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Instrumental Music Goals and Objectives

Instrumental music has several goals and objectives that benefit both the musician and his community. Instrumental music provides an outlet for creativity, enhances community cohesiveness and provides a refuge from the demands of life. While the goals of instrumental music can change depending on the ability of the performer, the basic tenets remain the same.

Positive Habits


One of the most important goals of instrumental music is to develop proper posture. Without proper posture, correct airflow is not possible. Good posture will help the student to play instrumental music more efficiently, and is one of the instrumental music goals and objectives for all students.

Develop Tone


Music written for particular instruments has explicit goals and requirements that are exclusive to the type of music provided. One of those goals is the development of the proper sound that the instrument is designed to produce. Even if the musician plays all of the notes correctly, the music itself may still be performed incorrectly if improper tone quality is achieved. The tone quality of the instrument should be a primary concern for all students.

Accurate Pitch


Developing an ability to understand what is correct pitch and what note is slightly flat or sharp takes time, but it remains an essential goal of instrumental music. The objectives for each student will vary depending on their ability, but an overall attention to pitch and an understanding of its relationship to the rest of the ensemble is crucial. Student goals should, therefore, reflect a desire to improve pitch.

Rhythm Reading


Reading instrumental music, more than other types of music, requires a great deal of rhythmic ability. Instrumental music often requires players to perform rhythmically complex works that adhere to strict standards of accuracy. In a performance, if the rhythm is off the entire piece can be compromised.

Sight Reading


Instrumental music should seek to enhance the ability of a student to sight-read new music accurately. If a student is not improving in his ability to read sheet music, then the level of difficulty should be evaluated and new goals and objectives set. Starting with the simple goal of providing the student with progressively more difficult music will fulfill this objective.

Discipline


The discipline to practice on a daily basis and steadily progress on the instrument of choice is a skill that all students must strive to improve. A starting goal of 30 minutes a day will suffice for a beginning student. Over time, the student must steadily increase her practice time until she is capable of playing, at least, one hour, for average musicians, and three hours, for advanced musicians.

Listening Skills


Developing listening skills is a goal that will open up the student’s ears to the world around him and help him pay more attention to his environment. Through careful attention to their own individual part and those of other students in the ensemble, students will slowly but methodically improve their listening skills.

Teamwork


No instrumental music objective would be complete without teamwork. Musicians do not exist in a vacuum that allows them to perform while avoiding human interaction. Students must constantly interact with other musicians and learn to work with those that may be struggling with their performance. Often large orchestras will break into smaller sections to enhance the level of teamwork and fix isolated sections in the score.
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