Klarinet Archive - Posting 000599.txt from 1998/06

From: Rich & Tani Miller <musicians@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Beginner students
Date: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 11:11:41 -0400

I disagree with WG Grabner's response. In my school district this year, we
started implementing multiage classes. It took a lot of adjustment and LOTS
of planning, but we did see some really great results both academically and
socially. For example, my multiage (2nd/3rd) class did better on solo
singing assessments than the 2nd and 3rd grade classes did separately. My
4th graders did better on recorders this year than in any previous years. I
attribute that to their being in a 4th/5th multiage class with 5th graders as
role models (they had already played recorder for a year). I've always had
first and second year band and orchestra students in the same groups.
Beginners achieve more in a short period of time when they hear their peers
doing things that they can't do yet. More advanced students love to perform
for other students.

You can use you advanced student as an example for the others. Obviously you
want to keep pushing him to advance as well. Why not teach them tonic and
dominant harmonic functions and let him improvise over top the harmony? If
you wrote out the harmony part, it would strengthen your lower level students
reading ability and would work on ear-training with your upper level
student. It would be good for all your students, though, to play by ear.
You could also use duets and have the lower level students play the easier
parts and upper level students play the more advanced parts. Yamaha makes
pretty decent ensemble books with three part pieces. In the clarinet book,
the first parts in the pieces (I think) often go over the break. The second
and third parts usually don't. In addition, this will keep ALL students
playing. More playing with good technique reinforced usually results in
better players.

Having a group lesson is a great opportunity to learn through ensemble music
rather than the traditional method of going straight through the lesson
book. You just have to stop teaching like a traditional teacher. If your
students are making music, they will almost certainly learn in the process.

GrabnerWG@-----.com wrote:

> Anna....regarding your very advanced student, get him out of the class and
> give him private lessons. There is NO way to accomodate him and the other
> sudents in the class. It will just frustrate them and demotivate him.
>
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