Rote learning is a memorization technique based on repetition. The idea is that you will be able to more easily recall a melody through repetition. Part of the process in teaching a song by rote is to break the music down into smaller segments or phrases. These phrases are taught by rote using an echo approach. You listen to the leader demonstrate the phrase then you echo or repeat what you heard. This process is the most common method used by elementary music teachers for teaching a song. This is because most students have not learned how to read music notation. When teaching by rote, the teacher must demonstrate by singing the phrase and encourage correct pitch and rhythm throughout the echo process.
The teacher must decide how to break a song into manageable and logical portions. This is usually done according to the song's phrase structure. After the students have learned the first phrase the second phrase is introduced and learned by rote. Then the phrases are combined into larger sections. These larger sections are also taught by rote. The process of combining phrases must be repeated until the entire song is learned. Attention must be given to correct pitch and rhythm during the echo process.
Learning a song by rote is useful for quickly memorizing a song, but it doesn't help you learn the next song. Learning to sing by rote creates short term memory of a song which will eventually be forgotten. And it leaves you dependent on rote memorization to learn the next song. That means someone else must model the song for you so you can learn it. Unfortunately, there is not enough time in an elementary music class to teach note reading and the memorization of songs to sing in the next concert.
To solve this problem, I have developed MusAPP for computer aided music instruction. The focus is on developing performance skills. One of the activities is called "Rote-Reading". It is a computer aided learning experience that uses rote memorization combined with note reading.
MusAPP plays a phrase while you listen and try to remember it. Then MusAPP waits for you to sing the phrase from memory. As you sing MusAPP is listening to you and judging your performance for correct pitches. When you are on pitch, MusAPP plots each note on the staff. Then you do the same process for the next phrase. After the second phrase, MusAPP takes you back to the beginning and requires that you sing both phrases. If you can sing it from memory it is OK but you must sing each note accurately. A pitch pointer is following your voice via a microphone so you can see when you are wrong. If you sing a wrong note, everything stops and waits for you to get on pitch. By pushing the pitch pointer onto the target note, you can continue singing the phrase. The result is that you will resort to reading notation when you forget the phrase. By the end of the song you will have experienced the value of learning to read music notation.
The experience of reading notation will help you learn to sing the next song. By using the MusAPP Rote-Reading activity, you will engage in an active, constructive, and long-lasting experience that allows you to be fully engaged in the learning process.
Two important goals of the learning process are retention and transfer. "Retention is the ability to remember the song at a later time. "Transfer" is the ability to use prior knowledge to solve new problems like learning a new song.
Remember, you only fail when you stop trying!
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