Rewarding Students

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

It is so rewarding to have a student who always plays musically, who knows about music, who is literate. They can accomplish so much more. It really is better than having someone who “just wants to play the harp.” If you have that attitude, your progress will be so much slower, your experience so much less rewarding. So I encourage all of you who aim to really play, to go to a LOT of concerts, read the program notes, think about them, think about the music, and do extra reading. Read about thelives of great musicians. Read about great music and why it is great. Read the entire Harvard Dictionary of Music. Be more than you have been thus far. You can be more than you have been. Being

[laura-palmieri]

This is so True!

[Alison]

well I think it’s up to the adults and teachers to introduce youngsters to whatever’s going on, to point out works

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

Adults do need to facilitate, but if music is made available, a child may select their own listening and interests quite well. I had an extensive record collection available to me from the age of four, as well as classical radio and occasional concerts, not to mention, most importantly, musicmaking at home.

[Jessica A]

Sounds like the public school teacher- if only parents would discipline their children, provide print exposure, etc., we would have good students.

[Kay Meek]

During this Christmas vacation I’ve had the pleasure of having my 12 year old granddaughter stay with us. She saw my Celtic harp in the corner of my music room and asked if she could see it. She had never seen my harp before. Of course I said that she could.
She started touching the strings and playing on them a bit. Her eyes lit up and she asked me to teach her.
So, I sat with her for a bit and we talked about the parts of it and how everything worked. She said that she wanted to learn to play a piece of music for the family Christmas party the next day. This child has never played an instrument in her life! She knows nothing about music. I held my breath and thought, “Oh, boy…what am I going to do now?”

[jessica-wolff]

Good for her, especially for rejecting “Jingle Bells” in favor of “Silent Night.”

[angel-tx]

Kay, thank you for sharing the story! I will be sharing it with my Sunday School students. I hope she keeps playing. God bless Jenifer and all your family!

[Author]

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