PREPARATION GUIDE
,Meaningful Music Instruction Is Always:
• Based on our relation with music. Musical relationships encompass everything from intense
involvement to casual exploration to complete distraction. This means music teaching is more than
mere transmission of musical knowledge and skills. It’s about helping students uncover more of their
individual relations with music.
• Driven by students’ interests. Students thrive as autonomous learners who value exploration, creation,
and mastery. This means teaching goes beyond passive student repetition of performance drills. It’s
about actively engaging students in their own meaningful learning.
• Guided by teachers’ expertise. Teachers are more than assertive authorities who control students’
awareness of what’s wrong or right. Because teachers have vast musical and instructional knowledge,
they’re able to lead students when they cannot lead themselves, pass on the musical tools students
need, and expand students’ ongoing relation with music
1. OUR RELATION WITH MUSIC
Whether we’re performing or playing, listening or creating, music punctuates our lives in a myriad of
ways. From the random spontaneity of tapping a rhythm or humming a tune, to the formalized
occasions of singing the national anthem or playing in a concert, these are all examples of how music
fills our lives. Music has unlimited potential to make life more rich, enjoyable, and meaningful. As pianist
Sylvia Coats offered, “Music touches the emotions. It makes us more fully human.
One’s primary reason for studying music is to enrich one’s soul. Music provides solace in times of grief
and enrichment in our everyday lives” (2006, p. 19). So, what exactly is going on when we consider our
relation with music? How do people experience music in their lives? One thing that makes our relation
with music so remarkable may be expressed as the notion of flow—the optimal yet simple state of mind
when things seem to come together. In experiences involving flow, consciousness is harmoniously
ordered, life is meaningful and enjoyable despite adversity.
Schnabel encourages each of us to dive into the joy of making music. Because students naturally seek
out and participate in diverse meaningful musical experiences, it makes sense for teachers to
incorporate diversities like playing around, making music, and thinking critically about performance
development—three examples from the spectrum of our relation with music that have profound
influences on each other. By playing around and risk taking, students may find out what they don’t know
or cannot do; so, that necessitates bringing in critical thinking, which may lead to explicit actions; which
might need to be tested out in musical performance or more playing around. In this context, teachers
recognize why students may get tired of critical thinking. They know why students may become
disinterested in intentional music making and even the aspects of playing or fiddling around. As a
consequence, teachers and students avoid falling victim to the dangers of repeatedly doing the same
thing at the same level for extended periods of time.
Teachers play a pivotal role in supporting and extending students’ own spectrum of musical relations.
This means piano teachers do more than merely transmitting musical knowledge and skills; they use
students’ individual relation with music to stimulate and support their ongoing musical development.
They take advantage of the broad spectrum that is our relation with music because as music educator
Allsup has proposed, “we are more than makers of music; we are made by the music we make”
, 2. STUDENT INDEPENDENCE
Philosophers, educators, and child experts have long identified independence as a natural dynamic in
the child’s growth from infancy to adulthood. From Rousseau (1712–78), to Pestalozzi (1746–1827), to
Montessori (1870–1952) and such current parenting professionals as Barbara Coloroso, child
independence is acknowledged as an unavoidable and necessary element of every child’s natural
growth.
From the very earliest ages, children make amazing demonstrations of their independence as musicians.
Just think about how many children sing songs on their own, move their bodies to the beat, and
differentiate one musical selection from another or one instrument from another. While children may
acquire such fundamentals through direct instruction from adults, children’s ownership of their
musicianship results mostly from their ordinary everyday encounters with music.
Music is something they internalize because of their preference for listening repeatedly to certain
musical selections. Their independent ownership of music grows because children’s daily lives are full of
repetitious musical moments like commercial jingles, church music, Christmas carols, Happy Birthday,
music on the radio, video games, movies, and more. In this way, children’s musicianship isn’t something
that develops randomly or just by chance. Nor is it something that only develops in formal educational
settings. Children take ownership of their own musicianship as the result of listening to music and trying
things out for themselves.
