Music Teacher's Helper Blog

One of my top reasons for having the lab along with the lesson is that it simply offers me more time with each student. Thirty-minute lessons literally disappear and making plans for what and how to practice in the upcoming week must always come first.  The opportunity to introduce and reinforce concepts is often limited to a quick intro and then students are asked to “apply immediately”. Most of my students require a great deal of review of new signs, sounds, and concepts to make it stick. With the extra lab time, I am able to provide a wide variety of activities at the computer and beyond that allow for extra “sink” time.

My past blog described types of software for the lab sessions. However, sometimes, my favorite activities to assign are the beyond the computer assignments. Below is a number of them:

Reviewing: Hands On

1) Recently, I designed a unit dedicated to the bass clef to ensure stronger reading skills. The very first assignment required bass-clef-note flash cards. Students had become familiar with the sentences for

lines: Great Big Dogs From Alaska

and for

spaces: All Cows Eat Grass

So, while listening to “Who Let the Dogs Out” and “Cows, Remarkable Cows”  on iTunes with head phones, they were asked to make Cow piles and Dog piles (space-note pile and line-note pile.) Basic, yes, but students have since then, not forgotten the sentences thanks to the fun music and of course the visuals–I had l plenty of cows and dogs hanging out around the studio.

2) Create a stack of flash cards–only treble, bass or both clefs and challenge students to name them in less than a minute. Offer a “fabulous” prize for the studio winner.

3) Ask students to review certain basic concepts using Coloride found at http://www.musicedmarket.com . This manipulative is a very unique tool for students to reinforce learning “in color”.

4) Theory book or sheets–often” forgotten” when assigned for homework–are guaranteed to be finished if pages are assigned and completed while students remain at the studio.

5) To guarantee that students add essential details to a piece they can spend lab time highlighting dynamics, articulations and other details. While they are at it–they can always be listening to the piece on iTunes as well (computer required).

Reading: Yes the old-fashioned printed page

1) Piano Explorer Magazines http://www.instrumentalistmagazine.com/index_old.htm feature brief but interesting articles of composer, instruments, music styles, performance etiquette. The kid-friendly magazine includes informative reading for students beginning a new piece written by a  famous composer or a piece from a style of music, and much more.

2) Practiceopediea found at http://www.insidemusicteaching.com/bookstore/practiceopedia lists fabulous practice strategies with humor and extreme logic

Watching: DVD’s and youtube.com–yes requires a computer or TV, but…

1) The Best of Victor Borge–give your students a chance to giggle

2) Lang Lang at Carnegie Hall and/or The Five Browns–mesmerize your students with videos of amazing artists’  performances–great inspiration for upcoming performances

3) The Performance Practice DVD Series by Maurice Hinson provides excellent stylistic details for serious, advanced students

4) Youtube.com provides countless videos for ANY topic. I recently designed a small unit around Baroque Dances and students enjoyed watching a Gavotte elegantly danced in the extravagant clothing of that time

Practicing at the computer will not guarantee a great recital performance–however, extra, supervised practice will…

Performing: Preparing for  an audience

1) As performance deadlines loom, I will work with one student in my studio and send the other student upstairs to “Bella”–my Yamaha C6 grand piano with specific practice goals:

Play section B 3x perfect, then entire piece

Play entire piece, aim for no errors

Play entire piece while maintaining correct hand position

Play entire piece and make sure to add all “pianos” or “fortes” or all dynamics

etc…

2) To ensure performance readiness, one student and I will travel upstairs to Bella and practice the entire performance routine–from adjusting the bench to the bow–while the other student stays in the studio and attempts to cut a great recording of a piece on the Clavinova. NOTHING keeps students practicing more than when they must record themselves!

*Note: Garage Band could be used as a recording tool as well.

The extra time a lab adds to your lesson is extremely worth all the required, advanced planning. I cannot begin to emphasize how much the bonus time benefits both my students AND my teaching.