Music Learning

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055 - Begin Again: The Case for Experimentation in Your Music Teaching

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055 - Begin Again: The Case for Experimentation in Your Music Teaching

Happy New Year!

The change in the calendar year reminds us that there are things in life that ebb and flow. There's comfort in that familiar rhythm, the cyclical nature of our seasons, our routines. What does the beginning of a New Year signify for you? What kind of season do you find yourself in these days?

I recognized recently that I am in a season of learning.

Of course, I am still actively teaching five days a week, but at the same time, I'm reflecting, jotting down stories and realizations at the end of the teaching day—things I'd like to do differently next time or things I didn't plan but observed or participated in that ended up teaching me something as well as my student.

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054 - Here’s What I'm Learning: A Look Back on 2022

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054 - Here’s What I'm Learning: A Look Back on 2022

Welcome, December: A month of parties and pageants, decorations and delight, twine-wrapped packages and twinkling lights.

In the midst of all the end-of-year festivities, I like to steal a few quiet moments for reflection:

  • I make a list of all the books I read this year and what I want to read next year (look for the link to that in the show notes, if you're curious),

  • I make an end-of-year summary for my business and send a spring calendar to my studio families,

  • I write a year-in-review blog post, and

  • I reflect on what I've learned as a teacher.

Taking time to reflect on our teaching practice is an important and necessary part of the teaching-and-learning equation. So today, I'm looking back on all the moments I documented on the podcast this year and sharing seven things I've learned as a music educator.

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051 - The Pokémon Piano Lesson

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051 - The Pokémon Piano Lesson

I have a new 1st-grade student this fall, a younger sibling of another student. Their temperaments and personalities could not be more different and I feel like I'm still learning how best to relate to the younger brother in lessons.

Aaron is very smart and artistic but also has a rebellious streak. Sometimes he'll come into his lesson and say he doesn't want to play the piano or he'll resist reviewing a concept or piece from the previous week and give me only a half-hearted attempt.

After one particularly challenging lesson, I made a plan to incorporate a few more fun activities the following week—movement, creativity prompts, and musical discovery. Little did I know that Aaron would bring all the creative inspiration we needed for a 30-minute lesson: a binder of Pokémon cards.

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045 - The Blues Composition Project

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045 - The Blues Composition Project

Do you incorporate composition into your teaching?

If you didn't grow up improvising or composing, you may feel intimidated by the prospect of nurturing these skills in your students. But it's never too late to stretch those creative muscles!

Today, I'm sharing a behind-the-scenes look at how I organized a blues composition project in my studio, how I structured and guided the composition process each week, some blues examples we studied from the repertoire, and a few of my students' final compositions.

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044 - What Do You See? The Power of Observation in Music Lessons

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044 - What Do You See? The Power of Observation in Music Lessons

I was in grad school at the time.

I remember the warm, wood-paneled walls of the recital hall where we gathered; the blue theater chairs and parquet floors; the tall windows along one wall and narrow stage at the front, large enough for only a Steinway grand piano and a few chairs and music stands.

I liked to sit toward the back because, since the hall was small, it gave me a good visual perspective. I pulled out my wooden notebook with the leather spine, flipped to the next clean page, and began to write.

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043 - Rediscovering the Joy of Scavenger Hunts

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043 - Rediscovering the Joy of Scavenger Hunts

It all started when I was writing a lesson plan for a 2nd-grade student. She’s in her second month of lessons.

I was planning to introduce a new piece and I thought we'd start by exploring the rhythm since three of the four patterns were the same in this particular piece. Let me preface this by saying these were rhythm patterns the student had experienced aurally in previous weeks through imitation and clapbacks. I was looking for a way this week to introduce the written notation.

038 - The Secrets of Interleaved Practice: What We Can Learn From Cognitive Science

038 - The Secrets of Interleaved Practice: What We Can Learn From Cognitive Science

In the last episode, Episode 37, we talked about playing your instrument for fun and why that is vital to your music career. Today, we're going to follow that up with a conversation about practicing.

If there's one thing we know it's that practicing is fundamental to developing skills as a musician. And as music teachers and educators, we're always looking for new ways to encourage and inspire our students to practice at home.

Interleaving is an approach to learning and practice that involves mixing up the sequence of topics, skills, or strategies so they are woven together throughout a practice or study session. In this episode, we’ll talk about what it looks like and how it’s beneficial to longterm learning.

037 - Do You Play Your Instrument for Fun?

037 - Do You Play Your Instrument for Fun?

When was the last time you sat down at your instrument and played music for fun? I mean, not music you had to practice or prepare, not the music you're teaching this week, but music you chose to play for yourself, for your own enjoyment?

In this episode, I'm sharing four reasons why playing your instrument for your enjoyment and creative expression is really vital to your music career:

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036 - Let's Talk About Improvising

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036 - Let's Talk About Improvising

It's one of those words that makes some of us uncomfortable: improvisation. Did your palms start to sweat when I said that?

In this episode, I’m sharing a story from the early days of my studio when I was still a student myself. It's about a lesson I had one October with an 11-year-old student.

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033 - How to Teach Music Literacy Using Color

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033 - How to Teach Music Literacy Using Color

When first introducing music-reading, it can be challenging for young students to recognize patterns and organize the content visually when everything is black and white.

For this reason, color can be a helpful tool. In this episode, I’m sharing four simple, unique strategies to use color to teach music literacy.

Follow along with my creative work and daily adventures: @ashleydanyew

A little February recap: 1. Finally picked out art for over the bed. Rory approves. 🖼️ 2. Winter hikes on sunny days. ❄️ 3. Lost a dear friend and next-door neighbor who felt like a grandparent (he always loved fresh flowers). 💐 4. Came down
Maybe this is an unpopular opinion— But in this season of goal-setting and checklists, I think it’s important to acknowledge that not everything can be measured. Not everything follows a set of orderly steps (as much as I may try!). Tha
What’s the biggest challenge you’re facing in your music career? Here’s what I hear most often: “I don’t know where to start” “I don’t know where to put my focus” “Not sure which path to ta
Sending you love and warm wishes this season! Here’s to another year of teaching, writing, creating beautiful music, and building community wherever we are. 💛🎵🥂 Love, Ashley, Steve, and Rory