Finding an easy and effective way to communicate with students is what teaching is all about.
Phyllis Young’s book Playing the String Game, published in 1978, can be an inspiration to any music teacher, even though it’s written for string teachers and especially cellists. I’ve spotted it online at Shar for only $14 (though I came across it elsewhere in a first edition for $260!).
The book contains over 160 “mini-games” for teachers to use during lessons. These games help students get the feel of what you’re looking for. Some are specific to strings and cello playing, and others are more general. They are always positive, imaginative, and often humorous or fun. They introduce images and ideas that are memorable and quickly grasped. Just looking through the book can inspire you to come up with your own games for your teaching.
Below are some examples of Young’s mini-games, but note that these are just paraphrased. The mini-games in the book include several sections–the “outer game” (examples of what to say), the “inner game” (the teacher’s goal and the intended effects of the game), and a “when to use” section.
Mini-game #21. Imagine a giant magnet floating above your head, and you’re wearing a weightless steel football helmet. Naturally your head will feel lifted up. Now you can really feel like playing.
#146. Undoing Dog ears. Notice how we undo dog-eared pages by folding them back the opposite way so they’ll lie flat. Think about this as you address a problem in your technique–bend it back the opposite way, exaggerate, so you can truly smooth out the problem.
#91. Imagine your fingers as a committee with the working finger the chairperson. In general, the mini-games often personalize fingers or hands in fun ways to help students work out problems without taking them personally. I like to have students “have a talk with” their fingers or hands, or to take them to task for misbehaving. It’s fun and gets them thinking about teaching their own hands to do things instead of feeling bad that they didn’t get something right in the first place.
#97. Hitting the bulls-eye. This game compares playing in tune to shooting arrows at a target. Imagine the archer running up to drag an arrow over into the bulls-eye. This teaches students in a fun way to just practice shooting fingers to the right place, rather than fudging mistakes or sliding them in place after hitting the wrong position.
#142. Imagine eating a delicious hamburger and then being about to eat a thin mint. How different your mouth feels when it’s preparing to eat a mint. This feeling illustrates how you can anticipate an approaching musical passage in mood and execution.
#149. Colors. This one involves talking about a series of beautiful colors, and seeing if the student can play a single note that feels like a range of “hues and shades…from deep purple to vivid green to subdued red.”
#148. Looking ahead: just as a driver keeps eyes on the road and knows every car, pedestrian and street sign coming up, a musician can read music but also look ahead to have a sense of what’s coming. In this game, the student closes his or her eyes when the teacher snaps a finger, and they count how many notes the student can play after the snap.
#42. Imagine sparrows perching on the bow, and try to bow level and smoothly so the birds don’t get alarmed and fly away.
#74. Imagine spreading peanut butter with a finger, to get a better feel for bowing. I made up a game like this to do with washing a countertop with a large sponge to simulate bow action.
Other mini-games involve imaginary door springs, rubber bumpers, imaginary ripe strawberries and water buckets, miniature skiiers on hands or instruments, and so on.
Regardless of which musical instrument you teach, Phyllis Young’s book will be an inspiration to freshen up your teaching.
