Analysis Of What We Hear In Music By Faulkner Oberndorfer

Journal Article Review
Anne Shaw Faulkner Oberndorfer had a significant role in making music accessible to all individuals, especially the homemakers in America. The article Anne Shaw Faulkner Oberndorfer (1877-1948): Music Education for the Homemakers of America discusses the many avenues Faulkner took to increase musical opportunities for woman. A few of the most significant opportunities she chose were pre-concert lectures for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, giving radio broadcasts for both adults and children, and writing both editorial and narrative journal articles to best educate homemakers and their children. Faulker also wrote a textbook entitled, What We Hear in Music, that offered thirteen different editions within thirty years.

This change in styles of writing allowed many different audiences to gain an appreciation for music. In the article written by Volk, she provided three examples. One came from Faulkner’s textbook What We Hear in Music, one from Better Home and Gardens, and one from Child Life. In each, Faulker gave information about an Irish folk song but using a slightly different tone based off of her expected audience. Faulker was also known to continue her research and take one sentence in her textbook and turn it into an entire magazine article. (Volk, 2007, p. 27). I believe she wanted to provide a more solid belief to the homemakers reading her magazine articles while knowing the audience reading her textbook would already have musical experiences in their background to compare their own ideas to. (why do I believe

The first few articles contained a historical, factual perspective much like her other writings. After that, she wrote fictional stories, of a family of five, to convey the educational points and historical knowledge she wanted to share. Between the parents using music to help their children with their homework to learning about different cultures of music during family vacations, Faulkner made the learning accessible to everyone. One of her wishes in the articles was to create a sense of desire to hear what the music sounded like that she explained in her stories. She envisioned these readers, young and old, exploring new worlds of music because of her articles (Volk, 2007, p. 27).
Another path Faulkner followed to reach a different crowd of individuals was by providing Music Memory Contests for kids through the Chicago Daily News (Volk, 2007, p. 27). She would have a play list published and then lecture on those pieces the next few weeks. The children would listen to a few of her chosen excerpts and mail in their answers. The students that got the most answers correct would win a prize donated by the