Reb Kreyling, Author at Michelle Tuesday Music School

We’re a Family!

When I asked what instruments MTMS offers, I was amazed at the variety. Variety not just in instruments, but in the families. What do I mean by families? Well, each instrument fits into a family or classification (although some fall into more than one), depending on how they are played. And that also decides where you sit if you play in an orchestra or what type of group you play in (for example you can play with a group of strings). It’s kind of neat they way they’re arranged and classified. So here are the families with a description and what is offered at MTMS.

Strings

So named because they are played by vibrating strings. (I know, logical, right?) They are differentiated by size. The sound of the instrument changes with the size of the instrument with the smaller instruments being higher pitched. Some older pieces of music were written specifically for stringed orchestras. As you can see from the list that piano is included here and then again on percussion because it has both strings and hammers.

Instruments offered at MTMS

violin

violia

cello

upright bass

guitar

ukulele

bass guitar

harp

piano

Woodwinds

Woodwinds have two distinctions (with one minor exception). They all have reeds and keys. The reed is what produces the vibration to give the sound. The keys change the sounds, but also challenge the player to get the fingers in the right order. Since a saxophone uses a reed, it is classified as a woodwind. The one exception is the flute which does not have a reed and only uses wind and keys to produce sound (not unlike blowing over the top of a bottle). Higher pitched woodwinds (flutes and oboes) generally play the melody, which lower-pitched (bassoon) generally play the harmonic parts.

Instruments offered at MTMS

flute

clarinet

saxophone

harmonica

recorder

According to Ms. Tuesday, “Recorder is a great starter woodwind instrument for kids who are interested in flute or clarinet but whose arms are too short to play them yet.”

Brass

The brass mainly plays a supporting role and provides depth to an orchestra. These instruments are named for their shiny material they are made out of. These instruments use a slide to change notes or their very few keys (normally no more than three). The notes can also be changed by changing the shape of the player’s lips. The sound is produced by the musician vibrating his or her lips against the mouthpiece. “Taps” is probably the song most people are familiar with and is played by the musician changing the shape of his or her lips.

Instruments offered at MTMS

trumpet

trombone

euphonium/baritone

tuba

Percussion

Do you love the banging and crashing in music? That’s the percussion. These are the instruments that must be shaken or struck to produce music. Although drums weren’t always part of the orchestra, apparently composers liked the sound since more and more percussion has been added over the years. Percussion isn’t just drums, but also includes instruments like cymbals, maracas, or marimba.

Instruments offered at MTMS

piano

snare

drumset

mallet percussion (for example bells, marimba)

In the past, the school has also offered French horn (brass), mandolin, banjo (stings), and oboe (woodwinds), but currently have no instructors. They’ve never had a request for bassoon (woodwinds).

Education and the Beat

Music has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Some of my earliest memories involve my mother singing the lullabies (in both German and English) that she now sings to my niece. I took both flute and clarinet lessons in elementary school before switching to chorus and amateurvoice lessons and about a year of guitar in junior high and high school.

Why am I telling you all this? Because now, as an adult, I believe two things. One: the scattered music lessons I had over the years helped me both in school and socially. Two: I wish I had stuck with one of the types of lessons.

According to a study by the American Psychological Association, if a child takes six years of music lessons their IQ will raise an average of 7.5 points. College students with those six years had a predicted two point raise over their peers. That’s pretty good. And that’s only academics.

Socially, by putting your children in music lessons; you’re teaching patience, dedication, teamwork, and responsibility. In addition, it can teach time management. All of these skills can help your child socially.

So does music help your child educationally and socially? The APA says yes. Schools seem to think they should pull music programs first. Personally I play instrumental music in my classroom when my students are doing independent work (over their protests). In the long run, it depends on whether or not you think music is beneficial to your child.

Information from APA came from https://www.apa.org/print-this

Let’s Talk About It

Teaching is easy. I bet you’re laughing right now. But really. Think about it. You know your subject. You are passionate about your content. You know what’s difficult? Talking to parents. Think about it for a moment. Even if all you’re doing is giving the parent an update on how their child is doing, it can be a nerve-wracking conversation. But there are ways to make it a less daunting prospect.

First off, relax. Both you and the parent(s) want the best for the student. Both of you are also probably nervous. Don’t get defensive. Both of you do know best and now you have to find a middle ground.

Before you start the meeting, have an idea of what you want to talk to the parent about. Even if all you can think of are negatives, make sure to have some positives. Start off with those positives. But don’t use them all up, keep one in reserve for the end. You want to end on that positive note.

Parents, please don’t go into the meeting thinking that the teacher is going to tell you all the things they think you are doing wrong. While you’ve known your child longer, they see your child in a different light. I promise you, your child can sometimes seem like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde when you and the teacher compare notes. And you might not know which side of the child you’re seeing.

Finally, as with all meetings, both parties need to go into the meeting with an open mind. In the long run, both the teacher and the parent want what is best for the student. That’s something we can all agree on.

Learn Your Way

For many years, schoolrooms all looked the same: a teacher lectured from the front of the room while obedient students sat in rows and absorbed knowledge (at least that was the goal). I’ll bet some of you even remember rooms like this (I know I do). Schoolrooms now are a completely different story. Students are often moving as are the teacher (or teachers). There’s noise (and what may seem to be chaos) and the only quiet may be test day. Why this change though?

One reason is the use of differentiation in the classroom as teachers try to reach all students. The other is teachers adapting to learning styles. Yes, even in something like a music class.

Depending on which school of thought you adhere to, there are either five or seven learning styles. The seven learning styles to be considered are visual, aural, verbal, physical, logical, social, or solitary.

Visual–also called spatial means that students learn better by reading or seeing what they are trying to understand.
Aural–means that students learn better by hearing or having music involved in their lessons.
Verbal–means that students want to speak their lessons aloud.
Physical–also called kinesthetic means that students want a hands on portion to their lessons or to learn by doing.
Logical–means that students apply logic to their learning.

These last two are not always included with the others, but can help a teacher decide whether to group students or let them work alone.

Social means a student prefers to work in a group.
Solitary means a student prefers to work or learn alone.

Now all of these learning styles do not mean that is the only way the student learns, but just means that might be the way they learn best. It also means they might learn best in more than one way. They could be a visual and an aural learner. Or a physical and a logical learner or any combination.

What it all comes down to is there are many different ways to learn and no teacher should teach one way.

If you’re curious about how you or a student learns, here’s a quick test to see. A better way is to talk with your student and find out how they feel they understand best and discuss different methods to learn and see how each of them sticks.

Getting Children to Practice

In order to improve, students must practice. While the teacher does as much as she can with the student in the classroom, encouraging the student to practice at home will also help.

One good way to reward and keep track of practice at home (and that the Michelle Tuesday Music School encourages) is to complete a minute of practice per age. So if your student is five, that child should practice for five minutes a day. You can set a timer so they don’t over practice. Give her a small reward once she’s finished this time (a sticker is a good one) and keep track of her time. You might consider letting her pick a prize once she’s earned a certain number of stickers. That’s all up to you.

At the school, she’ll get to prove that she has learned the song (and put in the time practicing), by playing it. If she shows she has mastered it, her teacher will put a sticker in her book and she’ll get a prize from the candy box. These little rewards will not only give her something concrete right away, but also give her the satisfaction of looking back through her book to see all the songs she’s mastered.

There’s an old adage ‘Practice makes perfect’. Sometimes just a little goes a long way.