Piano... And
First Study Melodic Instruments
I was honored to be invited to attend a Dalcroze License research presentation from a dear colleague of mine, in which she presented her research into the various applications of “first study” instruments in a Dalcroze class. For over a century, the Dalcroze teacher has been associated with the piano almost exclusively. Although it isn’t necessarily true, the conventional wisdom is that one must be a proficient pianist in order to teach this way. In fact, many Dalcroze teachers incorporate their
primary instrument in their teaching, in lieu of or in addition to the more traditional piano improv. In this post I’ll share some of my takeaways from the presentation and how I think this research might be useful for the MusicXT community! But first…
Housekeeping:
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From the Archive:
Piano Pros and Cons
Did you know you can explore hundreds of movement-based lesson plans, videos, and ideas in the ARCHIVE? Seriously. Click on the link and start browsing today! There’s a “search” function, so you can go directly to the topic or theme you’re looking for. Do you need a game to go with your unit on triplets? Look it up!
At almost every workshop I’ve ever given, the most common question is “what if I don’t really play the piano?” People watch the class, listen to the way I improv at the piano and wonder if it’s even possible for them to teach this way. First of all, I am not a very fine pianist. I describe myself as a “pretty good eighth-grader” in terms of my technical ability. I did have the advantage of taking lessons throughout my childhood, and some more lessons as an adult, but I’ve never been a serious student of the instrument.