Multiple Intelligence Theory and Learning Outcomes

Any number of methods have been developed by music educators to provide students at different skill levels with personally targeted instruction within the context of theory-driven education (Runfola & Taggart, 2006). Educators working in this field have searched for answers to the questions of how students of varying ages learn when they learn music. Runfola and Taggart (2006) suggest that learning music is, in some key ways, similar to acquiring simultaneously both a new language and a new set of motor skills which must be integrated into a cohesive performance. These same researchers have also noted that students who pursue the development of musical ability are not a homogeneous group and are likely to bring their own personal learning styles to the instructional encounter; consequently, while there are any number of methods that are used to teach music, there is no single "best method" that meets the needs of all music students.

One music instruction strategy that has proven successful in meeting the needs of a variety of diverse student groups is the Suzuki Method. Suzuki (1973, 1983) noted that the Suzuki Piano Method represents a pedagogical sequence that encourages the development of musical literacy. This particular sequence moves from an emphasis on listening to music gradually to an actual engagemen

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lodies, rhythms, and so forth which culminates in the ability to successfully reproduce a piece of music (Suzuki, 1982). In essence, Suzuki (1983) began to apply the methods of mother tongue learning in the service of music education. Beginning with his own instrument, the violin, Suzuki (1983) joined with other musicians and gradually expanded the Suzuki Method to include other instruments. The Suzuki Association of America (2005) has reported that the basic foundation of the method has been incorporated into other fields of study with success. The literature supporting Gardner's (1993) theory of MI is both broad and deep. Armstrong (1993) commented that a large body of empirical evidence supports the existence of these different ways of being intelligent or being smart. The theory of MI, said Armstrong (1993), is supported by research from such fields as anthropology, cognitive and developmental psychology, psychometrics, and neuroanatomy. Each intelligence, said Armstrong (1993), has its own developmental history and emerges at a certain point in childhood, has periods of potential blossoming during the lifespan and contains its own unique pattern of either gradual or rapid decline as a person ages. Interestingly
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