Music Teacher's Notebook #3

I’m putting on my music teacher’s hat again today (is that the GCEA baseball cap or the Pendleton?) , & I’ll take my music teacherly thoughts in a bit of a different direction this go around, & focus on the physicality of playing a musical instrument.

If “I played it much better at home” is the most common phrase music teachers hear from their students, then perhaps the second most common has to do with any number of physical reasons why someone can’t play an instrument. Their fingers are too short or too long or their fingers don’t stretch far enough or their pinky is too weak &/or un-coordinated. A related observation from students is they don’t “have” the elusive thing we might call an “ear for music.” Oftentimes this has become ingrained from childhood music experiences, either from early attempts to learn an instrument or from childhood singing (which people often don’t realize is also “playing an instrument,” & as such also requires work).

I’m here to tell you that none of these reasons are valid in about 99.999% of all cases. Of course, if a person has certain actual disabilities from accidents, birth or disease (such as arthritis), these may present significant roadblocks—tho I recall a very inspiring post at Pat Costello’s Tangier Sound blog where he demonstrated how even a person with a prosthesis could play a banjo using a slide; the same would be true for a guitar in an open tuning. A dear friend of ours who played guitar from her teens well into her 70s can’t form guitar chords effectively any more due to arthritis—but rather than giving up on music, she’s taken up the baritone ukulele, which is less demanding in terms of hand strength & mobility. She plays well, & continues to enjoy music.

So even in extreme cases, “where there’s a will there’s a way.” But again, these sorts of considerations don’t apply to the great majority of folks who want to learn an instrument. Just speaking for the instruments I know best—fretted stringed devices—considerations such as hand/finger size are factors to be worked with, not factors that exclude the possibility of playing & playing well. As an example: my students see me fret certain chords & wonder how my little finger “stretches like that” (more on that in a moment). But on the other hand, my fingers are about as undouble-jointed as fingers can be. Certain guitar chord shapes can be facilitated by having double-jointed fingers—does that mean I can’t play the guitar? No, it means I work with my physical capabilites.

It’s also important to realize that physical capabilities aren’t fixed in stone. The first time a person tries to hit a baseball or knit a scarf or ride a horse or bicycle, there are new physical skills to be learned, because our bodies don’t employ these skills (at least in a coordinated way) in everyday life outside of specific activities. There’s no difference with playing a guitar, etc. Guitar chord shapes & scale shapes involve moving your fingers in ways that people don’t use for other activities. The way to make your fingers & hands comfortable with these positions & motions is thru studied repetition—(i.e., “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?”). The reason my left pinky stretches more easily than a novice guitar student is that I’ve “built up” to that. As a teacher, I actually discourage students from trying to stretch too far until their hands can do this without anything but the mildest amount of discomfort. My wife Eberle who, as regular readers here know, teaches piano, always remarks on how uncomfortable a number of guitar chord shapes look. This is true for the novice player, but doesn’t continue to be true because of two very important physical considerations.

These considerations are comfort & relaxation, & they’re born both from practice & from general good physical routines—because postures & other techniques that allow for comfort & relaxation are far more important than the size or agility of fingers, or even the development of a musical ear when a person is in the initial stages of playing an instrument. Both Eberle & I believe relaxation is absolutely crucial to effective musicianship. Of course it isn’t always straightforward how to impart relaxation from teacher to student.

As a bottom line, we certainly want to get as far as possible from the days of music teachers slamming books around, as Scott Houston described in his Musical Questions spot, so a friendly, relaxed & interested attitude is important. Some sort of warm-up before playing helps—I have to admit I’m not as good about this I could be. I do try to keep a pretty informal atmosphere (the majority of my students are adults), & I do like to catch up with students in conversation when they arrive & give them some time to settle in. These are things that create a relaxed atmosphere. But there are also things to watch for & to help students with in terms of posture & body motion.

Where does tension accumulate in the body? In the shoulders, in the back, & in the joints. Although we may see the occasional rock “guitar hero” playing in a video with his shoulders raised in a tensed position, this is simply not a good practice. Relaxed shoulders are crucial to a relaxed physical performance of most any sort. The same goes for the back. Sometimes students tend to lean forward when playing the guitar, but this sort of “intense” position doesn’t typically translate to “instense” playing—just “tense” playing.

The important thing, whether one is playing sitting down or standing, is to feel “grounded.” Both Eberle & I like doing some basic Tai Chi, & one of the big principles in this exercise is establishing “root,” or a connection with the earth. While I certainly don’t believe Tai Chi is necessary for guitar playing, it does make you aware of bodily tensions. These tensions do disrupt our groundedness & they do affect our playing & overall musicianship. Of course, this is also the truth behind “I played it better at home”; at home, you’re typically more grounded than when visiting someone’s house. It’s also the truth behind the fact that most musicians (except for those at the highest levels) are well-advised to scale back a notch from what they might try while woodshedding when they’re playing a gig.

