Photo: cliff1066
Growing up with perfect (or absolute) pitch, I experienced high levels of success in musicianship tests in school and college. Being able to sight-sing and to write down melodies and chord sequences accurately was a breeze, and I could quote passages from set pieces in exams without having to study them. I felt a lot of sympathy for the other students who struggled to write down what they were hearing, or to sing what they were reading, and I witnessed the challenges of teachers trying to help them.
It was when I began to teach that I realized that my perfect pitch was also a handicap. All I had were the tools my teachers had used—for example, matching well-known tunes with intervals (e.g. “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” for a perfect 5th) so that the student, presuming that they read the interval correctly, would be able to pitch it. But were they supposed to do that for each interval in the whole piece? That was hardly feasible.
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Posted in Music Theory, Practicing, Teaching Tips
Have you hunted any wabbits recently?
When we voice teacher’s hear a singer we immediately begin to process the voice – is the sound effortless, does it move you in some way, is their too much tongue involvement or jaw tension, etc. How often do you put your mind at rest and just listen?
As teachers of voice we spend our time living in the critique mode- seeking out the flaws and embarking upon repairing and reprogramming how those sounds are made to make them more effortless, powerful, efficient, expressive. We live in the “what is wrong” and “how do we fix it” mode.
I challenge you as you embark on your fall teaching to step out of that critique box and into the audience mode. Marvel that even your weakest singers have improved upon something. Hunt for the wabbit! Share that success with the singer! If they are family dependent share that with their families too! Drop them a note or send them an email or stop everything and run out to their car as they pick up their singer and tell them how excited you are about this progress! Read more…
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Posted in Music & Technology, Performing, Practicing, Professional Development, Promoting Your Studio, Studio Management, Teaching Tips
Stickers, games, prizes, music money, or competitions…is that what it takes to lure students to stick with an instrument? Is the magic triangular support of student, teacher and parent a promise of guaranteed success?
Gold Medal Winner at Piano Olympics
Dr. Randall Faber with wife Nancy co-authors of Piano Adventures
Dr. Randall Faber states that teaching an instrument is completely dependent upon students’ level of engagement at weekly lessons. As teachers, we must be involved more in the learning that is going on rather than the teaching. Monitoring students’ emotional engagement is the key to making the unfamiliar familiar, and the biggest motivating factor.
At a recent workshop, Faber listed the “facilitative factors of motivation”, in other words, the ages and stages of motivation. His insightful expertise validated and inspired how I teach. For those interested in the scientific facts of his findings see http://pianoadventures.com/about/pdf/MotivationA4.pdf
So…what does it take to motivate? First: KNOW the STAGES of Motivation:
I Can DO It! Ages 4-6. Activities during lessons must be engines of FUN which generate
learning. Fun or “play” magically holds the students attention and the motivation to “DO it” (again and again) keeps the kiddos coming back for more. Read more…
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Posted in Performing, Practicing, Professional Development, Teaching Tips
A student of mine attended a music camp recently where she learned several fiddle tunes. One of them was a tune she already knew but she found it confusing until she realized that the teacher was only teaching the notes. Her fingers felt awkward playing the notes without fitting them into the consistent bowings that she had previously learned.
The teacher explained that the focus was just on the notes, not the bowings. But this brings up a question all music teachers deal with. What are we actually teaching when we teach a piece of music? Is it really just one note after another in the right order? Do we add musical ideas only after notes are learned?
Painting by Neil Macpherson
Strangely enough, many students learn music that way, and yet we would never think of learning to speak in that way. Think about how you might learn a line if you were performing in a play — say, for example, the first line of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. Being an experienced English speaker, you probably would have no trouble remembering that line: “If music be the food of love, play on.” Not only does this line flow easily, but you’ve probably heard it many times before. A line of music could be easy to learn for the same reasons.
But supposing you found that line difficult to remember, Read more…
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Posted in Music Theory, Practicing, Teaching Tips
The title of this blog is the most-frequently-used-back-pocket nugget of wisdom I treasure more than anything else as a teacher, performer, and human being. I’ll be honest, the mistake-of-a-life-time just occurred last month. My car window was smashed and my laptop computer was stolen out of my car. INFORMATION? Leaving a computer in the car is VERY RISKY so DON’T DO IT! I really hate learning the hard way…
Likewise, after a mistake has been made while playing a piece, and the negative, “self-batterment” subsides, the identification of the root of a mistake can take place. Once there is a correct diagnosis of the cause of the mishap, treatment can begin in the form of enlightened practice. Why practice if every second is not intentional? In other words: Practice Smart, Bring your Brain.
Nothing convinced me more that quality of practice counts more than quantity, than my exposure to Philip Johnston and his book The Practice Revolution. I have mentioned him and his books in earlier blogs but felt compelled to share his ideas. His humorous twists for the studio and practice room promise ample motivation and in turn, results, for productive practicing at any level. Read more…
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Posted in Practicing, Teaching Tips
A good quote illuminates the truth through clever shades.
Ideas for quotes:
1) Include on assignment sheets or lesson notes
2) Print and place in a frame to display in your studio
3) Read during an adult performance class to lighten the mood…
4) Add to a yearly calendar featuring pics of your studio events
(NOTE: all quotes with no source are “unknown” at least to me.)
