Polyphony - Professional Resources - question and answers

American Music Teacher, Dec, 2002 by Jane Magrath

Learning Styles

Q: Today, most piano teaching courses discuss learning theories as part of the course content. I am interested in learning styles and teaching to a student's learning style. Where might I find additional information, since my college courses in the past included little of that information?

A: You are correct in identifying an added content area in most piano pedagogy courses around the United States. We believe teaching to a student's learning style can vastly enhance our ability to communicate most effectively with the student. Identifying and working with a student's learning style makes a big difference in the student's satisfaction in the experience, especially when making music.

One source currently available is an in-depth article by Susanna Garcia titled "Learning Styles and Piano Teaching." In this article Garcia discusses learning styles or modalities, how a teacher evaluates learning styles, teaching to a student's learning style, ten tips for teaching through learning styles and a list of resources. This article can be found online through the Piano Pedagogy Forum at www.music.sc.edu/ea/Keyboard/PPF.

A timely introduction to learning styles took place during the most recent MTNA Pedagogy Saturday (March 16, 2002). As part of the day, Keith Golay provided an informative and entertaining assessment and demonstration of various students' learning styles. His book Learning Patterns and Temperament Styles provides an excellent resource for identifying student learning patterns. [Editor's note: A summary of Golay's presentation is on page 40 of the October/November 2002 AMT.]

Those of you with access to a major library will want to look at the bibliography of writings on learning theories that appeared as part of the Proceedings and Reference of the 1988-1989 National Conference on Piano Pedagogy. It is an annotated list of books and articles on learning theory for teachers of piano and piano pedagogy. Though now some thirteen years old, the list was updated biennially for the Proceedings through 1995-96, and the information provided is still sound.

Sight Reading

Q: How long should I spend in each private lesson on sight reading? Should I use a CD some during sight reading?

A: For a fourty-five-minute lesson, I suggest spending about five to ten minutes on sight reading, although the time recommended among teachers will vary widely. Sight reading skill is built and, as such, some regular time during each lesson needs to be devoted to this skill. Part of what is accomplished in this work is helping the student become less nervous during the sight-reading process so she or he does not completely avoid sight reading and is not dominated by fear. Reading during each weekly lesson will help.

Also during the reading segment in each lesson, the student is asked to think and respond at sight. The teacher can see exactly how the student approaches music and help with that process. The consistency of reading during part of the lesson is as important as the length of time devoted to the skill. Once it is a regular part of a lesson, the student becomes more comfortable with the activity. A skilled teacher can turn the student into someone who actually begins to enjoy the challenge of realizing a score on the spot.

Perhaps it is best to save the CD accompaniments for situations where a student has fully prepared a piece. While the CD is playing, the student actually cannot hear herself as well, since the added sound in the room blends with the piano sound she is making. The CD also forces the student to continue--in a way something we desire but, instead, continuity might be better built into the practice to avoid possible tension from trying to stay with the CD, read the notes and rhythm, and execute the phrasing, all at sight.

Q: What emphasis do you place on sight reading?

A: Sight reading is one of the most important skills we teach students. It centers around the student's ability to continue to make music after the lessons cease. The student's level determines his enthusiasm with approaching the piano to accompany a social group or choir, his enthusiasm for playing chamber music or accompanying, in other words, in making music with another person. The student's sight-reading level also determines how enthusiastic she is to begin to play another piece of music. Re-reading this AMT article, I wondered for the first time why we do not have sight-reading festivals or competitions.

Brain Gym

Q: I recently heard someone mention "Brain Gym" basic exercises as a means of helping a child with centering, and improvements in attitude, attention, discipline and behavior. What is "Brain Gym"?

A: I first heard of "Brain Gym" several years ago while attending the Washington State MTA Convention in Spokane. A workshop on "Brain Gym" was presented, and I became fascinated with this topic. I did not run into this philosophy/science again until rather recently when looking at the work of Carla Hannaford, a neurophysiologist and educator with more than twenty-eight years' teaching experience. In her best selling book Smart Moves: Why Learning is Not All in Your Head, Hannaford devotes several chapters to explaining "Brain Gym." In Smart Moves, Hannaford states that our bodies are very much a part of all our learning, and learning is not an isolated "brain" function. Every nerve and cell