practice drills

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Fostering Self-Assessment with Cross-Training

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Fostering Self-Assessment with Cross-Training

For someone who trains in four somewhat rare martial arts, the Zoominar was a priceless opportunity to work with some of the top instructors in Canada, to listen to one of the highest ranking instructors in the world from his home in England, and to meet practitioners from around the world.

The focus of all the sessions was to give attendees tools to take ownership of their physical distancing training. Immediately, I could see how these self-assessment tools and drills could be adapted to help music students do the same. Here are some of the tools and tips that my students and I have added into our practicing.

Every Other Bar Drill Demonstration for Piano and Melodica

The Every Other Bar Drill has proved to be a successful drill with my students this month. Some need to clean things up, especially their notes, rhythm and fingering. Others need to make their music flow more smoothly. This drill addresses these issues. The student plays the odd numbered bars in a troublespot, while I play the even numbered bars on the melodica. Then we switch.Afterwards, when I get them to play the entire passage, the difference from their first runthrough at the lesson and the latest is like night and day.

It really doesn't matter what that second instrument is - voice, French horn, percussion. What I have been finding is that this drill really forces my students to count and "feel" the pulse. For me, this is proving to be a great way to practice "Instrument #5" - the melodica. This wind piano is a fun little instrument. It looks like I'll need to work on breath technique a bit more, though.

Special thanks to my student "S" for giving me permission to share this clip from last week's lesson.