Allsup, R. E., & Baxter, M. (2004). Talking about music: Better questions?

Better
discussions! Music Educators Journal, 91(2), 29-33.

This article, written by Allsup and Baxter, discusses how to ask “better” questions
to the class. This topic is approached by explaining the three types of questions,
including open, guided, and closed questions. Open questions leave a lot of room for
varied answers, and do not have a specific answer. Some examples include “what is
your favorite part of this piece” and “if you could change something in this piece, what
would it be and why?”. Guided questions include questions that do not have one
specific answer, but are designed to help students reach a conclusion about a song or
aspect of the music they’re learning. Some examples may include “What text painting
did you hear in this piece?” and “What movements went along with what parts of the
song?”. Lastly, closed questions are designed to have one answer, and are primarily
used when a teacher wants to ensure that his or her students know a specific aspect of
the music, or understand a specific concept. Some examples of closed questions
include, “What is the time signature of this piece?” and “can you sing the melodic line?”.
Each type of question is important to utilize in the classroom, in different ways and at
different times.

Question frameworks help teachers to ask specific and goal oriented questions to
their students. Often, especially when initially asking an open question, students will
give answers such as “I like it” or “I didn’t like it”. Question frameworks are split into
three categories, all of which can be used to direct answers towards musical thoughts
and understanding standards. An analytical question asks about the analysis of a song,
including form, style and many elements of music. Some examples include, “what other
songs is this similar to” and “where else have you seen this ostinato?”. The second
domain is judicial questions, which aim to invite students to express how they feel about
the piece, in a subjective yet musical way. Some examples of judicial questions include
“What do you like about this part of the song” and “Did you like part A or B more, and
why?”. Lastly, creative questions include questions that allow students to make music in
their own way. Some ways to accomplish this include pausing a song and asking, “What
do you think should come next” as well as “If you could add an instrument to this song,
what would it be and why?”.

This article, written by Allsup and Baxter, discusses not only how to ask
appropriate and thought provoking questions to your students, but also why asking
questions is so important. One reason mentioned in the writing includes helping
students build language and thinking skills to discuss music. Asking questions also
helps students to “know why” they may enjoy certain music, or feel different ways when
listening to different music. Along with guiding students to specific answers, asking
questions engages students, particularly students with less attention span due to age or
ability level. This is one of many reasons that asking questions is particularly important
in the elementary school classroom. One way that questioning may be problematic is if
a teacher asks a student “could you” or “would you do __” some students may not do
what is asked of them, since it was formed in a question. An example of this is when a
teacher asks “could everyone stand up now?”, which can result in no one standing up.