The given chapter primarily focuses on the art integration of music art form, which is distinguished through four major elements, where music’s constituent is sound, the patterns involve both silence and sound, it is intentionally made art, and music is a sound organized humanly (Zhou & Brown, 2018). In addition, it is important to note that music as an art form is comprised of improvisation, notation, and composition, where the latter is a process of song and music creation, a notation is the rhythms and notes expression in the written form, and improvisation is an act of instantaneous and spontaneous music creation. The music arts integration process revolves around implementing arts enhancement opportunities, which can be interstitial, ritual-based, transitions-focused, and organizational (Zhou & Brown, 2018).
Integrated lessons can take a wide range of manifestations, where one needs to determine the concept, set the key objectives, build and develop the corresponding activities, and integrate the core ideas. To have a complete understanding of the appropriateness of the music integration process, it is critical to assess the latter through the checklist questions. These questions are unique and intricate elements of the arts integration, which are focused on evolving objectives, mutually reinforcing connections, creative process, an art form, the general understanding, and the main approach to teaching.
One of the vital subjects of the chapter involves composition, which is one of the three components of music as a form of art, and it can be described as a practice or process of song and music creation. Although notation can be differentiated from the composition category, Western classical music incorporates the former into the latter because the notation is an integral part of the creative step of composition (Zhou & Brown, 2018). It is important to point out the fact that notation does necessarily include all specificities of the music and its performance, which is why performer interpretation is critical within the given context, and such an approach inevitably leads to variations in the performance of music.
In addition, one should be aware that a musical composition is not limited to having only one author because several different composers might equally or differentially contribute to the process of song or music creation (Zhou & Brown, 2018). For example, one individual might be more focused on song orchestration, another person can put all of his or her efforts into the lyrics writing process, and the third one might be developing the core melodies for the work of music. Therefore, Western classical music can be considered a benchmark for defining the process of composition, but the term is not strictly bound by these measures since it can be applied broadly to different types of instrumental pieces and musical songs.
The critical point of disagreement among educators might emerge in regards to the arts integration checklist, where understanding is determined by demonstrating and constructing rather than reciting and memorizing. One might argue that reciting and memorization process can be vital for the proper arts integration process, especially among younger students, which lack creative capabilities since they did not master the core basics. In other words, the integration process of music as an art form cannot be fully achieved without accentuation of recital and memorization of the most important aspects of the objectives.
The main reason is that the overall learning process might still be effective and productive without a full comprehension of the subjects at earlier stages of learning because the insights will arrive later in stages. A learner needs to develop the basic skills to initiate the creative process where the acts of demonstrating and constructing will arrive as a consequence of previous memorization and recital measures. Therefore, one might argue that the arts integration process regarding music should involve recital and memorization techniques to facilitate the learner’s competence to a degree where they are capable of being fully creative and understanding the underlying ideas behind the subjects they were asked to recite or memorize.
In conclusion, music can be defined as an art, which is comprised of humanly organized and intentionally made sounds, silences, and patterns, which are built into the structure, rhythm, texture, harmony, and melody. The art form of music also involves improvisation, notation, and composition, where the former element addresses one’s capability for instantaneous and spontaneous composition and the latter to the general creating process, which can include notation or written expression of music. An integrated level of understanding needs to adhere to six major components of lesson understanding, which are evolving objectives, mutually reinforcing connection, creative process, comprehension of an art form, understanding of knowledge, and the determined approaches to teaching.
The composition is one of the main elements of music creation because it addresses the core stages and aspects of the specified process, and it is primarily based on Western classical standards. The point of disagreement in regards to music arts integration might revolve around the understanding factor of the checklist, where recital and memorization are viewed as inferior to demonstrating and constructing knowledge.
It is important to note that visual arts are a more comprehensive form of arts, which includes a wide range of manifestations, such as architecture, filmmaking, video, photography, crafts, design, printmaking, sculpture, painting, drawing, and ceramics. In addition, visual arts can overlap and be a part of other art styles, such as textile arts, conceptual art, and performing arts, where visual elements play a vital role in engaging a target audience (Zhou & Brown, 2018).
