This year was my third visit to Hungary for Kodály related activities. The first had been for the Summer School at the Kodály Institute, the second for Orsolya Szabo's piano course in Keszthely and this time for a week of Colourstrings Methodology at the Kodály Institute.

I had been intrigued about the Colourstrings Method for quite a while hearing small bits of information from people over the years. After seeing the books it was very clear that it was not the kind of method book where you can just buy it and start using it. I have been gradually working on my own teaching system incorporating Kodály musicianship with instrument lessons but it is continually changing for each student. I didn't go on the course thinking because I wanted to become a Colourstrings teacher but because I wanted to find out how the method works and whether there might be some ideas I could incorporate into my own teaching.

The course was run by Geza Szilvay, the author of the violin books. His energy and enthusiasm for only the best teaching was crystal clear as well as infectious. The week was extremely intensive. 10am – 6pm methodology for 5 days. It was a very fast pace as there was a huge body of work to get through to cover the entire system and all it's supplementary materials. There were people on the course from Turkey, Spain, Austria, Ireland as well as a number of Hungarians.

The week was full of lightbulb moments, particularly in relation to teaching violin technique. The guided bowing, position changing with left hand pizzicato and of course the magic notes! (harmonics). The Colourstrings Method really has thought of everything. In the way that the Kodaly approach leaves no chance for gaps in musical understanding, the Colourstrings Method leaves no chance for gaps in violin technique. Of course, as with any approach or method, it must be in the hands of a good teacher who has a good understanding of what they are doing. It was wonderful to hear all the thinking behind the different ideas. Geza also talked about the changes and amendments that have happened over the years based of their experience and feedback of the books. It is a living method in which the writers have been open to improving it and adding to it. It was also wonderful to see video clips of lessons in action as well as performances from children who have been through the approach in Finland, where Geza is based.

Towards the end of the week I was starting to think about how I will be able to use the new knowledge within my teaching at home. My first step is going to be to introduce a number of the supplementary materials to my students. There is a book of studies for reinforcing position changing and harmonics which will great for my more advanced students to help them to become more flexible in their technique and secure in their position changing. There are also some wonderful accompaniments of the simple folk songs which I can introduce to my younger students. I have also offered a trial period of two lessons a week to a couple of my youngest pupils in the hope that I can make a case for more people to see it as a possibility in the future.

It feels like the start of a new chapter for my teaching, where more and more of my teaching is in the way I want it to be!

How do you finish learning something?
How do you know if it's finished?
What does finished mean?

As I come to the end of the first month with the 40 piece challenge, these are some of the questions I have been considering. Personally, I am not very good at finishing pieces, I can always find things that need improving. However, it is worth remembering that perfection is not a good thing to aim for as it doesn't exist!

A better thing to aim for is excellence. 

Here are some questions to ask:

Does the music flow?
Is it confident?
Does it seem easy?
Can you play it from memory? (Not always necessary but still a good question)
Could you make a recording or play it in a concert?

My question of the week is:
What do you need to do to finish this phrase/line/section/piece?

I came across the following blog article before Christmas about the 40 piece challenge.  

https://elissamilne.wordpress.com/2015/02/04/where-did-the-40-piece-challenge-begin/

It got me thinking about the amount of repertoire that gets finished in a year. Of course there are other things that are happen in instrumental lessons other than learning pieces, but it's interesting for me to compare the amount of pieces I got through as a violin student compared to the piano. I always found sight reading much harder on the piano, as is fairly common. What would happen if the focus was on playing many more pieces but at an easier level? 

As I try to encourage students to take an non-exam route to learning, the 40 piece challenge appeals to me as a way to track and reward progress in a different kind of way which incorporates any style and level of music, without a deadline.

Things that can be included:

Pieces chosen by the students
Compositions by the students
Pieces taught by ear
Pieces that include improvisation
Different styles, classical, pop, jazz, folk etc. 
Exam pieces 
Concert pieces

With so many possibilities to choose from, there is room for everything!


 

This year I finished my Masters Degree at Brunel University and just this week I received my certificate in the post. My dissertation was about the use of memorisation in music performance, particularly looking at the challenges that memorising contemporary repertoire poses. I won't go into all the details (although I would be happy to share my work with anyone who is interested) but I really do believe that memorisation is the way forward in making quality and confident performances. 

There is a level of ownership that is gained by the process of memorisation which means you can communicate the piece to the best of your ability. It can be very time consuming but it really is worth it. I challenge any musician who has never played from memory to pick a piece and give it a go. The more you do it, the more you learn the best ways that work for you and the process will become quicker and more efficient. 

My experience of the Kodaly approach to music education has made me think about the importance of learning by ear and how this improves the memory. If rote learning is used from a young age, children get used to memorising things quickly and in a few years are able to much memorise longer sections of songs or music naturally and with ease, as well as being better at picking out tunes they know independently (a skill I always wished I was better at as a child).  

