Wednesday, November 8, 2017 by Madeleine King | Pedagogy

The key to success for any musical instrument (and indeed, for acquiring any new skill) is practice. Unfortunately, a lot of the time practicing feels like a chore, and it's easy to procrastinate the week away between lessons, only to find yourself frantically cramming an hour before class.

Here are some ideas to avoid that last minute cram-session, and lift yourself out of a skill-plateau:

1. Keep your instrument within reach.

Ever hear the expression "out of sight, out of mind"? That is true for practicing as well. You're less likely to do it if you have to go and dig your practice chanter out of your pipe case every time. Instead, keep your PC out on the coffee table, on your desk, in the car - wherever you'll spend some time wasting time (during commercials or waiting for the light to change - whatever). Practice scales, exercises, even do a little ear-training and see if you can pick out radio jingles, rock tunes, or whatever else you're hearing around you. 

I have the benefit of having several extra chanters that I sprinkle throughout the house... whenever I'm waiting for a pot to boil, I'm working on exercises or my competition 2/4. If you don't have that luxury, keep your PC wherever you waste the most amount of time - just don't forget to put it back in your case before your lesson!

2. Your smartphone is a great practice tool.

Most people carry their smartphone around with them, and these days, there is an app for just about anything. Need a metronome? Need a tuner? Forgot your sheetmusic? Most of the tools you might need while you're practicing can be downloaded onto your phone and then they're always at your fingertips.

3. Use your inner-voice.

Believe it or not, you can practice even without having an instrument in your hands. Try visualising you music in your mind. Run through it using a pencil rather than a practice chanter. Or just bring the sheet music with you and run through it silently. This is useful in situations where you know you will have time for practice but you can't make any noise. Or it can be used for those impromptu moments of free time that happen while you're out and about in daily life - say, in the waiting room at the dentist, or while you're riding the metro to work - and you haven't brought tools with you.

4. Gamify your practice time.

The concept of "gamification" is becoming increasingly popular for many different applications, for everything from fitness to crowd-sourcing. Why? Because it works. Making your practice time into a game makes it more fun, helps you to set goals, and helps you to self-assess your skills. 

First, decide what you are attempting to do - are you trying to memorize a tune? Are you trying to improve your technique? All of the above? Then, take those goals and break them down into milestones. If your goal is to commit a piece of music to memory, you could break it down into bars or phrases, for example. Next, you can assign points for each of the milestones - example, 1 point for each bar played successfully from memory. As you move through your practice, you give yourself a point-score. With each practice session, try to improve your score.

5. Mix it up.

Doing the same things every time you sit down to practice gets monotonous. Try something different - start the tune from the middle. Practice exercises in the reverse order. It's easy to plateau in your playing when you are bored. In fact, some studies show that if you add an additional challenge - for example, playing a particularly difficult passage while walking or standing on one foot - it will help your brain create additional neural pathways, allowing you to master a skill more quickly and more permanently [1].

Good luck and happy practicing!

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Wednesday, October 11, 2017 by Madeleine King | Pedagogy

Nearly every week, I have my students transcribe exercises or excerpts from their College of Piping books (or their theory textbooks) into a music dictation book the old fashioned way: with a pencil. I promise I don't do it to save money on photocopies, and it's not to keep the class quiet while I take a break. I do it because it's the best way to learn as much as possible about written music.

This past week I helped my son with his science homework. Part of his assignment was to collect some bugs from the garden and then draw pictures of them. I was amazed at how many small details I had ignored for insects I've looked at my whole life - until we had to illustrate them! Centipedes with two long back "legs" I'd never noticed. Honeybees with cute little hairy tufts on top of their tiny heads! Music notation is a lot like this. When we limit ourselves to reading, we tend to pay attention only to the obvious things. But there are a lot of little things we to miss - all those little markings and details that seem unimportant as the tune whizzes by.

"But," you might be asking, "I'm already great at reading sheet music; why should I care about the details?"

1. It will make collaboration easier

Even if you are able to sight-read hornpipes at speed - and wow, congrats if you are! - a good musician can both read AND write music accurately and correctly. The easiest way to communicate with other musicians is by writing your ideas down on paper. The ability to write or record your own music or change music on the fly is invaluable at practices, rehearsals, or while learning new music at sessions. Solid musical literacy also improves precision for digital music publishing (using software to "digitize" your sheet music, for example, for use in a band book). In other words, if you are ever working with other musicians - pipers, but also (especially!) non-pipers - this skill is key for speed, clarity, and professionalism.

2. It will make sight-reading easier

For those of us that *aren't* spontaneously sight-reading hornpipes: understanding the subtle conventions of written music can actually improve sight-reading abilities. Music notation actually contains many clues that help you visualise the beat, count bars, and find the beginning and end of a phrase - if you know where to look! By familiarizing yourself with written music, you better grasp how things are arranged, allowing you to read music even faster.

3. It will make memorization easier

Recopying your music will actually help you learn it FASTER and remember it for LONGER. This is because reinforcement is important in how your brain commits things to working memory. Learning an exercise by reading it and then by playing it and then by writing it out will strengthen those pathways in your brain. 

4. You'll need it eventually

Last, but not least: transcription is a required skill for the College of Piping exams, and also all western music theory exams. If you plan on taking them, this weekly torture counts as studying!

For fellow instructors, here are some handy do's and don'ts if you want to incorporate this into your group and private lessons:

DO:
- keep spare staff paper and sharpened pencils on hand (forgetful students waste a lot of time drawing staff lines badly. In pen.)
- use small sections of music rich with embellishments, movements, time-signatures, repeat signs, and any other notation worth practicing
- use short "problem" sections of music, to aid reinforcement
- allow students to play from their own recopied notes
- use the quiet time to track attendance for your class or take notes or prepare the next section of the lesson :)

DO NOT:
- have students recopy excerpts that are more than a couple of bars long - it will get monotonous and waste instruction time
- take shortcuts (like skipping repeated notes, or drawing non-musical symbols in for difficult movements like taorluaths) - it defeats the purpose

Now have fun and get writing!

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Thursday, October 5, 2017 by Madeleine King | Pedagogy

I am excited and humbled to be teaching beginner piping at the MPDS this fall. I've got my pencils sharpened, and my brand new College of Piping Green Tutor all ready to go! Practice chanter, music dictation book, metronome... check, check, check! Look out new students! It's going to be a fun semester of learning.

Are you an aspiring new piper? Would you like to take lessons in a fun group environment that is easy on the budget? Check out the Montreal Piping and Drumming School for more information.

I'll be teaching one-hour classes from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m every Thursday. After the first hour of instruction, students have the option to play their pipes with others in a big circle and learn the basics of drill and ensemble playing. Best part? Beginners only need to invest in a simple practice chanter to participate in their first two to three terms of study. If you have friends that play drums, they're welcome too!

Can't wait to start this term, see you all at the school on Thursday!

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