Student Saver Pieces
Yesterday, one of our local music teachers associations held a Mid-Winter Retreat for music teachers. We had a fabulous time and I came home with lots of great ideas that I need to mull over and try to incorporate into my teaching. Suzanne Tirk, a clarinet professor, was our featured speaker. She discussed “Ten Steps for Mental Practicing” and “Injury in Musicians.” Both topics were full of well-researched information, tips from years of experience and practical ideas for implementation. I’ll try to post some more specifics in future posts.
I gave a presentation in the afternoon of favorite pieces in my studio. These are the pieces that students hear at a recital or group class and come to their next lesson begging to play. Or the ones that I play for students at their lesson and they love them so much that they come back the following week with the whole thing learned. Here’s a link to my handout from the presentation. I’d love to know what some of the favorites are in your studios. What pieces do you and your students love to play over and over again?
January 31st, 2008 at 10:45 am
Natalie,
Could you tell me why they are favorites? I like the sound of most of them, but I’m curious if that’s why the students choose them or for another reason? Thanks for sharing your ideas!
January 31st, 2008 at 7:29 pm
Sure, Lisa. Primarily we like them because they sound cool! Specifically, a lot of them sound more difficult than they really are since they employ easily learned chord patterns or ostinato-type bass parts. Several of them are ones that I frequently teach to students by rote if their playing abilities have exceeded their reading abilities.