Faculty Mentors
Dr. Tina Holmes-Davis
Abstract
In my experience as a recorder student in 2001-2002, I noticed that recorder learning came quickly to me, but I was slowed down in the group setting by a few classmates who needed that extra attention. This led me to wonder how far into our recorder playing book we would have gotten without the few students who needed that extra time. I eventually disregarded the recorder and looked forward to the excitement and potential of a middle school band instrument. Later as a music education undergraduate college student, I learned about Alexander Technique and the benefits of learning to create good muscle memory building habits, and the effects it can have on our abilities, and I became curious about its potential use in an elementary classroom; I hypothesized that the secret to keeping students interested was their high success on the instrument. Years later, I was given the opportunity to test that theory. I taught recorder at a slow pace, spending extra time on posture and finger placement, and attempted to create great muscle memory for my recorder students. Though they could play effectively, I found that student disinterest began in late-year fourth graders.
Recommended Citation
Dingess, David Russell II
(2020)
"Literature Review: Student Interest and Motivation in Recorder Studies,"
The Corinthian: Vol. 20, Article 3.
Available at:
https://kb.gcsu.edu/thecorinthian/vol20/iss1/3