Detecting emotions

My music class enjoyed learning about opera last week; the week before we had listened to and sung some folk music. The contrast was enormous. Costumes, for one. We watched the procession from a huge production of Aida, followed by two excerpts from Andre Rieu’s concerts. The costumes were gorgeous and over-the-top fancy, including the ball gowns and suits the orchestra players wore. We marveled at Cecilia Bartoli’s ability to hold a high note for a crazy long time. We didn’t understand a word of what they were singing, so I explained a little of the background before each piece. There was one snippet of an old movie that had original English subtitles, but the resolution was terrible, almost unreadable. The voices were awesome. And there was one really angry, vengeful performance of the Queen of the Night.

Several times in my class I’ve felt led to ask what emotion is being expressed. They need to recognize emotions, put names to them, and hopefully realize when they themselves are feeling those emotions. I hope to lay the groundwork for processing emotions in healthy ways. First, recognize clearly what’s going on inside. My own family has been through the wringer of emotions, elation over successful theater performances and despair over being cut out of friend groups, just this week. It’s a challenge we’ve had to face together. I want to spare my students some of the detective work necessary in determining what the real problems are.