|
The
goal of teaching is to make the student independent and to eventually surpass
the teacher. Do not follow in the
master’s footsteps, seek what he sought.
A good
teacher can turn the “but I can do it in the practice room” syndrome on its
head. Through preliminary exercises
the teacher should be able to get the student to play better than in practice,
and to understand how it was done.
A good
teacher can hear how a student practiced.
Typical lesson
Typical assignment
Teaching saxophone beginners
Ramifications for different groups
Yearly cycle
Masterclass topics
Teaching
saxophone,
Typical lesson
back to top
There’s a world of difference between correct and good; practice
should change material from correct to good, NOT incorrect to correct.
1. Warmup and/or preliminary exercise
2. play assignment, plan the next practice (maybe
start new material together)
3. long term item(s): sightreading, scales,
altissimo, start new music, etc.
-
If the student isn’t warmed up, they need to first.
-
I always ask “How did you work on the music this week?” (possibly
have the student keep a practice log book)
-
Based on previous lessons with the student, their response to the above
question, and the difficulty of the piece I try to determine what preliminary
exercises to do first. Rarely do they jump in.
-
Over the course of a week the student may practice five different ways.
It’s not always productive to hear all of those ways in the next lesson. In
fact, it may be more productive to hear a way NOT practiced during the week.
-
After they’ve done a preliminary exercise, they perform the section,
after which I ask:
-
“Based on how you just played that, how/where would you practice this
next?” or “What do you want to improve?”
-
Plan the next practice session, a lesson is just a guided practice
session (sometimes it can be mostly performance).
-
Since starting new material is tedious but crucial, I often start new
material with them in a lesson.
-
Don’t adopt the implicit
message: “I dare you to learn the next assignment; come back next week and
I’ll fix it for you.” Avoid the
self-perpetuating correction mode.
-
If an interpreter is indeed creating as well as discovering, this has
great teaching ramifications. Avoid telling the student “how it goes.” Teach
by using questions, questions that could be asked of any piece.
Teaching
saxophone,
Typical assignment
back to top
-
During the lesson the student should plan their next practice session.
I believe that it is more effective to plan only the next session. It is important to keep a log book so the teacher sees the
chronology of the practicing.
-
Hopefully the student will identify appropriate place and manner of
practice. At least once a semester
I use each of the different methods either as an assignment or a preliminary
exercise in the lesson including. Red = finger tech,
blue = air, green =
no sax, black = mental agility
Troubleshoot
technique
Silent
fingering
With
metronome
memorized
chunk
Each
note gets a beat
All
on one pitch, neck
With
a tuner
Tongue
subdivisions of each note
Arch
map
Characterize
Study
the other parts
Sing
it, with a sounding tuner
Write
it by memory
Combine
ways, (silent, with tuner, with metronome, each note gets a beat)
Record
once through the piece, play with recording
Play 2
lines, skip 2 lines
Vary
starting points, awkward places
-
Assignment should address:
o
Warm-ups (tone, tuning, facility, artic, vib)
o
Old material (how, where)
o
New material
o
Long term (sightread, altissimo, reeds,…)
-
break assignments
program notes
CD database
Repertoire database
Listening (reaction,
description)
Analysis
Resume
Lesson plan for beginners
Teaching
Beginner saxophones
back to top
Concepts borrowed from Suzuki:
Teach sound/physical playing before reading, but soon
use flash cards with the exercises they already know.
learn theory (counting, notes, etc.) independently
from the instrument or prior to (conservatory method)
Individual and group lessons
Parental participation
Don't let the student take the instrument home until
approximately after lesson 6. If possible these first six lessons should be
almost daily. Lessons are just guided practicing. learn next week's assignment
in this week's lesson
Incremental steps. Start with neck and mouthpiece
first, then to left hand on sax with right hand in bell. Discuss everything
methodically from:
Posture
Hand position: finger patterns - have tons of flash cards
Tonguing: start with mostly slurring
breathing expand-shoulders(relax)-straw(focus)-release=breath
embouchure
- bottom(taught)-teeth-corners-like
whistling=focus
sound
on neck breathe--bottom-teeth-corners-forward-release
Isolate
aspects: try to give separate
assignments (tonguing, breathing, embouchure, fingers, ear, theory)
Common faults
Posture - alternate sitting/standing
Neckstrap adjustment
lifting too many fingers going from note to note,
e.g. D to E, plays A in between
bunching up bottom lip
slap/harsh tongue - discuss direction/focus/speed of
airstream, do away from sax
Music
FLASH CARDS
Lacour 100 Dechiffrages Manuscrits (2 books, each has
50) Billaudot
Hovey Practical
Exercises
Londeix Playing
the Saxophone (Lemoine)
Many other beginner books
are okay but need supplements, beware of visually overwhelming books
(& methods Levinsky, Logsdon, Amazon)
philosophy, syllabus, grading, Gardner, Lautzenheiser, Campbell, Suzuki
Challenging
the status quo
Don’t
accept the inherent inadequacies of the instrument (most of the audience is not saxophonists). Transcend the
saxophone. Be more than a good saxophonist, or a good musician, be an artist.
