I'm not sure if you've ever listened to any Alan Watts lectures, but in one of them he spends some time telling a story about the different approaches of two music teachers, one who insists on playing the 'correct' notes and enforces this with a sharp thwack whenever a student gets the note wrong. The student ends up so afraid of playing the wrong thing that he can barely get through a few measures before giving up. The other teacher insists on finishing a piece without a break in the rhythm and enforces this by instructing the student to return to the beginning and playing the piece. This student spends many weeks playing through the piece until she has mastered it.
Teachers who tell students that they are tone deaf are usually a) impatient or b) of the belief that the 'wrong' note destroys a piece. In short ,they're short-sighted and have a very limited eye/ear for beauty. In shorter: Bad teachers turn willing students away.
Another little comment I have is role of courage in singing. Confidence in your ability to control your voice is the core of every singer's skill. Building that confidence is the first thing any teacher should do, because releasing a sustained series of notes into the environment has always been an act of courage, and without that courage we cannot engage with any song well enough for the listeners to let us continue.
The exclusion approach of music training I think is an outdated method from the the industrial revolution era, where unless you were a prodigy, you were better off ('more useful') in the workhouse.
However, these days, with all the great research done on teaching in general, the old approach to teaching music is fast fading away, as evidenced by the fact that music teachers like you exist and call the bst out for what it is. :)
Thanks for your comments @your-nomad-soul. You are right that this approach to teaching (or lack of teaching) is quickly being left behind. I do believe that laziness is at the heart of this issue. Lazy teachers have not wanted to bother to teach students who may not come by music as easily as others. There are countless reasons though. Bottom line is that everyone has music in them. I hope that more people find their voices like @anwenbaumeister has. You should read her story. It is very nice.
@minnowpond1 has voted on behalf of @minnowpond. If you would like to recieve upvotes from minnowpond on all your posts, simply FOLLOW @minnowpond. To be Resteemed to 4k+ followers and upvoted heavier send 0.25SBD to @minnowpond with your posts url as the memo
I remember being 8 years old and having a teacher throw me out of class because I couldn't sing and would never be able to sing. I was a musical misfit. That has done lasting damage. I enjoy music but I have never tried to sing since then. Not even in the shower. My children and grandchildren have beautiful voices and I encourage them to sing every chance I get. Thankfully none of them had a music teacher like mine.
I'm not sure if you've ever listened to any Alan Watts lectures, but in one of them he spends some time telling a story about the different approaches of two music teachers, one who insists on playing the 'correct' notes and enforces this with a sharp thwack whenever a student gets the note wrong. The student ends up so afraid of playing the wrong thing that he can barely get through a few measures before giving up. The other teacher insists on finishing a piece without a break in the rhythm and enforces this by instructing the student to return to the beginning and playing the piece. This student spends many weeks playing through the piece until she has mastered it.
Teachers who tell students that they are tone deaf are usually a) impatient or b) of the belief that the 'wrong' note destroys a piece. In short ,they're short-sighted and have a very limited eye/ear for beauty. In shorter: Bad teachers turn willing students away.
Another little comment I have is role of courage in singing. Confidence in your ability to control your voice is the core of every singer's skill. Building that confidence is the first thing any teacher should do, because releasing a sustained series of notes into the environment has always been an act of courage, and without that courage we cannot engage with any song well enough for the listeners to let us continue.
The exclusion approach of music training I think is an outdated method from the the industrial revolution era, where unless you were a prodigy, you were better off ('more useful') in the workhouse.
However, these days, with all the great research done on teaching in general, the old approach to teaching music is fast fading away, as evidenced by the fact that music teachers like you exist and call the bst out for what it is. :)
Thanks for your comments @your-nomad-soul. You are right that this approach to teaching (or lack of teaching) is quickly being left behind. I do believe that laziness is at the heart of this issue. Lazy teachers have not wanted to bother to teach students who may not come by music as easily as others. There are countless reasons though. Bottom line is that everyone has music in them. I hope that more people find their voices like @anwenbaumeister has. You should read her story. It is very nice.
@originalworks
The @OriginalWorks bot has determined this post by @buckydurddle to be original material and upvoted it!
To call @OriginalWorks, simply reply to any post with @originalworks or !originalworks in your message!
To enter this post into the daily RESTEEM contest, upvote this comment! The user with the most upvotes on their @OriginalWorks comment will win!
For more information, Click Here! || Click here to participate in the @OriginalWorks sponsored writing contest(125 SBD in prizes)!
Special thanks to @reggaemuffin for being a supporter! Vote him as a witness to help make Steemit a better place!
This post received a 20% vote by @msp-canada courtesy of @buckydurddle from the Minnow Support Project ( @minnowsupport ). Join us in Discord.
Upvoting this comment will help support @minnowsupport.
@minnowpond1 has voted on behalf of @minnowpond. If you would like to recieve upvotes from minnowpond on all your posts, simply FOLLOW @minnowpond. To be Resteemed to 4k+ followers and upvoted heavier send 0.25SBD to @minnowpond with your posts url as the memo
This post has been resteemed by @msp-canada courtesy of @goldenarms from the Minnow Support Project ( @minnowsupport ). Join us in Discord.
Upvoting this comment will help support @minnowsupport.
I remember being 8 years old and having a teacher throw me out of class because I couldn't sing and would never be able to sing. I was a musical misfit. That has done lasting damage. I enjoy music but I have never tried to sing since then. Not even in the shower. My children and grandchildren have beautiful voices and I encourage them to sing every chance I get. Thankfully none of them had a music teacher like mine.
This is a sad story. It is never too late to start your musical career :) Even if just in the privacy of your own home. Go for it :)
Thanks, Bucky.