Posted by Another alias... on December 10, 2003 at 17:15:14:
In Reply to: reading and interpreting music posted by bloke on December 10, 2003 at 09:02:28:
I'm sure that many teachers have noticed that the ability to recognize and carry a melody is slowly being lost in our culture. Unless you've got a very unusual bunch of students, try having them sing a dozen or so Christmas carols (or any other common ongs) extemporaneously. It's surprising how few young people can do this.
It gets in the way of teaching. Suppose you want to give an illustration of what an octave sounds like. You might use a popular tune like "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" or "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire". That approach doesn't work very well today, because most younger players are unfamiliar with these songs. I'm certain our parents and their parents had similar sources to draw on.
Wonder if there are any good octaves in the collected works of Dr. Dre?