Drawing is a process of image-making, where marks are made on a certain surface, and painting can be considered as a practice of utilizing colors, pigments, paints, or other forms of medium to create a visual work. Printmaking is similar to the latter two, where an image is created on a surface through ink, and calligraphy refers to writing-related visual arts, where the emphasis is put on creating letters with aesthetics (Zhou & Brown, 2018).
Photography, filmmaking, and computer art are technologically advanced forms of arts, where the former is centered around light action, filmmaking focuses on motion pictures, and the latter utilizes computers to generate images, animation, videos, games, sounds, and other digital productions (Zhou & Brown, 2018). The sculpture is three-dimensional artwork, which is produced by shaping a specific material into sculpture, whereas paper cutting uses paper to create specific images, such as silhouettes, and origami uses paper to generate three-dimensional forms.
Paintings are the most prominent and well-known forms of visual arts, where the core principles revolve around creating an image through colors, pigments, or paint on solid surfaces, and the common tool is a brush, but sponges and knives can also be used. The painting process involves three major elements, which are medium, glue, and support, where the latter refers to a surface, the former refers to a carrier, and glue is a binding agent (Zhou & Brown, 2018).
The painting is created through the processes of composition and drawing to convey an artistic sense and aesthetic considerations to express the conceptual intentions of an artist to invoke specific ideas and spiritual motifs. One of the classical forms of paintings can be found in Renaissance paintings, such as baroque, and impressionist paintings mostly focus on the realistic depiction of scenes of life with a precise focus on details (Zhou & Brown, 2018).
Post-impressionist paintings are similar to the latter manifestations, but there is a prominent use of unnatural colors and geometric forms, which are required to derive a more in-depth symbolism (Zhou & Brown, 2018). Lastly, some paintings can also be categorized as works of cubism, expressionism, and symbolism, where the reality is highly distorted to achieve stronger emotional feedback, whereas cubism utilizes mainly space and volume.
The point of disagreement can be found in an activity recommendation for writing and language arts, which is a paper sculpture project, where some educators might not agree with the applicability of such an activity for these subjects. In other words, one might argue that paper sculpture does not offer any intrinsic benefits for the learning process of students who are being taught writing and language skills due to the visual aspects of the approach. However, there seems to be no valid reason for sculpting from paper material, which can improve a student’s ability in language and writing since these subjects are mostly written and word-based rather than three-dimensional form.
It is more likely to be evident that calligraphy and its related activity can be more effective to integrate into the described classes because the given visual art form primarily deals with letters and words, which are highly useful for personal engagement and expression as well as knowledge retention. The point of an argument is that a specific set of visual forms of art need to be used for particular subjects, which is why it might be inaccurate to claim that some art forms can be integrated into any area. Similarly, class comic book activity can be more appropriate to history and writing rather than using paper sculptures for the latter subject areas.
In conclusion, visual arts are comprised of an array of forms, which are architecture, filmmaking, video, photography, crafts, design, printmaking, sculpture, painting, drawing, and ceramics, where visual elements can encompass textile arts conceptual arts, and performing arts. Painting is one of the most well-known and prominent forms of visual arts, which can range from Renaissance painting to impressionist manifestations, where the objective is to depict realistic sceneries, to cubism, where the geometric notions are utilized for conveying an emotion or message. One point of disagreement in the given chapter can be found in the notion of using paper sculpture activity for subjects, such as writing, language, and history.
The main reason is that the former two might benefit more from calligraphy-based activities, where written elements are visually enhanced, and the latter subject area can be complemented with comic book creation, where a storyline is put as the main emphasis point for the subject.
Reference
Zhou, M, & Brown, D. (2018). Arts integration in elementary curriculum (2nd ed.). University System of Georgia.