To Rote or To Note?

The debate of rote vs. note has been written about copiously since the advent of music education, and in particular, Western music education. While the debate is less applicable within instrumental music classes due to the nature of the western canon, general music and early childhood music classes balance the use of rote and note to accommodate for student learning. As I reach the halfway point of my first year as a high school general music teacher, I continue to struggle to find the right balance between rote v. note teaching.

The question of rote vs. note within my curriculum surrounds teaching popular music. As I teach students in my modern band class the guitar, piano, and drums, I am in constant negotiation between rote and note strategies. On the one hand, I’ve found there to be more independence and student centered learning when students are taught by note. As a facilitator, I am able to demonstrate to students how to read tabs or treble/bass notation and give students the freedom to learn at there own pace with less intervention. On the other hand, rote teaching allows for students to learn more complex melodies/rhythms and learn in a more ‘authentic’ way. However, the rote approach is less flexible and can be more challenging to deliver to a large group of students (40 – 50).

Cognitively speaking, novice students have a difficult time recognizing patterns in music and tend to read music note-by-note, rather then pattern by pattern. Goolsbys (1994) study on eye movements during sightreading showed that when compared to expert sightreaders, novice sightreaders focal point was behind that of the expert suggesting novice’s process music on a basis of note-by-note. Given that all of my students are beginners/novice musicians, their ability to process music moves at a predictably slow pace.

As a teacher, I have to consider the time I have with the students and what I would like them to leave my class being able to do. Spending a full year learning basic notation and playing songs such as Go Tell Aunt Rhodie and a select few popular songs might be beneficial for a long-term commitment to reading music but as research shows, the majority of popular music in the context of informal learning is done by ear or rote. Perhaps as I continue to teach popular music, I will be able to better navigate between rote and note teaching to best serve my students.