Do your instructors occasionally step into the student role? Those who do are often the best instructors around.
The stronger teachers realize that they never stop learning themselves. It's helpful if they occasionally study new dances (or other subjects) where they are beginners again, because that refreshes their perspective on starting at the bottom of a learning curve.
I observed this myself a few weeks ago, when I decided to take a few back-to-back classes. As I settled into my first class I glanced across the room and saw the instructor for my third class that day, working as hard as the rest of us. She was both a student and an instructor in the same day. The instructor for the first class had taken a challenging ballet class the week before. Both instructors were working to sharpen their skills.
I've taken classes from both of them and I understand why they are so good. They learn from the other great instructors and students, and they adopt the best practices they find in other classes. Neither instructor "needed" to take the additional classes; they’re already well known for excellence. These two are not unique.
It makes sense to me. Just because they teach doesn't mean they know everything, or that they can't learn something from other great teachers. I see this all the time among better instructors.
Entering the student role also provides new perspectives because each instructor approaches dance differently, even when teaching the same type of class.
I see the same thing with salsa professionals. Edie the Salsa Freak still takes private lessons as she travels around the world teaching. One day she may teach over a hundred students at a salsa congress, and while social dancing that night, find someone doing something interesting or different.
I've seen her book a private lesson with them that same night, and before her next class she acts as a student, finding something new to add to her vast experience. It's one of her strengths as an instructor, and it's also why she continues to get rave reviews on her teaching. She learns from everyone, and looks for people with different experiences she can combine with her own. I like that approach from an instructor.
When you're seeking out better instructors, find out if they still venture into the student role occasionally. It provides you insights into their experiences, and you'll be amazed how many of the best instructors are also students and/or they have studied with lots of instructors along the way.
Let me know about your favorite instructors, and see if they are also out there taking some classes occasionally.
RELATED ARTICLES
How Many Instructors: Part 1
How Many Instructors: Part 2 (Same Sex?)
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Mastering Music: NOT on the Dance Floor
Don't expect to master the music on the dance floor. (Sorry--don't shoot the messenger.)
Let's be clear: I don't consider dancing the same as focused listening time. It's hard to have a great relationship with the music without some private time. You can do it with your "significant other" (S.O.) around, but I don't recommend it if they are the jealous type.
If you hear a tune enough on the floor you may remember some elements of the tune, like a few of the breaks and the melody, but I consider that a bonus. Experienced ears can also predict many of the breaks and will hear the section changes, because music isn't random.
While dancing, your focus includes the music, but your partner comes first, then the music and then your own moves and patterns. Don't expect to have enough attention to master the music when you have an attractive partner in front of you, especially if you are newer to the listening relationship game.
If you are also a newer dancer, then you are already multi-tasking up a storm. Critical listening is extremely difficult when your plate is already full with a partner, lights, and a large set of variables on the dance floor. Simply too much going on at once.
Focused listening requires you to repeat sections, and yelling to the DJ to repeat the introduction or the percussion solo isn't workable at most clubs. Live bands like that even less.
If you are new to focused listening, you should spend some quality alone time with just the music and you, along with the rewind/repeat buttons. As you grow your "ears", you can do 60 to 80% of your listening while doing things that don't require your full attention. For most, that includes eating, showering, exercising, driving, and other recurring tasks you do regularly.
Some focused listening requires alone time, with few distractions. You can do those sessions in five and ten minute chunks (quickies) around the rest of your life, with an occasional longer listening.
When driving for to a club for 30 to 60 minutes I've set my CD player to repeat one song the whole time, while sometimes using the reverse button to review a snippet 20 times or more. I may be listening to the vocals, a horn part, one or more percussionists or something else I find interesting.
Sometimes I may be bouncing between instruments and sections and/or counting parts of the tune to clarify the song structure. I've often listened to the same song on the way home, but focusing on different sections. It's amazing what you hear after extended reviews.
