so that we can make sense of the reading and writing that come later. Unfortunately, many children are not prepared for reading and writing, which is often presented quite early in traditional music education systems. As a result, less successful music learning takes place.
In my own teaching, I frequently find myself “backfilling” the holes left in student’s musical experiences by teaching by rote very simple songs having a variety of diverse qualities.
Listening and speaking activities provide the context, or the whole in the whole-part-whole process. Contextual activities include listening to, singing and/or playing entire songs, meaningful sections and fragments of songs, and/or tonal and rhythm patterns that come from a song.
Content activities provide the ability to sing or play the song. Content includes instrumental techniques (the execution skills required to play an instrument), theoretical analysis, and other activities required to understand a song from the inside out.
Where do reading and writing fit into this? Consider that we cannot take meaning from notation, we can only bring meaning to it. Reading and writing can be either contextual and content activities, depending on how well the player has learned to audiate* from notation. When we audiate, we give meaning to a substantial number of characteristics found in the music. Unfortunately, many players have learned to play their instruments in advance of, or without developing audiation skills. They are limited to how well they are able to decode the notes and rhythms first, and apply what musical understanding they have later.
Therefore, for those whose audiation skills are better developed, reading and writing can help provide the context for learning the song. For those who have primarily learned to play their instruments and rely on decoding skills, they are dealing with content first, and can only hope that repeated playing eventually results in musical performances. That usually depends on how well players listen to themselves and others while playing.
Whole Music Learning vs traditional music education
For many years my experiences as a performer and teacher led me to question how I was taught and, in turn, how I was teaching. Considered a successful performer by my peers, I knew I could play drums but I didn’t really understand the music I was playing on a deeper level. Yet I had a degree in music performance and had played dozens of styles from classical to rock. Where was the missing link?
Similarly, as a private teacher, my students would come to me wanting to learn drumming, but most showed little musical awareness. At first I addressed their needs by teaching stick technique, drum set beats and reading. Most of my students could achieve these skills, but only the talented ones played musically. Why did some drummers become musicians, while others were just drummers?
I intuitively felt that nearly anyone could be taught to play in a musical manner. It was much later, however, that I realized a priority shift was necessary in order for this to happen. In order for drummers to become musicians, they had to start thinking musically first and “drumistically” second. In other words, if you came to me wanting learn drumming, you’d probably become a drummer. But if you came to me wanting to be a musician, you’d end up being both.
It took me many years to fully understand this. In 1979, in order to organize my teaching materials, I began a drum book. Over the next 14 years it evolved into a reflection of the grooves and techniques I had used in my playing career. Then, in 1993, I studied with Dr. Gordon, leading me to question nearly everything. My work with Professor Gordon was so mind and ear opening that I could never teach in the same way again. In fact, I would never think of music itself in the same way. I changed nearly everything in my work, gave the name Whole Music Drumming, and finally completed it in 2002. I continue to use it every day as the go-to source for written materials in my teaching, and it’s held up well for me. However, whenever I get around to revising it, I’ll include more more on movement and improvisation. More on these subjects in the future.
Through all this, my underlying realization is that traditional music education is deeply flawed. Traditional music education is more about content, less about context. It emphasizes reading and writing, and largely assumes students’ listening and speaking vocabularies have been somehow acquired previously. Even when students are given listening activities, these activities seem to emphasize appreciation over participation.
Whole Music Learning is about creating context first, then teaching content activities based on context. Listening activities are directly related to music participation.
Inclusion, not exclusion
Throughout traditional music education and popular culture, the message — especially for adults — is leave it to the professionals. Only the talented few are qualified to be “real” musicians. The line between the “haves” and the “have-nots” is more defined in music than in any other social or artistic activity.
It is within this environment that I labor for musical inclusion, in my work with babies and pre-schoolers, grade school students and for adults as well. Everyone can be included. Music is as accessible as language, as long as we present it in the same way. If we listen and speak music and movement throughout our society, the division will go away and people will be happier. And, if you take into account all the recent research on music and the brain, people will be smarter, too.
Rob Zollman
*I replace “speaking” with expressive activities, which include singing, moving, playing by ear, chanting rhythm patterns, singing tonal patterns and improvising.
**Simply put, audiation has to do with giving meaning to a piece or passage of music without the music necessarily being physically present. When we audiate, we internally understand not only how the notes and rhythms sound, but we also comprehend any number of additional aspects of the music — tonality, rhythm, harmony, style and feel to name a few.
Like to read more? I’ll continue to discuss this issue and other related subjects in future blogs. I also recommend reading works by Edwin Gordon and the increasing collection of materials by members of the Gordon Institute for Music Learning.