I've also found it vital for my more recent venture into jazz and improvisation. The tunes I feel most comfortable and confident with are the ones where the tune and chords are completely memorised.

I'll finish with something David Vinden often says "How important is the memory? Or have you forgotten?"

The key to progressing well is down to the practice habits we create. 

I've been reading a bit about how habits work recently and these are the things I have found interesting:

1. Inspiration and motivation might be where the ideas for habit changing activities come from but they cannot be relied upon for long term success. For something to become a habit, it must become so normal that you don't even notice yourself doing it. E.g. you don't need motivation every morning to brush your teeth, you just do it regardless. 

2. The best way to create a new habit is to attach it to an existing habit so that the existing habit becomes the reminder for the new habit. E.g. Put the floss next to the toothbrush so that every time you brush your teeth you are reminded to floss as well. 

3. Focussing on an end result distracts from good habit formation. Habits are about changing behaviour, not the quickest way to an end result. 

4. Starting small and easily achievable is the key to creating a new habit. It can always be built upon once the habit it there.

I've been talking and sharing ideas about practicing with a number of friends and other teachers. I've put together a poster of practice thoughts and ideas. Everything is fairly obvious and ideas that most people will be familiar with but sometimes when it comes down to actually practicing, these ideas are not at the front of our minds. I have displayed one near my piano for myself and in teaching rooms in the schools I work in. 

I have been distributing them to my pupils with the aim that it will help trigger some better and more varied practice habits

It was a good way to start the school year with a reminder of why posture and health is so important to being a musician.

The things I particularly took away from the session were the examples for proving that your body tricks you based on your habits such as trying to fold your arms the opposite way or putting your feet parallel and noticing how they can feel that they are turning in (depending on how wide an angle your feet are used to standing!).

Unless you are very lucky, most musicians end up with some form of bad habits that they end up battling with to change at some point. It could be a practice habit, posture, muscle tension etc. Habits are hard to change because they feel correct and comfortable. Changing a habit feels unfamiliar, uncomfortable and even wrong. It is important to remember that your body is not always giving you correct information and can confuse the familiar with the correct.

As a teacher you only see a pupil for a short time. In order to create good habits and change ones that could cause problems in the future, they need to understand why it is important and why it can be difficult so they can continue noticing the signs or triggers to good habits when they are playing outside lesson time. 

Another idea I took away from the session was describing the musician as an athlete. Good healthy habits to do with warming up and looking after youself are easily associated with athletes and less so with musicians. If musicians can think more like athletes it is much easier to avoid injury!

It all comes down to awareness of the whole body, not just the fingers.

I am completely in support of the Kodaly approach to music education and have seen for myself the huge benefits of beinging music education without instruments,

Musicianship lessons offer a solid foundation and pathway into learning a musical instrument. Children develop skills in: listening, singing, coordination, rhythm, teamwork, confidence to perform individually.

The children that I teach the violin and piano who have done musicnahsip training first, learn a lot quicker and easier as they can put their full attention on playing the instrument because they understand basic musical concepts already.

It also gives children and parents time to find out about different instruments to make an informed decision about what to take lessons in.

It is so important that music is fun and engaging and something that just becomes part of your normal life. Forcing children to practice will not benefit anyone.  However, support and encourangment is vital!

Putting instruments in a visable, accessible and safe place in the home helps children to choose to play without being asked. I am always happy to give ideas and suggestions to individuals to help positive practice happen outside of lessons.

I am a product of a musical education which didn't involve any form of improvisation and very little decision making other than fingering and bowing decisions.  And I didn't really feel that confident about making those decisions.

After starting University I started to encounter musicians and situations where people were 'having a jam'. Improvising for fun! I felt totally bewildered by how I might be able to join in in this kind of situation and would dread one of these happening if there was a piano or violin around because there was an assumption that because I played an instrument I could join in. 

I started to make steps towards improvising through playing with bands and working out things by ear and writing them down or memorising them. It was probably only about a year ago that I started improvising in public. It has been a challenging but hugely rewarding journey (which I haven't finished yet!)

I have begun encorporating very basic improvisation ideas in my teaching (mostly without calling it improvisation at first). The response has been incredible. I've found ways to introduce ideas very gradually and easily so even the most sceptial student finds themself succeeding instantly. Students have been really engaged and have enjoyed creating something which is their own voice. It is also a wonderful tool for teaching a practical understanding of how music works (scales, arpeggios, dominiant 7ths).  I am also using it to develop notation reading skills as the player must choose when to follow the music and when do something different.

Decision making is also fundamental to any practice session away from a teacher so that problems can be solved independantly. It is not just about learning to improvise for performance but all the other skills that brings with it!