As we continue our conversation on the advantages of music education for children, I want to make sure you understand that music schools and private teachers do not have it in their agendas to make a great musician out of every student!
Have you ever talked to people who have completed only half of their music education? If not, then I recommend you do. Certainly, they had some difficulties in training, because studying is hard work! But I bet you’ll hear them say that they regret quitting. Later in life, people understand that the kind of push they received in their emotional and intellectual development was due to musical training in their childhood.
I talked to many adults who had taken music lessons as children. Some told me amazing stories about how the music helped them improve their memory (and not only musical). Others noticed that their spoken language became richer, and their voice more expressive. I’ve also met people who use their once-musically trained hands and fingers to do dainty, nimble work in skillful projects. For example, among these are many who work as secretaries or at jobs that are closely connected with a computer.
Children who study music can better and more expressively recite poems than other children. Many “musical” children grow up to be fine actors.
Also, very few people know that the most successful among those who are multilingual used to play musical instruments in childhood! And, the longer their training was as a child, the better their grip on foreign language speaking and comprehension as an adult! Ninety-five percent of polyglots used to or still play musical instruments.
Also, it is obvious that playing music makes the hands – and especially the fingers – of painters or artists quite skillful and capable. Having listed the advantages of music education, I’d like to add that former “musical” children, even if they did not become professional musicians, having grown up, regard their work with more responsibility and professionalism. They are pleasant to talk with because they love people. Due to their specially developed ear for music, “musical” people understand their relatives and children better. The majority of them are happily married, and they choose jobs that have to do with communicating and working with people. There are many teachers, doctors, personnel managers, lawyers, bank clerks, counselors, as well as translators, journalists, etc., among them.
Now, dear parents, hopefully I have dispelled all your doubts about choosing music lessons for your child and answered the question as to “Why I want my child to get music education.”
Yet having made such a serious and responsible decision, I am sure that many of you still have some doubts and questions. And those of you whose children have already begun training will come across certain issues and require assistance and guidance in resolving them from time to time.
Drawing from my own experience, I have noticed that while preparing children for music lessons, parents do not always use the recommended literature, which, unfortunately, is really hard to come by. Sometimes such books are written in “dry” and complex language not intended for easy reading and understanding.
Primarily, a music teachers task lies in the idea of effective and creative communication. Thus, credibility and reliability have always been an issue to academic institutions, their teaching and non-teaching personnel and even the student body.
Music teachers simultaneously motivate, inspire, and support their students through innovative music teachers resources. Whether these resources and tips are from the experiences of other teaching individuals, educators, academes or from the internet, what important is you are able to meet your goals and stay committed to your purpose.
When you make use of effective music teachers resources and tips, you are more likely to gain the interests of your students encouraging them to love music more. As you become good influences and examples to them, they not just tend to love music as one of their subjects but they also have come to love you as their mentors and icons.
I have here a list of different feedbacks, compliments and even suggestions of the students when a group of music educators have rendered effective music teaching strategies and have executed creative activities.
The students are able to cultivate their interest in music and realize their potentials through unique and creative activities regarding their music class and its programs.
Such music teachers resources allow them to learn about other aspects of music which are not covered in a specific course outline, syllabus or private music lessons.
Music teachers are able to encourage and give them such opportunity and exposure that they truly need to create and perform music creatively and independently yet effectively and promptly.
Students are able to learn music as well as the significance of academic freedom and independence. Thus, cooperative learning has played a vital role in this manner since they are tasked to work collaboratively with their co-students and meet a common set of objectives.
Creative activities, which seem unusual and innovative, have brought up fun and excitement among students making them more interested, hooked and eager to learn new things and eventually apply them in real life.
The enhanced program for music teaching has been remarked by the students as a way to boost self-confidence, establish camaraderie among classmates, and experience the fun of learning music all at the same time.
Such exposure to music technology and other relevant innovations have showcased more talents and have brought out the best in most of the students.
It really pays to regenerate more teaching resources and strategies that are more appealing to the kind of students we have in todays generation. Maximizing resources and efforts, music teachers would then realize that music education could be the most rewarding experience.
