A Study in the Development of Music Listening Skills of Secondary School Students

Abstract

In the classroom, we often count upon the mystical concept of Music, the Universal Language, to make up for our shortcomings in communicating about our subject with our students. We talk about the composer and performer; we supply pertinent historical facts; we even make a few broad generalizations about the stylistic characteristics of the composition. Invariably, we come to a point where we step aside and let the music speak for itself. The student is now left to his own devices. He may fight the uphill battle to keep abreast of the music, or more commonly, he may slip into a socially conditioned response of pure revery.2