Learning by Observing
One of my favorite things to do is watch other teachers teach. Anytime I get a chance to attend a masterclass, I jump on it because I’m sure that I’ll pick up some little gems that I can incorporate into my teaching. Our local music teachers association had a masterclass event several weeks ago from which I gleaned several teaching gems that I’ve been using a lot! Here are a couple:
1. Start duets with a gesture. I’ve been in a habit of counting in to start duets for a long time, but one of the masterclass teachers reminded me of the value of having the primo player lead into the duet with a slight gesture to cue the secondo player. I’ve been working on this concept with many of my students – it sure does look more professional than audibly counting in!
2. Be intentional with left hand phrasing. When working with a student on a piece that had a left hand arpeggiated chord accompaniment, the masterclass teacher discussed the three potential ways of phrasing it – all notes equal in volume, slight crescendo through the pattern, or slight decrescendo through the pattern. He had the student try each of the ways and then determine which was the most musical.
And then, of course, there was the recent experience observing my brother’s cello teacher that revolutionized my view of dynamics! 
Last week and this week, I’ve had several students from one of our local universities observing lessons in my studio to fulfill one of their class requirements. I love opening my studio to these students because I know how much I have learned just by observing others!
Have you been to any masterclasses recently? Learned anything helpful that you’ve been able to apply in your teaching?
Thanks for this post! I agree with you when you say that watching other music teachers teach and attending graduate studies can be great avenues to pick up some little gems that we can incorporate into our own music teaching strategies. You’ve got a very nice and interesting blog here, my friend. I always feel glad whenever I encounter people who have the same passion and love for music like what I actually have. I also admire your efforts to share your bright ideas and experiences on teaching music. Keep on sharing useful and creative music teaching tips Have a nice weekend. Happy Halloween! See you around. Cheers!
A couple of interesting things I picked up this summer from a master class… One, don’t let your give away your crescendo, as in don’t let it peak too early and the same can be said for diminuendos as well. Second, the music always has to be doing something, going somewhere. It is interesting because when we attended his concert that night, his contemporary pieces were much more energetic and going somewhere than his Chopin pieces, that I felt were almost rote. As though, he himself were a bit bored with them.
What I wish I could do is really listen to my students. When I get to a masterclass setting I hear all sorts of things to change, but in the studio, week in, week out, I don’t hear them.
I had to observe hours of lessons to complete my bachelor’s degree; one teacher’s idea has stuck over the recent years: she challenged her students to play different songs by ear starting with something very simple like “God Is So Good”. They would learn the right hand for a week and then add chords in the left hand and gradually do more “improvising”. She started this with elementary students and they really enjoyed it. This concept was very foreign to me, since I had never been challenged to just “play” any song by ear. I’ve tried to incorporate this concept into every one of my students’ lessons. They love the challenge and the job well done at the end.