Play
high & soft like a violin, pretend your music has words like a singer,
Aspects
of other instruments to notice:
STRINGS
– constantly tuning (their ears & instruments), large variety of
articulations & variables to achieve different sounds (bow pressure,
speed, angle, distance from bridge). Are we aware of airspeed/direction, reed
adjustment, embouchure/oral cavity subtleties.
VOICE
– text/programmatic, diction
(articulation, vowels), huge emphasis on vocalizing (warm-ups), can’t see
the instrument, subconscious habits, coaching for whole career, most difficult
to affect long-term change
PIANO
– play by memory; harmony is integral; tone/timbre are extremely subtle,
huge repertoire (as voice)
PERCUSSION
– melody can be challenge as piano timbre; Many instruments/techniques,
hand/eye…distance to podium
BRASS
– tuning (ear training) is integral to accurate lip slurs; not just button
pushing like WW
Ensemble
– whole-to-self ratio
Conducting
– non-verbal communication, movement, rehearsal
pedagogy
Next:
learning from other arts (visual, architecture, dance, literature, etc.)
Ramifications
for different groups
Quartet
-
start pieces reading from score (if transposed)
-
similar to solo piece preparation: say parts, blow & finger, very
importantly…
-
out of rhythm for tone, tuning, blend, harmony
o
play the note on each beat (or some variation)
o
similar to solo “playing on neck” transfer the same sound,
feeling to playing all of the notes.
Large ensemble
-
teach individual warm-ups: TONE (buzz, headjoint, lipslurs, cresc/decresc,
tongue, changing notes); FACILITY; PLANNED TRANSITION to piece (range, rhythms,
artics, intervals/sequences)
-
group warm-ups (tone/tuning, blend/balance, facility/articulation/rhythm,
range; work toward lit of the day) similar to individual, balance
routine/variety
-
similar to solo piece preparation, practice pieces: backwards, technical
exercises, characterize, all on one note, tune over a pedal.
Lessons as one class, not 12 individual classes, even as… 4
year outline/syllabus
-
Some aspects can be used by all students simultaneously regardless
of year in school, including sightreading, scales, preliminary exercises.
o
Easier to track and be thorough
o
Level of facility/expertise different for different students, but
material can be same
-
group lessons, students observe lessons
o
more time with the teacher
o
efficient teaching, themes reinforced
o
more material learned by the students
o
observer, learning while not “under the gun” of performing
o
peer pressure
o
peer feedback, learning to hear/speak like a teacher
o
Avoid
telling the student “how it goes.” Teach by using questions, questions that
could be asked of any piece. The
observer will learn more (process) and the player will be better in the long
run.
-
“publish”
each semester (or year) the literature covered including listening in
masterclass, sightreading, as well as students’ studies (maybe in context of
“recommended literature” list). Make
the syllabus as you go, think ahead, but just like planning practice sessions
you can only plan the next one.
Teaching,
Yearly cycle
Teaching,
like performing, evolves. It is instructive to be able to know how you’ve
changed as a teacher.
Do
students need to go through each evolutional step their teacher did? Do I assign
a 20 year old the practice strategy I would currently use?
- Each fall I, and of course the students, return to the
basics spending several weeks reviewing Breathing, Singing, Tone, Technique,
Tuning, Preparing a piece, Practice plan. Hopefully
we are a more mature musician each Fall and get more out of each return.
- As mentioned in Typical Assignment,
I try to rotate weekly and emphasize each practice method once per semester.
We’re not just learning the piece, but learning practice methods and
decision-making/evaluation.
- Over the course of a year
there are topics that need to be addressed in masterclass yearly, some topics
are addressed on a three year rotation.
- There are too many good
pieces for an individual to learn in four years. Through organization the
teacher can address most within four years
-
carefully choose ensemble audition piece
-
choose different pieces for students & make everyone aware of all of
the pieces
-
masterclass topics & break assignments can cover more pieces
(listening, literature, history…)
Typical Fall,
accumulative by week:
1. warm-ups (breathing,
tone, artic, vibrato, technique, counting)
2. sightreading preparation
3. etude preparation
4. etudes
5. scales, patterns
6. duets/trios, tuning
7. duets
8. quartets
9. quartets, large ensemble
in masterclass
10. solo
preparation/perfection; MC ensemble
11. solo, practice
techniques; MC reeds
12. solo, practice tech; MC
altissimo
13. solo, practice tech; MC
double tongue, circular breathe, slap
14. solo, jury prep; MC
Jazz: equipment, improvise, changes (practice sheet), transcribe, tunes (break
assignment)
Spring, much more variable
Lessons: track sightreading, scales, preliminary/practice techniques
Masterclass topics, every spring: peer teaching, literature (program
notes, programming), listening (literature, artists), history (literature,
instruments, performers), research (web, discussion groups, library); once each
3 years: equipment, technology, teaching beginners, transposing, organizing
performance, musician’s health, repair
College Freshman arrival: equipment, warm-ups (p 2-15, counting)
|