yijia zeng -Design for A music theory class final - Design...

Design for A Music Theory Class of Modern Western
Modes
Yijia Zeng
November 23, 2015
Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University
Author Note
This paper is written for Psychology of Music Teaching and Learning, Music Education (510.611),
taught by Dr. Harlan D. Parker.
Preface
Through this semester, we learnt some important theories from various psychologists and
completed five assignments on how to teach music with these theories. We studied behavioral
theories, social cognitive theory, information processing, cognitive learning processes,
constructivism and so on. Each of them inspired me to think about what is the best way to teach
students and how to make students absorb music acknowledge quickly and efficiently .
With the encouragement and help from my professor and fellow students, A class plan of music
theory is properly designed to fulfill this goal. This class plan, which aims at teaching students the

Modern Western Modes, is based on some profounding theories from several great psychologists,
such as Jerome Seymour Bruner, Robert Mills Gagné, Burrhus Frederic Skinner and Lev
Semyonovich Vygotsky.
The paper is structured as follows: the class plan will first be presented and then be rationalized
with the theories mentioned above. In the end, this paper will explain how these theories work in this
plan.
Plan Layout
Target Students:
Beginning high school students.
Class Goal:
(1) Learn the theory of Modern Western Modes.
(2) Have a good understanding of Seven Scales(Ionian, Dorian, phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian,
Aeolian, Locrian)
(3) The students are capable of identifying these scales with fewer than 2 mistakes
Class Materials:
Textbooks, pictures, computers
Plan:
(1) Ask students a question: “do you know what scales ancient Greek people use in their music?”
Give them a few minutes to guess and think about this question.
(2) Divide students into several groups. Encourage them to find the answers by discussing with each
other. Coordinate students to collect relevant information.
(3) Guide students to apply critical thinking to support conclusion. Give proper suggestions to
facilitate students in developing problem-solving skills.
(4) Give a short presentation on the fundamentals of the Modern Western Modes.
(5) Study construction use the graphic and format:

Mode Tonic rel
maj
Interval sequence Example
Ionian I T-T-S-T-T-T-S C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C
Dorian Ⅱ T-S-T-T-T-S-T D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D
Phrygian Ⅲ S-T-T-T-S-T-T E-F-G-A-B-C-D-E
Lydian Ⅳ T-T-T-S-T-T-S F-G-A-B-C-D-E-F
Mixolydian Ⅴ T-T-S-T-T-S-T G-A-B-C-D-E-F-G
Aeolian Ⅵ T-S-T-T-S-T-T A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A
Locrian Ⅶ S-T-T-S-T-T-T B-C-D-E-F-G-A-B
(9) Play each scale with proper videos .