Music Teaching 101

Happy New Year everyone! I am enjoying my Christmas break immensely, catching up with family and friends whom I haven’t seen nearly as much as I’d like to in the past year and playing extra rounds of catch and tag with Maestro. I even managed to squeeze in some creative writing (alas, still stumped on my book).

It hasn’t been all play and no work. My filing piles began to walk on their own, I simply led them to their correct places. I'm nearly caught up on my bookkeeping while the home, studio and office got a thorough re-org. Next on the list are: my Alberta Registered Music Teachers’ Association (Calgary Branch) projects, fixing the music library, preparing for the upcoming student recital and a manageable pile of administrative tasks.

My blog topic came to me while making my "to do" list - music teaching. Some students think they can set up shop at Grade 7 piano (or less), but that is extremely dangerous. You simply don’t have enough technical, musicianship and rhythmic tools in your arsenal at that level. Most teachers recommend that students begin teaching when they are in Grade 9 or 10 piano.

There is so much more to teaching than having your Grade 9 piano certificate. My blog entry titled The Most Common Question touches upon the non-teaching aspects of being a teacher. For more information about piano pedagogy, I recommend the following sites, which provide learning opportunities and certification for those wishing to become music teachers:

• Alberta Piano Teachers’ Association: workshops, conferences and coffee parties

• Alberta Registered Music Teachers’ Association (Calgary Branch): Join the Piano Pedagogy Group and find out about workshops and conferences here.

• Canadian National Conservatory of Music: See "Pedagogy" programs

• Conservatory Canada: View/purchase the “Diploma Syllabus” at your local music store

• Nazarene University College: Music program includes music pedagogy

• RCM Examinations: Click on “Piano Pedagogy Certificate Program”

© 2006, Musespeak™, Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.

Wedding Music and Wedding Gigs

What goes into preparing for a gig? A little bit of administration and a sufficient amount of practice. Things never go according to plan, so you also need to be prepared for anything. I played at a wedding on Saturday. I don’t mind sharing it since it was an interesting gig (and the couple were wonderful to work with, so I hope they don’t mind that I share this).

The bride contacted me in the summer to perform at her wedding. We played phone tag for a couple of rounds first. She was in the process of finalizing the date and venue but wanted to check my availability.

One week later, she dropped of a deposit to secure my services, with the balance to be paid at the ceremony. By mid-September, we had enough information to negotiate length of the engagement and cost.

This wedding was a little different from the norm. The couple wanted cocktail music prior to the ceremony. No processional, signing of the register or recessional music. After the ceremony, they asked me to play Forever in Blue Jeans by Neil Diamond.

They made several special requests, which I was fine with since they gave me ample notice. A little My Fair Lady, a little classic rock and some rumbas. I wound up purchasing a fake book with over 1,000 songs in lead sheet format. It was a good excuse for me to learn how to improvise an accompaniment. Slowly but surely, I am getting better at it.

I began practicing in earnest for the gig three weeks before the wedding. However, a horrible cold impeded my practicing two weeks before the wedding. That’s when we finalized all the details that were required on the booking agreement. The bride paid the outstanding balance when she submitted the signed contract.

The families were in the throes of last minute preparations when I arrived. Musicians feed off of the excitement in the air on performance day. But my stomach churned when I reached the piano. The damper pedal was broken. Of all the pedals, it had to be the one pianists need the most for pop songs.

After a mild panic attack, years of lessons kicked in and I remembered finger pedalling, which involves holding notes longer than written and blurring the sounds together that way. It went all right but I was completely thrown off by the loss of my favourite tool. My right foot kept reaching for the pedal that wouldn’t work.

I had a couple of false starts in Forever in Blue Jeans but smoothed things over with comedic patter. Other than that, was quite pleased with my faking prowess that evening. I had a healthy break when I dined with the guests (prime rib, yummy!) and sat through speeches.

Want to know more about what it’s like to perform at gigs? I’m writing my first novel (it’s fiction but inspired by reality). Not sure when it’ll be published, seeing as I’m only on Chapter 3. Stay tuned!

Careers in Music

Growing up, the only music careers I knew about were: teacher, pop singer, composer and orchestra musicians. However, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There are countless more career options available for those who love music. Here are just a few (in no particular order):  

• Music publisher

• Talent agent

• Recording engineer

• Music therapist

• Concert promoter

• Radio disc jockey

• Community arts manager

• Marketing Director for a symphony

• Fund Development Coordinator for an opera company

• Composer (classical, movie, video game, commercials, etc.)

• Accompanist

• Transcriber

• Arranger

• Conductor

For more information about careers in music, check out the following sites:

• Berklee - Careers

• National Association for Music Educationi

• Music Careers

Happy exploring!

© 2005 Musespeak™, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. All rights reserved.

The most common question

By far, the most common question I get from people I first meet is, "How do you spend your days?" There seems to be a misconception that private music teachers don't do much outside of teaching time. I've wanted to tackle this for sometime now. Here goes... Private music teachers are basically a one-man/woman show. Corporations have separate departments for sales and marketing, information technology, accounting, administration, research and development, human resources, professional development, planning and maintenance. In my line of work, all those functions are performed by one person - the teacher (in this case, me).

I'm not sure how my colleagues do this, but I designate one day a week for each "department". I aim to get my work done before I begin teaching for the day, but that isn't always the case, especially since I usually need to address an issue from each "department" everyday. For instance, today was "wrap up "Peak Performance Conference sponsor packages/reports"" day but I have also made it "website update/overhaul day" and "ARMTA Website Committee Meeting Day". Bookkeeping is next on the list (my least favourite activity but I wear a goofy hat to lighten the mood).

It's not a typical 9 to 5 job. Often, I will get phone calls and e-mails outside of office and studio hours. But since I can't train my dog Maestro do field calls for me, I will usually take the call.

Practicing, transcribing and composing are best left for the evening after I've finished teaching for the day. I read somewhere that a study proved that you sleep better if you practice before bed. It helps the brain in someway. Unfortunately, the name of the study escapes me.

In addition to these job functions, there are workshops and events hosted by the Alberta Registered Music Teachers' Association (ARMTA Calgary branch) and the Alberta Piano Teachers's Association. These are usually scheduled in the mornings, when most teachers can attend. I currently sit on the Board for ARMTA Calgary, which means meetings, meetings and more meetings. It's not so bad though, compared to last year, when I was going to meetings and working on projects for three teaching organizations. What's scary is that I saw many of the same faces at all these meetings for the three groups.

As I also do some writing on the side, that usually is left till the wee hours of the night or when the fancy strikes me. Back in university, my best papers were written at 2 AM. That really hasn't changed since then.

The days are long, but I try to squeeze in breaks during the day - running errands, meeting with friends, hanging out with my dog. Maestro insists upon it.

(c) 2005 by Musespeak(tm). All rights reserved.