What is a music teacher?

'What is a music teacher?' Does this sound like a stupid question?

Your answer may be...

'A person who educates other people about music and how to play a musical instrument'. 

But this answer is too simple and leaves out the human part of teaching music.

My answer includes a more holistic approach. In reality, any kind of good teacher is someone who knows their students beyond the content that they teach. A music teacher, especially someone who teaches one-on-one, develops a healthy relationship with their student. The teacher has to know how to adapt their approach based on how the student learns. Everyone learns differently. When you are teaching a class of many students, you aren't, unfortunately, able to cater to each student specifically. As much as a good teacher may try, there will always be someone in that group that thinks differently to the majority of the learners. This is why teaching individually is so impactful when teaching a musical instrument

Not only are they an educator, but can also be a counselor. If student has doubts about their abilities, or had a rough day, they may need an objective ear. They may need someone to hear them out, get something off their chest, and then help them to re-focus on playing their instrument. This makes a music teacher an encourager, someone who helps a person believe that they can achieve their goal. They may need that teacher to go beyond just a skill developer, but one who instills structure and accountability for the student.

When someone says that they are going to teach themselves how to play an instrument from online tips, I have no doubt that will get them started, but I question how long they will continue.

As much as we have access to so many tools on the internet, I feel that nothing can replace a teacher. 

Pick the music that you want to play

I remember taking one of my brother's 'jazz' piano books to my high school piano teacher and asking her to teach me the pieces. She was not impressed. (It wasn't like they were even jazz standards). She put the book away and told me that I need to focus on my exam pieces. But I hated practicing the piano with a passion and I had figured that it was because I need some more inspiring pieces. Needless to say it wasn't long before I switched piano teachers, but it was still my high school subject, and I still needed to learn those exam pieces. 

Over the later years of learning to play music, I just accepted whatever pieces my teachers gave me and decided that it was the only way it needed to be done. I convinced myself that if you want to be a good musician, you have to play all the pieces you are given.

But the reality of this, is that those pieces (or scales) that didn't motivate me to practice, also lead me to recent the piano. 

Somehow, learning all the pieces on my woodwind instruments wasn't so terrifying, but it certainly didn't always make me excited about picking up my instruments and practicing.

Now as a musician, I have found that the best way to motivate myself to practice, is to pick music to play that I actually like. This is not necessarily music that I always listen to, or that is popular. But music that is interesting and fairly challenging to play. Yet it mustn't be so difficult that I can't sight-read some of it. 

If this is my motivation, then it needs to be how I approach my teaching. Yes, you still need to eat your vegetables, learn those scales and play those pieces, but a dessert of a fun piece, is a definite incentive.

So I hope that you too can find some fun, catchy music to learn this holidays.

Happy one week holiday everyone

Robyn

10 reasons I love working from home.

Today I joined the library for the first time in about 20 years. Please don't judge me. Most of the books or articles I read have something to do with business or music and so, while I did take out one fiction book, I also had to borrow a book called 'Your Guide to Working from home'. Even though the book was first published in 1997, chapter titles such as 'Discipline and Motivation, 'The Dining-room Syndrome' and 'Good habits, bad habits', sparked my interest. And, of course, the promise of being able to read something without the disruption of some pop-up advert or link distracting me.

The prospect of reading this book made me so excited because I am so blessed to work from home. I hope to eventually work from home completely, but I am counting my blessings.

Here are 10 of the many reasons I love working from home:

1. I am able to create a space that is welcoming for my students

2. I have the freedom to decorate the space as I choose

3. If there are any last minute cancellations, it is super easy to fill that time with household chores  or admin.

4. Having the ability to work reasonable hours and put food on the table

5. No added rental costs

6. No travel time is wasted

7. I am fortunate enough to have a separate studio from our house, so people do not have to come into our private space

8. The studio is dedicated space for my work, which means there is no need for me to bring work 'home'

9. I don't need to lug heavy bags with books or instruments to work

10. I have a great big room, which is spacious and clean. What more could a person ask for?

I hope that you all have a musically inspiring week.