Another Tai Chi principle that applies to guitar & similar instruments (& probably other instruments as well) is what’s called “beautiful lady’s wrists.” In Tai Chi, movement thru the wrist should always be relaxed & supple & graceful. Ditto for the guitar. If you watch a real master guitarist (Doc Watson comes to mind) you see the grace of his wrist motion—& also the economy of his motion. The larger the physical motion, the more margin for error. In baseball, one of the most common causes of ineffective hitting is too much motion while swinging the bat—in particular this can cause the head to move, & it also can transfer one’s fulcrum point away from the hips. In guitar, driving a strumming or picking motion from the elbow rather than the wrist has a similar effect—for all the theatricality of Pete Townsend’s windmill strum, it’s simply not an efficient model for guitar playing! Instead, the right hand (assuming a right-handed player) should be relaxed (not clenched), & the motion should be almost one of gravity letting the wrist fall & then allowing the hand to rise naturally & loosely from that fall.

These are simply some considerations for either a teacher or student; but it’s important for us teachers to be aware of a student’s motions & postures, & for all of us as players to be aware of our own. Of course, even those non-musician types can get some good benefits from this sort of body awareness—& a 20-minute Tai Chi exercise can do wonders for your sense of well-being.

By the by: those interested in thoughtful discussions about teaching music really should visit Chris Wolf's excellent blog, Piano Posts. I invariably learn some good things when I visit.

Music Teacher’s Notebook #2

For those of you who missed the first installment, from time to time here on Robert Frost’s Banjo I’ll be posting my thoughts on teaching music (mostly guitar in my case, with the odd bassist or uker or banjoist thrown in). Last time around, the topic was “fun,” which I suggested is fundamental (rim shot!) to learning an instrument; this week the topic is sharing music with others—which, coincidentally, is also fun.

I noticed early this year that excellent banjoist/guitarist/teacher Patrick Costello wrote about the importance of sharing music as a learning experience; I’m also aware from keeping up with Patrick’s blog that he recommends folks playing with others as soon as they can keep a steady rhythm. I agree with both his points, especially when we’re talking about the guitar/banjo/uke/etc. types of string instruments. While all of these instruments can be satisfying to play as a solo performer, there’s something about how they work in an ensemble that makes them really come to life.

But that’s not all: there are several very tangible benefits as far as learning goes to playing in a group setting:

1. It’s more fun than a metronome, but typically reinforces the habit of keeping a steady rhythm no matter what.
2. So much of music is about the ear. This doesn’t mean that it’s bad to be able to sight-read music or play from a chord chart. But it is true that if you’re focusing on one sense (sight) you’re doing it at the expense of another (hearing), which in this case is actually the more crucial one. Since a number of jam sessions “play off the page,” it’s good for less experienced players to try to “hear” the changes rather than see them on a chart. It’s also important to learn how to blend in with other instruments whether you’re playing by ear or from written music.
3. Music in any sort of setting beyond a solo performance is a collaborative effort, & as such there’s a real feeling of bonding amongst a group of folks who play together regularly. This may be an added bonus to some folks who started out thinking they wanted to play just for themselves.
4. Playing for family & close friends is also sharing music, even if you’re going solo. This can be a bit nervy for folks who are just getting their musical feet under them, but the lessons you learn by doing this really stick with you. Once you’ve “performed” a song, whether it’s for one other person or one hundred, your relationship to the song & to your instrument change.
5. The biggest learning experience from sharing your music—you find out how much more you enjoy the music.

So these are the benefits—are there drawbacks? The biggest drawback with a relative newcomer joining a jam session is that beginners may end up in a group where they feel completely out of their depth & get discouraged. The discouragement & impatience factors can be issues with learning any new skill. If anything, these can be more pronounced with music, because it is by definition an emotional endeavor. A student runs some of the same risks when playing songs for another person—all music teachers have heard the line, “But I played it so much better at home” more often than they can count; & if a student decides to try playing in front of more than just a significant other or close family, it can be a big letdown when things don’t go as expected.

Having noted these possible pitfalls, I’d say there are things a teacher can do to help a student avoid them. Jam sessions vary widely in skill level, & a lot of sessions are really open to having novice players. Assuming the teacher has familiarity with the local scene, he/she can suggest a session that should fit the student’s skills & interests. Of course, it’s worth remembering that chemistry is practically everything in a jam session (or a band)—if the student feels comfortable at a session that’s the most important thing, so sessions where there are overbearing personalities, judgmental or dismissive folks, or where there’s a general air of competition should be avoided like the proverbial plague. Don’t get me started on the concept of competitiveness in music & the other arts….

