Spring 2023 MECA
Continuing Education Courses
Overview
Music educators gain new mastery in the creativity and community of music making. Many, if not most, music educators feel they lack the training and experience to confidently and skillfully
use improvisation techniques and strategies to meet the musical and personal goals of their students. This course addresses that need and provides a “more than music” skillset that supports teachers and students. Improvisation techniques are applied to group music making as a way of creating, enhancing, and supporting interpersonal relationships, Such as active listening, empathy, validation, leadership, risk taking, mindfulness and creativity. A unique improvisation-based approach is explored as a means for identifying, validating, and supporting
social and emotional goals and as a tool for self-awareness and relationship building–all within the context of music making.
After completing this course students will:
- have a greater capacity for music improvisation, at all stages of the musical journey.
- be better able to recognize and use improvisation techniques for building musical and interpersonal
relationships. - identify and use facilitative techniques to identify and manage a variety of conditions and relationships
among and between students. - have a better understanding of the psycho-social implications of musical relationships and how those
can be leveraged in one’s personal life in the form of self-care and care of others.
Units
- Music improvisation techniques and “experientials.” Students explore simple concepts to build an
improvisation vocabulary and increase capacity and confidence. - Musical Relationship building and applications. Students focus on techniques of organization,
structure, empathy, redirection, bonding, and more. - Facilitative techniques for moving beyond music. Students apply music improvisation as a means for
creating opportunities for connection, expression, sharing, and support.
Requirements
Chat Session
Prerequisites
Required Text(s)
The Way of Music – Creating Sound Connections in Music Therapy (Sarsen
Publications)
Learning Platform Information - Online Courses Only
Schoology is a learning management system that allows you to interact directly with your instructors, fellow students, and members of the greater VanderCook community.
The evening before your class begins, be on the lookout for an email from Schoology with log-in instructions. Once you receive credentials, visit www.online.vandercook.edu to login.
Some courses have specific online chat meeting times (please see course descriptions), while others have a flexible meeting schedule. You can expect all courses to meet together in a live online chat. If a live meeting time doesn’t work, you can work with your instructor to make other arrangements.
More information about Schoology can be found at www.schoology.com
Please see specific software/hardware requirements in the course description.
Online course grades are available within two weeks of the course(s) completion. If you need a transcript, please CLICK HERE to access the online transcript request form. For a faster turnaround time, please submit the transcript request to the registrar prior to the end of your course(s).