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The Tuneables™ is ideally suited to align with any schools music program.   No matter what the instructional setting, The Tuneables can provide specific, appropriately sequenced instruction designed to meet the individual learning needs of all children.   The curriculum of the Tuneables addresses best practices in music teaching, which supports K-12 national standards in music education.

 

What types of educational settings could benefit from The Tuneables™?

The Tuneables is designed to deliver a complete educational experience no matter what instructional resources are available.  Therefore, this program can be adapted to a variety of settings, including:

  • Preschool
  • Kindergarten
  • Primary School (Public and Private)
  • Home School
  • Day Care

 

Is a music teacher required to utilize The Tuneables™ in classrooms?

In most cases, children are best served in their music education when taught by a music specialist. TheTuneables™ materials provide the music teacher with valuable resources to implement an appropriate music curriculum. The carefully sequenced curriculum and clear instructions for learning provided in the DVD/CD and teacher's guide do much to eliminate the gaps in skill and content development that might occur in any early childhood music instruction.

Unfortunately, many educational environments cannot provide for a dedicated music specialist, and, if one is provided, these specialists must contend with large class sizes and limited engagement with each student.  However, with The Tuneables™, learning can extend into regular classrooms with continued and repeated use of the audio and video materials.

Classroom teachers can easily provide a music instruction program for their students even when a music specialist is not available. By presenting the sequential program contained in the various audio and visual materials and by following the suggestions in the accompanying teacher’s guide, the classroom teacher has the means to provide music instruction that reflects the best practices of music teaching.*

 

What are the curriculum objectives in The Tuneables™ Series?

The Tuneables™ addresses the following curriculum objectives:

  • Content Knowledge (Rhythm and Tonality)
  • Musical Expression
  • Performance Skills
  • Musical Repertoire

 These objectives align with the K-12 National Standards for quality music education programs.*

 

I. Content Knowledge (Rhythm and Tonality)

Musical content knowledge is advanced through the development of what might be called a musical vocabulary.

This vocabulary consists of easily performed and uniquely named patterns. These patterns emerge from two streams—one rhythmic and the other tonal. The goal is for students to recall these patterns and sing and play them, recognize them in familiar music, identify them in unfamiliar settings, read them in musical notation, and create new music by combining the patterns in novel ways or inventing new combinations of tones. The mastery of a large vocabulary of rhythm and tonal patterns is the foundation for successful music performance and music literacy.

 

Rhythm Learning: Rhythm learning’s foundation rests on the beat and incorporates groupings of beats and divisions of beats to form rhythm patterns.

In The Tuneables™ program, rhythm patterns are presented, repeated, performed, named and recognized in various songs and musical compositions. These patterns are introduced in a sequence that enables young children to maintain a sense of the inherent logic of timed musical events as their learning and maturation proceed. Rhythmic movements demonstrated by animated characters are chosen so that they are easily performed and enhance conceptual understanding.

Tonal Learning: Tonal learning’s foundation rests on the perception of tonality and the inherent logic that this tonality is derived from a collection of notes (scale) that have musical meaning because of their relationship to one tone, called the “tonal center” ("home tone" or “final resting tone”).

In The Tuneables™ program, tonal patterns consist of two to five tones that children sing in songs, hear in isolation, and sing the tonal syllables (do, re, mi, etc.) associated with those tones. The sequence for the introduction of each new pattern is chosen to gradually introduce and then strengthen the perception of tonality.

 

II. Musical Expression

 The enjoyment of music expands as children understand and experience the expressive elements available in music performance.

 The Tuneables™ addresses this musical dimension by providing experiences with tempo (faster or slower), dynamics (louder and softer), articulation (smooth or detached), tone color (instrument and vocal sounds—individual and combinations), style (march, lullaby, dance, etc.), texture (density or transparency of sound), and mood (the emotion that the combination of music events projects, e.g., excited, calm, happy, etc.). All songs are accompanied with appropriate and interesting accompaniments to exemplify one or more of these expressive elements, and the actions of the animated characters are designed to reflect typical human responses to expressive effects.

 

III. Performance Skills

 The Tuneables™ develops performance skills by providing accurate models and appropriate activities leading to performance accuracy. 

 Singing accuracy is addressed by including activities that give the voice flexibility and extend its range and by providing songs in a singing range that is best suited to the young child’s voice. Children are asked to imitate singing models that are highly accurate in pitch and rhythm. Songs, at first, are limited to one key, and then gradually expanded to other keys as the child develops the vocal control necessary to achieve good pitch accuracy. Harmonic accompaniments are also devised that, through experience, have been shown to best support the singing pitch production of the child.

 Rhythmic accuracy is developed through a variety of movement activities that are easily imitated and performed. The animated characters while performing the music provide rhythmically accurate models of these movements. Children also develop rhythmic accuracy when they join in singing with the animated characters.

 

IV. Musical Repertoire

 The Tuneables™ introduces children to a standard repertoire of music literature from the classical, popular, folk, and jazz traditions.

 Each DVD features a composer and introduces the children to the sounds of the composer’s work by incorporating well-know musical themes and compositions into songs and other activities. Traditional children’s songs are utilized when appropriate for learning musical concepts. These songs and songs composed for The Tuneables™ program feature exciting and imaginative accompaniments that give children experience with the great music traditions.

 * See: The School Music Program: A New Vision—The K-12 National Standards, PreK Standards, and What They Mean to Music Educators. (www.menc.org/resources/view/the-school-music-program-a-new-vision)