Reading about the great pedagogues of years gone by is one of my favorite aspects of the music education magazines I receive. In the February/March 2013 issue of the American Music Teacher magazine, there is an interesting article by Arjola Miruku about Tobias Matthay. Here are just a few of the insights that inspired me about his teaching:
“His teaching approach can be described as one of analysis with the idea that playing the piano does not have to be a struggle.”
“According to Matthay, good teaching makes students think, not just imitate the musical interpretation of the instructor.”
“Many accounts by his students have agreed to state that he never let the student work it out on his own in practice. He was an immediate problem solver, and with endless patience, made sure the student could demonstrate a passage the correct way in the lesson and show an understanding of the problem, so that he could then correctly practice.”
“Good teaching will help all students attain musical goals that they thought they never could reach.”
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