Welcome to Music Teachers Insightful Practices (MTIPS) Newsletter!
Written and Published by Nicholas Ambrosino
www.musicsimplymusic.com
director@musicsimplymusic.com

June 5, 2004

Table of Contents:

1. MTIPS Theme
2. Welcome Notes
3. MTIPS Development
4. Notable Quotables

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1. MTIPS Theme

…by the end of the lesson his listening skills were so keenly honed that he was recognizing the slightest differences in touch, dynamics, rhythms and expression. To paraphrase a common saying, sometimes, an aural picture is worth a thousand words! 

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2. Welcome Notes

Welcome to Music Teachers Insightful Practices (MTIPS) Newsletter!

Welcome to the 37 new subscribers to MTIPS! I am honored to have you and the other 600 plus subscribers invite me into your inbox each month.


My goal for MTIPS is to provide you with practical tips and insights that will make your career or education in music, more fulfilling, rewarding and enjoyable. Please feel free to contact me if you would like to see a certain topic covered in an upcoming issue of MTIPS. My email address is editor@musicsimplymusic.com

I am setting up my seminar schedule for the fall of 2004. If you would like to have me speak with your group, please contact me ASAP at 631-863-2069 ext. 62 or email me at nick@musicsimplymusic.com . I love to speak (as many of you know!) on many/any topics related to music education and business success! We can design a seminar that will entertain and educate your attendees! But contact me soon!

Finally, there is a POSITION VACANCY at Music Simply Music. We now has openings for 2 piano facilitators! Due to the incredible success and popularity of the Music Simply Music program, Music Simply Music has an on going waiting list of students. If you are a capable pianist with a reliable car and are interested in joining an incredible organization committed to supporting the growth and potential of young people on beautiful Long Island, New York, please submit your resume to resumes@musicsimplymusic.com. For more information please go to our web site at www.musicsimplymusic.com


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3. MTIPS Development

What a neat experience I had at a recent lesson! I usually start my lessons with a bright “Hello” and a couple of questions about how my student’s day was. This gives me some feedback about the students learning readiness. If he has had a low stress day, he is usually ready to jump right into piano. If, on the other hand, his day was filled with stress, we may have to “clear the air” a bit before we can go onto making and learning music.

But on this one particular day, I did not feel like talking… at least not in the language of English. My day had been filled with a tremendous amount of sound and I need to create some silence. (To paraphrase a famous composer, I believe it was Debussy, music is both sound and silence and most people do not know how to use the latter of the two.) So instead, I started conversing with my student in the language of…music! I looked at my student, pointed to my ear and played a simple, ascending single-handed D major scale. I pointed to him and signaled for him to imitate me. He did. I then played the same scale but with different articulation. He mimicked. I continued playing different phrases, both single handed, hands together in unison as well as contrapuntally. I then signaled for him to make one for me. He played a descending scale using different dynamics. I imitated him. We proceed to converse through the language of music for the entire lesson! Not a single word of English was spoken. I placed a piece in front of him (something he had prepared for our lesson) pointed to it and he played. I then played it back a different way and he mimicked what he heard. 

Well, by the end of the lesson his listening skills were so keenly honed that he was recognizing the slightest differences in touch, dynamics, rhythms and expression. The lesson was delightful for both of us! To paraphrase a common saying, sometimes, an aural picture is worth a thousand words! 

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4. Notable Quotable

Learning should be a joy and full of excitement. It is life’s greatest adventure; it is an illustrated excursion into the minds of noble and learned men, not a conducted tour through a jail.

Taylor Caldwell, American writer

Copyright © 2004 Nicholas Ambrosino. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to reproduce, copy or distribute MTIPS so long as this copyright notice and full contact information about the author is attached. The author of this issue is Nicholas Ambrosino and he may be contacted at director@musicsimplymusic.com or reached by telephone at 631-863-2069

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