Music Teaching Tips

Teaching Tips on Encouraging Students

• "Never say "good job." That is a blanket statement that doesn't help your students as much as pointing out specific achievements, like "I love the way you played those staccatos" or "You got every single note right!" or "Beautiful phrasing!" This teaches your students to evaluate what specific things they do well, helps them to analyze the piece and their performance, and thus they feel more successful."

Teaching Tips on Practicing

• "The importance of practice at home must be communicated to students and parents from the very first lesson or class. Send home a lesson assignment book for the students to record their practice time and require the parent's signature."

• "I use a "Practice Box" to remind the students to practice a difficult section more frequently than the rest of the song. I draw a box around the difficult passage and write "Practice 5x". The student is to practice this section five times before playing through the entire piece."

• "One practice method that I have used personally and with my students (piano, choir, and band), and in other ensembles is to practice by sections, beginning with the last section, the least repeated section, such as the "B" section in a piece that is in ABA form, or the most difficult section. When one section has been rehearsed to my satisfaction for that session, I work on the previous section. Then I play the two sections together. I continue in this manner, each time adding the previous section, until finally I am playing (or singing or directing) the entire piece. Depending on the length and difficulty of the piece, I may use this method for over several practice sessions/rehearsals, focusing on one section each time, then playing through the entire piece at the end."

Tips for Teaching Choir and Band

• "Choir and Band students should have weekly theory lessons and/or take-home theory assignments."

• "When selecting choir music, if there is not an adequate supply of music that can be previewed, order 1 copy of each interesting title several weeks ahead of time to preview. You might be able to sell the songs you are not using on eBay."