Community Chat with Felicity Breen (Part 3)

In her final episode, Felicity shares wonderful advice for new teachers (check out the links below) and reflects on how Music Learning Theory has made it possible for her to successfully bring music into the lives of every one of her students, regardless of music aptitude or ability.

The Ways Children Learn Music, by Eric Bluestine
Mind, Muscle, Music & Myth, by Ron Malanga
Keyboard Games Course
The Gordon Institute for Music Learning
The Improving Musician, with Andy Mullen
Everyday Musicality, with Heather Shouldice
Music Moves for Piano
Introduction to Audiation-Based Piano Instruction and Music Moves for Piano
Music Moves for Piano Teachers (for teachers actively using the materials)

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Introduction to Audiation-based Piano Instruction and Music Moves for Piano

Ready to learn more about audiation-based piano instruction and Music Moves for Piano? Visit Music Learning Academy for online courses, webinars, and resources.

Want to dive into audiation-based piano instruction? Check out Music Moves for Piano by Marilyn Lowe.

Transcript

Krista: 1:14

Welcome to keys to Music Learning. I'm Krista Jadro of Music Learning Academy.

Hannah: 1:19

And I'm Hannah Mayo of Mayo Piano.

Krista: 1:22

Join us as we discuss common goals and challenges in the piano studio and offer research-based ideas and solutions to guide every one of your students to reach their full musical potential with audiation.

Hannah: 1:36

We are back for one more episode with our friend and Music Moves colleague, Felicity Breen. Welcome back Felicity.

Felicity: 1:45

Thank you. It's good to be back again.

Hannah: 1:47

We've heard so much about your wonderful experiences and your journey towards Music Learning Theory and Music Moves for Piano. And now, for some of our favorite questions in this final episode, starting with, what advice would you give to new teachers who are getting started with an audiation-based approach?

Felicity: 2:12

Alright, well, don't panic.

Hannah: 2:16

Great advice.

Felicity: 2:18

It's really easy to get overwhelmed. I think there needs to be some acknowledgement that the change that takes place in our minds as we switch our thinking from traditional ways of teaching to teaching the ways we learn is a really, really big change. I actually think it can be like a grief process for some people. We may have been teaching in a certain way for decades, or thinking in a certain way for decades. Marilyn spoke of concrete blocks being lifted from her shoulders. I think we have to take time to process the new information. I know I retreated for a while as it felt too much. When I received a big box of books in 2017. I literally opened them up, pulled out the books had a little read of them, put them back in the box, and they sat in the corner of my studio for about six months. Yeah, so it can be a big change. Just know that you are now part of a collective group of movers and shakers. We need each other as this transformation can be really hard on your own. Know that to become confident, understanding the theory behind the method is going to be really, really helpful. So go straight to the source. Any of Gordon's writings, his lecture CDs, the free GIML YouTube videos of Gordon's lectures on theory and practical applications will be really useful. Eric Bluestine's The Ways Children Learn Music, Ron Malanga's blog, Mind, Muscle, Music, and Myth, in terms of practical applications an absolute must is Krista's Keyboard Games course with the Music Learning Academy, the GIML summer courses, the workshops and faculty hangouts, if you can, a PDLC. Get to know Andy Mullen's resources. I'm diving into those at the moment. Heather Shouldice's Everyday Musicality. In terms of MusicMoves for Piano materials, read the Teachers Guides. Anne Davis has some great read aloud sessions. But for you to feel psychologically supported, joined the Facebook Music Moves for Piano teachers group. And now the Introduction to Audiation-based Piano Instruction. I think it says"and Music Moves for Piano" there at the end. And search the topics in those Facebook groups. You can search for all different topics. And also there's files in there and feel supported by those communities. Be kind to yourself, and be okay with imperfection. Be okay with learning with your students. Trust in the research, but try it out for yourself. One strategy I found very encouraging, is to sit down at the end of the day and write down what actually happened that was MLT kind of. What was covered, what sort of things that children would be displaying, that was a direct result of you doing MLT types of activities. It's easy to deviate from the plan, so be sure to note those things that worked as well as the things that you can learn from and find a system of record keeping that works for you. Each of my Book One and Two, the students have their own teacher book. So I actually go through and I pencil in what I plan to do for the lesson for the day. And at the end of the day, I just highlight everything that we've done from there so that when I go back, I can see when we get back to review, you know, later on down the track, I can see the bits that I missed. So get into a routine that works for you. It'll be different for everyone. And remember that the Music Moves for Piano Books One to Five are not really a standalone method. They're designed to be taught alongside repertoire. So, have fun looking for pieces that work with an MLT lens as well. You can be free in that way. During the course of the year, sprint sometimes, and sometimes sit back and catch your breath. This is advice from parenting multiple children. Don't feel that you have to come up with a year long plan and stick by it. I mean, if you make a year long plan, just be flexible with it. Think of doing modules. They seem like they're a lot more work. But in fact, they will ease your workload because it's a way of learning one new idea at a time. You could do a module on mixolydian tonality, a module on division/elongation patterns, a module on accompaniment patterns. And with that one, you might like to go through the duet parts in Keyboard Games books. And there are so many wonderful ideas for accompaniment patterns in there and apply them to different folk songs. Reach out to others for advice, but also to those who are seeking advice. In both instances we learn from those who have paved the way. And we learn by helping others by distilling and clarifying what we already know. Finally, if you don't, you don't have to know everything all at once. Many things if you just let things settle, it will just unfold before us without our effort. Now, after almost five years of MLT, I finally feel comfortable with the not knowing.

