I wasn’t prepared for all the questions from my student as she sought to understand the “why” behind things, and I think I’ve overwhelmed her at times with my in-depth answers. I’m learning to sometimes say, “The reason ‘why’ is pretty complicated, but as you progress it will make more sense.” Is that OK? Do you always answer their questions?
Finally, do you use a theory book with your adult students? I want them to practice drawing all the musical elements and such, but most theory books (even Faber’s) can be beneath the adult at times.
It’s actually been a little while now since I’ve taught an adult student, so I’ll just answer these questions a little more generically. Whether a student is a young beginner or an older adult, I think it’s always important to assess what they can handle in terms of theory concepts and terminology. There are definitely times when I only give partial answers so that I don’t drown them in a sea of information beyond their comprehension. But if a student is especially inquisitive, I’ll keep explaining away as long as they keep asking questions. Also, often times I tell them that I will explain the answer to them the best that I can, but that I don’t necessarily expect them to understand everything I’m saying. There’s some truth to the statement that you have to hear something seven times before it really sinks in!
As far as theory books…I rarely use theory books with any of my students, including adult students. I prefer to use the repertoire they are working on for discussing and analyzing theory concepts and/or use a manuscript book so that I can customize the assignments to the areas they are interested in or with which they are struggling. Another excellent way to incorporate written theory work is by having students compose original pieces or arrangements of other songs and then learn how to notate it. Most of the time, these approaches seem to work better for actually understanding and integrated theory concepts into the study of music.
Do any of you work with adult students regularly? Do you have any thoughts on the above questions? I’d love to have some input from others who are currently working with adults!
Remember, if you have a question you’d like to contribute to next week’s Monday Mailbag, leave it in the comments below or send me an e-mail sometime this week with Monday Mailbag in the subject line!
I actually use theory sheets with some, but most of the time, I don’t. Most of the time, I introduce theory through the lesson just as I do with my kids. There are some adults that need more visual reinforcement which is why I will pull out some theory sheets. Because adult brains work faster than their hands, they have many more questions. I often tell them that concepts will make more sense “down the road” and they seem satisfied to wait and often comment on that when they finally do understand. Hope this helps!
I had assigned my adult beginner a theory book (Faber) but he wasn’t really getting anything out of it. I now work with him using the same manipulative items i use with my young beginners! He really likes the scale blocks I made…I used Natalie’s Idea, but made them a bit differently with E#,Fb,B#,& Cb in a different color so when the spell scales and chords they can see that they aren’t black keys. He also loves your chord building/dice games on the keyboard. I use Michiko Yurko’s staff slate pack to build chords with him as well…and he loves the challenge of building the same chords on the piano after rolling the dice on the staff slate with magic notes and adding the appropriate sharps and flats. I also enjoy teaching him this way because we can go as deep into the theory as he can handle. For those of you not familiar with Michiko Yurko’s Music Mind Games, visit this website: http://www.musicmindgames.com/
After explaining the same concepts to young children all day…it feels refreshing to be able to explain away and have the student really understand! So I explain everything that I am sure won’t confuse him at his place in study and tell him that the rest of the pieces to the puzzle will be solved over time. I actually teach his daughter too, and in between their lesson times we played a quick game of Natalie’s “Interval Grab-It/Spell-It” and they both had a ton of fun! I have been surprised how well he responds to many of the colorful (perhaps childish)aids I use to teach! I hope this is helpful…sorry to ramble.
Oops…I made a confusing typo!
When I was talking about rolling the dice and building chords (Natalie’s chord building game) I meant to say that we roll and build on the piano keyboard, and then go build the same chord on the staff slate. I think said that backwards before. =}
I have used the Piano Theory Programmed Text by Clark/Glover (Alfred Pub.) with good success over the years. It is largely self-teaching for adults and sharper young students. There are six levels, the latter two including an introduction to musical periods, modes, etc. It includes more repetition than other series I’ve used. I follow these up with Schaum’s two Harmony books. With this background, combined with in-lesson teaching (ear training, sight-singing, etc.), the students are usually head and shoulders above their classmates in college theory courses. Since I have a rather large studio, using these series guarantees that I haven’t inadvertently missed essential elements of music theory.
I’ll try to deal with the 1st part of the reader’s question ~ how to answer an adult student’s “why?” questions.
2 things come to mind: first, engaging the student in conversation is something I have found helpful. It’s easier to figure out how they’re thinking. Often, they already know the answer, but are afraid they don’t. Or maybe they just need the correct term for something.
The 2nd thing relates to the 1st: it’s very important to tailor your answer to the student. What is it that they want to know?
Figuring out how to answer was extremely interesting in my (past) adult piano classes. Most of the students were foreign. So they were not only beginners, they were translating from other languages! Add Italian musical terms, and you get the idea…
Hope this helps.