The more mature your ears become, the more you hear while multi-tasking, including being on the dance floor. Ultimately that's the pay-off.
You may not tell your S.O. about your music relationships, and we'll just keep that to ourselves. When they dance with you'll they'll quickly realize you have an intimate relationship with the music, and they'll love you for it.
Let's be clear: I don't consider dancing the same as focused listening time. It's hard to have a great relationship with the music without some private time. You can do it with your "significant other" (S.O.) around, but I don't recommend it if they are the jealous type.
If you hear a tune enough on the floor you may remember some elements of the tune, like a few of the breaks and the melody, but I consider that a bonus. Experienced ears can also predict many of the breaks and will hear the section changes, because music isn't random.
While dancing, your focus includes the music, but your partner comes first, then the music and then your own moves and patterns. Don't expect to have enough attention to master the music when you have an attractive partner in front of you, especially if you are newer to the listening relationship game.
If you are also a newer dancer, then you are already multi-tasking up a storm. Critical listening is extremely difficult when your plate is already full with a partner, lights, and a large set of variables on the dance floor. Simply too much going on at once.
Focused listening requires you to repeat sections, and yelling to the DJ to repeat the introduction or the percussion solo isn't workable at most clubs. Live bands like that even less.
If you are new to focused listening, you should spend some quality alone time with just the music and you, along with the rewind/repeat buttons. As you grow your "ears", you can do 60 to 80% of your listening while doing things that don't require your full attention. For most, that includes eating, showering, exercising, driving, and other recurring tasks you do regularly.
Some focused listening requires alone time, with few distractions. You can do those sessions in five and ten minute chunks (quickies) around the rest of your life, with an occasional longer listening.
When driving for to a club for 30 to 60 minutes I've set my CD player to repeat one song the whole time, while sometimes using the reverse button to review a snippet 20 times or more. I may be listening to the vocals, a horn part, one or more percussionists or something else I find interesting.
Sometimes I may be bouncing between instruments and sections and/or counting parts of the tune to clarify the song structure. I've often listened to the same song on the way home, but focusing on different sections. It's amazing what you hear after extended reviews.
The more mature your ears become, the more you hear while multi-tasking, including being on the dance floor. Ultimately that's the pay-off.
You may not tell your S.O. about your music relationships, and we'll just keep that to ourselves. When they dance with you'll they'll quickly realize you have an intimate relationship with the music, and they'll love you for it.
When choosing between two evils, I always like to take the one I've never tried before.
--Mae West
Monday, November 10, 2008
Better Ears: Voices in My Head - Part 2
This is part two of a series. If you haven't read part 1 of this article, I suggest you do it before reading this one. Click here to check it out: Better Ears: Voices in My Head (part 1).
I've had some excellent comments on the original article, including some who questioned the value of listening to the words in a song (AKA “lyrics”). That’s fine and I’m happy to have people challenge my thinking. I always learn something from your comments. I also hope you continue expressing your views and letting me know what you think.
I’ll take as many of the questions head-on as possible. I expect to answer over a few articles because one article dealing with all questions/comments will be too long.
Before answering specific questions, let’s be sure we are on the same page with a relevant subset of my music listening principles.
Overview Principles:
Principle 1: “Selective Focus” is the goal
As your ears mature, you can listen to one instrument, a selected group of instruments or the complete mix, shifting between them as desired. This means hearing the cowbell, bass, piano, timbales, or any other instrument(s) while the complete band is playing along. Without significant practice and/or a musical background, isolating one instrument in your mind is not always easy. In other words, it can be harder in the beginning, but anybody can learn to do it with some practice.