Teachers may build on their students’ independence by recognizing, validating, and following up on
what students actually do—whether it’s a matter of listening, practicing, or reading, whether it’s
concerned with tone, technical fluency, or interpretation. That means that while teachers take a
leadership role in the early stages as students become familiar with musical vocabulary and our way of
communicating, such processes are only fully successful when students take ownership of what’s going
on. Teachers play an important role in promoting students’ “active participation in learning” (Niemi et
al. 2012, p. 277) and allowing students to take responsibility for their own “personal decision-making”
(Kemp and Mills 2002, p. 13). Even at the first lesson, teachers may prioritize students’ ownership of
sitting too high and just right, light and harsh tone, stiff and flexible fingers. As students progress as
independent musicians, teachers make sure students take ownership of increasingly sophisticated
musical concepts.
One of the challenges teachers face in supporting student independence is that students frequently take
ownership of drawbacks like wrong notes, inflexible techniques, spontaneous fingerings, or radical
interpretations. This challenge brings attention to a very pertinent issue: How can teachers minimize
performance drawbacks while supporting student ownership? Teachers may address this issue by
incorporating what I call multiple ownership. The goal in using multiple ownership is to heighten
students’ awareness of what they’re doing, so they know how it differs from what might be preferable.
, 3. PERSONAL AUTHENTICITY
As criteria for musical performance, the term authenticity is often used regarding the composer’s
performance intentions, faithfulness to historical performance, and period sound especially in terms of
techniques and instruments. So, let me begin by stating that’s not what I intend to explore in this
segment.
My purpose is to examine authenticity from a personal perspective especially as concerned with the
notion of being true to oneself. Personal authenticity is all about the way in which a person’s actions
genuinely align with his or her authentic self—that is the many layers that make up each person’s
uniqueness much like a fabric woven from the countless threads of who we are. Being personally
authentic relies on connecting the fabric of who we are and what we value about ourselves with how we
actually get on with life. For teachers, paying attention to students’ authentic self involves
understanding, recognizing, accepting, and caring for who they are, rather than controlling who we
might want them to be.
Music serves as a resonant and intimate vehicle for experiencing who we are and how we actually get
on with life. As music philosopher Cumming (2000) explained, the musician’s individuality is “inseparable
from the sounds she makes” Musicians express who they are because music’s technical, expressive,
explorative, and formal demands prompt all varieties and intensities of personal involvement. Similarly,
in educational processes, the ideal of authenticity receives widespread support because educational
activities take on personal meaning when connected to the person’s true or core self.3 So, this brings us
to consider: How might an understanding of authenticity impact musical study and performance? What
happens when teachers pay attention to the student’s authentic self?
Music lessons provide teachers with ample ongoing opportunities to interact one-on-one with their
students for periods that may span several years of weekly involvement from preschool through high
school. Teachers get to know their student’s authentic self through observing and listening on
professional, casual, immediate, and introspective levels. Everything comes into play. Things like the
physicality of what students do—the quickness or slowness of how students move, mannerisms, the
flexibility in bodily involvement and digital finesse, physical strength, the comfort of a balanced body,
what their eyes do, body language, breathing and gestures, the need for movement. Students have their
own emotional compass—easily frustrated, endless patience, playing from the heart, how things feel,
dealing with success and failure, openness to all kinds of emotional intent.
There’s everything connected with thinking—brief and lengthy concentration, making sense of what’s
going on, the words they use, their own life experiences, short and long term goals, how much they
have to say, figuring out the meaning of progress and setbacks. Students possess their own intuitive
insight—being in the moment, spontaneous creativity and imagination, letting go and trusting your gut.
Things like spirituality—soulful grounding, anima mundi, faith, what students believe in, morals, what
they care about, relation to nature, cultural and community values. In the context of studio music
lessons, teachers put together a picture of their students’ true self as a result of immediate and evolving
perceptions. They assemble information from students’ interactions with their teachers, other students,
and their parents.
