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bandman · 01-30-2007, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Manny Laureano

... I think the biggest problem is people playing them automatically, reflexively without really knowing why.

Manny,

You could insert almost any technical exercise as the topic of your statement as I quoted it above. So very often musicians do specific drills without knowing why they are doing them. It is kind of like swinging a baseball bat without understanding that you are supposed to hit the ball. You never get a desired result if you don't understand the result that is desired.

I wish that more often people would make the statement quoted above when speaking to young people. When I teach my students in about 90% of the cases I try to have them understand why we are doing certain drills, and in the case of a middle school band, why we are playing a certain piece of music.

What is the desired result? What is the educational purpose behind learning a certain piece of music? How and why will we be better after we learn this tune, or perfect this exercise?

Sometimes we do things just for the sake of the music, and sometimes we do things just because they are fun for the kids, but most of the time we have a reason for everything we do in a music class, and I think it helps my students to understand that reason.

No long drawn out explanations, just a concept or goal that is understood by the student prior to starting something new.

In your posts here at TM you, and many others, do a great job of explaining why you do certain things. I just want you to know that I appreciate your time in explaining, "why we do things", and not just "how to do them".

Dave