One of the drawbacks of being a classically trained musician is the inevitable dependence on the printed music. Aside from Jazz, certain elements of Baroque and maybe a little 20th century music, the classical musician very rarely is called on to improvise. Most music is learned by strict adherence to sheet music. The classical musician can take some liberties with tempo, bowings and phrasing but, by and large, the musician has to play what the composer has on the page. In many cases the composer is extremely precise in the notation, indicating volume speed, mood, technique and very exact rhythms.
I was never taught to improvise and, while I would listen to recordings of rep before I learned it, I learned music by reading the notes on the page much like one would read a book.
However, that is not how many people in the world learn music and not how most folk music, of which Irish traditional music is an example, is taught.
In my current fiddle lessons, I find myself often frustrated with the painstakingly slow pace that it takes to learn a song by ear. I want to say, "Just give me the sheet music and I'll go learn it, memorize it and come back next week ready to play." God knows I've done it many times. I've played solo recitals and performed memorized pieces in front of an orchestra. How hard can it be to learn a 32 bar folk song?
But an interesting thing has happened as I have been learning these Irish tunes recently. It has gotten me to think a bit differently about learning and teaching music altogether. I noticed that when I take 1/2 hour in class to learn a song by ear, note by note, measure by measure and phrase by phrase, I certainly know and can retain the song better than when I try to learn it from sheet music. It has to do with how one learns music and illustrates why learning music is different than other subjects (and why I think it is important for kids to learn music)
When one learns a piece it is a combination of intellectual memory, muscle memory and aural skills with the element of time thrown in as well. It's like when you learn a dance. You might think, "O.K. I do this, then this, then two steps here, then that thing when I turn on one foot etc." It's a different type of learning than say figuring out a math problem or doing a science experiment. With learning music aurally, you might think, "O.K. I do this phrase, then this connected note, then it ends here, then this next part is the same except for this thing, then I do the whole section again, then I play this little figure, then I go to the B part etc." That type of learning is an attainable skill that takes practice just like anything else. Some folks are real good at it and can learn very complex things by ear very quickly.
In my own lessons I have actually found this to be a fun intellectual challenge, kind of musical puzzle, and I can already see the time it takes me to memorize things improve.
I'm looking forward to trying this out with my students when I get back. I did a little preview lesson the other day where I tried to teach a couple of boys in my advanced orchestra Off to California. One absolutely refused to do it without the music while the other happily sawed away copying each phrase that I played.
I think that I will have my work cut out for me.
I was never taught to improvise and, while I would listen to recordings of rep before I learned it, I learned music by reading the notes on the page much like one would read a book.
However, that is not how many people in the world learn music and not how most folk music, of which Irish traditional music is an example, is taught.
In my current fiddle lessons, I find myself often frustrated with the painstakingly slow pace that it takes to learn a song by ear. I want to say, "Just give me the sheet music and I'll go learn it, memorize it and come back next week ready to play." God knows I've done it many times. I've played solo recitals and performed memorized pieces in front of an orchestra. How hard can it be to learn a 32 bar folk song?
But an interesting thing has happened as I have been learning these Irish tunes recently. It has gotten me to think a bit differently about learning and teaching music altogether. I noticed that when I take 1/2 hour in class to learn a song by ear, note by note, measure by measure and phrase by phrase, I certainly know and can retain the song better than when I try to learn it from sheet music. It has to do with how one learns music and illustrates why learning music is different than other subjects (and why I think it is important for kids to learn music)
When one learns a piece it is a combination of intellectual memory, muscle memory and aural skills with the element of time thrown in as well. It's like when you learn a dance. You might think, "O.K. I do this, then this, then two steps here, then that thing when I turn on one foot etc." It's a different type of learning than say figuring out a math problem or doing a science experiment. With learning music aurally, you might think, "O.K. I do this phrase, then this connected note, then it ends here, then this next part is the same except for this thing, then I do the whole section again, then I play this little figure, then I go to the B part etc." That type of learning is an attainable skill that takes practice just like anything else. Some folks are real good at it and can learn very complex things by ear very quickly.
In my own lessons I have actually found this to be a fun intellectual challenge, kind of musical puzzle, and I can already see the time it takes me to memorize things improve.
I'm looking forward to trying this out with my students when I get back. I did a little preview lesson the other day where I tried to teach a couple of boys in my advanced orchestra Off to California. One absolutely refused to do it without the music while the other happily sawed away copying each phrase that I played.
I think that I will have my work cut out for me.
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