,Meaningful Music Instruction Is Always:
• Based on our relation with music. Musical relationships encompass everything from intense
involvement to casual exploration to complete distraction. This means music teaching is more than
mere transmission of musical knowledge and skills. It’s about helping students uncover more of their
individual relations with music.
• Driven by students’ interests. Students thrive as autonomous learners who value exploration, creation,
and mastery. This means teaching goes beyond passive student repetition of performance drills. It’s
about actively engaging students in their own meaningful learning.
• Guided by teachers’ expertise. Teachers are more than assertive authorities who control students’
awareness of what’s wrong or right. Because teachers have vast musical and instructional knowledge,
they’re able to lead students when they cannot lead themselves, pass on the musical tools students
need, and expand students’ ongoing relation with music
1. OUR RELATION WITH MUSIC
Whether we’re performing or playing, listening or creating, music punctuates our lives in a myriad of
ways. From the random spontaneity of tapping a rhythm or humming a tune, to the formalized
occasions of singing the national anthem or playing in a concert, these are all examples of how music
fills our lives. Music has unlimited potential to make life more rich, enjoyable, and meaningful. As pianist
Sylvia Coats offered, “Music touches the emotions. It makes us more fully human.
One’s primary reason for studying music is to enrich one’s soul. Music provides solace in times of grief
and enrichment in our everyday lives” (2006, p. 19). So, what exactly is going on when we consider our
relation with music? How do people experience music in their lives? One thing that makes our relation
with music so remarkable may be expressed as the notion of flow—the optimal yet simple state of mind
when things seem to come together. In experiences involving flow, consciousness is harmoniously
ordered, life is meaningful and enjoyable despite adversity.
Schnabel encourages each of us to dive into the joy of making music. Because students naturally seek
out and participate in diverse meaningful musical experiences, it makes sense for teachers to
incorporate diversities like playing around, making music, and thinking critically about performance
development—three examples from the spectrum of our relation with music that have profound
influences on each other. By playing around and risk taking, students may find out what they don’t know
or cannot do; so, that necessitates bringing in critical thinking, which may lead to explicit actions; which
might need to be tested out in musical performance or more playing around. In this context, teachers
recognize why students may get tired of critical thinking. They know why students may become
disinterested in intentional music making and even the aspects of playing or fiddling around. As a
consequence, teachers and students avoid falling victim to the dangers of repeatedly doing the same
thing at the same level for extended periods of time.
Teachers play a pivotal role in supporting and extending students’ own spectrum of musical relations.
This means piano teachers do more than merely transmitting musical knowledge and skills; they use
students’ individual relation with music to stimulate and support their ongoing musical development.
They take advantage of the broad spectrum that is our relation with music because as music educator
Allsup has proposed, “we are more than makers of music; we are made by the music we make”
, 2. STUDENT INDEPENDENCE
Philosophers, educators, and child experts have long identified independence as a natural dynamic in
the child’s growth from infancy to adulthood. From Rousseau (1712–78), to Pestalozzi (1746–1827), to
Montessori (1870–1952) and such current parenting professionals as Barbara Coloroso, child
independence is acknowledged as an unavoidable and necessary element of every child’s natural
growth.
From the very earliest ages, children make amazing demonstrations of their independence as musicians.
Just think about how many children sing songs on their own, move their bodies to the beat, and
differentiate one musical selection from another or one instrument from another. While children may
acquire such fundamentals through direct instruction from adults, children’s ownership of their
musicianship results mostly from their ordinary everyday encounters with music.
Music is something they internalize because of their preference for listening repeatedly to certain
musical selections. Their independent ownership of music grows because children’s daily lives are full of
repetitious musical moments like commercial jingles, church music, Christmas carols, Happy Birthday,
music on the radio, video games, movies, and more. In this way, children’s musicianship isn’t something
that develops randomly or just by chance. Nor is it something that only develops in formal educational
settings. Children take ownership of their own musicianship as the result of listening to music and trying
things out for themselves.
