| In teaching young people to play violin and ocarina, | | | | rhythm to help students master a difficult part. |
| I see them also learning skills that will help them in | | | | Once the students have mastered the section |
| their studies, life and work. One of the amazing | | | | and go back and play it as written, it often seems |
| things about music education is how students pick | | | | easy. Slowing down is also an important technique |
| up these skills through the process of learning to | | | | for solving whatever problem confronts them. |
| play an instrument. | | | | |
| | | | | Another key we keep coming back to in our |
| Through music instruction, children learn discipline, | | | | lessons is repetition. Kids have a tendency to |
| patience, problem-solving skills, confidence and | | | | want to move on to the next part if they have |
| responsibility. These character traits are | | | | played a section correctly once, even if they |
| developed through repetition, as students must | | | | played it wrong multiple times beforehand. |
| slow down and focus. In a world where kids are | | | | Instead, we teach them to practice until they get |
| bombarded by fast-paced and often dubious | | | | it right and then to keep practicing it correctly |
| media messages touting instant gratification, they | | | | over and over again. It is just like learning math in |
| learn the value of applying themselves to a task. | | | | school. The student has to successfully complete |
| | | | | the same kind of problem multiple times for it to |
| Learning to play a passage of music requires the | | | | stick. |
| learner to break things down into manageable | | | | |
| pieces. This skill is necessary for learning anything | | | | Learning music is also a lot like learning a language. |
| in life. Students learn the satisfaction that comes | | | | When a child learns a language they may have to |
| from working through the difficult passages and | | | | hear a word a thousand times before they start |
| mastering them. | | | | saying it. Kids sometimes don't understand how |
| | | | | many times it takes to truly master something. |
| Learning music also requires a student to identify | | | | As adults we often forget this. |
| the difficult parts and determine what is causing | | | | |
| the problem. The student then has to figure out | | | | Learning music teaches children the importance of |
| how to solve the problem through specific | | | | precision and accuracy as well as patience and |
| practice techniques, usually with the help of a | | | | self-discipline. They learn to pay close attention to |
| teacher or instruction book. | | | | exactly how a particular skill looks, sounds and |
| | | | | feels. |
| When any of my students has a note that they | | | | |
| consistently play wrong, I teach them to play the | | | | As they master these details, music students |
| measure before and to stop right on the | | | | learn the skills that will help them be successful in |
| troublesome note. By doing that several times, | | | | school, work and life. The poise, confidence and |
| the brain starts to remember the correct note. | | | | problem-solving abilities they gain are some of the |
| | | | | greatest advantages of learning a musical |
| Sometimes in music classes we change the | | | | instrument. |