Robyn

Dolce Duo

It is a great thing to not only teach music, but perform music. What a wonderful way to express yourself and inspire your students. So, we want to officially present to you...

DOLCE DUO

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We have had so much fun preparing an awesome repertoire and would like to give you a taste of what we have been doing. Please check us out on our facebook page Dolce Duo, SoundCloud and Youtube and if you enjoy, then follow and share with all your loved ones and friends.

Which instrument is right for me or my child?

A few years ago I bought this book. 

Of course I have know idea where t is now, because I lent it to someone and can't remember who.

I partly bought it because I thought it would be very useful as a music teacher to be able to advise parents, and partly because I, at the time, had been having a few questioning thoughts. I suddenly panicked that perhaps I had chosen the 'wrong' instrument (at the time the saxophone was my main focus). I thought maybe this book would give me some percipient answer. I thought that it would say, that due to certain personality traits...really my character, I should have learnt to play a specific instrument. I thought that I had perhaps missed out on the 'correct' instrument for me, and that if I had been exposed to it first, then I would naturally have picked it up every time I walked into my bedroom. I thought that if I had studied that specific instrument then I would have been an amazing musician from the get go. My nagging question was perhaps I had chosen the WRONG instrument and had been pushing against this current my whole life, and that if I had not been so mislead, then I would not have had to battle through practice sessions and force myself to play scales. 

While the book was interesting, it didn't really help me. I think it would be incredibly useful for someone looking to introduce their child to music. What did help though, was that is got me thinking that if I were to choose any instrument in the world, what would it be? Well, you guessed it, the saxophone. It was not purely because of my character or because it is right or wrong physically for me, (while these certainly can be contributing factors), but because I love playing the thing. I love the sound it makes and I love that I sound different to other saxophone players. I also realised that if I spent 6 hours a day practicing, I could be pretty darn good, but I don't want to do that. That doesn't mean I don't practice and it doesn't mean that I can't play the instrument. It also doesn't mean that I am any less of a teacher or a person for that matter. It's just that I have so many other interests in my life, that there aren't enough hours in a day for me to get through everything.

What I do know is that having a few struggles along the way has helped me to be a more empathetic teacher. I believe it has also helped me to be a more patient and encouraging teacher. It has also taught me that not everybody learns the same way or even thinks the same way, and sometimes you have to teach the same thing in 3 different ways before it makes sense to a student.

I have also been able to study the clarinet and recorder further because of my previous knowledge of the saxophone. This instrument has afforded m opportunities to do gives and be in adverts.

I have tried playing a bit on other instruments (non woodwind), but in truth very few excite me enough to want to spend hours with them. 

Yet on the other hand I have met people who were just handed an instrument at school and told that they had to play that one, because the one that they wanted to try was already taken and then they ended up being able to play that instrument so well that they forgot about the first one.

So when it comes to personality, I think you must consider if a child expresses interest in it and are willing to give it a go. Don't force them. Expose them to as many different instruments as possible. If they are able to try out different instruments before deciding, encourage them. Once they have picked something, encourage them to stick with it for a while. If they don't gel with the teacher, find another teacher (after you have given it some time), but let them go through all the steps to learning the notes, making music before switching too much. The most important thing is that your child has an overall good experience of learning music. Sometimes a student may clash personality wise with the teacher and not the instrument. Sometimes it may the be the instrument. Sometimes your child may be going through hormonal changes and just doesn't want to practice. I believe though, that if you expose a child to learning music with the correct person, they will not only learn more about how to play an instrument, they will learn how to express themselves as well as discipline and how to think in a different way, and my personally favorite, they learn how to appreciate listening to music. This may mean that your child might not end up playing music when they leave school, but they will be an informed audience member, and will their life may therefore continually be enriched by beautiful sounds.



(Disclaimer: please note that this picture does not belong to me)

What kind of musician are you?

