My Key Pillars Of Music Education

People learn best by uncovering information themselves. Pioneers in Education Theory, such as Maria Montessori and Friedrich Froebel, studied and documented this in detail.

In my lessons, I adhere to this pillar by:

• Frequently asking questions of the student
• Directing the student’s attention without giving away answers
• Allowing the student time to think and work through ideas
• Following the student’s unique paths of interest
• Identifying the student’s personal skills and helping the student reach full potential

Audiation is the ability to understand musical sound in one’s mind. The simple definition is “playing by ear,” but audiation goes beyond that. Audiation allows one to accurately reproduce musical sounds on an instrument immediately after hearing them. It allows one to accurately notate musical sounds immediately after hearing them. A person who can audiate well experiences music as more alive, more fun, and more motivating.

In my lessons, I adhere to this pillar by:

• Presenting concepts by sound before sight
• Teaching ear training from the very first lesson
• Intertwining ear training into every other musical concept, including note-reading
• Teaching scales by the sound relationships among tones
• Using apps and workbooks designed for ear training
• Incorporating ear training activities such as:
  • Musical dictation
  • Play what you hear
  • Sight-singing