Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Blog recommendation - "Thoughts of a String Educator"

Here's an excellent blog I just ran across, by an orchestra teacher calling himself "orchestra guy" (which is a bit like "batman", except without all the pricey gear)

[quote from Thoughts of a String Educator]
First, we need to encourage or even force our students to be musicians. They need to be scientists in science class. Be mathematicians in math class. Be writers in English class. You get the point. It is not enough to be a music student in an orchestra. You have to be a musician. You have to think like a musician, feel like a musician, listen like a musician, count like a musician, BE a musician. Too often, I think that we expect our students to be music students, not musicians. But, how do we get them to do this?

We have to teach them how a musician thinks. We have to teach them HOW a musician counts, how a musician listens, how a musician moves, how a musician feels. I think that too often, we get so caught up in the facts ("make that C sharp higher, hold your bow this way, etc.) that we forget to teach the thought process. . . .
[end quote]

Bravo.