Mood:
on fireTopic: Music Moves for Piano
I preface this by clarifying the title of this post - I'm not going to go into a long discourse on the "hows" of audiation. Edwin Gordon has written much on this topic, and he's the expert, so if yoou want to get an understanding of audiation, I'd recommend that you read something - anything! - that this man has written!!
Ok, with that said.... this post is about how I'm coming to understand the 'hows' of teaching audiation in my studio.
Last week, I purchased the "Reference Handbook for Using Learaning Sequence Activities" by Gordon (I also picked up the Tonal and Rhythm pattern books that go along with this volume). I haven't finished reading it yet (still have the Rhythm Patterns section to read through), but already, there's a big, shinny light bulb floating over my head!
I'm really starting to get it - how to add audiation activities to my teaching. And you know what? It really isn't that hard!
When I first started teaching Music Moves for Piano, the theory/ pedagogy behind it all made sense to me, but it was all theoretical knowledge. I recall trying to 'sell' this program to the new families entering my studio. I must have done a good job - I must have sounded convincing, because the parents were all on board. I do have to admit that, at first, I could talk the talk, but I was really unsure if I could 'walk the walk'.
I boldly jumped in with both feet, trusting all that Marilyn had written, and all that she had told me, even though I wasn't really sure about what the heck I was doing. My very first Music Moves classes were the summer camps I did in July and August, but I really started teaching it in earnest in September.
Looking back, I kind of chuckle.... I really stumbled through those early lessons! If it wasn't for the excellent teacher's lesson plans, I would have been totally lost. But, even though I struggled, my students still did a great job.
Back then, I didn't have any clue how to teach rhythm and tonal patterns. I won't claim to be an expert (yet!), but I sure have learned a lot from reading this Reference Handbook!!! I've already started putting what I've learned into practice in my classes.
I tell you, adding tonal and rhythm pattern instruction, as per outlined in the Reference Handbook really brings it all together. Up until now, I had been teaching exactly what was in the lesson plans (almost to a "T" most weeks), but ignoring the Tonal and Rhythm pattern instruction because I didn't have the Gordon books. (It's not that I didn't do any patterns with the kids, I just had NO clue what I was doing!)
Now that I have the Reference Handbook, it's all coming together so nicely! I'm able to teach rhythm patterns and tonal patterns with pedagogical meaning now, not just aimlessly throwing patterns at kids :)
However, I feel that, had I purchased these Reference Handbooks and Tonal/Rhythm Pattern Register books at the start of my Music Moves Adventure, I probably would have suffered information overload. In fact, right there, in black and white in the Reference Handbook, Gordon tells the teachers to jump right in, start teaching patterns before you know what it is you're doing.
And that's what I (unknowingly) did. I'm glad I did that, too. Because, now as I'm reading the reference handbook, I have my own point of reference to begin with!
So, why am I babbling on about all of this? Because, for starters, I'm having a blast teaching MMP, and my students are doing an AWESOME job. But, I also know that there are many teachers who are a bit nervous about trying something so radically different. There's an inherent fear that comes with throwing out all your preconceived notions of piano pedagogy and trying something new, especially if you haven't had any real specific training in this new approach. I want other teachers to know that it CAN be done, that you'll probably make some mistakes.... but even if you don't do everything right the first time around, your students will still learn to play!
This has been my experience. I started teaching this curriculum, not really knowing what I was doing. I stumbled through a lot of classes. I still stumble through classes. But, the more I teach MMP, the better I understand what it is (and WHY!) I'm doing. And even though I've probably done things wrong with this first group of MMP in my studio, the kids are still doing a great job!
