Painting Word Pictures
I believe every individual on earth has his/her own unique way of learning the many lessons life has for us. That is why I feel so strongly that it is a teacher’s responsibility to use different teaching techniques to help her/his students learn. I have taught music, mainly piano, for 40 years. I love working with young children and want them to learn and succeed. I know that a good knowledge of music will help them in so many ways. However, I have found that I must be flexible and willing to use various methods to help each child learn.
One technique that I have found very valuable is “painting word pictures.” This seems to help my students remember the lessons I am trying to teach. For example; teaching the principle of playing music loud and soft can be very difficult for some children to understand. It is just easier to play the notes all the same loudness. It takes work and control to do anything other than this. One example of a word picture I paint for them to help them understand the importance of working on this area of there music is this: “If a canvas is painted all one color, say medium blue, it is really boring to look at, but if black (loud) or white (soft) is added to the blue a lovely picture can emerge on the canvas. By adding various amounts of black, trees of a forest can emerge, by adding varies amounts of white, a lake can settle among the trees, a moon can shine in the sky, and its light can shimmer on the surface of the lake.” I them tell them that by using soft tones and loud tones in a piece of music, a lovely picture can emerge from the melody. Most of the time, the student will begin to work on painting a picture in his/her music.
This is not the normal way to teach this principal of dynamics in music, but it does help some children succeed in this area. Trying new and different ideas can be very helpful. The challenge with every student is to help them succeed, not in always staying with the standard way of presenting information.
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