TOTAL MUSIC
Join your Total Music characters, Jade, Kyle, Mel and Alex as they present a unique course of musical instruction! Total Music is a workbook and first course of study for students in the middle years. The material is fun, engaging and classroom tested!
Total Music has a unique layout with content divided into five key sections:
- Music for the head:
factual information about music (theory of music) - Music for the heart:
music appreciation (listening and reflection) - Music for the hand:
musicianship (practical skills) - Music for the ear:
ear training (building the ability to imagine and decode musical sounds) - Creating and Performing:
tasks that integrate all these areas
These 5 sections emphasise the core principle of music education for the whole person!
Total Music has a flexible layout that avoids locking teaching into a lesson by lesson design. Instead, teachers can plan their own course around the content and supplement with their own materials. Students can easily revise concepts and extend themselves in all areas.
THE STORY OF TOTAL MUSIC
After teaching middle school music for 15 years, I was frustrated by the lack of quality teaching resources and decided to write a music course book that would address the inadequacies in the current market. I wanted something that would:
- Have a broad holistic focus that includes: theory, musicianship, ear-training and creativity.
- Have an attractive design that captures the imagination of middle school students and supports their learning.
- Provide resources that support teaching, but do not lock teachers into a set week-by-week, lesson-by-lesson format. Strict formats never work in practice, because every school has different routines and teachers need to bring their own creativity and ideas to crafting lessons.
- Take away the need for photocopying lots of worksheets
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
In schools across Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide and Sydney, teachers just like you are using Total Music as a textbook for classes and ensemble rehearsals at Year 5 to 8 level. With it’s unique layout, Total Music has captured the imagination of both school music teachers and middle school students.
The total music format
MUSIC FOR THE HEAD
Factual information about music (theory of music)
MUSIC FOR THE HAND
Musicianship or practical musical skills
MUSIC FOR THE HEART
Music appreciation, listening and reflection tasks
MUSIC FOR THE EAR
Ear training. Building ability to imagine and decode musical sounds.
CREATING AND PERFORMING
Tasks that integrate all these areas
