Last night I forgot to take my CD player to tai chi class. Not a big deal. I had my computer with me and I had a Deuter album on iTunes that I really like to listen to while doing tai chi. You can listen to samples from each of the tracks with the link to amazon, or you can get an idea of what the whole thing is like from this.
So, I got to class, turned on the computer, started the music, and then greeted the students as they arrived. Class went very well, and we were just getting ready for one final run through of the form, when suddenly the Deuter was over, replaced by another German.
I've been sharing tai chi principles and even some of the forms with my voice students. It's actually been quite helpful. I just never expected to share Dietrich Fischer-Diskau with my tai chi students.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Solfege
I'm the meanest teacher part II. Click here for part I.
I am a firm believer in the power of solfege. However, I've yet to convert some of my students. Too many of them see it just as something they need to know for choir auditions. And since they're not good at it, they don't want to practice it. I get that. I know that it's scary to make mistakes in front of your teacher. I know it's scary to be seen as anything less than perfect.
I also know that sight-reading and aural skills improve with practice. In fact, I'm proof of that. I had a very basic introduction to solfege in high school, but never had enough practice and reinforcement to get comfortable with it. In college, I switched into the music major program late. Because of all my piano background, they let me skip the first semester of theory and aural skills, which saved me a year of college, but left me feeling uncertain about the whole sight-reading thing. In grad school, I took the remedial course and it finally clicked in. Now that I've been teaching it for 15 years, I'm feeling pretty good about my sight-reading skills. But you can't tell that to a kid that wants to be good right now or else he doesn't want to do it.
This year, to tackle the solfege fear, I've once again revised my curriculum, incorporating more learning modes. We spend a lot of time working the visual and aural concepts, but this year I decided we needed to do more for kinesthetic learners, so all of my kids are learning some basic interval pattern exercises with solfege hand signs. Yes, it does add another level of difficulty and complexity, but I'm also seeing an improvement in their accuracy. By the time this year's freshmen graduate, I expect that it is going to make a big difference in their sight reading.
But, solfege is not just about sight-reading. It is about learning to hear patterns, and that pattern recognition helps us learn faster, even if all our songs are learned solely through aural means. I have a blind student that doesn't want to learn any solfege because in her brain, solfege is only about sight-reading which obviously she can't do. This is one of those times when I'm putting my foot down. I think she will pick up on the sounds of the patterns. I think she will grow from this experience. Yes it will be hard, but it is also exactly what she needs.
I am a firm believer in the power of solfege. However, I've yet to convert some of my students. Too many of them see it just as something they need to know for choir auditions. And since they're not good at it, they don't want to practice it. I get that. I know that it's scary to make mistakes in front of your teacher. I know it's scary to be seen as anything less than perfect.
I also know that sight-reading and aural skills improve with practice. In fact, I'm proof of that. I had a very basic introduction to solfege in high school, but never had enough practice and reinforcement to get comfortable with it. In college, I switched into the music major program late. Because of all my piano background, they let me skip the first semester of theory and aural skills, which saved me a year of college, but left me feeling uncertain about the whole sight-reading thing. In grad school, I took the remedial course and it finally clicked in. Now that I've been teaching it for 15 years, I'm feeling pretty good about my sight-reading skills. But you can't tell that to a kid that wants to be good right now or else he doesn't want to do it.
This year, to tackle the solfege fear, I've once again revised my curriculum, incorporating more learning modes. We spend a lot of time working the visual and aural concepts, but this year I decided we needed to do more for kinesthetic learners, so all of my kids are learning some basic interval pattern exercises with solfege hand signs. Yes, it does add another level of difficulty and complexity, but I'm also seeing an improvement in their accuracy. By the time this year's freshmen graduate, I expect that it is going to make a big difference in their sight reading.
But, solfege is not just about sight-reading. It is about learning to hear patterns, and that pattern recognition helps us learn faster, even if all our songs are learned solely through aural means. I have a blind student that doesn't want to learn any solfege because in her brain, solfege is only about sight-reading which obviously she can't do. This is one of those times when I'm putting my foot down. I think she will pick up on the sounds of the patterns. I think she will grow from this experience. Yes it will be hard, but it is also exactly what she needs.
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Meanest Teacher
My friends with children sometimes post about how their children think they have the meanest mom in the world. I feel sort of left out, so today I decided to be the meanest teacher.
I had several times open for today that students could use to sign up for make up lessons. One student signed up that didn't need a make up lesson. He's had several absences, so I thought that maybe he was confused about how many make ups he needed. I told him that he didn't need to have a lesson today because he was totally caught up.
His reply was, "Well what if I want a lesson today?"
To be honest, he gets brownie points for asking that. I answered with another question.
"How much practicing have you done since your last lesson?"
The answer was none, so I told him we weren't doing an extra lesson if he hadn't practiced. I sent him back to his choir class.
He didn't actually call me the meanest teacher, but can I claim that anyway? At least for today? This is high school after all, where some students still contact me to cancel their "singing practice" when what they really mean is they want to cancel their voice lesson. There is a difference, and maybe I need to do more to instruct them about that difference.
I had several times open for today that students could use to sign up for make up lessons. One student signed up that didn't need a make up lesson. He's had several absences, so I thought that maybe he was confused about how many make ups he needed. I told him that he didn't need to have a lesson today because he was totally caught up.
His reply was, "Well what if I want a lesson today?"
To be honest, he gets brownie points for asking that. I answered with another question.
"How much practicing have you done since your last lesson?"
The answer was none, so I told him we weren't doing an extra lesson if he hadn't practiced. I sent him back to his choir class.
He didn't actually call me the meanest teacher, but can I claim that anyway? At least for today? This is high school after all, where some students still contact me to cancel their "singing practice" when what they really mean is they want to cancel their voice lesson. There is a difference, and maybe I need to do more to instruct them about that difference.
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