1. Children (and humans in general) are masters of mimicry.
This is not a trait to be avoided, but a trait to exploit, extend and use in a sub-conscious fashion. These days, educators sometimes avoid the concept of mimicry as it alludes too closely to 'rote learning'.
Many concepts in instrumental music can only be attained through repetition and memorisation. Think about learning note reading, new fingerings and sound production techniques. Even if you allow students to explore these concepts and work them out for themselves, they still need to be reinforced through some method of copying and/or repetition.
We can use the ability of humans to mimic to enhance aural skills. Learning a new scale? Create easy patterns that the students have to play back to you. Learning how to tune? Play a game of 'match my pitch' (i.e. don't use the tuner to enhance their visual skills more than their aural skills!)
One concept I find almost requires mimicry is sound production. I make it a point to play in every lesson in some capacity. Students need to hear what they should be aiming for on a regular basis. They are clever little devils. If they hear the sound, they will instinctively find way to create it.
A word of warning - students will sometimes try to copy everything, good or bad, just like a toddler absorbing and using their first curse word. If you play with poor tonguing and incorrect fingers, they will either call you on it or assume they can do the same thing.
2. Let them play music.
I was teaching a group of beginning flute students a few weeks ago. They had already had a lesson on making a sound, and I was showing them hand and finger placement so we could learn B, A and G. With those notes, they would be able to go home, make different sounds and likely try to work out songs such as Hot Cross Buns (aural training by stealth). The following group, students who had been learning for 1 year already, arrived early and could not believe that in the second lesson that these beginners already 'knew notes'. When asked what they did by the second lesson, they said they had spent the first five weeks on the headjoint only.
There are completely valid reasons for wanting to spend a larger amount of time on the initial production of sound. There is a chance that a higher proportion of students wind up with more 'correct' embouchures (IF the teacher knows what they are doing). But in this situation, where the students have been offered an opportunity they might not have otherwise sought out, we need to appeal to a greater audience. These students have come to learn music, and music they shall learn.
Mimicry will also feature here, because for the student who might not necessarily get a perfect sound out straight away, when they hear their peers getting sounds and notes, they will work just that little bit harder (sometimes subconsciously) to work it out. In 13 years, I have never had a student who didn't work it out after a few lessons. It tends to encourage a more solid practice routine early on, as students try to keep up with each other. Establishing a practice routine based on blowing the headjoint for five weeks cannot be an easy task!
And if you have ever considered starting the students in the first lesson with the headjoint/mouthpiece/reed and not putting the rest of the instrument together at all, consider this. Kids are innately curious. If you don't show them, once they have that instrument at home, they will try anyway. Wouldn't it be best if you show them straight away and avoid any damage that may get sustained without proper instruction?
3. Believe in your repertoire.
My students are completely used to the fact that I don't tend to follow books from beginning to end. I choose the most natural progression, and the one that fits my program and assessment. I am quite upfront about which pieces I choose to omit, and why. I often explain that the following piece has more educational benefits, or that I think the next one is 'fun' to learn. I don't simply follow the book aimlessly because I need to believe what I am teaching is always valuable and relevant.
I also make a point of explaining to students which pieces I really like, and why. 'Why' is another level of understanding, and it is good to encourage students to critique music with justification.
4. The kid you dismiss today...could be the only one who truly wants to be there.
There's always one that lags a little behind the others. Maybe their reading is not as fast, their fingers not as coordinated, their tone not as clear. They probably already know it. And with some encouragement, that kid could be the one who knuckles down over the school holidays and really takes to the instrument. Maybe they are a late bloomer. Or perhaps they are a child who enjoys the escape of music from whatever their harsh realities of life are, whether they are 'good' at it or not. And yes, there are some students out there with much harsher realities than you could imagine.
It is easy to wave these kids off, to not give them extra attention lest they are 'lazy' or 'stupid'. But you don't know what the future holds. Work out what it is that gets through to them. If it doesn't, well, you gave it your best shot. If it does, the student will remember.
5. Make the lesson fit the student, not the student fit the lesson.
Education research has progressed far enough now for most of us to realise that this is obvious. The idea is logical. The execution, however, can be a little more awkward.
In small groups of instrumental students, there are little ways of making sure each student is catered for.
- Know their names. I know it sounds logical, right? If you have a lot of students, try remembering something about them and associate it with their name. They will be grateful!
- Know one thing about them and use each student's 'thing' to relate to a concept. Most kids have out-of-school activities, other instruments, dance, footy, pets, etc. There is usually a way of linking them, even if it is loosely!
- Have multiple ways of explaining things, and be prepared to use at least two methods for each concept. If you have mathematical ways of explaining rhythm, and some non-mathematical students, make it visual as well (I use a 'pizza' analogy to talk about beats and fractions of beats).
- Some kids are happy to fly under the radar, quiet achievers if you like. Allow them to contribute in their own way, but make sure they know you do care about them and aren't ignoring!
- Vary lessons so that you are not just working on one concept, one piece or in one format within a single lesson. This way, you are catering for students who respond to learning in varying ways.
6. Keep it relevant.
In this age of the tunnel-vision focus on academics and standardised testing, students (and, more frequently, parents and schools) want to know why they should be doing something that is outside of these areas. Additionally, we are seeing a generation of students who, in my honest opinion, are conditioned to being entertained in some way at all times.
Relevance can be achieved by:
- Linking concepts back to other subjects (maths and language being common, but history/culture may also feature)
- Using repertoire that students both know and like (not for everything, but perhaps as a reward or a challenge, such as movie themes)
- Linking instrumental music to other areas of life, such as being a team, treating it as another subject to study and improve on, etc)
- Making technical work and concepts more 'interesting' (scale patterns, competitions, naming certain combinations of notes such as 'the ambulance', etc)
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These are some of the areas I have come to realise over the years that fit in with not only my personal philosophy of teaching, but work in with our ever-changing education systems and expectations. Use some of my ideas, develop them into your own, completely go in another direction, it is up to you. Just make sure you are always developing and maintaining your own consistent philosophy. And don't forget to love your job!
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