Chapter 9

Chapter 9

3. When teaching students to play or sing accompanying parts, should these parts be studied and learned by themselves or in conjunction with the melodic lines? Why?

A lot of this depends on what makes up the accompanying parts. If the accompanying parts are on afterbeats in a piece of music, it may prove difficult to practice it alone because it is difficult to tell how the part fits in with the entire piece. However if singers are being taught their individual parts and the parts are close together, trying to learn them together will be difficult. These parts should be taught separately as their own melodies to make sure that all sections know their parts well and won’t be tempted to jump to a different part.

5. Describe four things a teacher can do to save time in rehearsals.

Our ensemble rehearsals often seem too short and it might seem like we never get through everything we wanted to. It is imperative for music teachers use time effectively in all rehearsals and have a plan for what will happen at every rehearsal. The book lists four specific things to keep in mind for saving time in rehearsals. One is to write music titles on the board before class so that students know what music to get out and in what order to put it. This saves time between pieces where students might have to fumble through their folders to find music. The second is to designate students to pass out or collect music outside of rehearsal instead of during class. Another is to appoint students to take roll at the beginning of class. And the final way the book describes is to provide an electric tuner so students can tune instruments before class begins.

6. What are the differences between rehearsing and teaching?

In music education the line between rehearsing and teaching becomes blurry because a lot of the time, we teach through rehearsing. By definition, rehearsing is ‘preparing a work for performance by fixing parts and making performers familiar with how the music should be performed.’ Teaching, on the other hand, is guiding the process by which students learn something such as the notes of a chord, correct embouchure, or characteristics of different kinds of music.