Polyphony - Professional Resources - teaching tips for music teachers

American Music Teacher, August-Sept, 2003 by Jane Magrath

Q: Do you have suggestions for getting off to a good start at the beginning of a new teaching year?

A: The beginning of an academic year is an important time since it makes a new start possible with many students. Almost every student is excited, glad to be back at the beginning of the year. She feels refreshed and anticipates the music she will "get" to study this term. This also can be a good time to set new expectations or work toward changes in the student's practice habits. Is there perhaps something we can alter slightly in the lesson routine to spark the student's interest in a new way? Pretend that each student is a new one, or a new transfer student. Hold in abeyance any negative prejudices or expectations and approach the student as if she is new to your studio and as if your work together has a fresh beginning. Start the year as if you are the teacher you always wanted to be--a teacher who is attentive, compassionate, thoughtful, real, encouraging, intuitive, fun, challenging, kind, artistic and wise!

Q: I have transfer students who consistently ignore fingerings I write in the score. They also ignore fingerings provided by editors. How do I address this problem?

A: We wish students would understand that fingerings actually make the music easier to play. Fingerings are written by a composer, teacher or editor generally for a passage that presents some unusual pattern or something out of the ordinary, and the written fingering makes it so a student can learn that passage more quickly. When a student uses different and unplanned fingerings for a passage, the hand does not realize it is playing the identical music since the physical configuration is different. Thus, the passage actually requires more practice, not less, than if correct fingering were used. A student who continues to ignore signposts such as fingerings often is not a careful practicer, and the teacher should work on practice skills with the student as well as practicing during the lesson. For this student, perhaps six or seven successive weekly lessons could deal in part with how to practice specific passages. During the lesson the teacher and student will practice various passages from the,student's pieces, playing the passages with only correct fingering repeated in succession during the lesson. The key to correct fingering is consistency, making that the skill to be practiced in this lesson segment. Sometimes we talk about the importance of good fingering, but the key is to have the student play the passage with the correct fingering, a specific number of times.

The teacher will follow the sequence "plan, play, evaluate" when practicing a passage in the lesson. First, teacher and student plan the passage, including the fingering to be used. Then the student plays the passage, and afterward both evaluate the accuracy of the fingering. This pattern is repeated seven (or another predetermined number of times) for this short practice segment. Perhaps the teacher marks the repetitions by moving a penny from one side of the piano to the other to count seven successful consecutive playings. Any missed fingering will require the student to begin counting to seven again.

A student is unable to play well without fingering accuracy. It is the glue that holds together a phrase, and without that glue notes are flying freely with no physical cohesion and no future predictability.

A student who will not finger carefully probably does not practice well in many areas, although the problems may seem most obvious in the fingerings. Learning a quick-study piece during each lesson--usually a piece approximately three levels below the student's performance level--is another means of instilling strong practice skills in a student. The student learns to practice by learning an easier piece well during the lesson. The teacher prepares so thoroughly for success that the student never misses in the learning process. The student then transfers these practice techniques to the more difficult repertoire he is learning.

Q: What do you think is the best way to teach solid reading skills to the student who plays very well by ear?

A: Students who play well by ear have a wonderful gift the teacher should acknowledge as just that--a "gift" and special ability. They need to know, however, the importance of also reading music in much the same way as everyone learns to read books.

Students who play by ear should spend part of each lesson sight reading with the teacher present. This can take place in a short five-to-ten minute segment and should occur consistently every week. The student should be encouraged to play at a tempo appropriate for her reading level, to play hands together, to count aloud and to play musically, listening to the musical line and phrase shape. The teacher should, as much as possible, avoid correcting, simply letting the student read, providing gentle guidance. The teacher strives to set up the situation for success with the lesson reading segment. The teacher here is not "teaching" per se, but more guiding a process.