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.
My Studio
‘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.
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; ... Read More...
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 ope... Read More...
How My Worst Cello Lesson Taught Me the Best Lesson I Could Have Learned
By Brian Hodges | From the May-June 2020 issue of Strings magazine The most memorable lesson I ever had as a student, the one that is seared in my brain and... Read More...