Ski-hill Graph Pedagogy meter fundamentals acoustics education

Abstract

Acoustics education in school music classrooms is generally approached as a study of sound as pitch frequencies, spectral analysis, and other elements of music such as rhythm, volume, and timbre. While the psychoacoustic aspects of these acoustic properties continue to inspire and educate, the musical meter is yet to be introduced as an ordinary aspect of acoustics discussions. The meter is taught as notation, time signatures and a beat grouped in a measure, even though the listener may experience a disconnect between what is experienced and what is taught and represented as meter. Combined, the meter’s psychoacoustic role during music experiences is less critical or misunderstood due to the previous lack of meter theory than tonality. Meter theorists and music educators are responding to the call for solutions (Cohn, 2020). To illustrate how meter can be understood and taught through listening to music, as psychoacoustical and mathematical from the earliest lessons, the paper provides a solution to introduce contemporary meter theory (Cohn, 2020) to beginners based on listening experiences. The report discusses the ski-hill graph as applied to meter fundamentals and provides inclusive music education; cross-cultural, multi-sensory applications demonstrate plausible benefits through an interdisciplinary approach to the meter.