Category Archives: Learning

29/30 Teaching with a torch

Posted on October 30, 2017 by

I had a “light-bulb” moment the other day, when I was teaching a young lad who is good at playing by ear, but is finding reading the notes on the music hard work by comparison. This pen-torch happened to be … Continue reading →

Posted in Learning, Lessons that have happened | Tagged | Leave a comment

24/60 Using “this” to teach “that”

Posted on October 17, 2017 by

I’m currently teaching a whole class year 3 classical guitar group. https://makemusiceveryday.com/category/social-learning/ That’s 30 children, sitting on chairs in three rows in the school hall, each encumbered by what looks like a guitar the size of a baby whale balanced … Continue reading →

Posted in Class Teaching, Guitar, Learning, Lessons that have happened | Tagged | Leave a comment

24/60 The Benefits of Teaching by Numbers/Letters

Posted on October 16, 2017 by

What!?! I hear you cry. Wasn’t the last post a diatribe against exactly this idea? Err, but nothing is quite as black and white as it seems. For example, teaching little five-finger warm ups (here I am wearing my pianist … Continue reading →

Posted in Learning | Tagged | Leave a comment

95/100 Scales – Start at the top

Posted on December 27, 2016 by

Here’s a thing; Suppose the brain is like a battery, that runs out of energy when it is used; When your student is playing a scale, especially if it is a new one, (and I’m talking piano here because that’s what … Continue reading →

Posted in Learning, Practising | Tagged | Leave a comment

94/100 Memorization

Posted on December 26, 2016 by

A blog I follow is www.bulletproofmusician.com, written by Noa Kageyama. I used to be a great natural memoriser. My first piano teacher used to insist on learning all piece hands separately, in minute detail, before putting the hands together, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Keyboards, Learning | Tagged , | Leave a comment

86/100 Nee Nah Nee Nah; Strings and Semitones

Posted on December 9, 2016 by

On the piano, tones and semitones really aren’t an issue – there they are, all laid out in black and white. The physical relationship isn’t a big deal on wind instruments either – you just use the fingering for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Cello Teaching, Learning | Tagged , | Leave a comment

85/100 Intentional Learning

Posted on December 8, 2016 by

That sounds a bit serious… But I mean that kind of practising when you first work out, and then work at, exactly what has to happen to manage to play the right notes. Let’s take this extract from the A2 … Continue reading →

Posted in Learning, Practising | Tagged , | Leave a comment

72/100 Cracking the Code

Posted on November 14, 2016 by

There’s a lot said about “sound before symbol” in teaching young children, and quite rightly too. However there comes a point where the children need to be able to fathom out the symbols in order to get on with learning … Continue reading →

Posted in Learning, Lessons that have happened | Tagged | Leave a comment