The Toronto Symphony Orchestra recently debuted their comprehensive listening guides. The guides – colorful charts with pill-shaped reductions of beloved symphonic themes – seek to aid both the musical novice and musical expert. The stated purpose of these guides is to help listeners understand the most basic elements of each composition and see the way those elements are realized by the composer. Each guide includes...
Read MoreWritten By Wayne Estes Last week a student of mine looked at me, smiled and said, “I get it now.” And another one grasped her head with both hands, smiled and looked at me, made an exploding sound and wildly moved her arms off of her head simulating a volcanic explosion. THIS is what I truly love about teaching. It is the impact we bring, no matter...
Read MoreBy Sarah Haughton The majority of my students enjoy learning theory. They enjoy the process of learning about the sounds they hear. Occasionally, however, I encounter a student that couldn’t care less about the “why” behind the music they are hearing, they just want to make the sounds. The traditional theory workbook does little to excite this student. More often, this student becomes frustrated and shows...
Read MoreBy Jamey Mann A couple week ago in Alexandria, VA, I had the privilege of taking Suzuki Guitar books 2 and 3 with Andrea Cannon. At this year’s institute were many returning young students and some new faces. The student’s ages were 6 to 11 years old and they were playing in books 2 through 5. Most of our observation of master classes and theory lessons...
Read MoreEach teacher hopes to give the gift of music into the hands of every student. We typically share lots of knowledge about note reading, theory, improvisation, practice and performance with our students, but I want us to think for a moment about the student’s instrument. Specifically taking time to remind each student and their parents to spend some time researching how to care for that...
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