Comprehensive musicianship through performance (CMP) in the lived experience of students

The purpose of this study was to examine teacher knowledge in classrooms where teachers use the Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance (CMP) Model, and examine the ways in which CMP facilitates student learning in the ensemble setting. Participants in this collective case study included two teachers, one middle school and one high school, and six students - three from each school. Data collection included observations, interviews, writing prompts, email correspondence, teaching plans, and teacher journals. Analysis of teacher data revealed three themes: (1) teachers made extensive use of the Model to guide students' musical experience (intense plan-fulness); (2) separate components of the Model merged during instruction (intersections of the CMP Model); and (3) teachers valued transfer of knowledge from one piece to another, but this was not always realized (transfer). Cross-case analysis of student data revealed four themes: (1) students' descriptions of the music go beyond technical considerations (insights into the music); (2) students make connections between the pieces they are performing and other contexts (transfer); (3) students may be aware, unsure, or indifferent to teachers' intentions (alignment); and (4) students describe multiple dimensions of learning music (understanding). This study found differences between teachers' intentions and the students' experience of those intentions, which are described as alignment, fuzzy alignment, and misalignment. "When you understand the music, you can play it better, just because you understand what is going on. . ." (Interview with Melissa, Grade 8 band student from Mount Hammond Middle School, November 19, 2004).