Listening Assignments (LA)
Published: Sep 14, 2023 | Category: What's in Your Notebook
You've all seen it in your notebook: the letters LA followed by a name. What is all this for?
LA stands for Listening Assignment. While learning to play an instrument is an important part of musical education, listening to music is also extremely important. Listening to music by other composers promotes creativity, teaches expression and style, exposes students to different types of music, helps students develop good tuning, provides rhythmic grounding... the list goes on and on. And these are just the benefits to musical education! Scientists and educators have conducted numerous studies on music and brain development. You can't go wrong with listening to good quality music!
So, what should a student do when they see the LA in their notebook?
They should go on YouTube (with a parent's permission/help) and listen to a piece by the composer listed. For example, the student might have LA Edvard Grieg written in their notebook. The student should look up Edvard Grieg. There will be many options. The student should pick whichever piece looks the most interesting to them. After listening to the piece, the student should write the name of the piece in their notebook and their honest opinion. If they liked the piece, good, write that down. If they didn't like the piece, good, write that down. I'll try to avoid assigning similar music.
"But we don't have time to do the listening assignment." (So says the 1st grader after listing their rigorous sports schedule, mountains of homework, and hours of required chores;)) The nice thing about listening assignments is the fact that listening to music can be done at almost any time and almost anywhere. Put Edvard Grieg on your Spotify playlist and press play during chore time or play time. Listen to the music on your way to or from lessons. Put it on in the background while doing homework. The most important thing is that students - and all kids - are exposed to quality music throughout their formative years.
LA stands for Listening Assignment. While learning to play an instrument is an important part of musical education, listening to music is also extremely important. Listening to music by other composers promotes creativity, teaches expression and style, exposes students to different types of music, helps students develop good tuning, provides rhythmic grounding... the list goes on and on. And these are just the benefits to musical education! Scientists and educators have conducted numerous studies on music and brain development. You can't go wrong with listening to good quality music!
So, what should a student do when they see the LA in their notebook?
They should go on YouTube (with a parent's permission/help) and listen to a piece by the composer listed. For example, the student might have LA Edvard Grieg written in their notebook. The student should look up Edvard Grieg. There will be many options. The student should pick whichever piece looks the most interesting to them. After listening to the piece, the student should write the name of the piece in their notebook and their honest opinion. If they liked the piece, good, write that down. If they didn't like the piece, good, write that down. I'll try to avoid assigning similar music.
"But we don't have time to do the listening assignment." (So says the 1st grader after listing their rigorous sports schedule, mountains of homework, and hours of required chores;)) The nice thing about listening assignments is the fact that listening to music can be done at almost any time and almost anywhere. Put Edvard Grieg on your Spotify playlist and press play during chore time or play time. Listen to the music on your way to or from lessons. Put it on in the background while doing homework. The most important thing is that students - and all kids - are exposed to quality music throughout their formative years.