Teachers may build on their students’ independence by recognizing, validating, and following up on
what students actually do—whether it’s a matter of listening, practicing, or reading, whether it’s
concerned with tone, technical fluency, or interpretation. That means that while teachers take a
leadership role in the early stages as students become familiar with musical vocabulary and our way of
communicating, such processes are only fully successful when students take ownership of what’s going
on. Teachers play an important role in promoting students’ “active participation in learning” (Niemi et
al. 2012, p. 277) and allowing students to take responsibility for their own “personal decision-making”
(Kemp and Mills 2002, p. 13). Even at the first lesson, teachers may prioritize students’ ownership of
sitting too high and just right, light and harsh tone, stiff and flexible fingers. As students progress as
independent musicians, teachers make sure students take ownership of increasingly sophisticated
musical concepts.
One of the challenges teachers face in supporting student independence is that students frequently take
ownership of drawbacks like wrong notes, inflexible techniques, spontaneous fingerings, or radical
interpretations. This challenge brings attention to a very pertinent issue: How can teachers minimize
performance drawbacks while supporting student ownership? Teachers may address this issue by
incorporating what I call multiple ownership. The goal in using multiple ownership is to heighten
students’ awareness of what they’re doing, so they know how it differs from what might be preferable.
, 3. PERSONAL AUTHENTICITY
As criteria for musical performance, the term authenticity is often used regarding the composer’s
performance intentions, faithfulness to historical performance, and period sound especially in terms of
techniques and instruments. So, let me begin by stating that’s not what I intend to explore in this
segment.
My purpose is to examine authenticity from a personal perspective especially as concerned with the
notion of being true to oneself. Personal authenticity is all about the way in which a person’s actions
genuinely align with his or her authentic self—that is the many layers that make up each person’s
uniqueness much like a fabric woven from the countless threads of who we are. Being personally
authentic relies on connecting the fabric of who we are and what we value about ourselves with how we
actually get on with life. For teachers, paying attention to students’ authentic self involves
understanding, recognizing, accepting, and caring for who they are, rather than controlling who we
might want them to be.
Music serves as a resonant and intimate vehicle for experiencing who we are and how we actually get
on with life. As music philosopher Cumming (2000) explained, the musician’s individuality is “inseparable
from the sounds she makes” Musicians express who they are because music’s technical, expressive,
explorative, and formal demands prompt all varieties and intensities of personal involvement. Similarly,
in educational processes, the ideal of authenticity receives widespread support because educational
activities take on personal meaning when connected to the person’s true or core self.3 So, this brings us
to consider: How might an understanding of authenticity impact musical study and performance? What
happens when teachers pay attention to the student’s authentic self?
Music lessons provide teachers with ample ongoing opportunities to interact one-on-one with their
students for periods that may span several years of weekly involvement from preschool through high
school. Teachers get to know their student’s authentic self through observing and listening on
professional, casual, immediate, and introspective levels. Everything comes into play. Things like the
physicality of what students do—the quickness or slowness of how students move, mannerisms, the
flexibility in bodily involvement and digital finesse, physical strength, the comfort of a balanced body,
what their eyes do, body language, breathing and gestures, the need for movement. Students have their
own emotional compass—easily frustrated, endless patience, playing from the heart, how things feel,
dealing with success and failure, openness to all kinds of emotional intent.
There’s everything connected with thinking—brief and lengthy concentration, making sense of what’s
going on, the words they use, their own life experiences, short and long term goals, how much they
have to say, figuring out the meaning of progress and setbacks. Students possess their own intuitive
insight—being in the moment, spontaneous creativity and imagination, letting go and trusting your gut.
Things like spirituality—soulful grounding, anima mundi, faith, what students believe in, morals, what
they care about, relation to nature, cultural and community values. In the context of studio music
lessons, teachers put together a picture of their students’ true self as a result of immediate and evolving
perceptions. They assemble information from students’ interactions with their teachers, other students,
and their parents.
