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Private Music Lessons: A Manual for Teachers
Private Music Lessons: A Manual for Teachers is written for any music teacher working with elementary, middle school, and high school students in a private lesson setting. Chapters 1-5 consider the musical skills needed to work with students in the areas of movement, rhythm and rhythm notation, aural skills and tonal notation, and musical sensitivity.
Chapters 5-8 focus on beginners, middle school students, and high school students, respectively. Each of these three chapters addresses cognitive behaviors and social and cultural behaviors. The high school chapter also discusses differentiating instruction for individual student needs. Chapter 9 considers teaching to individual differences in the areas of ethnicity and culture, gender, language, persons with disabilities, and giftedness.
Chapter 10 focuses on skills needed to maintain a healthy studio including elements such as recitals and choosing repertoire. Important relationships with students, parents, school music teachers, other private teachers, adjudicators and pianists are then considered in Chapter 11. Chapter 12 presents the “business” side of studio teaching and includes sample letters, forms, and studio materials. Chapter 13 provides suggestions for instructors teaching courses on private lessons.
Materials for this text have been developed over 30 years of private teaching in New York and Michigan and have specifically been piloted with undergraduate and graduate music performance students in my “Teaching Private Lessons to Middle School and High School Students” course at the University of Michigan. Over 70 students coming from all areas of brass, strings, woodwinds, voice, piano, and jazz studies have had the opportunity to provide feedback.
Chapters 5-8 focus on beginners, middle school students, and high school students, respectively. Each of these three chapters addresses cognitive behaviors and social and cultural behaviors. The high school chapter also discusses differentiating instruction for individual student needs. Chapter 9 considers teaching to individual differences in the areas of ethnicity and culture, gender, language, persons with disabilities, and giftedness.
Chapter 10 focuses on skills needed to maintain a healthy studio including elements such as recitals and choosing repertoire. Important relationships with students, parents, school music teachers, other private teachers, adjudicators and pianists are then considered in Chapter 11. Chapter 12 presents the “business” side of studio teaching and includes sample letters, forms, and studio materials. Chapter 13 provides suggestions for instructors teaching courses on private lessons.
Materials for this text have been developed over 30 years of private teaching in New York and Michigan and have specifically been piloted with undergraduate and graduate music performance students in my “Teaching Private Lessons to Middle School and High School Students” course at the University of Michigan. Over 70 students coming from all areas of brass, strings, woodwinds, voice, piano, and jazz studies have had the opportunity to provide feedback.
234 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2019
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December 10, 2019
I must say at the outset that I am quite biased in favor of this author, as Colleen Conway is a professor whose singular style and depth of understanding is something I have witnessed firsthand while I served as a Teaching Assistant at the University of Michigan for the saxophone studio of Donald Sinta.
This latest work of Dr. Conway's is a thorough examination of the telos, methodology, issues of cognitive and social development, means of assessment, and administrative functionings of a private studio. The advice she gives here, as in her book on Teaching Music in Higher Education, is equal parts practical day to day suggestions mixed with discussion of the philosophical underpinnings of this work and an understanding of the student/child's cognitive needs and development as they progress from initial study through advanced high school work.
Following a deft and thorough introduction, the book moves to suggestions for using movement in lessons as a way to engage students in actively understanding rhythm at the micro and macro level. This includes Flow, Weight, and Spacial activities all designed to bring the concept of rhythm off of the page and come to be understood at a more internal, fundamental level. This section flows nicely into the next chapter which examines the use of different rhythmic/counting systems. Conway is thorough to include the benefits and potential pitfalls of each along with copious examples. The use of singing and aural skills is discussed next and one that I was particularly glad to see brought up. Especially when teaching instrumental lessons, asking the students to, "play in a more vocal manner," or, "make the line sing," is met with bewilderment, Conway's suggestions form an excellent progression to a higher level of audiation and expressively musical engagement from the student.
The next section deals with understanding the different types of learners you will encounter when teaching beginners who have had no musical instruction, right through to advanced high school students who may be considering music as a profession. This is an area where Conway's extensive research but also her years of private studio instruction are quite apparent in her understanding of the social, emotional, and cognitive differences between these varying levels of learners. Too often so-called "understanding different age groups," really amounts to nothing more than idle stereotyping of elementary, middle and high schoolers without much substance. That is certainly not the case here and serious teachers and teachers of teachers will likely find much relatable experience here along with a wealth of suggestions for dealing with potential issues. Especially important are the sections which discuss learners with different racial, ethnic, and sexual identities and the importance of being attuned to the students' development as an individual.
The final area deals with the Logistics of Studio Teaching and offers a plethora of organizing and administrative principles that can guide you smoothly into the profession of private studio instruction. This includes everything from how to talk with parents to guides/contracts dealing with payments for a fully functioning private studio.
There is no surprise that a volume on music education from Colleen Conway is a thorough, readable, engaging, and thought-provoking text as that is precisely the type of instructor she is. I commend this to all private lesson instructors, potential future private instructors/public teachers, and to those of us who are also teachers of teachers in this area.
This latest work of Dr. Conway's is a thorough examination of the telos, methodology, issues of cognitive and social development, means of assessment, and administrative functionings of a private studio. The advice she gives here, as in her book on Teaching Music in Higher Education, is equal parts practical day to day suggestions mixed with discussion of the philosophical underpinnings of this work and an understanding of the student/child's cognitive needs and development as they progress from initial study through advanced high school work.
Following a deft and thorough introduction, the book moves to suggestions for using movement in lessons as a way to engage students in actively understanding rhythm at the micro and macro level. This includes Flow, Weight, and Spacial activities all designed to bring the concept of rhythm off of the page and come to be understood at a more internal, fundamental level. This section flows nicely into the next chapter which examines the use of different rhythmic/counting systems. Conway is thorough to include the benefits and potential pitfalls of each along with copious examples. The use of singing and aural skills is discussed next and one that I was particularly glad to see brought up. Especially when teaching instrumental lessons, asking the students to, "play in a more vocal manner," or, "make the line sing," is met with bewilderment, Conway's suggestions form an excellent progression to a higher level of audiation and expressively musical engagement from the student.
The next section deals with understanding the different types of learners you will encounter when teaching beginners who have had no musical instruction, right through to advanced high school students who may be considering music as a profession. This is an area where Conway's extensive research but also her years of private studio instruction are quite apparent in her understanding of the social, emotional, and cognitive differences between these varying levels of learners. Too often so-called "understanding different age groups," really amounts to nothing more than idle stereotyping of elementary, middle and high schoolers without much substance. That is certainly not the case here and serious teachers and teachers of teachers will likely find much relatable experience here along with a wealth of suggestions for dealing with potential issues. Especially important are the sections which discuss learners with different racial, ethnic, and sexual identities and the importance of being attuned to the students' development as an individual.
The final area deals with the Logistics of Studio Teaching and offers a plethora of organizing and administrative principles that can guide you smoothly into the profession of private studio instruction. This includes everything from how to talk with parents to guides/contracts dealing with payments for a fully functioning private studio.
There is no surprise that a volume on music education from Colleen Conway is a thorough, readable, engaging, and thought-provoking text as that is precisely the type of instructor she is. I commend this to all private lesson instructors, potential future private instructors/public teachers, and to those of us who are also teachers of teachers in this area.
Displaying 1 of 1 review