I once heard in a sectional with David Kim, concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra, that great attention should be devoted to tuning beautifully. Though, of course, it is important to make sure orchestra members are in tune with each other before the piece starts, his subtle point is that the audience experience of a concert involves far more than just musical performances of pieces.

Indeed, our experiences of performances often starts with our journey to the concert venue– perhaps even the dinner we have before. Who we are with significantly changes our interpretation of the concert, as does the manner of the conductor as they walk on the stage, the drinks served during intermission, and the coordination (or lack thereof) of bows after the music stops. The length of the concert, the performance dress, the music selection, the volume and sound production, the temperature of the room and the amount of times a soloist walks back on the stage for another bow are elements of performances that can’t be ignored.

All of these details are inevitably intertwined with audience experience. But they are also typically ignored.

Perhaps in an ideal world we wouldn’t let the surrounding periphery of experience influence the way we understand one thing. The clothes someone wears shouldn’t be indicative of their value as a member of a company. The likeabiluty of a band’s Facebook page shouldn’t automatically make them superior to a band without a Facebook page. And the amount of time we spend waiting to exit a parking garage shouldn’t effect our love of a blended orchestral sound.

But it does. And therefore it is worth teaching our students to take charge of as many aspects of their audiences of them as possible. [Read more…]

I recently talked about the danger of judgmental feedback, and the value of just “saying what you see.”

Sometimes the best way to “say what you see” is by using words. But words require deliberate diction, fluency, tone, and rate to communicate exactly what you mean.

In my experience 10 carefully chosen words can almost always take the place of 100. Using fewer words keeps communication clearer, emphasizes what is important, and leaves room for as much student/teacher interaction in the lesson as possible.

But even 10 carefully chosen words can replaced by a well timed, clear gesture.

Instead of reminding a student verbally to curve their pinkie, you can remind them with a light tap. They make the correction themselves. Instead of describing the way you want the music to swell to the climax of the phrase, you can simply move your hand in the shape of the music you want as they play. Instead of saying over and over again “open your elbow,” you form your hand into a simple buffer resting on the outside of their arm that encourages them to open their arm instead of swing it. In these cases, no words are required to communicate meaningfully.

I’m not advocating for completely mute teaching, but I think it is worth fully exploring the power of gestural communication. Consider an incomplete list of advantages of prioritizing symbolic gestures over words. [Read more…]

In teacher training with Ed Sprunger, Ed Kreitman, and Michiko Yurko I learned about the importance of games in instruction.

Using the container of a game allows parent, student, and teacher to…

1. Structure provides feedback
2. Interests of parents and teachers are aligned with the success of students
3. Parent and teacher acknowledge to the student that fun/energy/excitement can be part of hard work (and ultimately our goals for students)

I use a handful of games I’ve picked up in lessons, observations and trainings as often as possible. One of my favorites is Ed Sprunger’s “Card Game” which I will describe in detail below.

MATERIALS

Deck of playing cards (no jokers)

RULES

The teacher determines an activity, or series of activities for a student to do. Student draws at least one card from a deck without looking. If the card is a number, the student does the activity that number of times. If the card is an ace, the student does the activity eleven times. If the card is a face card, the teacher must perform the activity. The game is complete once all of the cards have been flipped and the activities finished.

[Read more…]

“I REALLY LOVE THAT!”

“I really love that!” is one of the most dangerous comments a teacher can give a student.

Acknowledging how correct your student’s behavior is in the form of “likability” causes harm in several ways. It implies that…

1. If they do something incorrectly you won’t like them
2. Their success is dependent on someone else’s evaluation
3. The reason we do something is because someone else decided it was correct

Let’s study how the a typical bow-building lesson segment unfolds…

– Teacher: can you make a bow hold?
– Student makes a bow hold
– Teacher: “Uh oh, that one’s not quite right. Can you do it again and think really hard about your bent thumb?”
– Student makes another bow hold, carefully checking pinkie and thumb and wrapping middle fingers over the stick
– Teacher: “That’s beautiful, I love that one! Way to go!”

So on the surface it appears a great teaching moment just happened. The student did something wrong, the teacher suggested a correction, the student made the correction, the teacher praised the student, the student will be more likely to make the correct bow hold in the future.

But consider the way in which the teacher in the scenario needed to withhold praise in order to effect change. Not only is this an inefficient method, it is not ethical.

The student becomes dependent on the teachers continual dispension of loving affirmation in order to perform every aspect of their skill set. It is by using the phrases “I like … ” and “I love…” when evaluating student behavior that we find students continually checking their teacher’s face and body language to decipher the correct sequence of correct behaviors. Students are paralyzed — unable to differentiate excellence without the help of their teacher.

In other words, the locus of control is with the teacher and not the student.

To avoid this, offer honest feedback without a value interpretation. Just say what you see.

• Say “Your thumb is bent!” instead of “I like your bow hold!”
• Say “Your feet are together!” instead, “I don’t know about that play position…”
• Say “Your fingers are tall because you are playing on your inside corners!” instead of, “I like your violin hand frame!”
• Say “Your D was sharp every time you played it!” instead of, “I didn’t really like your intonation this time.”

By only saying what you see, you hand the locus of control back over to your student. It is then their job to interpret what your comment means, what must be changed, and what to look for/listen for/ or think about in the future to cause a different outcome. [Read more…]