Playlist Issues
Found in: Practicing & Playlists
Shelly E., Utah
Lately, I’ve noticed little “issues” come up in pieces when I check a random piece from student’s playlist in a group setting. Things like…tiny bit of wrong fingering in Chester, or slightly wrong counting towards the end of Ode to Joy, or in the wrong register (too high for example) for certain pieces, etc…. Just minor things for the most part but obviously they got missed or they changed over time from when I first did a quick check of “last week’s work”.
I thought that I understood that we don’t have every student play the whole entire new piece from last week’s lesson, it would take too long, correct? Or am I missing something? So what if there is something wrong towards the end of somebody’s piece that I didn’t catch and it never was reheard from the play list check? I’m planning a “mini concert” for these students at the end of May for which they will all play ALL their pieces. If more things crop up that I’d like to address, then I’m thinking I’ll take notes and then schedule some thing like a 10-15 minute private lesson for each student and address them on an individual basis. Good idea? or NO?
What am I doing wrong if anything? Does any body else experience this? This class is younger (6-8 year olds), have good attendance, etc….I don’t seem to be having these issues in my older student classes.
Have any of you scheduled a small amount of time to sort of coach each student individually, such as staying just 10 minutes after their group class to address some things? Any suggestions, guidance would be REALLY appreciated!
Laurie Richards, Nebraska
I think this is fairly typical. A few things you can do:
Sometimes when you are checking repertoire, have them start somewhere besides the beginning. Or, have them play a particular sentence or phrase that isn’t always at the beginning. They may need a little help with this at first. Keep them guessing so they never know what to expect!
You may want to point out the small inconsistency – maybe ask other students in the class if they noticed anything different, and have them help correct it.
Every 6 or 8 weeks (or however often you decide) you can have a “repertoire review” class where the entire class (or a big chunk of the class) is spent checking playlists. This is a more intensive playlist check. At these I will often have them play through entire pieces.
Cate R., Australia
I’m only new to this but I have also noticed this too with my kids so I’ve instigated the number system on the playlist whereas
1-I can play this easily,musically and with the audio.
2-I can play this easily,but it’s not quite ‘there’.
3-It flows,but I have to play it SLOWLY.
4-I know what to do but I really have to think about it.
5-I don’t know this,and may need to watch the video.
So if a piece is being marked at 1, they should be at least play it along with the audio and if not, they take responsibility to get themselves up to scratch. HOWEVER,it will be a continuing conversation that if you mark it as 1 then it has no faults and little faults could mean anything from a 2-5.
Sheri R., California
One way I address this problem is by taping everyone at the end of Level One. I make a note of anything that needs to be tweaked on their notes as well as mine and then check it over the following few weeks.
I have heard that some teachers devote an entire lesson to playlist review every 6 – 8 weeks–that might nip any problems before they are too entrenched.
Also, when checking playlist I often have them just play verse two of say Dreams or Night so I can be sure tailpiece is correct. Or sometimes I just have everyone show me the three chords in Bishop even though maybe only one person played through one line of it.
And still, I find problems down the road sometimes. I think some people are just not as careful no matter how much we tell them to review the video or how many times we show them the right way. People do make mistakes and I just continue to correct as they come up. I find, even though I give a thorough explanation and often more than once, some students still play a full four beats on the last I chord in Light Blue just before the FABE chord.
I have rarely scheduled a private lesson. Sometimes I ask another student to teach something at the end of class on a keypad while I’m starting my next class.
I would say ensuring students are keeping their playlists alive and thoughtless and accurate is the biggest challenge I have as a Simply Music teacher–I imagine I’m not alone!