The Icelandic School Music Program

Adrienne Davis

I make no claims to be an expert on the subject of education in Iceland, but I offer my insights based on four and a half years of living and working in this wonderful island nation.

The Schools

In Iceland, most music education takes place in special music schools.Many of these schools are funded partially or wholly by public monies, and some are entirely self-supporting institutions.

The basic education system consists of grunnskoli (grunn = basic or foundation), which is for children aged 6 to 16, roughly the equivalent of U.S. first to tenth grades.After grunnskoli, students can elect, if they earned high enough scores on the national tenth grade exams, to go on to a framhaldsskoli (framhald = continuing).In framhaldsskoli, which is generally 3 to 4 years, students specialize in one or two subject areas, rather like a blending of U.S. high school and junior college. In Icelandic, the concentration areas are called braut, a word that translates as path or trajectory.After framhaldsskoli would come university level study.

Operating alongside this system are the music schools.The music school, or tonlistarskoli, is a separate school with its own headmaster and budget, and music teachers have a different contract than grunnskoli teachers.In some places the music school has a very close relationship with the grunnskoli, and may even share the same building.In other places the schools are much more separated.A music braut is available in some of the nation's framhaldsskoli.General music teaching (tonmennt) takes place in all grunnskoli.

The emphasis in Icelandic music schools is on individual instruction rather than large group instruction. Band and orchestra are extra to the lesson process.Most schools do have some sort of large ensemble, and there is, for example, an active Association of Icelandic School Bands that holds festivals every two years.The emphasis on individual instruction allows the tonlistarskoli to include instruments often left out of pre-university formal education in the US: piano, guitar, recorder (as a proper instrument, and not just pre-band), and accordion.

Curriculum

The national curriculum reads more like a set of standards than a syllabus dictating every aspect of the music school. Under the recently adopted guidelines, it is divided into three major levels: grunnnam, midnam, and framhaldsnam or basic, middle, and advanced studies.The old system contained eight examination levels, and the new levels correspond roughly to the previous 3rd, 6th, and 8th levels.The exams will be more standardized than has previously been the case, and it will be interesting to see how this develops as the new system is fully implemented.

The curriculum for each instrument is both very specific and rather flexible.For each level, there is a list of study materials and works that the student should cover in the 2-3 years it is expected to take to achieve the final outcomes for that level.The teacher is free to choose the method book(s) that suits him and the students as long as it comes from the list or can be shown to be of similar difficulty. The woodwind lists include the Rubank series, the British classics A Tune a Day and Learn As You Play as well as a really interesting Swedish series Vi spelar or ___och jag (insert the name of your instrument in the blanks).The classic etudes, like the Rose clarinet studies or the Taffanel-Gaubert flute method, are of course included at the appropriate level. The solo works on the list are varied and represent all styles and time periods. Again, the teacher is free to choose other material of similar difficulty.In fact, the curriculum guides say, "This list is not meant to be exhaustive, but only to present examples of works that are appropriately difficult for this level."

I am fortunate enough to work in a tonlistarskoli which shares a building, and has an excellent working relationship with the grunnskoli . Our school offers instruction on recorder, flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, percussion, violin, guitar, piano, accordion, and song, both classical and pop/jazz.All students in grades 2-4 of the grunnskoli are part of the music school.As part of their weekly schedule, they have two music lessons in addition to their weekly general music class.In second and third grades, students learn recorder in groups of five or less.In fourth grade, students are divided according to their preference for one of the instruments taught in the school.This program is at no cost to the students; the grunnskoli pays for their music lessons.From fifth grade on, students may choose to continue in the music school, and then must pay for their lessons. Students may also begin instruction, other than recorder, earlier than fourth grade-for a fee-with many piano students beginning in the early grades. A large majority do choose to continue past the fourth grade, some beyond their third year of framhaldsskoli.Adult students are welcome and make up the majority of students in the vocal department, and there is a community choir that the school has recently organized.

The recorder classes are both fun and challenging to teach.Over the years, Tonlistarskoli Husavikur (The Husavik Music School) has developed its own teaching books for the recorder classes.These books are a collection, primarily of Icelandic folk songs arranged in 2, 3 and 4 parts.The children learn the melodies and gradually learn the harmony parts as they develop note reading skills.The books also contain composing and improvising activities as well as listening activities.Song texts are included, and students often like to sing as much as they like to play.The children also have a theory workbook that covers topics like note names, counting and basic ear training.

