The Game of Music

 Practicalities  1 Response »
Feb 282012
 
People consider sports and music at opposite ends of the spectrum but they aren’t. The verb itself is the same. One plays football and plays basketball and plays piano and plays violin. In music, only singing and drumming have their own verbs and they are the oldest of all musical activities. Both sports and music involve endless amounts of practice. read the rest

The Fossil Body

 Issues  No Responses »
Feb 272012
 
The Fossil BodyThe body of the fossil is not too old to learn, it’s just fine. The fossilization of the body is a myth. It’s an exaggeration. Even in our “advanced years” the body is marvelously capable. As we get older we become aware of the changes in our bodies that make us physically stiffer and less responsive. read the rest

Notation

 Practicalities  1 Response »
Feb 272012
 
NotationIn Emblems of the Mind: The Inner Life of Music and Mathematics (Times Books, 1995), Edward Rothstein talks about musical and mathematical notation as secret symbols, undecipherable by the uninitiated. “Uninitiated” is a good word for music teachers to remember when working with beginning adult students because that’s how these students feel. They feel a sense of magic about music and they feel ignorant. read the rest

What I Learned about Teaching Children From Teaching Adults

 Featured, Issues  4 Responses »
Feb 272012
 
What I Learned about Teaching Children From Teaching AdultsWhat I’ve learned from my adult students is that the bruises they suffered in their education as children and young adults interfere with their learning to play the piano much more than any problems of an aging mind or body. What I’ve learned to do for my students who are children is to try to do no harm. read the rest

Introduction to a Master Class, 11/6/2011

 Practicalities  No Responses »
Dec 162011
 
It was a dark and stormy night when the Adult Music Student Forum held its first Special Event. The subject was performance anxiety and the presenter was Rodger Ellsworth. After talking for about a half hour, some Adult Student Music Forum (AMSF) members volunteered to perform as experimental subjects for his ideas. An intermediate student named Anne Williams performed first. read the rest

Teachers: Starting and Stopping Lessons

 For Teachers, Practicalities  1 Response »
Jun 172009
 
The question of choosing a music teacher comes up often on the Musical Fossils message board so I’ve decided to review the topic in detail. Choosing a new teacher, getting rid of an existing teacher, or being dismissed by a teacher are all complex situations. In this article I will discuss what I’ve learned over the years about these issues. read the rest

Memory Lapses

 Practicalities  No Responses »
Nov 282007
 
Recent exchanges on the MusicalFossils message board expressing concern about memory lapses offer valuable insights. I would like to talk about this issue from a different perspective than I have before. I often hear my adult students bemoan that they don’t memorize as well as they did as children. The next statement usually has something to do with aging and memory loss. read the rest

Practicing, Part 4: Emotional Self-Management

 Practicalities  No Responses »
Dec 102004
 
This article was part of a workshop given in May 2003 and contains suggestions by the participants, Libby Francisco, Pat Malmgren, Pat Onufrak, and Deb Selby. Listening to students talk about their practice, I hear of many insidious feelings that I failed to fully appreciate, even though I experience them myself. I’ve touched on the feelings throughout these chapters, but they deserve more focused attention. read the rest
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