In addition, it’s important to get students “off the page.” I find 12-bar blues to be an excellent way of doing this. Most folks are pretty familiar with the sound, since blues underlies so much of our popular music, & of course the chord changes should be pretty manageable. There are a number of ways to go about this, ranging from you & the student strumming thru the changes to having the student play a pentatonic solo while you play the changes (or vice-versa) to one or the other of you singing a blues song while both playing the changes. Once students get used to the pattern of chord changes, they can anticipate where the changes come, & also will be able to pick up cues.

I also encourage students to get themselves a capo & learn how to use it—which means more than learning how to put the capo on the guitar neck. As an example, it means knowing how to find an easy chord pattern when a song is in Eb (for those non-guitar players out there, a notoriously difficult key on the guitar)—where to place the capo & which chords to play. It’s not that I don’t teach barre chords—I use them myself a lot in some contexts & I see them as an essential part of a player’s repertoire. But I believe flow & steady rhythm are even more essential, & until a student can get a handle on these thru open chords, there’s little point in teaching them much about barring.

As far as playing for other people goes, one thing that’s hard to understand until you’ve done it: it’s rarely as good as you “did it at home.” Some say the difference between a professional musician & an amateur musician is the amateur practices a difficult passage until he/she doesn’t make a mistake in it; a professional practices the passage until he/she can’t make a mistake in it (insofar as I’m a semi-pro kinda guy, I guess I tend to practice until it’s unlikely I’ll make a mistake….) There's a big difference between "don't" & "can't," because when you’re out of your comfort zone, Murphy’s Law tends to kick in. It’s important to share with students that these anxieties, etc. are “normal,” or typical. It’s also important to share that practice is the time for trying new things; when playing for others, it’s important to stay with more comfortable & familiar techniques. Folks enjoy hearing a song played well & simply much more than they enjoy a song played poorly while peppered with poorly executed techniques.

Out in these parts, the jam sessions aren’t as plentiful as in some places. Eberle & I decided a bit less than a year ago to start our own jam session where students could get used to playing with others, & it’s been a real joy for us. The students who participate are students second & friends first. Our aim is a laid-back atmosphere where people can “play”—playing music & joking around, telling stories, etc. At first we kept “off the page” almost all the time; lately, we’ve tried something new, which is having the chords for some of the songs on a dry erase board that anyone can look at if they need a little more guidance in following the chord changes. This is a new wrinkle, but one I think can be helpful, because in can keep people from feeling totally lost & overwhelmed. As I rule, we try to stick with songs that have just three or four chords—old blues & country, with some rock/pop songs mixed in, & that don’t have quick chord changes. Obviously some things work better than others, but how well things work "musically" is secondary. The main thing is the camaraderie & enjoyment that goes along with the process.

Which brings us back to the starting point: fun. Enjoying your music is always the key.

Music Teacher’s Notebook #1

As I said in one of last month’s coming distractions’ posts, I’ve been persuaded to write about my music teaching—perhaps even something as elaborate as my “philosophy” regarding same. Actually, I didn’t know I had anything as high-falutin’ as a philosophy about music teaching, but as I’ve thought about it, there are some concepts & related “techniques” I consider important; & since blogs are pretty much about everybody putting his/her 2¢ in, I guess I shouldn’t be bashful about adding mine on this topic.

Now all these concepts fit together—not thru some grand conceptual planning, but simply because of the way I approach music myself. So one approach would be to write about them all in some big, integrated way—but I’m thinking that would make for a looong post. So being a Virgo with what’s been called a “librarian’s mind” for categorization (it’s true I probably did miss my real professional calling), I’ll try to focus on one concept or topic per post—not completely sure how often I’ll post on this subject; still debating between monthly & twice a month.

As the King of Hearts said (“very gravely”) to the White Rabbit: “Begin at the beginning, and go on till you come to the end: then stop.” What is the beginning concept? I’ve pointed out several times on this blog that you “play” an instrument, so one would think fun is pretty “fundamental” (sorry ‘bout that). Eberle, the pro music teacher in the household, says fun is the “glue” that holds everything together—because let’s face it: some parts of any learning process can be a challenge, & learning an instrument tends to bring up a lot of insecurities; turning the process to fun as much as possible helps to smooth these out. Also, with the guitar & other string instruments the absolute beginner experiences some physical discomfort: unless you play a guitar, you just don’t spend a lot of time pressing steel wire against a hard surface. Once the calluses form, you’re fine. & how soon do they develop? Depends on how much you play….

