"Music Technique Considerations"
and sources to consider for working on music technique
a student off right
with good music instruction can have profound impact on
the speed and quality of music that is created or reproduced.
The delayed gratification is worth it, but this is
a hard sell for both the parent and the student. We need to be able to
take the time to explain why technique is going to play such a big part
in there ability to learn and play music.
The thing about music technique is that you can
play and even impress your fellow peers without having good or great
technique in your playing. The untrained ear doesn't recognize a
mediocre performance by
itself. But have you ever noticed yourself saying that was great as
opposed to good.
What You Inherently Know
on proper playing techniques can make a huge difference in the quality
of sound that you produce with your musical instrument.
out with the right techniques is even more important. If you end up
correcting bad habits it can take a long time to correct them.
Examine the idea that when you listen to music you
make a judgment
as to the quality of the music. When you attend a recital or band
concert you can hear the difference in the players based on their
knowledge and music techniques they have learned.
Being aware of this difference is a first step to
improve your playing ability. Finding good instruction will be the
We start our learning by often just focusing
intently on learning
the theory or notes of a song. Later we begin to add phrasing and other
The key here is to remember that once
we know what we are going to play is to stay aware of how we are going
to play it. That's where the technique is applied.
take a look at how a keyboard player might approach learning a new
song. First he may analyze the key signature as major or minor. Look at
the chords and inversions, consider the chord progression.
block out the chords and work on the melody. Put it all together and
start to play a few measure consisting of the first phrase or
That was a lot to go through and we haven't even
applying technique. If the basic playing techniques were put in place
in the ex cerises then as he begins to play they will be applied during
that exploratory effort.
Continuing through the
process he refines and applies different techniques to improve
phrase. Eventually becoming happy with the outcome of the expression
he his trying to create or duplicate.
But how often do we get so involved in learning
the notes, chords, and rhythm we forget to work on the technique?
It can happen far to often. Stay aware of proper
technique and consider it early in the learning process.