Posted by: anneghormley | November 28, 2007

Little Anne

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to teach private violin lessons to the young version of myself.  What problems would I (the teacher) notice in the playing of little me?   What would I be impressed with?  Would I be happy after the lesson because young Anne is so sweet, or would I be frustrated because she didn’t practice this week… again?

I’m really enjoying having such a variety of students, and it’s fun to try and imagine how they’ll “turn out” when they get older.  I’m trying to provide a positive musical experience for them.  I’m not on a mission to create the next Paganini, but I hope that all of my students walk away saying, “Music is so fun!”  I want them to be life-long enjoyers, supporters, and participants in music.

What did I experience that made me enjoy music so much?  That, I suppose, you can’t answer.  But try this one:  what did you experience that made music positive or negative in your sights?

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Posted in Deep Thoughts, Music, Teaching

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Responses

I always enjoyed music, but I really look at two things when I think of what specifically pushed me over the edge into being more active with it:

1) Marching Band. I had played in ensembles well before that (you know, elementary and junior high stuff), but the general unity and striving for a goal really set it off. It also helped that there was a genuine competition aspect to marching band, and I’m certainly the competitive type.

2) Switching to Bass Trombone and participating in Varsity Jazz. I know that’s kind of weird, but it’s the truth. Bass Trombone is really it’s own entire beast. In orchestral music, it likes to roam off away from the tenor trombones, and even away from the tuba. I recall one time having to come in on a “solo” in orchestra having to mirror what the flute had played just before. And bass trombone in jazz bands is the Greatest Part Ever ™. Mr. Rush always told me “If I have to tell you to play softer, you’re doing well.” I also started playing at Monday Night Big Band after switching to bass trombone, and the tutelage of Tim (plays bass trombone with the Lincoln Symphony and is a frequent performer at Monday Night Big Band) was great and really pushed me even more.

As a listener, I can’t really point to anything - my experience with music is primarily as a performer, so that’s certainly where I can pull from more easily.

By: Heath on November 28, 2007
at 11:20 pm

Well, I played piano from the age of 5-12, and hated every minute of it. I said I would never like it, and by gosh I never did. :) However, all of that piano and theory benefitted me immensely during my years of playing cello–which I loved. I also had to eventually choose between continuing voice, or continuing cello. And there are days today that I sometimes wish I had chosen voice, because that instrument you carry with you at all times!

I think probably the most positive experience I got from playing cello was being in a quintet. Sure, I now hate Pachelbel Canon, but it was great to be able to play do gigs and see all of my hard work pay off in a performance setting that wasn’t a Suzuki recital. Speaking of Suzuki, are you for or against?

By: Lindsey on November 29, 2007
at 9:54 am

Ah, Suzuki. I use the Suzuki books in my lessons, but I don’t use the method. I’m really not sure what I think about the Suzuki method. I definitely agree with having students do lots of ear training, and since Suzuki uses rote as the primary method of instruction, it’s hard to be against.

But I have a hard time understanding why you’d have them go through years of instruction without teaching them how to read. I think if they’re old enough to read and write in a language, they’re old enough to read and write in music.

Hopefully at some point I’ll be able to take the official Suzuki training courses so I can understand it a little better, and so that I can incorporate the good ideas into my teaching.

By: anneghormley on November 29, 2007
at 10:47 am

Lindsey - You took voice lessons? I didn’t know that.

By: Bethany on November 29, 2007
at 3:01 pm

Yep, I did voice, piano, and cello until 7th grade when my parents said STOP THE MADNESS and made me pick between cello and voice. I was also in this quasi-exclusive city choir where we had to wear cummerbunds and sing in German.

Anne–I’ve often wondered why the “reading the music” is so underemphasized as I didn’t “technically” learn to read music til junior high as a Suzuki student. I think the listening is great for everyone, but once the student is past the “small child” stage I think they should start having them do much more reading.

By: Lindsey on November 29, 2007
at 5:47 pm

Suzuki appeals to me, but I don’t know all I should before I pass judgment. Anyway…

The things I think it does great is to leave a lot of mechanics until later. Comparing again to language, we learn to say things a whole lot earlier than we do to spell things. In music this means teaching students to hear melodies and play musically before they’re “burdened” with the nuts and bolts of sheet music. This should lead to students being able to play a musical phrase as naturally as speaking. That does NOT happen with the majority of “classically” trained students I’ve ever taught.

That being said, I’m not sure, but I think there is too heavy an emphasis on memorization rather than hearing and playing a wider selection of music. Once you start memorization, you might as well start learning to read music.

By: Sam G on December 3, 2007
at 6:33 am

I can see how Suzuki would be helpful for young children, and playing by ear is a skill I wish I possessed. I started Suzuki when I was 12, and had already been reading music for several years, so it annoyed and frustrated me to no end. I would invariably get frustrated trying to play songs by ear that I knew I’d easily be able to sightread, so I always cheated and read the music, memorized it, and then played it at my lesson from memory as though I’d learned it by ear. Needless to say, I quit after about 2 years of that.

By: Bethany on December 3, 2007
at 11:23 am

What instrument did you use Suzuki with? Piano?

By: anneghormley on December 3, 2007
at 2:50 pm

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