MTMS Blog Posts – Page 31 – Michelle Tuesday Music School

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.

Lab Stations Virtual Tour

The lab has four stations for students to continue their music learning work at Michelle Tuesday Music School. Our students may spend all their time during a month at one station, like ear-training, or choose to switch stations on different weeks. Remember when you visit we wear masks and social distance, so there will only be one or two students in the lab at a time.

Music Theory:

At Station 1, our Music Theory station, students work on learning how to read notes, build chords, differentiate pitches and rhythms, and a variety of other skills that they can directly transfer to their lessons. Students use computer programs like Music Ace, Alfred’s EMT, and a new program, Utheory, to improve their skills. Music Theory also features our brand new game- Busted!, which works on identifying types of notes and clapping out rhythms with other students.

Ear Training:

At Station 2, our Ear Training station, students may work on listening and echoing rhythms, matching pitches together, even or identifying different types of intervals and scales. This station is entirely iPad based, with apps for students of all different skill levels. Ear Training helps build the musical ear of all students, a critical skill that will be used and improved throughout their musical career. Station 2 also features one of our newest additions to the lab- our bean bag chair!

Composition:

Station 3, our Composition station, allows students to write their own music! Students of younger ages can use blocks to build rhythms of their own, while older students can use computer programs like Noteflight to compose their own songs. The station even has prompts ready to provide inspiration to students writing their own music, encouraging students to write about everything from how they feel that day, to writing a song based on a favorite composer.

Music History:

Station 4, our Music History station, teaches students about the history of famous composers or even the instrument they play. This station has new topics every month, exposing students to a variety of different parts of the history of music. October’s focus is on famous composers, time periods, and the history of instruments and genres. From Beethoven to the Beatles, students will learn about all kinds of music from the past. Our preschool age students may work on coloring pages of famous composers, while our older students read an informational sheet and then play a Jeopardy like game on the information they learned. Another option for our older students is a mini-independent research project on these same topics.

Wherever our students spend their lab time, they are becoming better musicians through the virtual work. Can’t wait until you come and join us!

The Music is the Thing

When most people think about music lessons, they envision groups or single person lessons of softly played Bach or Beethoven, even Tchaikovsky and Chopin. Maybe throw in some Mozart or Wagner. If the teacher or the student is really ambitious, they might attempt Rachmaninoff, Brahms and Liszt.

Music teachers have shifted to a more interesting take on learning music. Today’s kids don’t want to learn classical music (at least I never did as a teenager; although I have an appreciation for it now) and musicians like Lindsey Stirling and the 2 Cellos are making more current music popular are typical classical instruments.

Instead of focusing on classical music, students can examine a broad range of choices. Everything from rock and roll to country to video games. The use of more enticing music means a student is more interested in practicing and playing.

By giving students options for their music, teachers have opened a whole door into not only new students, but new avenues for expression.

Student of the Month

Congratulations to all the students who have been selected to be Student of the Month! Once a month, MTMS recognizes students who have a positive attitude and are eager to learn.

May 2020 (Gahanna)

Congratulations to Vinny Aklilu for being Student of the Month!!

May 2020 (Polaris)

Congratulations to Aadhya Dave for being Student of the Month!!

February 2020 (Gahanna)

Congratulations to Julia Kahwash for being Student of the Month!!

November 2019 (Polaris)

Congratulations to Aarna Dave for being Student of the Month!!

October 2019 (Gahanna)

Congratulations to Lucy for being Student of the Month!!

September 2019 (Polaris)

Congratulations to Sruthi for being Student of the Month!!

September 2019 (Gahanna)

Congratulations to Kristopher and Aleksander for being Student of the Month!!

March 2019 (Gahanna)

Congratulations to Gabriel P. for being Student of the Month!!