As teachers we have the responsibility of giving each student the best knowledge and abilities by using different methods and approaches which will be helpful to each beginner. But how do we know where to start and what is best?
There are two different opinions on how the music teacher should teach students throughout their initial music lessons. Karlsen (2014) featured an interview with Karl (a lower secondary school teacher of music in an immigrant area) represent theoretical approach. According to him it is important first to develop in the students some kind of basic musical knowledge as only then have they the ability to express themselves more freely and musically. Otherwise “it’s just chaos and a lot of noise.”
A contrasting opinion is stated by Neuhaus (1958). In his book “The Art of Piano Playing” he writes “Before beginning to learn an instrument, the learner, whether a child, adolescent or adult, should already be spiritually in possession of some music; he should, so to speak, carry it in his mind, keep it in his heart and hear it with his mind’s ear. The whole secret of talent and of genius is that in the case of a person so gifted, music lives a full life in his brain before he even touches a keyboard or draws a bow across the strings. That is why Mozart as a small child could “at once” play the piano and the violin.”
It is very clear that there are two different opinions on what is best for beginner, and even though they stand in stark contrast, I found elements of truth in both of these statements.
Music and music learning does not have one correct and best way (Angelo, 2016). It is very relative and changes from person to person. Music is not something black and white. It has all the possible colors, hence in order to study it one is tempted to create very strict borders and attempt to find one “best way” and use it as the right method? It was very well said by Marja Heimonen when she states… “no universal good music—or music education—exists that would justify the dominance of one genre or of one teaching method.” Of course it is fantastic if someone lives in music before one even touches an instrument, however it is not the end if your student does not possess these feelings. One of the most important tasks of the teacher is not only to teach your students everything you know, but also to help them to find their own, personal relationship with music and to make them keep that during their life journey so that in time they would create their own knowledge.
From my teaching experience, children during their first lessons are mostly interested in music making, touching piano, singing along and similar activities. It is very rare that they would be interested in theory such as, what the notes are, how they are written, why rhythm is so important, how to position hands etc. I do respect both musical and technical/ theoretical approaches and do include these when I introduce music language to the pupil. Moreover I also discuss the importance of both and try to convince my students to follow them during the class and practice that at home. Similar to Neuhaus, I too believe that musical passion should come first, because the learner will be more interested in music learning and making. However I also agree with Karl (Karlsen, 2014), that children become more free and independent when they are able to read notes and keep a good position with their hands. It inspires creativity as they then can freely choose pieces to study by themselves and can even write their own compositions.
However, we must also take into account which musical instrument we are teaching. In my case, the piano allows each player, even very young beginners using an incorrect hand position, to produce sounds from the first touch. However if the same pupil would take an oboe and try to play even one note, it would be almost impossible without technical and theoretical preparation.
Independent of which approach is used for the first music lessons, the teacher can combine or switch to other methods depending on the situation. Meanwhile from the first music lessons the idea of art should be included in the discussion. There are many thoughts on meaning and interpretation of art, which I believe are very personal and change not only from person to person, but also can change with new experience, knowledge or emotion. According to Martin Heidegger (2006), art is not about artwork or artist, but it is the ground-breaking, essential Truth which is put in artworks.
In my opinion, discussion about art conception is needed for any beginner no matter how young the child is. With different aged students, the deepness of discussion might vary. However, the earlier we start to introduce this and similar concepts the better it will be for the player’s future, because this is the most important aspect in music learning, performing, listening and teaching.
Another fundamental topic which we music teachers have to introduce from very beginning is the importance of practice. It is important to emphasise that it is the quality of the practice that is important rather than merely the time spent practicing. (McPherson, 2006). From my teaching experience I hear very often from my students that they have been practicing for a certain time, even if my question was “What did you do and what did you learn during your practicing?”
Homework and practicing at home is something that teacher must think about very carefully so to help the student build up useful habits and develop as an independent musician. But how can you teach your student to practice and how do you know which practicing method is the best? This is probably one of the most difficult questions of music education. Without going too deeply into this topic I would like to share my personal observation and ideas which I got from my teachers and from master class with famous professors D. Bashkirov, A. Toradze and many others. I have found out that from the technical point of practicing, it is essential to know how to play hands separately very well and in the case of polyphonic music to know the separate voices very well. Moreover, this should be practiced so that each hand or voice by itself creates a complete musical story.Furthermore the player must practice so that they are able to start from any place of the piece, not just knowing how to play the notes alone but knowing the overall structure of the work, how the music was built up in each separate section. The performer has to think about all the details and polish them with great accuracy, not forgetting that the most important thing is how musical it will sound. What I learned from all these great pedagogies, that each time we practice technical details we have to connect them with musical approach, because otherwise it is not going to work.
In this essay I have discussed theoretical and musical approaches for the first music lessons. It is important to pay attention to the instrument, the students’ personality and other circumstances before choosing one of these approaches and be flexible to move to another or mix both of them according on the situation and students’ needs. Also, in this critical analysis I have discussed the importance of a philosophical discussion about art meaning and the importance of quality practice.
Angelo, E. (2016) Music Educators’ Expertise and Mandate: Who Decides, Based on What? Published in: Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education 2016, Vol.15(2), p.178-203
Heidegger, M.(2006) . The origin of the work of the art. Translated by R.Berkowitz and P. Nonet. academia.edu/2083177/ Bard College
Heimonen, M. (2008) “Nurturing Towards Wisdom: Justifying Music in the Curriculum,” Philosophy of Music Education Review 16, no. 1: 65.
Karlsen, S. (2014). Exploring democracy: Nordic music teachers’ approaches to the development of immigrant students’ musical agency. International Journal of Music Education, 32(4), 422-436.
McPherson, G.E. (2006). From child to musician: Skill development during the beginning stages of learning an instrument. Psychology of Music, 33(1), 5-35
Neuhaus, H. (1958). The Art of Piano Playing. Kahn& Averill.
Rolle, C. (2017). What is Right? What is Wrong?: Music Education in a World of Pluralism and Diversity. Philosophy of Music Education Review,25(1), 87-99.