Student Literature

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

Do any of you have literature or forms you give your student on how to dress, attend lessons, practice, etc.?

[Mel Sandberg]

Interesting one….. I can’t wait to see some answers.

My students don’t even want to do what I tell them about how to play the harp, fingers, hand positions, pedals etc…….

[Misty Harrison]

Yes! My students get a small book each year about my expectations and policies. Part of it talks about preparing for lessons and going to performances. I talk about what they should wear (or shouldn’t!) and things like having their fingernails clean and short.

Two of the things I like about this are that most of the parents use the book to be sure the kids are prepared and dressed correctly so I don’t even have to address the issue and I make sure that anything I ask the students to do they see me do too. So I don’t teach them in clothes or shoes or jewelry that I wouldn’t let them wear in their lesson because I want to set a good example. Maybe male teachers don’t have the same temptations to wear inappropriate clothes or shoes! It’s important I think because a lot of times kids say things like why can’t I do it if you do it? So they don’t make distinctions between what the teacher does in harp lesson and what the teacher does behind the harp especially if the teacher demonstrates in the lesson while wearing the wrong things! I’ve seen harp teachers wear all kinds of things that would be embarassing to wear on stage like skirts that aren’t long enough or jewelry that bangs on the harp. What kind of message are you sending when you have to get on stage to demonstrate something in a masterclass or just for one student then? I’ve also seen students who don’t dress correctly attend recitals with the same problems. Funky flip-flops or way too short skirts and I wonder if they ignore the teacher or if the teacher didn’t tell them and what about the parents? So if I were that teacher I’d like to just pull out my little book (it’s just stapled together so it’s really not that big) and say remember when you signed saying you read this and agreed to it? This kind of dress is not ok!

[Elizabeth Volpé Bligh]

I haven’t given out forms before, but if a situation arises, then I deal with it. However, I do like this idea of giving a page of guidelines (especially on practice habits!) and expectations to new students. I do recommend certain books on how to practice, and I put up those titles and also my own articles on my web site so that they can download and print them. The books I like are Philip Johnston’s The Practice Revolution, or for younger students, Not Until You’ve Done Your Practice.

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

Yes, but Misty, how do you ensure compliance by the students?

[Misty Harrison]

You know, I just think the book solves a lot of the problems because I have so many students and the students always follow the book. The other thing I do is to point out something about harpists giving recitals or harpists in photos in magazines. I always try to point out that they are wearig a long, full skirt, or pants, etc. so I think my students get an idea of not just what’s appropriate but also what to aspire to. It becomes less of following the rules and more of “becoming a harpist.”

I’m sure some students may not follow guidelines, but my students do and since I have so many students I think part of it is just setting out the guidelines really clearly and then expecting compliance rather than expecting non-compliance, and being a good example all of the time so they can’t point out that you’re not doing what they have to do. The other thing is that a lot of times when you have someone not complying with clothing, jewelry, etc., they often don’t comply with other things like preparation for lessons, etc. And

[Misty Harrison]

Ok Saul, I figured you wouldn’t be happy with my answer and before you go on a writing tirade about how it wasn’t a good answer, I called another harpist to ask her your question. Here is what she said:

Well, I am lucky to have these problems only in lessons and not on the stage. Sometimes students come in flip-flops or incredibly short skirts. I wonder at what I should say to fix the problem without hurting their feelings but I found out that I don’t have to say anything. In the lesson each student comes to the same conclusion on their own. I never hear about the skirts, they just never show up in a short skirt again. The shoes I hear about because no matter what they are playing with pedals (and I

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

I definitely like that last answer. I was going to suggest that we might come up with a communal guide so it is less personal, and less of a tirade.

[Misty Harrison]

Sounds like a plan. This was your idea and it is interesting to a lot of harpists. Why don’t you write about it. Make a plan like you’re saying that uses a lot of ideas and then make an article on it. It’d be helpful to everyone. You know another instrument with these issues is cello. One time I bought a concert black outfit at a store that usually sells to people who just have leisure on their hands and the saleswoman was telling me about this cellist who had come in and bought the same black outfit because it was long and loose enough to sit with the cello.

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

Why don’t people send me their guidelines, rules, etc., and I will compile them into one guide.

[Mary Anne]

Hello,

i’m from germany and some beginners learn with Harpamundi by Christoph Pampuch.

You can hear some examples online or print sheets for free from all books

Link:
First year

Mary-Anne

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

Thanks, but that is totally different.

[Author]

Posts