For my MUED 371 Engagement/Field Experience Project, I decided to learn the banjo through the informal learning process described by Lucy Greene in her book, Music, Informal Learning, and the School. My desire is to become a well-rounded music teacher for my future students, and for me this means experiencing as many different musical activities as possible so I can better understand their musical backgrounds. I was already obtaining public school experience through my Honors Capstone Project at Keister ES with Maggie Hagy, so I decided on a musical experience out of my comfort zone. I also had never learned an instrument informally, so I thought it would be a good experience trying it out and seeing its affordances and constraints. I obtained a banjo from my housemate and found bluegrass jam sessions that I could attend. I went to jams at the Elkton Community Center and the Plains District Museum Bluegrass Circle Jam. The people who attended were a mixed bunch from the community, along with some JMU professors who lived in the area; I also went with my fellow MUED peer, Sophie Harrison, so that I had a buddy with me.
In Greene’s book, Music, Informal Learning, and the School, she discusses the importance of informal learning and students experimenting with learning on their own, with the teacher present but only helping if the student is struggling a lot or asks for a little bit of guidance. To apply this content, I tried learning the banjo on my own, watching some Youtube videos and then asking for help at the jams that I attended if I really needed it. I had to apply the skill of winding it back for myself in this field experience. My aural skills are not that good, so when I went to the jams I felt really incompetent. After attending my first jam session, I learned that I had to do a lot more listening to their “unspoken list” of standard songs that they would play. Then I had to finger out a simple strum I wanted to use and at first the most I could do was find tonic and finger the chord and strum whenever tonic came. Eventually, I got to the point where I could strum along to the whole song, but it took me a bit of time. As a teacher, I learned the difficulty and beauty in informal learning. I had a harder time than if someone had taught me and given me notated music, but I feel as if I learned more from my experience and improved my aural skills because I was challenged to do it without notation. I was also shocked by cultural differences within Virginia – I can honestly say I experienced culture shock. I came back after one jam with a lot of questions about my perception of myself and others perceptions of me and it made me realize that being different can be hard. Even though people at the jams were super nice, I felt like an outcast because I was a younger aged person, as well as racially different, from the rest of the people in the jams. This experience made me more aware of myself, in addition to what my future students may feel being in a new culture. |
Davina MiawHere I will share experiences of my engagement in community. Archives
December 2019
Categories |