Aesthetic Lesson

    In teaching an aesthetically driven lesson to 6th grade students using the 2nd movement of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 I would focus more on an expressionist view of aesthetics. Rather than having students write down emotional words that they might have felt while listening, I would have students communicate their feelings through art. While  a song might be considered "happy" or "melancholy", these terms don't quite capture the aesthetic quality of the music accurately.

  I would be most intrigued to try finger painting as it can communicate better the temporal nature of music than a fixed drawing might. However, I would be concerned with the management aspects of giving 6th grade students messy paint to use. I would, instead, have students listen to the excerpt three times. The first time they would be tasked with choosing the crayon colors for their drawing. A focus on color can help students determine what types of emotions can be connected to the music without using words. It also allows students to make their own aesthetic decisions rather than being told how they should feel.

   After choosing their color palate, a second listening to the excerpt will give students more familiarity with the major themes and dynamic contour of the music. Familiarity should help student gain a better idea of what they might draw to communicate their feelings. This is another area where finger painting might be superior as it lends itself better to abstract art than crayons do. I would verbally encourage students to avoid drawing a scene and work towards drawing a mood or feeling abstractly.

   The third listening would be a chance for students to finish their art both giving them more time to draw and an opportunity to further solidify their idea of the music. One opportunity to listen might give an authentic aesthetic experience, but I don't believe repeated listening opportunities is a detriment. My own experience with particular music is that repeated listening to music enhances aesthetic experience up to a point. I would not want students to become bored of the music, but three times is not likely to do so.

   I would assess students not on the quality of the art or my supposed idea of what is the right feeling, color, or mood. Instead, students would be assessed on their completion of the project and a short paragraph describing their artistic decisions.  Students should have chosen their colors based on the music and created something that they think expresses the music best.

   I believe this assignment would capture students' thinking on the aesthetic qualities of the music while avoiding formal and historical considerations. While I do somewhat agree with the formalist notion of aesthetics and see value in including some learning about the form of the music, this lesson focuses only on the emotive content of the music. Students will engage in active listening and make aesthetic decisions for their own art based on the aesthetic qualities of the music. This format avoids forcing students to use words for feelings that may be beyond the scope of language.