Being a music teacher can be a challenging task. It involves a dose of time and effort to be spent on research, enhancement and upgrade in terms of your teaching strategies and methods. Since teaching and learning are both dynamic in nature, you as an educator must know how to advance your music teaching resources and techniques so as to become efficient and effective at all times.
In this article, you would be informed and updated with the latest resources and strategies on music teaching – suitable for all students from different walks of life. This also includes their corresponding benefits, advantages and corresponding approaches. Here they are:
Brainstorming among Students
This is a process that is designed for generating multiple ideas/options in which judgment is suspended until a maximum number of ideas have been made. Following generation of ideas, options are typically analyzed; the best solution is identified; and, a plan of action is developed.
Its advantages include:
* the active involvement of learners in higher levels of thinking;
* the promotion of peer learning and critical thinking; and,
* the creation of synergy, teamwork and cooperation.
To meet their sets of objectives, music teachers must use methods that would stimulate thinking, creativity, inquiry, and consensus. They should also provide clear instructions on how the process exactly works – ensuring that all students adhere to the rules.
Computer Simulation
In this context, such specific and practical examination, procedural training and data interpretation skills in realistic situations through the use of highly realistic computerized dummies and multimedia are utilized and applied accordingly to further teach particular music lessons.
Advantages of computer simulation are the following:
* Students can portray realistic situations, provide immediate feedback and inquiry, and most of all, can make use of such learning and acquisition in real life experiences.
* This also allows the learners to stay focused on such topic – eliminating irrelevant and unnecessary aspects.
Music educators must choose learning objectives that involve hands-on experience that can allow the students to have direct control and access to music technology. However, the faculty must be trained and equipped with such simulation skills so as to instruct the learners correspondingly and facilitate experiences and feedbacks accordingly.
Interactive Demonstrations and Games
These strategies pave way to activities where learners can observe how they are being done and administered in preparation to practical application. These may involve competitions, participations, drills and feedbacks into the learning experience as a motivating factor and a ground for application of principles.
It is really beneficial to both music educators and students to integrate such demo and games in the learning process. These help boost their self-confidence and broaden their attention span – targeting questions and answers. Such techniques also actively involve learners, regenerate motivation, provide challenges and express oneself while creating a fun learning environment.
These may be just some of the many effective music teachers’ resources and teaching strategies that are readily available online to help all music educators around the globe spread this message: Learning music is a rewarding and fun experience that can change and touch lives.
When I ask parents, “Why do your children need music education?” I often get a generalized answer like, “My child studies for himself.” Drawing from my own life experience, I can tell you this with absolute confidence: the more clearly and more precisely we know what we want, the quicker and easier we get it.
To understand the advantage of musical education, let’s talk about the music lessons in more detail, beginning with the most simple and popular art – the art of singing.
The voice is given to a person from the moment he is born as the means of a congenital, unconditional, protective reflex. Later, the person learns to use the sounds produced to develop a speaking and then a singing voice. By singing songs or humming tunes, children have an opportunity to accumulate musical impressions and acoustical experience, develop an ear for music, and learn to use the natural musical instrument, the voice. The skilful use of a singing voice is one of the main advantages for the development of child’s musical abilities. Even simply singing for your own pleasure can bring a lot of positive moments into your life. Also, singing activates the functioning in the left (logic) and right (figurative) hemispheres of a brain. As a result, the working capacity of the child increases. Singing also promotes attention and improves the mood.
How can singing positively influence children’s health? Singing actively develops and strengthens the respiratory system, which is especially important at the early age. It also naturally trains the muscles of the throat and vocal chords. Because the respiratory system is closely connected with the cardiovascular system, the child, being engaged in respiratory gymnastics during singing, thereby strengthens his health. Singing also promotes the development of musical abilities such as hearing, memory, sense of rhythm, and time/tempo.
Many of you have probably heard that singing can cure such speech impediments such as stuttering. I can confirm this fact with confidence – by using my own techniques, I helped one of my daughters eliminate this problem within two years. The fact is that while singing, words are sounded lingeringly, which helps the child pronounce separate sounds and syllables more precisely. In other words, singing is the cure to many language and speech difficulties, such as stuttering! Well-chosen drills combined with a child’s desire to get rid of an unpleasant impediment are the keystone to success.
