response 1 of 11:

Apr 24 02:24 UTC 1996

        Well in todays pop culture world people like personal anecdotes
to spice up history.  You might show the movie Amadeus for example to
give some context to Mozart's music and make him seem less like an 
imposing historical figure.  Another strategy would be to start out
with chamber music (which makes sense chronologicaly anyway) because
I think people who are used to rock/pop/jazz hear small ensambles better
than large orchestras.  Also make sure to place emotionaly intense involving
pieces like Mozart's Reqium, Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, etc.
        Finaly I think at least putting melodies up on the board and showing
how themes develope get the students more involved in the music.

response 3 of 11:

Apr 24 12:54 UTC 1996

Public radio has Schickele Mix, a one hour music appreciation 
program with a humorous theme.  The lessons are structured
around proving a point (theme, harmony, voice, rhythm, etc.) by
playing excerpts of what seem to be very different pieces.
At times his sense of humor tends to overwhelm the content
but still I find the hour worthwhile and enjoyable.

Locally, you can hear it on 97.1 FM, 1:00 p.m., Saturdays.

response 5 of 11:

Apr 30 21:43 UTC 1996

Thanks for your suggestions!  We did watch almost all of Amadeus this semester
in addition to selected parts of Impromptu (about Chopin, Liszt, and George
Sand) , excerpts from operas, and some cartoons based on Symphonic pieces.
Not Bugs Bunny, but actual performances of works like Debussy's Afternoon of
A Faun with cartoons to illustrate the music.  These videos went over with
varying degrees of success, but the class is still passively watching and
listening.  I want to get them more actively involved, but all of the methods
I can think of to do that seem geared to young children and not college 
students.  (painting pictures inspired by the music , for example))

I will check with my local station to see if they broadcast Schickele Mix.

One of my beefs with the class the way it is is that I am not convinced that
the chronological approach to music history is the most effective, especially
for students who are predisposed to be boredf by classical music.
We start with the Middle Ages and are expected to cover everything through
the 20th century in one 15 week semester with two hour-and-a-quarter classes
a week.  These kids have trouble hearing the difference in a theme played in
major and then again in minor.  They don't really understand the concept of
harmony since they don't understand theory, can't read music, have never
played an instrument.  The distinctions we make between the classical and
romantic approaches to harmony are totally over their heads.  Our book, the
Kamien Music: An Appreciation, tells them that Romantic harmony is "more
adventurous".  What does that mean to a student who is still struggling to
hear tonic and dominant?  I'd like to revamp the entire course with a totally
different slant, aiming it at the kids I'm teaching and not the music lovers
that the book seems to be directed at.  If I could just convince them over
the course of a smester  that classical music is something they can relate
to I would be satisfied.  But we have to stay within the confines of tradition
enough that the University will accept transfer credit from our community
college.  

I appreciate everyone's help - I can only log on about once a week but hope
to continue this discusssion.
Thanks!

response 7 of 11:

May 1 15:36 UTC 1996

I took a music course when I was in College, which was a chronological
exposition covering Western music from medieval to ca. Kodaly. I
learned most of what I know about music history from that course, as
well as an ability to identify styles and composers from listening. 
(There was an amusing aspect to the exams, which were listening to
selections played from 78 rpm recordings - some of us got very good
at recalling the *labels* on the records that were played to us, a
great adjunct to identifying the composer and work).

A relevant story I will tell is increasing the appreciation of my
roomate, who was stuck at Tschaikovsky, for baroque music. I sat him
down (as the saying goes) and *talked* him through Bach's 2nd
Brandenburg Concerto, in particular identifying the interplay of the
_tutti_ and _concertino_. It wasn't long before I was saying "er...
Jack, wouldn't you like some Tschaikovsky for a change?". 

response 9 of 11:

May 1 17:24 UTC 1996

right now my sister is teaching a class in music appreciation, ALL kinds of
music, not just classical.  Her students each have to do papers on a
particular artist, genre , or instrument. Of course, when they were supposed
to bring them in to workshop them, no one had any material. So my sister
condemned them to the "Hell of a Thousand Hooties" :). She photocopied the
Time magazine article on Hootie and made them read it.
I think the student will have their materials for the next class :)

response 11 of 11:

May 10 16:03 UTC 1996

It was the one called "13 million Hootie fans Can't be Wrong" or something
like that. My sister teaches high school students, kids who have emotional
problems. Fun, fun, fun :)