Dance and Music Part 1

Watching the Ice Dancing portion of the Sochi Olympics, I was reminded of the value that dancing can have on musicianship and music education.
Now, I'm not talking about highly competitive, take-over-your-life, super-stressful dancing (à la Dance Moms), I'm talking about learning to dance for fun. Not that it shouldn't be taken seriously, but it doesn't need to cause a bunch of extra stuff, and kids definitely don't need to be going around in close to nothing. *end of rant*
Anyway, dancing can edify music education in all kinds of ways. Through dance, students are exposed to music repertoire and history (did you see Scheherazade and Swan Lake in the Olympics?), learn posture and become aware of their bodies, and learn to feel the music. They can learn expression and teamwork through dance experience.
Many forms of dance can be musically beneficial, but I will focus on a few specific types of dance. Follow along with this series exploring the benefits of ballet and tap for musicians!


-Barbara




P.S. Don't forget about modern dance! Check out my post on Dido and Aeneas.

Teaching inversions with building blocks

Apps used: PicCollage, Photogrid, Over

Here's a way to help you teach inversions...using building blocks! All you do is line up the blocks as if they were on a staff, then move them to show an inversion. I think this visual approach can help cement the idea or make it more clear for students. You can include a space in the inversions to further give a visual representation of the inversions.

What are your tips for teaching inversions?

-Barbara

Happy Valentine's Day!

App used: InstaCollage
harp pictured: Camac Clio (although I think my column is a little different than the one pictured on the website)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Since this post should be published on Valentine's Day, that's what I'll be posting about :)

I have a questions for you this time!

Do you do anything special with/for your students for Valentine's Day? Do you bring special prizes or stickers? I hope I remember to bring Valentine stickers to my lessons!

Hope you're having a lovely Valentine's Day!

-Barbara

Ladies and Gentlemen, Children of All Ages...

How old should my child be to start music lessons? Am I too old to learn to play the harp? These are questions you might hear from prospective customers.

inside of Lyon & Healy Prelude (I think)
text added with Over app

I have taught students from ages 3 (I think she was almost 4) to 80 (so far!). And you know what? Each age has its own great advantages. I have been blessed with some really great students of very different ages.

Especially with the popularity of Mommy & Me and Kindermusic classes, parents seem to want their children exposed to music. The minimum age that you require your students to be is completely up to you. Some people are more comfortable with older students, and that’s completely fine. Do what you think is best for the students, his or her family, and what you think you can or can’t reasonably handle.

One of the strengths that I see in younger students is their inhibition (edit/correction) how uninhibited they can be. They haven’t been exposed to as many “rules,” so often restrict themselves less than those of us who have been exposed to what might be considered “acceptable” or “unacceptable.” Because of this, they are often more willing to express their creativity.

One of the strengths of older students is that they are generally taking lessons because they WANT to study the instrument. They truly desire to study and learn, their parents aren’t just making them. Two of my senior citizen students are some of the most inspiring people. It is so very cool to see them truly interested in becoming better musicians.

The age of your students is up to you. You can even handle it on a case-by-case basis. You can have a preliminary/trial lesson to see the behavior of the child as well as how well your personalities mesh. If it’s something you don’t think will work, feel free to recommend the student to a colleague whose strengths might include that age of student or even tell the parent that you think it would be more beneficial to wait 6 months, a year, etc. Don’t forget to throw in that they would probably get more for their money if they waited awhile to start formal lessons! J You can also recommend age-appropriate resources for them to explore in the meantime.

What ages have you taught? What are your suggestions regarding different aged students?

-Barbara


P.S. The links don't benefit me monetarily (that I know of, but if they should end up doing so, that'd be peachy). However, if you should choose to purchase a Lyon & Healy Prelude as a result of this post and mention my name, it might be (again, not sure) financially beneficial for this harp teacher. :) Just trying to be upfront with y'all! :)

On Replay: Dido's Lament

This post strays a little bit from the teaching aspect of music...but not really. Music history is an important part of a complete music education and dance shares a lot of history with music.
Ever keep playing a song over and over? Or it seems to play itself over and over in your head? Well, Purcell's "When I Am Laid In Earth" (often referred to as "Dido's Lament") from Dido and Aeneas is such a piece for me right now.
It's pretty cool how time periods and disciplines are meshed with the use of part of Virgil's Aeneid (literature) as inspiration for Purcell's opera, which then had a modern dance set to its music (see video), eh? And more than just operatic performers have sung Dido's Lament...did you know Jeff Buckley (whom I don't know much about) also sang it? You can listen to this podcast from the BBC for more info.

Below is was a clip from the Mark Morris Dance Group's performance set to Purcell's Dido and Aeneas.*

Also, here's an interesting interview with the choreographer. I think knowing some of the history of a work adds to its interest (especially the part about sign language in the MMDG performance). What do you think? *Warning: there is some language in the interview :(*

Was this a kind of rambling post? Maybe I'd rather you not answer that. :)
Have a lovely day!
-Barbara


*Edit: I decided to remove the clip, since it wasn't from the MMDG YouTube channel.

Stickers

Positive praise is a very important part of teaching, and stickers can be one method that you use to encourage student success. I even got stickers as a practice incentive during part of my stint as a music major in college...and I think that it really helped me to practice more!

Any kind of sticker will work; there's no need to spend a lot of money on stickers. You know those free return address labels you might have pages and pages of? Just cut your name and address off and use those!

Stickers are also a fun way to end a lesson. No matter how the lesson went, it's a positive note (ha ha) to finish on and something the student can regularly look forward to. You can also use stickers throughout the lesson (especially of you're swimming in stickers like I might be :) ) when the student does something particularly well. The student can place them in his/her book, on or in his/her lesson journal, have a sticker page, or even just wear them on his/her shirt.

The students might or might not act like they like stickers, but chances are, inside, they'll like them.

Do you use stickers with your students? How?
-Barbara

Planning A Studio Recital

I recently planned my first studio recital. Let me tell you, it was so rewarding! It might seem like a daunting task, but planning a studio recital is totally do-able!

I’ll break it down into some steps (order them as you see fit)...I might or might not have followed my own suggestions :)

·         Venue

o   Options include: student’s home, Senior living facility or daycare, Church

·         Date

o   Find a date and time that work with both the venue and your students. Mine ended up being during school hours, so a few students couldn’t make it, but we needed to work with the availability of the venue. My view is that there’s more to education than formal schooling and it won’t hurt a kid to leave school early once in a while for something like a studio recital. J

·         Invitation

o   Make sure students and parents are aware of the recital and your expectations. This is something that I can improve for our next recital. Make sure you get the info out as soon as you can (the beginning of the semester or year would be ideal, but isn’t always possible). Include proper attire for students (remember skirt length!) and guests if applicable, if students can invite friends and family, and the time that you expect students to be there (allow time for tuning and warm-up if applicable). Consider padding arrival time a little to allow for the students who run late. This could help your nerves.

·         Prepare

o   Don’t forget to prep students on what to expect. It’s a good idea to practice stage entrance/exit, questions you might have them answer, and bowing/curtseying.

The most important thing is to have fun! This is a great opportunity for you and your students to give to the community, give your students a great experience, and get free publicity!

More than likely, most of the audience will love your recital.

Have you had a studio recital or performed in one? Do you have any ideas? Be sure to share in the comment section!

-Barbara