Three
music educators designed the Facets Model to promote
the comprehensive study of a musical work and enhancement
of students’ musical understanding and performance
(Barrett, McCoy, & Veblen, 1997). A comprehensive
approach also often leads students to relate music to
other art forms and disciplines outside the arts in
meaningful ways. The model has been used to create curriculum
in many settings, but especially here as a strategy
in designing the content of the BandQuest CD-ROMs.
Eight
questions make up the basic facets model shown above.
The questions are grouped into categories that encourage
teachers and students to address fundamental ideas about
the origins of the work, its components and form, and
the range of expressive meanings it conveys.
Click
on any grouping for an explanation of these categories
related to musical works in particular.
Who created it?
When and where was it created?
Why and for whom was it created?
These questions address the contextual
origins of the work. Answering who created it
acquaints students with the composer and provides essential
information about the composer’s life and work.
Often the time and place of creation give us important
clues to musical style. The question when and where
was it created frequently highlights the historical
and cultural traditions the composer drew upon in creating
the work. Why and for whom was it created brings
to light the composer’s artistic impulses. Were
there specific inspirations for this piece and how did
those inspirations affect the composer’s musical
choices? Was this work commissioned or written for a
specific audience, performer, or event? Delving into
this set of questions leads students to consider the
rich contextual underpinnings of the work.
A composer often has a subject, theme,
or overall inspiration in mind when composing. The subject
of a musical work sometimes refers to something outside
of music such as a story, the depiction of a storm,
a peaceful sunrise, or other programmatic idea. The
subject can also be the way musical material is manipulated
(sometimes called absolute music). In addition
to whatever the music is “about,” composers,
listeners, and performers may associate other meanings
with the piece. These may include its expressive character,
overall mood, personal associations or collective interpretations
of the work.
What techniques did its creator
use to help us understand what is being expressed?
This is a pivotal question. If students
can describe how the composer’s decisions convey
expressive meanings and reflect the time and place in
which the work was written, they will demonstrate their
abilities to integrate what they know about the work.
Consider how the answers to the questions posed by the
Facets Model relate to one another.
What does it sound or look like?
What kind of structure or form does it have?
In order to understand and perform
a work, we need to take inventory of its elements. How
does the piece sound and what makes it distinctive?
Which musical building blocks did the composer choose
from the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, dynamics,
articulation, and timbre? The question about structure
or form asks us to determine the overall organization
of the piece, and to figure out how the various elements
are combined into a satisfying and cohesive whole.
