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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.
Music History in the music lab has a different theme every month. October is a perfect time to look at the history of spooky music.
What is it that makes music spooky? There isn’t one simple thing that someone can point to that makes something scary. Music uses several different effects to make an audience on edge or waiting for something to happen, even if they don’t know what it is or when it will come.
One of the effects that music is attempting to emulate is a human scream. The scream is a sound that warns us someone needs our help- and bringing that into the score will definitely get everyone’s attention. That’s not the only effect that is used, but musicians have learned that using higher pitches and dissonant chords and even different instruments to get the desired creepy effect from listeners.
Check out music history in the lab to learn more about the many different musical techniques used to keep an audience waiting and listening for that next big moment. There are even specific instruments used only when creating spooky music!
Emma is 11, a guitar student, and pretty good. Mom said over the summer she wanted to try out for jazz band. Her teacher is a great teacher (Carrie, on Mondays) but not a jazz guitarist. We’re waiting for the audition piece.
On Friday Emma’s mom schedules a makeup with me to go over her jazz audition piece, which she had just received from the band director. She shows up, hands me music, and it’s hard. It’s in Bb (literally the worst key for guitar) and has a mix of melodic riffs well outside of 1st position and crazy tricky jazz chords that require insane hand acrobatics. I asked when the audition would be. “Next Friday.”
My heart sinks, but I hide it on my face. I do manage to suggest they should schedule as many makeups as possible between now and then. I take a photo of the music, and we spend the lesson learning what feels like a ton but is only a tiny percentage of the piece. On their way out, mom schedules another makeup with me for next Wednesday. (Carrie only teaches on Mondays.)
On Saturday, Walt (another jazz guitar teacher, but Emma’s schedule didn’t work) has a gap because his student called out. I bombard him, shove music in his face and say, I need chord fingerings for an 11-year-old, easy versions, as simple as possible. Go. He spends 18 of his 20 min gap writing chord voicings furiously while muttering things like, we can leave out the root, need the 3rd and 6th, she can play three strings here… then in the last two min I record his hands while he plays the fingerings he wrote. After, I texted the photo of the audition piece, the photo of Walt’s chord fingerings, and a link to the video of Walt’s hands that I’d uploaded to Drive all to Carrie, Emma’s regular teacher. We text back and forth for awhile because she’s panicking a little, too. We both spend our weekends playing the piece and figuring out what to show Emma.
On Monday, Emma has her regular weekly guitar lesson with Carrie, who also shares Walt’s fingerings and video w/Emma and mom. They get through most of the song, in rough-draft-ish format.
Wednesday, Emma has another makeup with me. Mom comments that she told her friends we have a “whole army of grownups helping my kid get into jazz band.” Emma is young but very mature and articulates well what she’s struggling with. I’d continued to play the song myself Monday and Tuesday and had determined a few ways to simplify even more than Walt had, so I show her. Overall, I’m amazed at how much she’s accomplished in four or five days, but I’m still nervous.
I changed a few things and she needs to practice them, so I want to circle back before the audition. I ask what time the audition would be on Friday. Mom says they have to turn in a video, and she’ll check with the director to see if they could submit it Friday evening (and therefore have one last lesson with me… and RECORD the video at the lesson.) The plan is approved by jazz band director, and mom schedules one last lesson with me.
Friday, Audition Day. Mom says Emma is considering not participating even if she makes it because it’s so hard. I tell Emma, “Don’t you dare!” and give her a huge pep talk about how she has more grit than most adults I know, and that she deserves to be in jazz band, and if she doesn’t make it, it’s not because she’s not old enough (most of the other kids are 12 and 13) or not good enough, it’s just that we could have used more time. I don’t know if the teacher handed them music one week before the audition because she was behind schedule or was testing the kids to see how quickly they could learn the piece, but if the quick turnaround was part of the test, Emma did the best she could and worked harder than any 11-year-old I’ve ever seen. I tell her if she doesn’t make it, we’ll try again next year. She rubs her sore, aching fingertips on the rough, bumpy surface of her chair and smiles.
We run the new stuff and she nails it. We start recording, but she makes a mistake and we scrap the take. The second take is pretty much as perfect as it was going to get in the time we’d had, and mom submits it.
Thursday: Mom just emailed to inform me that Emma was selected for jazz band, and I could dance, scream and cry all at the same time to express how happy I am for her.
Rock band is a class that involves all different types of people who play all different types of instruments. I play the drums and sometimes sing, for a youth rock band called “Rocket Trash”.
The overall experience is really exciting, and even if you’re drained of energy, rock band will just overflow you with energy. Another fun thing about the rock band class is if you want to play other instruments, you can. Most times we can get pretty silly, but one thing leads to another and we’re back on track again.
So far there is Nick, Hasit, and Advait, who are all boys, and there is me, Lauren, and I’m the only girl, which can still be fun at times. Right now we are working on a song by Taylor Swift called “Ready For It” and “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor.
I have been in rock band for four years, and so far my overall experience is that I wouldn’t be the same without it. We have loads of fun here in rock band class, so why don’t you join us?
Is your child getting nervous about performing? Here’s some of our tips to make recitals seem a little less scary!
Have a practice recital at home! Move some chairs around and have the rest of the family listen to your student perform their piece. Think of it as a real performance! You can even Facetime Grandma for a bigger audience.
Practice the song in the clothes (or costume!) you will wear. It can be a little scary to break out your new shoes on the day of the recital. Make sure you feel comfortable moving around, your shoes don’t slip on the piano pedals, and can take a bow at the end of your song without tripping!
Practice with distractions. Performing live means there is always room for distractions. Maybe a baby starts crying or the door opens. If your student can practice while a sibling is playing video games and Mom is making dinner, it shows them that they can handle distractions!
Watch a YouTube video of someone playing the same song. Getting the song in your ear can help you perform it better. It also helps the student subconsciously memorize the song, which will boost their playing confidence onstage!
Encourage them. At MTMS, our recitals are very laid back and inclusive. Students of all ability levels participate and there is always thunderous applause at the end of each song. They will always have the chance to start the song over if they begin on a wrong note, and their teacher will help them prepare “backstage” before it starts.
Practice, practice, practice! Tried and true, the way to perfect your performance is to practice, practice, practice! Make sure to practice a little bit every day and soon you’ll know that song like the back of your hand.
We’re looking forward to all of your excellent performances at the Halloween Recitals this year! Reminder, recitals are Saturday, October 20th at Polaris and Sunday, October 21st at Gahanna!
