Some of
us are simply fortunate. We have worked with the best in the music teaching profession and performed with genius live on stage. Fortune however, is
a trickster. It exposes one to the queerest, naughtiest or even weirdest of
round pegs in square holes. Yet, there abound opportunities throughout life by
which we ourselves – those of us who truly want to help learners – may learn. Rather
than pass on knowledge for knowledge’s sake, we may transfer worthwhile
experience gleaned from understanding and the rare practice through which a
superior skillset is acquired. That is the only pathway to the art of music theory
education – the strangest subject for most twenty-first century learners.
Practice is the
first step in this pathway. No one needs a survey to understand that children
who play an instrument find theory of music easier to understand. It’s not the
other way round. Ample evidence from music history suggests that practice came before theory. The musicologist came
around only to explain what has been performed or, if he strikes gold, who
performed it. Therefore, if you want students to understand clefs, lines,
spaces and the dots and strokes which mean something to you, rule of the thumb
is, let them play!
Rhythm is the
place to start once learners have begun to play. You are not responsible for
their numeracy experience in early life but you’re headed for trouble if your
student can’t count. So, this is the place where your efforts, patience and empathy
matters. For what it’s worth, use the right term to mean the right concept. Say
how long in beats and in actual value. And yes, you’d have to begin with
whichever works better for the grade your student is in. The index here is, please let them count.
Pitch may only
be understood from a printed page of sheet music if the faculty of mental
hearing is developed. Your duty as a music teacher is to facilitate this. Start
from scratch using which clef is appropriate, given the instrument your student
plays. Needless to say that A in music ought not be said like reading the letters of the alphabet. Never rob
it of its sound. Music teachers need to get used to this. A, B, C, etc. are living
sounds and should be communicated as such. Therefore, if you want students to
understand pitch in a theory class, middle finger rule is, let them hear.
Ring finger
rule is next and simple enough: let them
write. Scribbles
done in bits and in your presence are worth more than individual efforts at unsupervised
assignments. Ring the coil of the treble clef and stop right there. Let them
scribble. Loop the top on line four and stop there. Let them roll. Dot a note
head in a space and please, Madam Music Teacher, stop. Let them do the same
right after you. It’s the only way – oh! a step on the pathway.
As obvious
as a show
of the target as an aid to learning may seem, too many teachers take it for
granted. Dear friend, if you intend teaching them to write a phrase, it’s just
fair to show the phrase first, and then to teach the writing process poco a poco. The rule here is, show the standard. Let them see what has
been written – maybe handwritten – then show them how to handwrite the same. This
is quite applicable to teaching transposition, for example.
The secret
of becoming the teacher you wished you had – avoiding the teacher who
discouraged the prodigy in you – is hidden herein: Let them play. Let them
count. Let them hear. Let them scribble. And let them see the standard for what
it is.
