Engaging Music Students Through Sight
They say practice makes perfect and for students practicing a dance or music-related composition it’s only fitting that they be given the opportunity to learn from both visual and audio perspectives.
You could gather your novice music students in class and explain to them step by step how to properly position their instrument. You could even describe certain tricks of the trade they can use for elaborate dance renditions. Or better yet – why don’t you just show them instead? You can have your students observe performances by connecting the wireless PA419 portable speaker to a TV and playing a video downloaded to your iPod/iPhone mobile device that plugs into the speaker’s docking station. Nowadays it’s easy to find and download videos of performances that you may be trying to have your students learn. Perhaps it’s a musical dance number from a movie that they’ll be performing in the school’s talent show or for a play. It may even be a pop star’s choreographed dance routine that your students are feverishly preparing to showcase like rock stars during an assembly or sports event. Even a recorded band or drill team performance from the previous week’s pep rally or football game’s halftime show can be reviewed for further development by zooming in to point out areas for improvement.
Also, when teaching students how to play an instrument, why not put them in contact with a maestro – someone who’s skilled at any given instrument? Sure, of course you can teach them but when one student is learning guitar, a second the saxophone, and another a few piano keys there isn’t enough of you to go around. To take a page out of the “how-to” video realm, bring a bit of the outside world into your classroom by having your students use the USB webcam to Skype with a renowned guitarist, notable saxophonist, or distinguished pianist. This tech tool sets up the type of interactive communication between students and professionals that can excite your students, build their confidence and engage them in fun learning to yield marvelous results. Allowing them to ask questions and get tips right from a source that they can relate to and already be familiar with can create a sense of credibility within themselves that lends itself toward playing their instruments in a performance that would make their mentors proud. After all, they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
