Propuesta de la Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid para el currículo del Grado Superior de Música / Proposal from the Community of Madrid for the Curriculum of the Advanced music Degree

(Doce Notas magazine, December 2000)


Less than a year away from the unavoidable implementation of the Advanced Music Degree, the Special Education Service of the Ministry of Education of the Community of Madrid has distributed its proposed curriculum among professors of higher music education centers. Doce Notas has provided me with the version corresponding to certain specializations, asking me to conduct a comparative analysis with the Ministerial Order of June 25, 1999. That order, issued by the Ministry of Education and Culture, established the curriculum for this degree within its jurisdiction, as a development of the basic aspects (or minimum teachings, as preferred) approved in 1995. The compliance with these ensures sufficient homogeneity in study plans across all Autonomous Communities, thereby guaranteeing the validity of the diplomas issued by each.
At first glance, it quickly becomes apparent that the proposal from the Community of Madrid (CAM) takes the Ministerial Order as a starting point, not to correct and expand upon it as might be expected, but rather to diminish it and, in some respects, to severely undermine it.
Firstly, regarding the non-basic aspects related to general provisions (such as the structure of subjects, their classification based on teacher/student ratios, evaluations and grades, final exams, exam sessions, or examination boards), the CAM proposal is identical to the one established by the Ministry, except for the promotion from the 2nd to the 3rd year. For this, the CAM draft proposes passing an examination with a review board. Regarding the maximum duration of studies, instead of adding one additional year to the number established for each specialization (as stipulated by the Ministerial Order), the CAM generalizes it to two years, extendable to three in exceptional cases authorized by the relevant administrative body. This unnecessarily and unjustifiably extends the duration of studies in institutions -let's not forget- with a very limited number of spots, catering to students assumed to be both talented and carefully selected.
Secondly, regarding the curriculum, this commentary will focus on the specializations of Singing, Piano, Violin, and Pedagogy, the only ones I have received. However, it is safe to assume that other specializations have been similarly treated, reducing the provisions of the Ministerial Order, which also serves as their baseline. The Ministerial Order had significantly increased the minimum teaching hours established for each specialization in the Royal Decree of basic aspects to meet the current quantitative and qualitative demands of this crucial stage of education. For example, the 1,650 hours set for Singing and Violin were raised to 2,000, the 1,500 hours for Piano increased to 1,800, and the 2,000 hours for Pedagogy were extended to 2,300.
The CAM proposal reproduces the curriculum structure of the Ministerial Order but eliminates a number of subjects equivalent, in hours, to the difference between the basic teaching load and the Ministerial Order's total. Surprisingly, instead of reducing elective and free-choice subjects, the cuts affect mandatory subjects, leading to the elimination of teachings considered essential for professional education. These were among the most innovative aspects of the Advanced Degree reform. In summary: perhaps more… but of the same.
For instance, in Singing, students lose two years of Repertoire with Accompanist, leaving only the 3rd and 4th years for this subject. Meanwhile, Vocal and Stylistic Repertoire is relegated to the 1st and 2nd years with 30 fewer hours -essentially flipping the curriculum. Even more alarming is the elimination of the 3rd and 4th years of Lyrical Scene in the "Lyrical Theater" pathway, reducing this crucial subject by 180 hours. Languages are reduced by 60 hours, and Lied, a vital subject in the "Concert and Oratorio" pathway, is entirely removed. Additionally, for all specializations, the Ear Training course -a mandatory subject in European and American higher education under various names like Gehörbildung- is also eliminated. Ironically, elective and free-choice subjects increase from 395 hours in the Ministerial Order to 450 hours in the CAM proposal, directly compensating for the reduction in mandatory subjects.
Similar considerations apply to Piano: the reduction from 1,800 to 1,500 hours is achieved at the expense of subjects such as Ear Training (45 hours), Stylistic Evolution of Repertoire (135 hours), Orchestral Repertoire with Accompanist (30 hours), and Mechanics and Maintenance Fundamentals (60 hours), among others.
In Violin, the "cuts" affect String Quartet, eliminating the 180 hours assigned in the Order. Repertoire with Accompanist is reduced from four years to one (3rd year), apparently deemed unnecessary for the other years. Other eliminations include 30 hours of Lutherie Fundamentals, while the single year of Complementary Piano is allocated 90 minutes per week, although two years of 45 minutes weekly would be more effective. Similarly, Orchestral Repertoire, previously offered in the 1st and 2nd years, is now limited to a single course in the 4th year -right before graduation-,despite orchestral practice spanning 360 hours across all four years.
For Pedagogy, essential subjects like Chamber Music Didactics and Instrumental Ensemble Didactics are removed, despite new teaching specializations assigning competence to instrument teachers. Additionally, Pedagogical Research Methodology disappears.
For other specializations, even without access to the CAM proposal documents, a comparative analysis reveals the elimination of 68 mandatory subjects from the 149 specified in the Ministerial Order (45.6%). These represent the most innovative and, in some cases, long-demanded aspects of the new approach to higher music education. Listing these as "optional or free-choice" subjects offers no guarantee they will be taught, as this depends on available teachers willing to teach them.
One wonders about the motivations behind this proposal from the Special Education Service. If it stems from a lack of human resources, it reflects poorly on their ability to advocate for these vital programs in a region with the infrastructure to implement them under the best conditions. Worse yet, if this proposal aims to appease those who view the expanded curriculum as excessive -recalling the 1966 plan with its skeletal two-year structure and 400 hours-, then it undermines the effort to elevate higher music education.
While basic compliance ensures some progress, transitioning from the "third division" level of the 1966 plan to the "second division" is a modest leap that leaves Madrid trailing behind regions like Castilla y León and, soon, Catalonia. This proposal seems like a missed opportunity to compete for leadership in higher music education.

