Ethan Hutchinson

MUSE 258

Sound Connections: Chapter 1

Don P. Ester
2010

Chapter 1 of Sound Connections gives the general overview and concept of music

literacy. It outlines the definition of music literacy, its application throughout the history of

music education, and introduces the Sound Connections approach to teaching music literacy.

Regardless of how gifted an individual seems to be, no one is born inherently good at

music. There are most definitely those individuals that are more in-tune with their musical

abilities over others, and there are those that would not know music if it hit them in the face. In

order to balance out these two extremes, the teaching and learning of music literacy is critical to

ensure that people are musically able. Sound Connections encourages the teaching of music

literacy from a young age so that, as the students get older, the concepts begin to build upon each

other and create a complex and interwoven series of skills and exercises that students can draw

from as they progress through their studies and move on to the collegiate and professional levels.

The Sound Connections approach is the most effective because it allows the students to

build upon prior knowledge as opposed to cramming all music literacy skills in one brief lesson.

The skills build upon each other and help the students to develop at a healthy pace. Using tonal

and rhythmic exercises that I learned at Ball State will help me to provide a solid foundation for

my students to build off of as the develop their music literacy skills.