I came across a video of Scala on John P.’s One Man’s Blog. Scala is a string quartet recently featured on Britain’s Got Talent. You will certainly recognize the faces on the panel if you watch any of the American talent shows. This may be something to show your string students and let them see some of the possibilities for string instruments. They are not as limited as some might have you believe.
Teaching the Wire Choir has a new home and its own domain name! You may be here as a result of an automatic forward from our previous home. The change was made this weekend and fortunately, there weren’t too many difficulties. All seems to be working fine. Please bookmark the new URL and visit again!
One of my goals is to help my students learn to listen as they play/sing. I want them to begin developing the ability to listen to themselves and the ensemble and respond appropriately to intonation, blend, balance, phrasing, etc. In short, all those elements that transform those dots on the page into something that communicates to both the player(s) and the listeners.
This is not a skill that develops overnight, it takes years of work. Therefore, I believe that learning to listen critically to oneself and one’s ensemble should be taught from the beginning.
A method I like to use is to regularly record the ensemble with my Zoom H2. A day or two later, the students listen to the recording and respond in writing to what they are hearing. Of course, I also expose to recordings of fine groups (orchestras, bands, choirs) so that they are developing a proper sound concept.
To help the students with their written evaluation, I have adapted our state’s music assessment forms (Orchestra Self-Evaluation Form; Chorus Self-Evaluation Form [MSWord document format]). We review the meanings of the various terms each time we do this exercise. After they have “graded” themselves, we discuss what they have heard and what they have written. The students are tough on themselves, but also are not shy about giving credit where it is due.
I would be interested to hear about how you help your students become listening and thinking musicians. Please leave a comment with your ideas.