Table

Mandatory subjects established by the Ministerial Order of June 25, 1999, which have been removed from the proposed higher music curriculum of the Autonomous Community of Madrid. Subjects marked with an asterisk are included in the list of "possible elective or free-choice subjects" in the proposal.

Analysis (4th and 5th years)
Analysis of Contemporary Music (*)
Archiving and Library Science (*)
Aural Education (*)
Baroque Ensemble (*)
Big Band (*)
Body Techniques (*)
Brass Group (*)
Breathing Techniques and Muscle Control (*)
Chamber Choir (*)
Choral Conducting
Composition Workshop
Computer Techniques (*)
Consort (*)
Contemporary Solo Repertoire
Educational Dance (*)
Electroacoustic Composition
Ensemble
Ethnomusicological Editing Techniques
Flamenco Dance (*)
Fundamentals of Ethnomusicology
Fundamentals of Instrument Making (*)
Fundamentals of Mechanics and Maintenance (*)
Fundamentals of Organ Building (*)
Harmonization and Arranging (*)
Historical Dances (*)
Historical Interpretation of Early Music
History of Contemporary Music (*)
History of Electroacoustic Music (*)
History of Ethnomusicology
History of Music with Audiovisual Media
History of Orchestration (*)
History of the Organ and Stylistic Evolution of Its Repertoire (*)
Improvisation on the Main Instrument
Instrumental Ensemble Conducting
Introduction to Composition with Audiovisual Media Jazz Rhythmic Studies (*)
Lied (*)
Movement and Traditional Dances (*)
Movement Improvisation and Coreographic Foundations (*)
Opera and Zarzuela Choir (*)
Orchestral Repertoire with Accompanist
Organ Musical Forms (*)
Pedagogical Research Methodology (*)
Percussion Ensemble (*)
Plucked Instrument Ensemble (*)
Poetic-Musical Forms (*)
Psychology of Education and Development in School-Age Children (*)
Psychology of Musical Perception (*)
Psychopedagogical Foundations of Special Education (*)
Recorder Ensemble (*)
Rehearsal Coaching
Renaissance Ensemble (*)
Research Methodology in Traditional and Popular Music (*)
Rhythmic Studies (*)
Saxophone Ensemble (*)
Score Reduction
Second Instrument (*)
Sociology of Education
String Quartet (*)
Stylistic Evolution of the Repertoire
Symphonic Instrument (Secondary)
Theory and Practice of Flamenco Improvisation
Theory and Practice of Jazz Improvisation
Traditional and Popular Dance (*)
Traditional Dances (*)
Vocal Accompaniment
Wind Quintet (*)


Related Writing:

El currículo del grado superior de la Comunidad de Madrid / The Advanced music Curriculum of the Community of Madrid
Article published in the Doce Notas magazine, October 2001