So let’s look at the fun thing from a couple of angles. Over on the Tangier Sound blog, Patrick Costello had an excellent post a little while back about how music teaching involves sharing the musical experience, not imparting wisdom. I believe this is right on, & I’ll be writing more about this in the very next Music Teacher’s Notebook post. But for now let’s just say that the most effective teachers usually enjoy their subject, & are able to transmit that enjoyment & enthusiasm to students. This doesn’t mean relating one’s various musical triumphs ad nauseum, tho students will probably be interested in hearing about how music fits into your life—as you should be interested in them telling you how it’s fitting into theirs.

So what’s fun for students? One thing I’m always happy to see as a guitar teacher is a student who wants to sing—there are a lot of advantages to this. Most people can master enough chords to play in a couple of keys a fifth apart: I go with G first, then D, because you only have to learn one more chord to play a I-IV-V progression; the I-IV-V progression in G is G, C, D; in D it’s D, G, A. This is an effective way to teach chords by moving up a fifth each time, because you only have to add one chord per new key (two chords if you’re counting dominant sevenths, but they’re typically similar in shape to the major chord). If a person can play in two keys a fifth apart, he/she can sing hundreds of songs, because one or the other will usually accommodate a person’s singing range. Of course, this means introducing the capo fairly early on, which I do with students who like to sing.

& you know, it’s a tremendous boon if a student actually likes to sing folk songs, because they have really simple progressions. I was recently offering some apology to a beginning student as I gave her the chords for “Polly Wolly Doodle” & “My Darling, Clementine”; but she was excited as could be because she sings those songs & others of their ilk with her daughters. Now that’s music to a guitar teacher’s ears.

Not everybody likes to sing, or at least feels comfortable doing it in any setting more public than their shower or their car (why people think the latter is private I can’t imagine, but they seem to). & one firm rule: I never require anyone to sing. I let them know that learning to use the guitar to accompany singing is easier than learning to use it for instrumentals, but I’m happy to teach either way—I was pretty much strictly an instrumentalist myself until fairly recently (looks like we may be re-inventing Five & Dime Jazz for 09 & beyond with a more bluesy/Americana feel—& with vocals).

Some other fun things: trading licks; simply play a short phrase & ask the student to imitate it. This is really good for teaching “slur” techniques like hammer-ons, pull-offs & slides, because students generally have a tendency to rush all of those, & it lets them “hear” the right sound & internalize it both in the ear (hearing you) & in the fingers (copying you). A bit more advanced version of this is call & response: play a lick & ask the student to respond to it, not copy it. This develops the ear & helps students realize that they too can create licks.

Never underestimate how much fun students may get from patterns you take for granted. Bass runs usually get students going, because “it sounds like I’m really playing something.” Showing students the minor pentatonic scale patterns & inviting them to play by ear while you quietly strum a 12-bar blues in the background is something students may be bashful to try at first, but something they usually enjoy once they give it a whirl. It is important for the teacher to lay back. If we’re both playing acoustics, I usually just do a simple strum with my thumb & index finger, or if the student has an electric, I tend to play an acoustic. They should be able to hear themselves, & because they’re likely to be tentative at first, you need to give them space.

Students like to play the music they love & have it “sound like music.” Since some students are much less amenable to “Polly Wolly Doodle” than others, this means coming up with arrangements of songs they find interesting that they can actually play. Especially for those who just want to play as an instrumentalist, this can be challenging, but I try to use every resource at my disposal, including my own arranging skills. For students who are into classic rock, the lessons by David Hodges on Guitar Noise are fantastic; I recommend his work.

So what isn’t fun? The same things that aren’t fun for you! Being criticized, being corrected, having someone be impatient with you, being asked as a novice to keep playing when your fingers are sore. Look, students are going to mess up—I mess up sometimes when I play the guitar, too. When they need to take a different tack something along the lines of “Let’s try this, I think it will make that easier,” is much better than “You’re doing that WRONG!” & do give beginning players regular breaks from playing because fingers do get sore.

But hey—back to Patrick Costello’s point—there’s one other really fun thing about learning an instrument (& as teachers, we should remember we’re learning, too—both more about our instrument & more about how to teach): that’s sharing the music with others. & that’ll be the theme next time around. Please check back for more!

Eberle & I demonstrating that music is fun. Hey, if you’d heard me trying to sing “Dreamer’s Holiday,” you’d have been laughing, too.

Top pic by Eberle Umbach; bottom pic by Sister Mary Beverly