Content

I have been debating with my class at University of Bridgeport about content.  Do music teachers teach historical content (Mozart, Louis Armstrong, etc...) or do we teach musical concepts (tone, intonation, etc...)?  If we need to teach Mozart WHEN and HOW do we do it?

The list can be infinite really quickly.  I have a hard time with "the student should study who they want".  We should teach something about Mozart in their twelve years in public schools.  The student should know at least this about Mozart:

• He was really, really good.
• He died young.
• He wrote a lot of Operas, Symphonies, and other stuff.
• They should have a pretty good idea its Mozart if we drop the needle.

But, how do we fit it in to our schedule?  Do we teach it through repertoire, worksheets, youTube videos?

Most of us would be aghast if we asked a student about Mozart and they said "who?".