Random thoughts on music, October 6, 2009

Posted by: merismusicalmusings on: October 6, 2009

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On teaching by rote…

There is a place for it, after all, music is an aural art. Especially in helping students associate the sound of the rhythm with the notation. Best to connect sight and sound in music.

On why some students have trouble learning written notation…or their sight-reading declines significantly over a period of time

Music students with difficulties should be assessed at least for visual problems, especially tracking issues. But other signs of trouble include having to put the music very close to the eyes or a significant downturn of sight-reading ability, especially in a student that is normally a good sight reader. Sometimes using music books that are printed slightly larger or have better spacing can improve the progress of some students with visual problems.

The work teachers do outside of lessons…

The last couple of days I have been doing a lot of work. Doing my advanced theory assignments (which takes a few hours a day over the course of a week), taking three sets of lessons, teaching, creating posters for two upcoming concerts (my student concert and my professional concert), practicing two instruments, practicing my ear training, setting up the ear training program for student use, finalizing the details of a “music bucks” incentive program (which by the way is a hit, contact me to learn more about it.), creating new ads, submitting concert listings, trying to find someone who wants to work for me in exchange for lessons…and yet I am shocked that so many teachers don’t set respectable fees.

Why I still prefer CDs over downloading mp3s…

The sound is cleaner, they’re much more likely to be recorded by professionals, and I like reading the liner notes that come with many CDs, at least two or three times liner notes have been helpful in writing about particular pieces.