The material is fun to use and often the children are quite excited about their music lessons.The challenge comes from the fact that no two groups are ever the same.A group may include one who "knows it all already" and therefore can't be bothered to listen; one who tries really hard to do everything right; one who might be good if she would only concentrate; and one who asks "Why do I have to learn recorder anyway?" at 30-second intervals, while the next group is full of talented and reasonably hard-working kids.What the kids from room 27 think is really fun, their buddies in room 26 think is boring, and vice-versa.All this is further spiced up for me because, after four and a half years, my Icelandic is still far from perfect and occasional language difficulties crop up.

In the fourth grade, students continue the theory learning from previous years and also work on the basics of their chosen instrument.The teacher chooses the appropriate pieces for the students; some use a formal method book, some have written their own method specially tailored to the beginning student, and some use a variety of materials.For example, when teaching beginning flute or saxophone, I often use material from the recorder books because the range works well and the students know the tunes. (Not being tied to a band program allows me to start my flute players from third line B and in G major rather than from top line F and in B-flat.)

Exams

In Iceland, as in many European countries, there is an exam system in the music schools. These exams cover both performance and music theory.The exams are standards-based and there is a national curriculum for each instrument as well as for music theory.The revised curriculum has similar expectations for all instruments at the various levels.The new guidelines for music theory have not yet been finalized; however, based on the draft editions I have seen, it will be very complete.

For the instrumental exams, the student is required to play scales and arpeggios in a set range and given tempo appropriate for the given level.The requirements also include an etude, three solos, and a demonstration of creative work, either through presenting an original piece or arrangement, or by improvising. Orchestral excerpts are part of the framhalds exams, where applicable.The judges for these level exams will be nationally certified and recognized.In the old system, there were no such requirements as long as the judge was not from the same school.

At the end of fourth grade, students take their first "spring exam."Spring exams are like the more formal level exams, but lighter in tone and judged by a teacher within the school instead of an outside judge.Fourth grade students play several short pieces and some scales for the other teacher, who provides them with a written critique.Spring exams are required for all students who do not take the formal level exams.Naturally, a student who has been studying several years has some tougher requirements on the spring exams than a beginning fourth grader.

Theory

From fifth grade onwards, students are required to attend a theory lesson in addition to their regular lesson times.The aim of these lessons is to cover theory that might not be discussed in lesson time, to work on ear training and to introduce music history. According to the new curriculum guides, a student who has finished his grunnnam (basic studies) in theory should know the structure of major scales; be able to identify keys with up to 2 flats or sharps; understand dynamics and articulation concepts; read rhythms including sixteenth notes; recognize intervals within an octave-written and aurally; and, recognize the tonic triad in a key with up to 2 sharps or flats.

This theory program is still a work in progress at our school. We have done well with including classes for the fifth and sixth graders, but the scheduling can get a bit tricky when the seventh graders and beyond are involved in a million different activities beyond the school day.There are also some adult students working on more advanced music theory at the same time as they are preparing upper level work in classical song, so I find myself teaching harmony lessons.(I am far from being a theory expert, but I was the only one crazy enough to take on the project three years ago, and now I have a really good working relationship with the group, and we are trying to make sense of the use of seventh chords in minor keys.)

Continuing Music Ed

Students who elect to continue with their education beyond the fourth grade generally choose one-on-one instruction, although some do choose small group lessons.Students choose from 30 to 60 minutes of weekly instruction and can elect to meet once or twice per week.In our school, students are given the option to have their music lesson as a pullout from a grunnskoli lesson (if parents, teachers, and student agree.) I had always found working one-on-one to be the best part of my job when I worked in the States, and I knew that it was a strength of mine.I missed it terribly when I moved to ACS Athens, Greece, and the scheduling meant that I could not offer my students one-on-one time.Now, I find it a real joy to work primarily with individual instruction or small group work.

Coda

There are probably as many variations on this theme as there are music schools in Iceland. It is difficult to make many generalizations because so much of each school's program is determined by the students and the teachers who are there in any given school year.