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Words of Wisdom—Inspirational Quotes to Motivate Students and Teachers Alike
Searching for an approach to assist students with motivation issues? Perhaps the following insights will help.
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The Teacher’s Teacher: An Ode to the Person Who Taught Me Cello from the Ground Up
Madeline Foley had been a student of Casals, and she happened to live just two blocks from my house
You Are Musical! Too Many Students Come to Me Having Been Told the Opposite
There is a myth that either you’re born with an artistic gift or you’re not. Here's how music teachers can break down that misconception and un-do the mantra of "you're not musical."
7 Things to Teach Beginning String Students
Here are 7 areas string teachers should emphasize if their students are to become well-rounded people with a deeper appreciation of how music works and why it’s so important.
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The Power of Unconditional Support in Musical Learning and Development
Unconditional support doesn’t mean freely accepting negative or harmful behaviors, but rather treating people as fallible human beings regardless of what they do.
‘The Day I Learned How to Teach’: Bassist John Hamil’s Favorite Lesson
Bassist John Hamil recalls his favorite lesson: "I take this story with me to every lesson and never undervalue the student’s time and effort."
Effective Teaching Strategies for a Music Student With Alzheimer’s Disease
Along with that emotional investment, here are some strategies that work well for teaching music students with Alzheimer's.
Vulnerability Can Be a Key Teaching Tool—If You’re Willing to Go There
Showing students the stages leading up to competence lets them know that their experience is not an aberration; that they are on the same road we, too, are on.
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Pandemic Pedagogy: How Creative Limitation May Sow Benefits in the Long Term
As performers and teachers, we may use the pandemic's forced limitations to create new and possibly even more productive solutions moving forward.
For the Better: Lockdown Has Helped Me Re-evaluate My Own Development as a Cellist and Teacher
Teaching online can feel impersonal in comparison, but 2020 has offered me the space to re-evaluate the way I approach my own musical and teaching life.
Critical Connections: The Fundamental Concept at the Hyde Park Suzuki Institute in Chicago is Love
The question that I’ve been asked from day one has been, “Why does it feel different than any other music school when I walk in the door?”
Those Who Can’t, Can Learn: Teaching Music Requires Far More Than Just Personal Proficiency
By Olivia Noh | From the January-February 2021 issue of Strings magazine In college, I came across George Bernard Shaw’s infamous quote, “He who can, does; he who cannot, teaches.” It was a character in one of Shaw’s plays that…
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How Online Teaching Has Forged Unexpectedly Strong Bonds Between My Music Students and Me
By Caeli Smith | From the November-December 2020 issue of Strings magazine “Wait, so—when I put my pinky down on the A string, it sounds the same as the open E string?” Allia looked at me, her face lighting up. …
How My Worst Cello Lesson Taught Me the Best Lesson I Could Have Learned
To say it was a disaster would be kind. But this is the one that sticks out for the simple reason that in one of my lowest moments as a student, I actually learned the most.
State of Mind: How Musicians Can Leverage the Benefits of Mental Practice
By Rebecca Fischer | From the January/February 2020 issue of Strings Magazine Pulling is an action I associate with the creation and recall of art. I pull the bow across the strings of my violin, conjuring up emotional worlds I…
Violinist Lisa Grodin: How I Almost Earned My Artistic License
By Lisa Grodin When I was a young violinist, I assumed that “artistic license” was a permit for which one could apply—just like a driver’s license or an ID card. I wanted to create magic from sound. I wanted one…
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How a Student’s Struggles with Rhythm Taught Me a New Way to Teach
By Megan Lynch Chowning I have been teaching the fiddle for 30 years, and since the very beginning, I’ve focused the majority of my educational energy on danceability and groove and everything rhythmic. Traditional American fiddle music—whether it’s bluegrass, old-time, Texas…