I always found that getting the group to put the instruments down, and
sing the tune, as best the voice allows, until it's internalised; and
only then encouraging people to play it with the same feel as they sang
it, works better than some ways of ear teaching, and tends to get more
spirit into it. Sometimes you need to sing it at a different pitch, just
to be able to reach it, which is not ideal, but still helps.
Richard Y
Richard Hensold wrote:
<....>
So, many teachers (such as Margaret) try to counter this by teaching
tunes by ear in workshops. It's a good idea, but does it work? In
other words, does it actually teach people to hear the subtleties
they've learned to miss over the years? This is an honest question,
and I certainly invite comment, but I'll start by doubting that it does
work. I think once you've learned to hear music a certain way, the
simple intuitive approach will no longer work. Your ears can certainly
be retrained, but you've developed hearing habits of hearing that must
be actively broken.
Can note-learners learn to play like ear-players? I think so, but I'm
still working on what methods work best. I tend to analyze everything
and do lots of directed listening, and while this is very good at
helping to hear new things, it's sort of counter-intuitive to think
that analyzing something will help you eventually arrive at a more
intuitively-musical way of playing.
Comments, anyone?
<....>
To get on or off this list see list information at
http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
