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Future Students
| Hillary's Music Lessons |
My Teaching Philosophy
In short:
Learning music should be fun, rewarding, and fulfilling. I teach each
student as an individual using some method books, with many
additional songs from radio, church, school, musicals, operas, and even
video
games. Composition can also be an eye opening experience and many
students have created their own masterpieces. I establish a strong
base of note reading and theory so that the student has their own skills
to play music.
In long:
My pedagogy is based on the Montessori approach to a student’s
education. I believe that each student is an individual and using one
“method” does not work for every student. Getting to know a student’s
learning style, personality, strengths and weaknesses, previous
experience, is all very important to me.
Most students do not choose to learn an instrument in order to learn to
exercises in the books. It is much more fulfilling to work towards the
songs that inspire to learn to play in the first place. Most of my students
have 3 types of songs that they are working on.
1.) Sort term exercise piece that takes a week or 2 to master.
These can be tedious, but are very important for the physical
development of mastering an instrument. They are often directly linked
to an idea essential to music theory
2.) Medium term song taking a month.
These can be very satisfying pieces that are great for a
recital.
3.) Long term goal piece
This is a song that will take up to a year to master, but is something that
the student will enjoy with pride when it is mastered. Not every student
has the attention span or desire for this type, and that is fine, they will
grow into the songs a little later.
Practice is absolutely essential to success. It should be considered
compulsory, just as soccer practice or homework. Part of a practice
session will be hard, but it should be rewarding and enjoyable. Every
week students have their assignment for practice, this should always be
achieved, but there is a lot of benefit to playing older songs that have
already been mastered. I encourage students to use these as a warm-
up. “Messing around” can also lead to a unique composition. Again,
the original goals always need to be met, but creativity and fun should
also be encouraged.
Learning independence is also essential. To teach a student to truly
understand what they are playing I teach the skills to figure out how to
fix problems themselves, to trust their own ear, and of course to read
notes.
In short:
Learning music should be fun, rewarding, and fulfilling. I teach each
student as an individual using some method books, with many
additional songs from radio, church, school, musicals, operas, and even
video
games. Composition can also be an eye opening experience and many
students have created their own masterpieces. I establish a strong
base of note reading and theory so that the student has their own skills
to play music.
In long:
My pedagogy is based on the Montessori approach to a student’s
education. I believe that each student is an individual and using one
“method” does not work for every student. Getting to know a student’s
learning style, personality, strengths and weaknesses, previous
experience, is all very important to me.
Most students do not choose to learn an instrument in order to learn to
exercises in the books. It is much more fulfilling to work towards the
songs that inspire to learn to play in the first place. Most of my students
have 3 types of songs that they are working on.
1.) Sort term exercise piece that takes a week or 2 to master.
These can be tedious, but are very important for the physical
development of mastering an instrument. They are often directly linked
to an idea essential to music theory
2.) Medium term song taking a month.
These can be very satisfying pieces that are great for a
recital.
3.) Long term goal piece
This is a song that will take up to a year to master, but is something that
the student will enjoy with pride when it is mastered. Not every student
has the attention span or desire for this type, and that is fine, they will
grow into the songs a little later.
Practice is absolutely essential to success. It should be considered
compulsory, just as soccer practice or homework. Part of a practice
session will be hard, but it should be rewarding and enjoyable. Every
week students have their assignment for practice, this should always be
achieved, but there is a lot of benefit to playing older songs that have
already been mastered. I encourage students to use these as a warm-
up. “Messing around” can also lead to a unique composition. Again,
the original goals always need to be met, but creativity and fun should
also be encouraged.
Learning independence is also essential. To teach a student to truly
understand what they are playing I teach the skills to figure out how to
fix problems themselves, to trust their own ear, and of course to read
notes.