by Jennene Estes, Catoctin School of Music Almost all of my most successful motivational ideas are borrowed, stolen, or are a modified version of another teacher’s idea. “Listen Like a Maniac” is no exception. Michelle Horner and her daughter were practicing daily. Together, they were carefully following the advice of her daughter’s violin teacher. But even though Michelle is an accomplished guitar teacher, her daughter’s progress on...
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On one hand, many of us can agree that music is to some extent a universal language, and that there are actually quite a few things that can be said and felt through music even if we can't understand the lyrics sometimes. On the other hand, the language still has some direct consecuences to the structure of a composition and the way it ultimately delivers its...
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It’s that “most wonderful time” once again – and if your studio is anything like mine, you’ve been eyeing that stack of Christmas song books for the last few weeks wondering when the right time to start Christmas music. Here are a few ideas for incorporating Christmas songs into your lesson time to initiate thoughtful discussion with your students. Christmas songs are a great time to explore what it means to...
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Many musicians and people in general believe that music can express many things and thus it can even be considered a language. David Ludden from psychologytoday.com says: Like language, music has syntax—rules for ordering elements—such as notes, chords, and intervals—into complex structures. Yet none of these elements has meaning on its own. Rather, it’s the larger structure—the melody—that conveys emotional meaning. And it does that...
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