Reproductive method of teaching music as a complex composition and multilevel structure

For modern music education, the problem of teaching methods is extremely important and relevant. New social conditions pose new goals and tasks for pedagogical science, the solution of which requires rethinking of historical experience. One of the meanings of the Greek word "method" is the path of knowledge. In modern science, a method is defined as “a method of constructing and substantiating a system of philosophical and scientific knowledge; the totality of the techniques and operations of the practical and theoretical development of reality ”. This general philosophical definition has received some clarification in pedagogical science: “The teaching method is a system of actions of the teacher, organizing the student’s practical and cognitive activity, which leads to the assimilation of the content of education”.

The history of pedagogy indicates that, at various periods of its development, preference was given to a particular teaching method depending on the prevailing worldview in society and social conditions. The attitude to such components of the reproductive teaching method as imitation, copying, repetition, exercise underwent significant changes. Prominent representatives of ancient philosophical thought believed that the best way to familiarize young people with knowledge, as well as ethical and moral standards, is to exercise and imitate worthy models. Aristotle believed that in order to develop virtue, exercises are necessary that form habits and skills of moral behavior. A lot of attention was paid to education issues Democritus. He warned against a bad example and considered the exercises in moral actions very important, emphasizing the enormous role of labor in education and training, which leads to the consolidation of many skills.

This position is clearly expressed in the teachings of one of the famous teachers of Ancient Rome, Mark Fabius Quintilian. He attached great importance to the development of the child’s speech from an early age and, understanding the importance of the imitation factor, recommended that they take nannies with good pronunciation to the house, select companions for the child’s games, carefully monitor the behavior of the children surrounding the child and eliminate bad comrades from him. He also considered it necessary to build training not on the basis of theoretical instructions, but on the basis of imitation and exercise. “Skillful imitation indicates the child’s abilities” (43, p. 110) - one of the most famous postulates of Quintilian. The absolutization of the reproductive method, and in the most simplified, sometimes primitive from today's point of view forms, is characteristic of the European Middle Ages. Judging by the preserved evidence, in the 12th-13th centuries in Western Europe, pedagogy was dominated by scholastic learning based on cramming and mechanical assimilation-memorization of various dogmas - religious, didactic, estate-administrative, etc., which elevated the reproductive method to the rank of the most important method learning. Scholasticism developed formal logical thinking, cultivated students to learn ready-made definitions, and led to the rejection of independence in student actions. In the church schools of Western Europe, in the initial stage of training, they were taught to read Latin by the literal method, which was based on mechanical memorization, and therefore the learning process was extremely difficult. The reason for the difficulties was the absolutization of the reproductive method and its components, such as repeated, meaningless repetition, and cramming. Francois Rabelais in the famous novel "Gargantua and Pantagruel" gave a brilliant satire on the scholastic medieval education. In the novel, Rabelais tells how the king invited scholastic scholars to educate his son Gargantua, who made him memorize some scholastic books so that he could retell them from beginning to end and back, as a result of which he only became dumb.

In the process of cognition of musical art, which is a specific form of the artistic reflection of the world, one of the central tasks of a teacher becomes the formation in students' minds of the corresponding systems of professional categories and concepts. Concepts as a “product of the actions of thinking” (187, p. 63) deeply reflect musical phenomena and act as a form and means of their theoretical mastery. The assimilation of theoretical material is largely a reproductive process, as it involves the perception, memorization, consolidation and reproduction of educational information. The basis of the assimilation of theoretical knowledge in the course of musical and theoretical disciplines are general didactic laws. At the same time, this course in middle-level musical education has its own specifics: the presentation of theoretical material in the courses of the elementary theory of music, harmony, analysis of musical works differs in the conciseness of the most important formulations, rules and basic concepts, laws of the material studied, which, in turn, fulfill the role of a guide in the practical and analytical activities of students, indirectly affecting the solution of performing tasks.

Teaching each theoretical discipline involves the introduction of a certain number of concepts. Each concept should be exposed in a clear form. The introduction of new concepts should be based on already acquired concepts. For example, the concept of tonality as a high-altitude position of a fret is based on the concept of a fret as a system of correlation of sounds in pitch. Thus, concepts are those constants on which perception is based on the assimilation of new knowledge. It is known that the process of cognition is endless. Therefore, in the formation of concepts, attention should be paid primarily to the most important and essential features. “At each stage of the assimilation of knowledge, the unknown joins the unknown, the main and essential, which was revealed at the previous stage, joins the derivative, less essential, but also important to substantiate the knowledge about the studied subject”. The cognitive activity of students, therefore, is dispersed - the primary assimilation of theoretical material continues to work on repetition, systematization, deepening of knowledge and further generalization. The organization of a training lesson in the middle part of music education involves explaining new material in almost every lesson, while it is advisable to focus on one section of the topic being studied. A.A. Stepanov notes that theoretical material should be given in small “pieces” that are “absorbed deeper, more likely, more organically”. Separate sections of a large topic should be divided into several classes, and not to present all the theoretical information in one lesson, devoting others to practical and analytical exercises. Such a structure of the lesson makes it possible to concentrate on individual moments of the phenomenon being studied, to more deeply comprehend its essence, and to consolidate the knowledge gained more firmly.

The process of comprehending new theoretical material and developing scientific concepts includes the following components:- students have previous experience necessary to study this topic;- structuring of the main and secondary signs of the phenomenon under study;- clarification of the causes and consequences of the considered theoretical provisions;- the formation of generalizing concepts, conclusions, rules, laws.