Category: Practicing

You're on Your Own!

11/22/2017

I recently read an insightful article by Bruce Berr in the latest issue of American Music Teacher magazine about his experiences with assigning “OYO” pieces to his students. “OYO” is short for “on your own,” and these pieces are assigned to assess how well a student can practice new material without teacher assistance.

I have also found it helpful to assign independent study pieces to my students, for many of the same reasons listed in Bruce Berr’s article. I focus on instilling good practice habits in my students, but assigning these independent study pieces really helps me to know how well students are remembering and applying these practice techniques at home. Are my students really breaking a piece into small sections, or practicing hands separately, or counting carefully without being prompted?

Independent study pieces also help me to see if there are any gaps in a student’s understanding of concepts like note reading or rhythm. I might think that I have done a good job teaching a student to count eighth note patterns (for example), but sometimes the results of an independent study piece say differently! It is helpful to know which concepts need extra drilling in our weekly lessons.

The article also makes an important point about the value of building a student’s self-confidence through “OYO” pieces. It is possible for students to become so reliant upon their teachers’ guidance that they become paralyzed with indecision when presented with a new piece of music. At the elementary level, this might present itself with questions such as “where do my hands go?” or “what is that note?” At the intermediate and advanced levels, this might present itself as a lack of artistry; students might be waiting to be told by their teacher where to shape a phrase, or exactly how to pedal a section of music, instead of asking those important musical questions on their own. It is important that students learn to develop strategies for problem solving, as well as their own ideas for interpreting music artistically. Independent study pieces are a great way to help students do just that.

So how do you assign an independent study piece? Here are a few guidelines:

Choose a short piece that is slightly above a student’s sight-reading level.
Choose a piece that doesn’t introduce any new concepts or unfamiliar artistic challenges.
Remind students of the practice techniques they have learned (slow practice, section practice, hands separately practice, using the "practice cake" as a checklist) so they will have strategies to apply to this new piece at home. I also tell my students that they are allowed to look for recordings of their independent study pieces if they would like.

This is a perfect time of year to incorporate a few independent study pieces into your lessons. Perhaps you have students preparing to take an extended holiday break and you want to keep their skills sharp? Or maybe you need some “easy wins” that students can work on during the busy holiday season when their time is limited? As a bonus, there are plenty of free, public domain holiday pieces available online that would make great independent study pieces (two of my favorite websites for free public domain sheet music are G Major Music Theory and Making Music Fun).

What do you think? Will you be assigning “OYO” pieces to your students this season?

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Practice Sheet for Young Beginners

11/10/2017

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In this post, I talked about some of the challenges of teaching young beginners, and discussed the strategies I use in my lessons. Today, I would like to share a practice sheet that I have found very helpful in my lessons with young beginners.

This practice sheet is simple, but effective! I like to place it on the music rack and use it as a visual guide for the tasks we will be completing in the lesson. Students can put a check mark in the box next to each task as it is finished. If their attention wanes, I point to the tasks on the practice sheet to get us back on track.

The benefits I have found in using this practice sheet are:

It divides the lesson into short tasks, and young beginners know exactly how many tasks are left until the end of the lesson.
It provides a framework for what a practice session should look like at home. As you go through a lesson, you can fill in each portion of the practice sheet and this can be placed in a student's notebook to serve as their assignment sheet for the upcoming week.
It encourages good listening skills. I tell students that each time they show they aren't listening and following directions, I will cross off one of the three ears at the bottom of the page. At the end of the lesson, students may choose as many stickers as there are ears left on their practice page. No ears=no stickers!
It provides parents with feedback on what was covered in the lesson, and how well a student followed directions. It's like a mini-report card that parents can see at the end of each lesson!

Download your free practice sheet HERE. What do you think? Do you use something similar with your young beginners? Please leave a comment below!

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Once More, with Feeling!

8/22/2017

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"To play a wrong note is insignificant; to play without passion is inexcusable."

-Ludwig van Beethoven

Beethoven, a teacher himself, is said to have given his student this sage advice. Isn't this what we strive to do as musicians: to play with passion, and truly "feel" the music?

Unfortunately, I have found that most of my students don't instinctively play "with feeling." How can we help our students to learn this skill? I think the first step is to help students understand exactly what their music is saying, so they can communicate these ideas to the listener. I like to tell my students that playing a piece of music is like telling a story without using any words. Once students understand how to communicate the thoughts and feelings behind their music, they can eventually begin to connect these ideas to their own personal experiences and emotions and start to feel the music as they play.

Here are a few ideas I use to help my students begin to communicate the ideas behind their music. It isn't always easy, but through a combination of visual imagery, descriptive adjectives, technical movements, and practice, I find that my students have fun exploring the thoughts behind their music and finding an emotional connection to their pieces.

Let the title be your guide! Many pedagogical pieces have descriptive titles to make it easy for students to understand the thoughts behind the music. Ask your students: what images does this title bring to mind? Is this piece inspired by a place, or a particular mood? What adjectives might you use to describe the music? I sometimes help students do an online image search to find a picture that fits the music and offers visual inspiration. If a student is playing a classical piece without a descriptive title, such as a minuet, it can be helpful to look at pictures of classical era art, architecture, or fashion to give students a historical framework for playing the piece expressively. For example, you might imagine someone dancing a minuet in a fancy gown. Create your own descriptive title to fit the music if you like!

Choose the technique you need to create the sound you want. Once students have described the type of sound they want based on the title, discuss what technique you would need to create that sound. Do we need a sneaky sound, as if we are tiptoeing across the keys? Do we need a smooth elegant sound, as if we are gliding across the dance floor? Do we need a bold sound, requiring the use of arm weight? Maybe we need all of these sounds at different points in the piece! Help students to decide which technique is most appropriate at different points in the music.

Mark the music! Now it is time to match our ideas to the music. Mark the score with descriptive adjectives or sentences that describe the story we are telling as we play. Use stickers or different colors to help students visualize the sound they would like to create at different points in the piece. Write in the technical movements students will need to practice to create the sounds they want.

Get into character. The final step in communicating our piece effectively is to remember to get into character and practice truly performing a piece. Take a moment to visualize the story and, like an actor or actress, get into character and communicate this story to the audience. From the first note to the very last note, we want our audience to be able to understand exactly what we are trying to say without words. To paraphrase Beethoven, don't worry about the wrong notes--just play with feeling!

What do you think? Do you have any tips to help students "feel the music"? Please leave a comment below!

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You're on Your Own!

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