Show and tell

Those of you who have taken the MTP Vocal Pedagogy course are familiar with Clifton Ware's book Basics of Vocal Pedagogy: The Foundations and Process of Singing. Even though my brother used to study with Dr. Ware—and I took a lesson from him years ago—I had never read his book until last month. Despite its publication date of 1998, I was pleasantly surprised at how up-to-date it read and how it was aligned with many pedagogical practices I had only learned about in the last several years. Clearly, I would have been better served to have read the book sooner.

One of the sections that intrigued me was called The Teacher/Student Relationship, which is tucked away in Chapter 13: Teaching Singing. Dr. Ware breaks this relationship down into "Teachers' responsibilities" and "Students' responsibilities," and says, "In order for the relationship to be mutually supportive, both teacher and student have specific roles to play."

In the "Teachers' responsibilities" he writes:

"[...] effective teachers guide students in setting realistic goals and expectations, offer regular constructive feedback, stay attuned to students' personal problems, focus on students' needs during lessons, and provide environments for learning that are healthy, clean, and attractive." -Basics of Vocal Pedagogy, p.259

Although I wouldn't exactly call FAW "attractive," these are still good reminders to me. I know I mention goals a lot at the beginning of the semester and here on the blog but I don't often mention them in lessons. Now that we are post-spring break, it might be a good goal of mine to check in with all of you more regularly on your progress toward your goals. Also, while it may seem too personal for him to advise that teachers "...stay attuned to students' personal problems," we all know that personal problems can sometimes interfere with your ability to perform vocally. Of course, you are never required to share your personal problems with me, but you should also know that you are free to share this information and it will be received without judgement. I like to think of my studio as a free speech zone and I hope all of you feel that way as well.

Regarding the "Students' responsibilities," this quote stood out to me the most:

"[...] rather than simply responding to instruction, students are expected to take initiative in the learning process by stating personal goals, offering pertinent background information, demonstrating problems, raising questions, and requesting help when needed. Ideally, lessons become 'show and tell' opportunities for students to demonstrate what they learned the preceding week." -Basics of Vocal Pedagogy, p.259

I really love the idea of lessons becoming 'show and tell' sessions. When you are getting your 300 weekly required minutes of vocal practice (according to the MTP handbook), inevitably, you will run into issues. Questions will arise, triumphs will occur, and you will run into some brick walls. That's what I want to hear about at your lessons. In fact, there is no clearer signal to me that you have been logging your hours of mindful practice than when you come to your lessons with a list of questions that came up during your practicing.

As we head into the last stretch of the semester (it's just more than a month until juries!), let's see how attentive you can be to your practicing. There is still plenty of time for technical improvements and refinement of your expressive and performance skills.

So, whatever happens, let's begin!

Now go practice.

Goat get your goals!