Students Drive the Business

A couple of students on different instruments (violin and guitar) and ready to read and write musical patterns for the second finger notes on each string. So there are two more Music Writing Books to create.

The students drive the business. I have written a layered “lasagne” arrangement of my song “Gifts in My Family” for a student who is becoming more advanced.

For the City of Carrollton Park and Rec classes, World of Nature/World of Gardening (WON/WOG) series for pre-schoolers and their parents, I have written the Themes for “Compost” and “Trees and Their Leaves”.

© 2012 Kathryn Hardage
www.MyMusicalMind.com
www.KackyMuse.com

Relevance and Ability

Evaluating a student’s abilities, interest, and style of learning is a fine-tuned skill.

I am still challenged by it.

How do I make the material relevant to a person’s learning style, intelligence, coordination?

And give the student a feeling of accomplishment, too?

Even though a violin student had not demonstrated proficiency in earlier skills, I felt the need to move him along.

It was hard to tell what he was willing to do.

Reluctance is often caused by a sense of failure or disorientation outside the music lesson.

I took the chance of giving him something far above his violin-playing experiences.

It was intellectually interesting enough to engage his mind.

Then, once he played it, it became culturally relevant. He recognized the tune.

That became self-reinforcing.

Maybe he will practice...


© 2012 Kathryn Hardage
www.MyMusicalMind.com

More Good Work

A five year old guitar student is doing the work.

He is volunteering and following through.

He is working with two-string combinations in traditional notation.

He chooses the strings. I write the pattern, asking for his input.

After choosing the notes, he takes ownership of the musical pattern through drawing, coloring and playing it, and trains his eyes and hands.

He repeated this process, requesting to write new music several times during the lesson.

This week, I introduced stopping the strings with his left hand.

I was surprised to hear how strong his left had fingers have become through the work in the Guitar Fingering 0-1-2-3-4 Book. When he stopped the strings, we could hear the pitch he was holding down on the Open Strings.


© 2011 Kathryn Hardage
www.MyMusicalMind.com