MEETING TONIGHT! @7 Eastern
MEETING TONIGHT! @7 Eastern
My Controversial NO NUMBERS Experiment/Messiah University
I’ve written about a few controversial topics over the last few years… natural speech, fixed vs moveable solfege, shoes-off, recorders, etc… but nothing has ever generated the amount of skepticism or curiosity as my NO NUMBERS experiment. It’s true that, if I just start with the statement “I never use numbers in my teaching” it sounds radical. But… if you are following my work and you understand my priorities as a teacher, you can see how I arrived at this conclusion. In tonight’s meeting I’m going to talk a bit about how I found this experiment to be both beneficial for the students and revealing for me as a music educator and philosopher. But first…
Housekeeping:
Make sure you’re upgraded to the TEAMM Subscription so you can attend this meeting! I’ll go IN DEPTH on this idea and give all sorts of philosophical and practical thoughts on the utility of numbers in a music curriculum. The TEAMM is growing each and every week and I’m glad to welcome new members all the time! Aside from access to the substantial archive of posts you get tons of content reserved for TEAMM only, as well as individualized coaching from YOURS TRULY and invitations to the workshops/meetings every month! It’s the best $10 you’ll ever spend. (Many of the TEAMM members get their admin to pay for it…)
From the Archive:
I was invited to present a workshop at Messiah University in central PA last week… and it was an absolute BLAST! This students were outstanding and so open. I got to visit with some old friends and share some of my philosophies with colleagues. Check out the AMAZING concert hall I presented the workshop in.
When I teach a short workshop I really try to emphasize a few really essential points of Dalcroze pedagogy. One of these is to deliver the message that music is primarily FELT! This means that musical elements can be connected to sensation, and therefore embedded through movement. I think that many people have not acquired musicianship this way, they have “learned”how to execute music through several cognitive and theoretical pneumonic devices, and development of automaticity. It is possible, and helpful, for EVERYONE to practice music from a place of feeling, and therefore I try to differentiate this approach from the more “thinky” process that forms the foundation for many people’s practice.
When you attend one of my workshops, it’s obvious that I’m drawing a line between experience and analysis. Movement is a great way to highlight this difference and encourage a more intuitive and embodied musical connection. My experiment to eliminate numbers has a lot to do with this difference. I look forward to highlighting this thought process at the workshop tomorrow!
Where we find numbers
Why NEVER saying numbers
Workarounds to numbers
Outcomes for students
Outcomes for me
See you tonight at 7 PM Eastern!