In addition, proper speech characterizes correct thinking. Thus, after eliminating a stutter, your child’s susceptibility to general studying and learning at public school will improve due to the resultant emotional liberation.
Children who sing regularly are also very focused. They easily learn foreign languages, they are more diligent in comparison to other children, and they are able to study and absorb any training much easier.
Singing in vocal ensemble or choir is also beneficial. This way, children get to develop additional qualities as musicians. For example, harmonic hearing is a skill in which a person hears and distinguishes a number of tones that sound simultaneously, as well as the sense of ensemble. (Ensemble, from the French, means “together.”) By becoming part of a choir or vocal ensemble, the child starts to understand and feel his own importance and power. Besides, who would scoff at the ability to have a beautiful and well-trained voice? Let’s admit it: it would be very pleasant to talk with such a person – and hopefully, hear him sing,
(To be continued)
Parents Play the Most Central, Yet Vulnerable Roles in Childrenâs Music Education
The three basic parties who take part in childrenâs music education are the child, the teacher (or teachers) and the parents.
To best understand how the young musician will regard music lessons, we must ask: âHow should parents plan for the musical education of their children and what they know about it?â
As a rule, there are two main things to consider: the choice and cost of the instrument, auxiliary materials and lessons; and the search for a good teacher. After that, the preparation for the childâs musical training is largely complete. However, buying the instrument and paying for lessons are not the most complex part of music education, although many parents think so and believe that the rest is up to the teacher and the child, who is obliged to frequent music lessons on a regular basis and do the homework. In fact, to parents, it all seems very easy! âDid you do your homework today? Have you practiced that piece enough? Have you learned the fingers in an etude? Come on, play the piece you had to memorize!â
Hereâs the simple truth: The reasons behind oneâs success in music education as well as the loss of interest creep in absolutely imperceptibly, and often during quite a long period of time.
First, then, letâs discuss what happens when a child loses interest.
Again, parents are the most integral and important parts of the equation when it comes to their childrenâs success or loss of interest in musical education. When a child gets bored with his or her lessons, the parents, who by that point are exhausted by battles with the child to practice and often feel financially pinched from the costs of the instrument and the lessons, must then face the difficult decision of whether to terminate the lessons.
While preparing the materials for my book, Voices of our Children, I talked to parents and teachers and asked them what they considered to be the prime reason behind the childâs loss of interest. Can you guess who a whopping 80 percent considered to be at fault? The child! It was he/she who did not want to continue the education!
Whatâs more important is that after terminating the lessons, very few parents asked themselves why their child lost interest. Letâs look the perspective of each participant in this scenario:
The child. He is happy! His âtorturesâ have finally ended. He no longer has to hear unpleasant things about his careless attitude toward music lessons. No one will ever force him to learn music against his will! Now he is free from tiresome lessons and can spend time doing things he likes!
The teacher. Not every teacher, especially not those who often lose students, will search for the real reasons behind a childâs loss of interest in music lessons. It is easier for some teachers to accuse or blame the student than to admit to their own mistakes.
In this case, what does the teacher do? He quickly forgets about former students and places an ad to get new ones â he has to earn a living. Itâs just a job. Â
Parents. Believe it or not, but I think that when the child quits musical training, the parents suffer the most â not only because they have invested in this venture materially, but because along with the termination of music education they must part with their own dreams, hopes, and an opportunity to discover and develop their childâs true talent that might not have been obvious.
Now, when the child quits music lessons, he can quickly redirect his attention to new interests. The teacher, who has lost the student, can compensate for his loss by finding a replacement. But the parents do suffer the most â they cannot âmove onâ â they cannot replace own child with another!
Therefore, to avoid this problem before it hits home, I strongly believe parents should prepare for their childrenâs music education ahead of time. They should know beforehand what awaits them in the future, and should be ready for possible hardships.
www.quintecco.com
Tatiana Bandurina is an inventor, a professional writer and a member of Canadian Authors Association. For more than twenty years she worked in several children’s musical academies and schools as a teacher and a principal. Tatiana is now a chief of Quintecco Educational Products, Inc., the website is www.quintecco.com, a company that develops and markets new media education products to the consumer and business education markets.
