Music Teaching Tips

For students of all ages to get “in synch” with the metronome:

Bounce a tennis ball in time to a metronome.

1) Throw the ball down.

2) Land on the click.

3) Rotate your hand to “pick the ball up” on the bounce.

4) Rotate your hand to throw the ball down.

Students must be able to do all of the above 10 times at each metronome setting with each hand. This teaches staying with the metronome, listening, rotation and physical coordination.

—Patricia Kershaw, NCTM, Highlands Ranch, Colorado

What kind of relaxation should one aim for at the keyboard? Obviously, an uncontrolled drop of the arm does not contribute to controlled sound. The "singing tone" which many pianists hold dear is produced, not only by pressing into the key beds, but also by lowering the keys at various rates of speed from slow (various degrees of softness) to fast (various degrees of loudness). Pressure is balanced by relaxation - neither is absolute. Transfer of arm weight onto a finger is followed by a release of pressure, preparatory to moving to the next note or chord. Relaxation at the piano is not a total surrender of control over the muscles. It involves responsiveness on the spur of the moment, to maintain musical as well as technical continuity.