Dr. Leigh VanHandel joins us to talk about the science of memory and learning, and how it can help us better structure our teaching. We also chat about her new book, the Routledge Companion to Music Theory Pedagogy, which recently received an Outstanding Multi-Authored Collection award from the Society for Music Theory, and about the Workshops in Music Theory Pedagogy series she coordinates.
Links:
Leigh VanHandel's faculty page at the University of British Columbia
The Routledge Companion to Music Theory Pedagogy:
Workshops in Music Theory Pedagogy
Chapters:
00:00:20 Introductions
00:01:45 Editing the Routledge Companion to Music Theory Pedagogy
00:07:56 How math pedagogy research can inform our teaching of music theory
00:12:34 Long term, short term and working memory.
00:15:24 The relationship of working memory and visuo-spatial skills
00:19:00 How learning happens, neurologically. (Schema forming)
00:21:21 The implications of schemas for how we teach
00:24:13 The curse of expertise, and working memory
00:32:30 The value of memorization vs. deriving concepts
00:34:30 Using schema to teach for fluency
00:44:58 Strategies for identifying and helping students with working memory limitations
00:50:20 Reducing cognitive load to help students focus on what they're learning
00:55:31 Workshops in Music Theory Pedagogy series
00:59:50 What else are you up to, now that the book is out?
1:00:00 Where can we follow you?
1:03:18 Wrap-up
Transcript:
[music]
0:00:21.2 David Newman: Welcome to Notes from the Staff, a podcast from the creators of uTheory, where we dive into conversations about music theory, ear training and music technology with members of the uTheory staff and thought leaders from the world of music education.
0:00:34.5 Gregory Ristow: Hi, I'm Greg Ristow, founder of uTheory and associate professor of conducting at the Oberlin Conservatory.
0:00:40.3 DN: And I'm David Newman. I teach Voice and Music Theory at James Madison University and I write code and create content for uTheory.
0:00:48.7 GR: Thank you, listeners, for your comments and episode suggestions. We love to read them. Send them our way by email at notes@utheory.com and remember to like us and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
0:01:00.1 DN: Our topic for today is music theory and working memory and joining us to talk about this as well as her new book, The Routledge Companion to Music Theory Pedagogy, is Dr. Leigh VanHandel. Dr. VanHandel is associate professor and chair of the Division of Music Theory at the University of British Columbia. Her primary research areas are music theory pedagogy, music cognition, and the relationship between music and language. Her research is published in Music Perception, the Journal of New Music Research and the Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy. She is co-director with Gary Karpinski of the Workshops in Music Theory Pedagogy program, a week-long summer intensive where teachers can learn from six experts in the teaching of music theory. Leigh, it's an honor to have you join us.
0:01:46.2 Leigh VanHandel: It's an honor to be here. Thank you so much.
0:01:48.6 DN: And especially right after you won this award at SMT for, what is the... The award was for?
0:01:54.7 LV: Outstanding Multi-Author Collection.
0:02:00.5 DN: Fantastic.
0:02:00.6 LV: Yeah. So The Routledge Companion to Music Theory Pedagogy had an insane number, 68 authors and contributors. And so I think that qualifies as multi-author. [laughter]
0:02:17.6 GR: It's a delightful book, I have to say. We had a chance to speak with Melissa Hoag a couple of weeks ago and Stefanie Dickinson just about a week ago. And I have been just really loving going through the articles in it. It's a really... I think so many pedagogy textbooks come from one author's perspective and I've just been delighted by the variety of perspectives offered. Could you maybe talk a little bit about the origins of the book?
0:02:50.7 LV: Yeah, sure. So I'd been approached by Routledge about putting together some essay collection and the Norton Music Theory Pedagogy book was in its final stages. We knew what the format was gonna be, we knew who the authors were gonna be. And I had that moment where I went, "Well, why do we need another one of those?
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