Brian Petit grew up in Central Ohio, where he discovered music as an active, rigorous, yet rewarding pursuit early in middle school band. Mr. Petit went on to earn his Bachelor's Degree in Music Education from The Ohio State University, and later his Master's Degree in Music Education - with an emphasis in the Kodály Pedagogy - from Capital University. He has completed all three levels of Kodály Certification as well as the first level of Orff Certification.

Mr. Petit joined Grandview's music faculty in 2010, and teaches all K-3 General Music classes as well as 5th Grade Guitar Ensemble and 5th Grade Band (Trombone). 

Mr. Petit's Kodály-Inspired Classroom:

To understand why my music classes look, sound, and feel they way that they do, you have to first understand my personal philosophy of music education.

As a whole, I believe that music is for everyone (and, everyone is for music). In other words, I do not believe in an elitist model of music, where only the "select" or "talented" are capable of musical ability, success, or understanding, but rather in a ecumenical view that acknowledges music as a universal human experience, creation, and expression. Consequently, I strive to establish and promote a classroom where musical creation and expression is experienced by every student. Here, the joy of music - as a human phenomenon - is both celebrated and promoted.

Within the setting of primary-aged students, my philosophy of education can be summed up by the following four characteristics of an effective general music classroom:

1. Durable: An effective general music education should outlive the teacher. If any activity, experience, repertoire, or focus only reaps rewards in the short term, then it is not useful in building life-long musical learners. I strive to make every experience within my classroom function to either build an enduring character trait, clarify a seminal musical concept, or foster a performance skill that will make the learner's future musical endeavors easier. In short, I do not believe in "activities" as much as I believe in the person that those "activities" help build.
2. Evolving: An effective general music curriculum should constantly be building on - and re-building on - foundations previously laid. Within educational theory, this is an adaptation of Jerome Bruner's Spiral Curriculum model of learning. Simply put, this sort of learning does not occur in "units" or "subjects" as much as it occurs as a never-ending constant dialogue; in my music class, a student never learns dynamics - rather, they start by understanding volume as a comparative between "loud" and "soft", and then later build on that initial understanding by labeling "loud" as forte, "soft" as piano. Later, they apply those basic concepts to various instruments, settings, and intermediate functions (such as medium - or mezzo - piano, and dynamic changes such as crescendos).
3. Accessible: An effective general music curriculum should be conveyed with age-appropriate techniques, language, and experiences. Consequently, new musical terminology should be preceded by a robust knowledge of the concept itself (i.e. "sound before symbol"). Furthermore, an effective general music classroom accounts for the fact that children learn best through play and exploration - so all "learning" must occur through a playful environment!
4. Sequential: An effective general music curriculum should be designed with care. Not only must it have tangible goals in mind, but those goals must be mapped and accessed through careful study, planning, and routing. All of this requires both an intimate knowledge of general childhood development, as well as the subject knowledge itself. When mapped correctly, no next step is too far, and every step leaves the learner with a clear memory of where they were - and a hunch of where they are going. For me, the ideas of Sequential and Evolving are inseparable; learning must deepen and broaden as the child grows, and sequencing guides the rate of how fast and by how much that deepening/broadening occurs.