A Soprano On Her Head: Chapter 8
Emily Cottam
Chapter Summary: Eloise Ristad talks about the difference between subtle nuances in music that can make a huge difference in their emotional and musicianship qualities--for instance, the difference between forcing the music to make stillness and softening the body to allow stillness. The main subject of the chapter however, is the difficultly of explaining/teaching to a student a “heightened level of emotional/physical awareness” by putting it into words--vocabulary is limiting, and sometimes, the best way to teach is by showing rather than telling, especially when describing an action that has become automatic. The best sort of descriptive language isn’t always necessarily “complicated,” but simpler. “She simply needed to let her experiences settle in until whatever was necessary trickled back in to the word part of her brain.”
Key Concepts: The value of showing rather than telling when introducing a well-mastered topic to a beginner. Learning how to teach when our vocabulary escapes us.
Key Terms: “holy jargon” (we need to avoid this).
Making Connections: The concept of showing rather than telling is a familiar one to me, because in my old piano lessons, I remember my teacher sometimes attempting to describe a certain hand motion that she wanted from me, but when I had trouble understanding, she reverted to simply showing me what she wanted, and learning the new concept was extremely natural and easy to replicate. I have the bad habit of sometimes overusing “holy jargon,” and I’ve been told many times that the most powerful speech/writing isn’t the one with the most embellished language, but the one that is most easily understood and relatable to the listener/reader.
No comments:
Post a Comment