Learning Sequence Activities

Learning sequence activities are the “part” part of the Whole/Part/Whole curriculum. Teachers should spend from five to ten minutes per class period in tonal and rhythm pattern instruction. The purpose is to help students bring greater understanding to classroom activities by focusing intensively on the tonal and rhythm patterns that make up music literature. For a music curriculum to be realistic and complete, the classroom activities and the performance activities must be coordinated with the learning sequence activities (see coordinating learning sequence activities and classroom activities).

There are three music learning sequences included in Music Learning Theory. They are skill learning sequence, tonal content learning sequence, and rhythm content learning sequence. At any given time during learning sequence activities, a level of skill learning sequence is being combined with a level of either tonal content learning sequence or rhythm content learning sequence. For example, tonal pattern instruction begins at the lowest level of skill learning sequence (aural/oral) using the most basic level of tonal content (tonic and dominant patterns in major tonality). Likewise, rhythm pattern instruction commences at the aural/oral level of skill learning sequence with macrobeat and microbeat patterns in duple meter.