Good Music Teachers
August 6th 2009 12:44
GOOD music teachers have a great deal of knowledge.
Not only in technical things - the how-to's of doing things... BUT also knowledge of appropriate progression and repertoire...
One of the biggest problems with music is the HUGE drop-out rate amongst students. Young children are often pushed too quickly, or given pieces which are just simply too challenging for them at the time. Children should be given pieces which are easier rather than harder in order to positively influence their progression and motivation. When a piece is too challening, the pay-off of being able to play it is completely obscured by their present, painfully obvious experience of being unable to do something. This can become very quickly unproductive in that their motivation drops (feeling as though they will never be able to do it; feeling as though they are incompetent) and they start not wanting to practice. Even as we compare learning poeces to computer games, we can see that difficulty must be increased gradually, and what is already known must be constantly repeated and reaffirmed. Even in the acquisition of language, we use and repeat words which we know thousands of times more often than words which are new.
So, as parents watch their child learn they might sometimes wonder "why is my child playing something which is basically the same as 3 months ago??" -- and the answer is: because this is how we learn!
Good teachers understand the value of repetition, and have a wide enough knowledge of repertoire to be able to suggest dozens of pieces, studies and exercises which are of the same level and difficulty. Not just playing the same piece for months! A good teacher will often plan the repertoire of the student with long-range goals in mind, but set repertoire with specific aims... and set repertoire continuously with the intent of helping the "upkeep" of learnt skills.
Not only in technical things - the how-to's of doing things... BUT also knowledge of appropriate progression and repertoire...
One of the biggest problems with music is the HUGE drop-out rate amongst students. Young children are often pushed too quickly, or given pieces which are just simply too challenging for them at the time. Children should be given pieces which are easier rather than harder in order to positively influence their progression and motivation. When a piece is too challening, the pay-off of being able to play it is completely obscured by their present, painfully obvious experience of being unable to do something. This can become very quickly unproductive in that their motivation drops (feeling as though they will never be able to do it; feeling as though they are incompetent) and they start not wanting to practice. Even as we compare learning poeces to computer games, we can see that difficulty must be increased gradually, and what is already known must be constantly repeated and reaffirmed. Even in the acquisition of language, we use and repeat words which we know thousands of times more often than words which are new.
So, as parents watch their child learn they might sometimes wonder "why is my child playing something which is basically the same as 3 months ago??" -- and the answer is: because this is how we learn!
Good teachers understand the value of repetition, and have a wide enough knowledge of repertoire to be able to suggest dozens of pieces, studies and exercises which are of the same level and difficulty. Not just playing the same piece for months! A good teacher will often plan the repertoire of the student with long-range goals in mind, but set repertoire with specific aims... and set repertoire continuously with the intent of helping the "upkeep" of learnt skills.
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