“Music literacy involves more than being able to read and write music notation.”
–Edwin Gordon
Tag: Music Learning Theory
Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom
“All learning begins with the ear, not the eye, and learning music, of course, is no exception.”
— Edwin Gordon
YouTube: Music as a Language by Victor Wooten
I recently came across this video by musician Victor Wooten on YouTube and thought to myself: the ideas expressed here fit very well with MLT (Music Learning Theory)!
Below are my favorite points from this video, along with some of my own commentary regarding the agreement with MLT.
1. Music is in many ways like a language. Think about the way you learned to speak as a child.
MLT practitioners find it very useful to compare the process of language acquisition to music acquisition. It’s not a perfect comparison (as with any analogy), but I have personally found it to be an incredibly useful analogy to keep in mind as a piano teacher.
2. Imagine children being allowed to speak only with those at their same speaking level. It would stunt their progress compared to being allowed to interact with more experienced speakers such as their parents. It’s the same with music: it’s helpful for students to jam along with professionals.
This is a good reminder to play often alongside our students, whether it’s informal duet-playing during lessons or preparation for a performance. And to have our students play together. And consider other ways we can provide opportunities for students to experience playing alongside professional musicians.
This is related to the reason why I like combining multiple ages/levels among my students at our monthly group classes, “Piano Parties.” Students already have individual lesson time instruction customized to their age and level, so why not combine levels for monthly group classes? They can learn so much from interacting with and watching each other. It’s about creating opportunity for the less experienced students to learn from the more experienced, and more experienced students to model for and mentor the less experienced. Continue reading “YouTube: Music as a Language by Victor Wooten”
Piano Teachers as Music Educators
We’ve accomplished so much in the realm piano pedagogy over the decades. So many fine teachers, fine books, and fine pedagogical piano literature.
The music education community can tout similar advancements, and yet we piano teachers tend to know so little of them. We know little of the theories and recent research regarding music learning, and of the approaches music educators use in the school systems. Does anyone else find it odd?
There seems to be a certain degree of separation between the worlds of piano pedagogy and music education. We don’t interact much. We took separate courses while in college. We have separate professional organizations.
Do we piano pedagogues consider ourselves under the same umbrella as music educators?
Joy and Amy Talk About Music Learning Theory
Greetings!
Back from our Boston trip for GIML training, Amy and I thought it would be fun and constructive to have a conversation to debrief, and at the same time create a video to share, about Music Learning Theory (MLT).
Here’s what is covered in our video:
Books mentioned in the video:
- 3:00 Who was Edwin Gordon.
- 9:45 Who is Marilyn Lowe.
- 13:25 What is audiation and how is it developed.
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22:00 How we each plan to start incorporating elements of MLT into our lessons.
- 25:45 What resources are available for teachers who want to learn more about MLT.
- Learning Sequences in Music, by Edwin E. Gordon.
- Study Guide for Learning Sequences in Music, by Edwin E. Gordon
- Quick and Easy Introductions, by Edwin E. Gordon. The previous two books are not easy reading, so I would recommend starting with this pamphlet if you want to read something written by Gordon himself.
- The Ways Children Learn Music, by Eric Bluestine (Read my review here.)
- Intelligent Music Teaching, by Robert Duke. (This is my favorite book on piano teaching. Read my review here.)
- My First Encounter with Dr. Edwin E. Gordon and his Music Learning Theory (MLT)
- What is “Music Learning Theory”, Exactly?
- What is Audiation, Exactly?
- 2024 Piano Level 2 Certification through the Gordon Institute for Music Learning – A peek into what taking a Professional Development Levels Course certification through GIML is like.
- YouTube: Music as a Language by Victor Wooten – A discussion of the similarities between learning language and learning music.
- Recommended Reading From Edwin E. Gordon’s Books on Music Learning Theory (MLT)
- Join the Facebook group, “Edwin E. Gordon and Music Learning Theory for Piano Teachers.” All welcome! Visit the group here and click the “Join Group” button to request to join the group.
2016 GIML Training (1): The Adventure Begins
Today, an adventure begins: I am heading to Boston for two weeks to receive training in the Piano Certification Course sponsored by the Gordon Institute of Music Learning (GIML). The training is being given by Marilyn Lowe, author of the Music Moves For Piano method, and Jennifer Fisher.
This trip is possible thanks to an MTNA Teacher Enrichment Grant. If you’ve been following this blog for awhile, you might know that I am a huge fan of Edwin Gordon’s work. Having the opportunity to experience this training means a great deal to me.
My adventure buddy is Amy Chaplin (of PianoPantry.com). We are driving well over 10 hours today from our respective homes in Indiana and Ohio.
I definitely plan to blog about our experience, but I am unsure whether I will keep up with blogging during the trip or if I’ll catch up after I return. However, I will definitely be posting some tidbits throughout the two weeks on Instagram or Facebook.
Interesting in learning more about Edwin Gordon’s Music Learning Theory (MLT)? Check out this blog post or Tim Topham’s podcast episode with Marilyn Lowe.
[See next post: 2016 GIML Training (2): A Great First Week]