Archive for September, 2007
Wednesday, September 26th, 2007How to teach memorization
Many teachers simply say to a student, “Memorize this piece by your next lesson.” Without guidance, students can feel overwhelmed by such a daunting task. Teaching a musician how to memorize music is an important skill.
It wasn’t until I was in college that my private teacher taught me memorization skills. Having these skills […]
Objective-Based Teaching
As a string teacher, I’ve found that there is an overwhelming amount of information to teach beginning students. Most beginners go home unsure of what to practice so they end up trying to play songs with incorrect position and technique.
One remedy to this is to give students “homework” that can be completed […]
Practice Techniques for String Players
Often when students begin taking lessons, or attending a group class, they believe that the teacher has some “magical formula” to make them great players. I always emphasize to my students that the real “magic” happens at home in their practice sessions. With this in mind, it is important to teach students proper […]
Saturday, September 15th, 2007Practice Makes Perfect?
When asked to complete the following sentence, “Practice makes ____________” most students will answer with confidence “Perfect!” After shouting “NO!” (this always gets their attention!), I demonstrate the following:
I play a passage of music very poorly (poor posture, intonation, rhythm, etc).
I play the passage over and over (students are usually annoyed by the […]
Teaching Tone to String Players
When teaching a string class or a private student about tone, the first priority should be seeing that students understand what tone is. I usually demonstrate a good tone, then a poor tone. All students can hear the difference, but it may be difficult for them to put into words. Point out […]