The last assignment of this module in class this week was to explore four musical concepts I want to students to acquire more fully, and to describe what I would do as a teacher to promote the development of each of those concepts.
With this very open-ended prompt, it took a little thought as to what concepts I really would like my private (mostly high school level) clarinet students to acquire more fully. I have taught high school band as well though, and some of those ideas began to seep in as well. In many of these examples, the students are there by choice, so I feel it is important to take a cognitivist approach to their learning. Though I am often present as the experienced guide, it is important to me that they find intrinsic value and understanding in what they are learning since they could stop at any time if it starts becoming less than enjoyable.
The first musical concept that I would truly wish my students to grasp is the idea of what proper clarinet tone is, and how to produce it. This in itself is a broad topic, and I would try to make sure my students realize that there are various options to choose from, based on musical style, personality, and musical upbringing. Providing students many listening examples of professionals in various orchestras but also jazz groups would be integral to this development, followed by discussing what they heard and teaching the students to describe verbally, to a certain degree, the differences. The other side of this could be to have them record themselves trying different techniques like tongue position, pressure on the reed, openness of their throat, and shape of their emboucher around the mouthpiece to see if they can begin to distinguish not only what they really sound like compared to what they want to sound like, but also what the actual physical changes they can make to effect the changes in sound to create the desired result.
Also in regards to my private clarinet students is the concept of proper finger position. So often many of my students have issues with this, because as much as I can tell them their finger position is wrong/awkward, it is hard for them to truly understand unless they can see it, and see the difference between my hand position and theirs. Obviously, I should try and have a mirror at every lesson and encourage the students to practice slowly in front of a mirror so they can actually see it. Talking with parents about what is expected so they can see and correct anything other than relaxed curved finger position would also help. I have started moving towards the use on an iPad/iPhone during lessons for this purpose as well now however, because is quick to take a video "snapshot" of what they are doing and show them immediately after, so they can see close-up some of the strange habits they have uncontrollably formed. I also enjoy placing a pencil at a set height above their fingers for the students that have a case of the "flying fingers" for them to hit when they go too high giving them a reference they can feel if seeing it is not enough to control it.
Another musical concept that I find important in a high school band is the importance of listening across the ensemble. Though in a sense part of this might also be discussion of tone, like "getting into each other's sound" a larger aspect to me is synchronization of attacks and releases. A great way to facilitate this is to step away from the ensemble while they continue to play to see how well they can stay together and discuss the results as a group, coming up with ways for improvement, and trying again. Another technique I have used is to have students close their eyes, count off a tempo, and have them come in and hold a predetermined note/chord for an established time, like a whole note. Closing one's eyes help to focus attention on listening, and using similar discussion as established above, having the students themselves evaluate if there were individuals coming in early or hanging over late could be very insightful for them.
Finally, I would like my students to have a working understanding of improvisation, mainly because that is something that I myself was never truly taught and did not feel comfortable with until recently, when my work dictated that I needed to learn. To be functional within a jazz combo, or at least be able to improvise with some basic skill, is not that difficult, but it requires training and honing, and most of all, a teacher or fellow performers who can help the student feel comfortable and safe making mistakes and providing well-intentioned supportive feedback to promote improvement. The joy of private lessons is that no one other than the teacher will ever hear the student make any mistakes until a later time that they feel comfortable enough to try it in public. This provides a great opportunity to experiment with "licks," delve into the finer art of chord changes that require some basic scaler and arpeggio knowledge, and listening skills. Ultimately though it is an easy thing to bring in simple chord changes, provide simple demonstrations, and begin helping to shape my student's improvisatory skills in a safe and supportive environment, so that even when they may be "classically trained" for all other scenarios, they will not be completely caught off guard when the scenario arises that finally require them to do something that even now a majority of students get relatively little practical knowledge and skill at performing. Part of my job would be to impart the importance of obtaining the skill, partly helping to impart the skills necessary to be successful, and mostly to create the right environment to make mistakes and improve.
This, as many other assignments before, opened up my eyes a little to what I did not even consciously realize were some of my greatest desires for musical instruction and insight into my own personal philosophies on music instruction. Though I have used many of these techniques in the past, I have not seen them synthesized together like this before. What an informative personal experience this class has been!
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