MUE 6080 Module 3: Characteristics of an Aesthetic Experience with Music

I recently had an aesthetic experience with music while instructing 7^th & 8^th grade band through a new piece of music. This occurred at approximately 2:00 pm in the band room on Wednesday January 13^th, 2016. This experience differed from other times we have read a new music because it seemed as though the students had made their own connection to the music (and consequently played the staccato – staccato – accent reoccurring articulation properly) very quickly and with no guidance from me.

• ·         This experience was practical in the sense that the students had made a connection to the meaning of the music. In my role as their teacher I assumed some value of practicality in the experience, but for me as an individual the occurrence had no practicality.
• ·         The experience made me feel content and satisfied. Almost as though we could have packed up the instruments and been finished with class early!
• ·         At the time I felt that we had turned a new page as an ensemble and had gained a new level of maturity in playing that could be transferred to the next time we read down a new piece. Afterwards, several days later, I discovered that assumption was not true. The connection and consequent deep understanding of the described piece did not happen on the next song we read.
• ·         During the experience I did not focus on anything. After the playing stopped I remember thinking to myself “did I conduct the whole time?”  
• ·         During this experience, and other times I have had an aesthetic musical experience, I felt as though all emotions were delayed. Instead of feeling something during the process, I feel them stronger after the music stops. It is almost an “out of body” experience for me in these situations whereas in ordinary living I feel everything immediately and for exactly what it is.