I did not have a huge appreciation for classical music when I was at school. Partly because I didn't understand it and I thought that everyone who played it was either rigid or perfection. Both of which I felt I wasn't and so I longed for this thing they call 'jazz'. It sounded way 'cooler' to me and it was different to what everyone I knew was playing. My hunger for jazz was not fed at all while I was at school and I decided I needed to know more. 

After doing some job-shadowing  in the medical field in grade 11, I realised that it really interest me. Since I come from a medical family I thought my folks would be disappointed if I didn't follow suit. But after consulting them on my desire to study music my parents genuinely showed approval and, most importantly, support.

So off I went. I got an extra teacher to help me prepare for my audition and, to my amazement, I got into the South African College of Music (part of UCT). I won't bore you with details of my 4 year undergraduate degree (it's an honours degree) or the next 3 intense years of Master's. I do want to say, however that it has been 9 years since I last played in a classical wind ensemble. Now, this year being my 10th year out of school, I have joined the UCT wind ensemble. It has been both healing and refreshing. I have recently also joined Windworx and I am so pleased to say that last night we played in a concert and it was the first time in my life that I was not nervous to perform. Not even a pang of nerves and no blushing. It was the most relaxed performance and we even got a standing ovation.

I am enjoying the music we are playing, and I am loving that I am playing my instruments more. But the interesting thing is that we are mostly playing classical music. It's beautiful, challenging and I love it. I don't feel like people are judging me any more for not being good enough. I feel like I have something to bring to the table and I'm learning and improving.

I have come to realise that it doesn't have to be a specific kind of music that you play. It can vary or it can be the same old thing, but it's all about what you put in and get out of it that counts. I have an entrepreneurial outlook on many things, but currently I am playing in bands that allow me to just make music for the love of it. No strings attached.

So much Saxophone: 2014 National Saxophone Symposium

On Monday my little heart nearly exploded with excitement at the beginning of a full day dedicated to the saxophone. Yes, that is true, 12 hours of talking, listening and playing saxophone really happened at the Hugo Lambrechts Music Centre in Parrow. 

Organised by Karendra Devroop, Matthew Lombard and Liam Burden through UNISA this FREE Saxophone Symposium took place in Durban on 9 April, Pretoria 12 April and Cape Town 14 April. 

Karendra Devroop opening the symposium.

Karendra Introducing Apollo Saxophone Quartet

The morning started with a British Apollo Saxophone Quartet. They opened with an avant guard work.

Apollo Saxophone Quartet

This is just a clip of them tuning, lol.

Karendra ntroducing Artvark Saxophone Quartet

Artvark's moto is 'Away with the chairs! Away with music stands! Artvark moves! So as you will see they perform everything from memory, as most jazz musicians do, but they also walk around a bit while playing.

Then about 50 participants joined the quartets in a mass saxophone piece. It was truly exhilarating as we all, from very young to old, beginner and expert played 2 pieces together. I have never in my life felt so…I’m not even sure how to describe it in words, so, happy to be playing with other saxophonists. There was no judgement of anyone in the room. You were all in the same boat.

Victor De Freitas, owner of Musicraft, and his team were offering free saxophone services and advices throughout the day.

We could choose if we want to go to more jazz or classical focused workshops. For the first sessions I went to the jazz classes, and for the second sessions I went to the classical ones.

Artvark giving a jazz workshop.

Mike Rossi giving a workshop on sound production

There were then a few more performances.

Matthew and Liam playing some classical music.

Liam and colleagues from Hugo Lambrechts

Mike Rossi playing a Blues

Karendra playing a solo, supported by Artvark. 

The classical workshop given by Rob Buckland. Discussing technique and answering our questions. He has written a book called 'Playing the Saxophone', which can be ordered through Astute. I believe you can also download it through them.

Rob Buckland from Apollo Saxophone Quartet

Sans Souci girls. They were taking to long to pose.

Then, in the evening concert, we were all brought on stage to do our mass piece. It was so much fun. I loved playing with all those people.

What a winner of a day. I am so inspired and encouraged by all the things I learnt and some of which I was also reminded.