Krista: 7:31

And here is where our listeners have to pause, and rewind and write all of that down, Felicity. That was some excellent advice. And I can help by putting all those wonderful resources that you mentioned on the show notes.

Felicity: 7:45

Okay, I'm sure I felt like I probably missed a lot. It was a lot.

Krista: 7:51

And now maybe a moment to reflect. How has Music Learning Theory but valuable for your piano teaching? And what do you think it brings to the table that other piano approaches might not?

Felicity: 8:06

Unraveling MLT has been like connecting all the dots and seeing a beautiful mandala. It's been valuable in my teaching because I can now reach each and every student. Gordon seems not only to have answers for questions about how we can help students, he's also advocated that we do help each and every student. Other methods simply don't value all students. Music is our birthright, it's part of being human. Children and adults alike have a right to the very best from us both as music makers and teachers. MLT has the potential to make us the best musicians we can be. And MLT has the potential to make us the best teachers we can be. I'd like to end with a quote from Marilyn on page nine, Preface to the Book One Teacher's Lesson Plans. "Teaching skills in a creative way, takes both teachers and students into a wonderful, magical aural world that reaches deep inside the human spirit. This world renews and heals and delights."

Hannah: 9:09

Wonderful point, it absolutely heals and delights. It certainly healed my teaching. And I'm sure it's healing a lot of other teachers teaching. And I would like to bring up a very hot topic right now. And an important topic. It's not just a trend, but it's something that I think many people are striving more for and that is inclusivity. And the idea that a method is available, that is really, for everyone. There are some very extenuating circumstances where this might not be the perfect method. Or you might not feel experienced enough to really bring the method to its full potential. But that takes time. But the fact that we can teach all types of students and all types of students can learn, I think, really highlights how inclusive this method is compared to others.

Felicity: 10:15

That's the word I hadn't thought of, but it's absolutely inclusive.

Hannah: 10:18

It's a very inclusive method. So that's probably one of my favorite parts about teaching piano with this approach. But what is your favorite part of teaching piano using the audiation-based approach?

Felicity: 10:33

Yeah, I guess one thing I really love about the method is that you can teach a whole range of repertoire, you know. You can teach jazz style, you can teach purely classical. You can take it to any style of music that you like, and you can follow any students interests. And you can go on that journey with them.

Hannah: 10:54

Yeah, I always say one of my favorite things is learning all these pieces along with my students and then being able to sit down and play them just as easily as they do. That never happen before, before MLT, before Music Moves.

Felicity: 11:10

Yes. Some of the pieces that my students will be playing can be quite advanced. And I used to never keep up with them. But now I feel like I can at least sections of them and have a bird's eye view of the structure and so on. It's very exciting.

Krista: 11:25

Thank you so much Felicity for joining us for these community chats. We were so happy to have you.

Felicity: 11:31

Thank you so much. It's been an absolute pleasure.

Krista: 11:34

And for our listeners, I just want to let you know that Music Learning Academy has created a Marilyn Lowe fund. And this was created to honor Marylin's passion for guiding teachers as they navigate audaition-based instruction and Music Moves for Piano. And over these last couple episodes, we really have talked a lot about her and just about how she went out of her way to always support teachers. And this fund is going to provide course scholarships, and also webinars, workshops and resources at no cost for teachers all over the world. And if you're interested in contributing, all proceeds from the webinar series "Audiation and Piano" that was presented in the summer of 2020 by Marilyn, Janna Olson, Jenny Fisher and me. All proceeds from that will go directly into the fund. Thank you everyone for listening. And we'll see you soon.