“He’s a very good friend of mine. His favorite color is blue”
As teachers, we all have our “go tos” for explanations and assessment questions. Especially when you are teaching or assessing the same concept thirty times in a row in one week. And some weeks we may start out with flourish and excitement when reviewing the “magic” behind a concept, but by the fifteenth student, that flourish may be pared down to “tell me what you know”. It’s not something to be excessively proud of, to be sure, but at least the assessment still happens. Luckily, I have some students with silly personalities that help jar me back into the moment when I’ve fallen into the assessment blur. This particular student answered me without missing a single beat when I asked her to “tell me about the c melodic minor scale...”
I’m a big proponent of teaching the “how” and “why” about music in the studio. Sharing how music works and uncovering the patterns and “formulas” is one of my favorite things. I love it when a whole chandelier of lightbulbs goes off during a student’s lesson. This probably stems from the fact that I am NOT good at memorization, which is of course interesting since I’m a pianist and a singer… but that’s a story for another day. My memory works better when it knows the steps rather than just the end product. A good example of this “why” and “how” type of teaching comes with scales. I teach all of my students pentascales and triads, then move directly into octave majors and minors — all without notation. I teach the whole step and half step patterns and help students explore the relationship between each scale. It’s a failsafe system that works so that students don’t have to memorize each scale and what notes are in it, they only have to remember the patterns. But teaching and reviewing those patterns over. and over. and over again…well if the students get bored of telling me, I’m sure they can only imagine the repetition that I deal with on receiving end!
I’m so grateful for the rapport that I get to build with my students. I love when a student and I get to burst into laughter together (especially during the middle of a pandemic on opposite sides of the screen when we are both exhausted over the entire ordeal. And from now on, melodic minor scales will always be synonymous with the color blue in my mind. Not because I have synesthesia, but simply because apparently it’s its favorite. I wonder what the favorite colors are of the other minor scales….or perhaps even the modes? Maybe I’ll have to take a studio poll. I’m sure that would get me a few giggles (and eye rolls from my cool students).
The moral of this story is a simple one, not necessarily life changing nor profound, but nonetheless important. Take the moments to laugh, especially on stressful or monotonous days. Silliness is the key to making learning and life just a bit brighter.