Inspirational
Music is what feelings sound like.
Play the music, not the instrument.
Music is the medicine of the breaking heart. -Leigh Hunt
Music is love in search of a word. -Sidney Lanier
Without music, life would be a mistake. -Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzshe
After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.
Motivational
Whether you think you can, or whether you think you can’t, you’re right! -Henry Ford Read more…
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Posted in Practicing, Teaching Tips
As an artist who sings in both fields, I treasure my classic technique along with my ability to crossover. What is the correct balance for a young singer? If a student wants to sing theatre or pop music, this question is much more vague than in the classical world. And what about the ones who don’t know yet where they would like to end up?
There are set standards to sing opera and oratorio – the voice must be strong enough to be heard in the back of the house and over the orchestra. Idiosyncrasies and character of the voice must be smoothed over and sanded down for beauty’s sake. Accurate pitch is a necessity, and freedom from tension an absolute. Line is a necessity. Superb breath support and full body engagement and support are key, as is maximum relaxation and minimal involvement of any extraneous tension or small muscle groups.
Theatre, pop and rock have different requirements. Popular music including country and rock music desire and even promote vocal idiosyncrasies whiled desiring great range and stamina. Character voices and pop singers take Macy Gray for instance – an R&B singer with such great character to her voice who hardly sings on pitch – need to maintain their “character” and uniqueness.
Subsequently I opt for teaching “classic” technique to all of my singers unsure of the style they decide, to sing to a point. There comes a “fork-in-the-road” moment when we are beginning the “point of no return” where I stop and reassess their new path. I talk to my singers about how we can proceed, classical, character, theatre, pop, again ask them what there feelings desires, and dreams are, and then share with them which road I feel is more available to them, if I have an opinion at that point. We then move forward based on the information gained at that discussion.
I will discuss several students I have had this discussion with next month. Meanwhile, I believe a prime example of a good mix of “organic with technique” is seen in the vocal prowess of Kristen Chenowith. She has great flexibility with her classic training yet her ability to also sing country, theatre, and pop sublimely. Listen to her meld several styles on “This Moment” by John Buccioni – and follow it up with a gander of her singing Leonard Bernstein’s “Glitter and Be Gay” from Candide. Zowee.
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Posted in Music & Technology, Performing, Practicing, Teaching Tips
This past week my husband took my car for 3 days. Mine gets WAY better gas mileage and he had to go on a road trip, so I was stuck with the minivan for the interim. I love my little car – it gets great gas mileage and I can fit my daughters AND a trip to Costco into it. Who needs the minivan? Plus, I made sure when I got it that it had a standard (manual, i.e. “stick”) transmission.
When I drive a car with an automatic transmission, I just go. I am less aware of my surroundings. I am MUCH less aware of my speed. I just get in the car and drive. Especially in the U.S., manual transmissions in cars tend to be the exception, rather than the rule.
It occurred to me this week that driving an automatic is how we can sometimes be in the studio – we get onto a path and stay there, unless something jars us out of it. We ARE on “automatic.” So, I’d like to pose these questions to you:
Do you make sure you make time in your schedule for exercise?
Do you still take lessons yourself?
Do you give yourself professional development time annually? Quarterly? Monthly? Do you regularly interact with other teachers?
What are your goals for your studio? What have you done lately to energize your student population?
Has your teaching evolved throughout the past year? Why or why not? Read more…
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Posted in Performing, Practicing, Studio Management, Teaching Tips
When did you last sit down at your instrument and improvise a piece of music? I find it a great way to boost my creative energy. Were you even encouraged to do that as a student? I know I wasn’t. My job, growing up, was to play my scales, pieces, studies, and sight-reading with impeccable fidelity to the required text and technique, and then to close the piano lid when it was time for dinner. Anything else was considered ‘playing around’, and was strongly discouraged.
These days, fortunately, children who learn instruments generally feel a lot freer to play and to improvise at their instrument, and we can learn a lot from them. What do they do when they sit at the piano? Experiment with sounds and colors? Enjoy the feeling of flapping their hands up and down on the notes? Stick to the extreme ends of the keyboard?
As a piano teacher, I often begin by improvising around a simple chord sequence, and inviting the student to create a melody. If they’re shy, I set a tempo and suggest they play only whole notes to start with. When they begin to become more confident, I move to half notes and then quarter notes, before encouraging them to start to create a more inventive rhythm. What works particularly well is to play in F sharp major and let the student know that playing just on the black notes will work fine. Read more…
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Posted in Composing & Arranging, Performing, Practicing, Teaching Tips
When I studied voice there was no discussion about what I wanted to study, nor did I ask. My teacher invited me to join her studio after hearing me in a performance, she taught, and I sang. I never questioned the style she was teaching me, the technique, nor the direction we were headed. I just sang.
I too invite students to join my studio whom I believe have great talent by writing them a note and inviting them to come sing with, me as my first teacher did for me. I then invite them for a “preview lesson” to see how we gel together, and then we move forward. However, I differ from my first teacher in that I begin by asking each student what they want out of their lessons, and where they want to go with their voice and their music. Read more…
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Posted in Music & Technology, Music History & Facts, Performing, Practicing, Promoting Your Studio, Studio Management, Teaching Tips