Principle 2: “Over and over” is the norm
No matter what method you choose, you will listen to music repeatedly, repeatedly, repeatedly, repeatedly, repeatedly. Nothing substitutes for hearing the same parts of a tune 20, 50, 100 times or more. Combined with the “selective focus” principle, it means you are listening multiple times with a specific purpose. You listen along, following the voice(s), piano, bass or a percussionist, with the goal of hearing every note they perform. For more details, check out this article from last year: “Listening to Music 100 Times or More”
Even the best-trained ears require multiple listenings to hear all the different parts. In great music, you’ll continue to find new sounds months (or years!) after the first listening. Like watching a great movie multiple times, you notice lots of details that were undetected during the initial reviews. The details are there all along, but noticing them takes many reviews.
Over time you discover hidden treasures in the music, and sometimes it will make you laugh when you figure out some works, or hear two musicians playing off each other like great dance partners. The best music sounds great when you initially hear it, and has additional depth you discover through additional listenings.
Principle 3: Lyrics are an excellent starting point
The strength of focusing on the lyrics is you already have most of the puzzle. You practice your selective focus to fill in the missing pieces. This focus is easier when you start with something similar to what you already know. Because you've been talking since age two or so, you already know about stories, rhymes, and have a basic sense for what works and what is totally out of context.
Lyrics are not always clear, due to the artistic license taken by many singers. They cut off words, change pronunciation, have a funny accent, and stretch sounds to fit the feel they want or the mood of the music. In a few cases, a subset of lyrics can be almost impossible to figure out. (That’s why we have Google.)
Even with the minor issues above, they are still easier than many other instrument sounds due to our language experience. You’ll find these exercises still works amazingly well even if you never get every word right.
All this assumes you are listening to a singer who sings in a language you know well.
Longer term, we want to recognize the sounds of the different instruments in the tunes and clearly hear them in multi-layered, complex tunes (also known as salsa music). Many tunes have very interesting and complex backup vocals, and you'll love the new world you'll discover through these selective focus exercises. These same skills also apply to the instrumentalists in the music.
Don’t think this is only for beginners; I still sort out the lyrics of tunes I like along with using the same skills to selectively listen to the different instruments. Focusing on the lyrics is an appropriate starting point, but it will also sharpen your ears even if you have extensive experience.
Principle 4: Walk before you run
It should be easy and obvious; start with simple music, then grow from there. Leverage your existing language knowledge and expand your listening skills. A classic, time- honored learning method is to build on what you already know. It’s worked for thousands of years, and I suspect it will be valid long after I’m gone.
I see many instructors playing complex music and trying to show new people how to hear the “one” or a specific percussion instrument. I have to work hard at remaining calm because I want to stand up and shout, “THEY DON’T HEAR IT!” or “They are not hearing what you hear!”
Many experienced dancers and teachers assume because they are hearing the clave, piano, bass, congas, horns and/or other percussion, everybody else is hearing it too. Many newer listeners can hear an isolated instrument if it's playing by itself, but it becomes muddy after other instruments are added. Without some selective focus experience, cutting through all the different sounds just isn't realistic for many people.
The fact is the vast majority of non-musicians are only hearing a fraction of the actual instruments. It’s natural to assume everything you’re hearing is also the same thing others are hearing. Unfortunately, the listening world is just not that simple, and others can’t tell you what they don’t hear.
Just to say it all again
We all hear different things in the music, and it’s amazing the differences between individuals. Most people start with complex music like salsa, but I rarely do anymore because it frustrates new listeners and some even question if they’ll ever hear the time and the individual instruments.
I’ve long maintained that ANYBODY can hear the music and the time, given the right practice and some effort. With my private students, I regularly see them attempting to work on more advanced listening when the low hanging fruit hasn’t been picked yet.
Try listening to lyrics on tunes you enjoy when you’re in the car, working out, doing dishes or anything else where listening is an option. Don’t expect to master the music on the dance floor. Your selective focus experience will pay off and lead to much stronger ears over time, but it’s a process.
I’ll directly respond to previous comments in the next article. I'll put the lyrics from the previous articles in the comments for this one. (You did read the previous article, didn't you?)
I've had some excellent comments on the original article, including some who questioned the value of listening to the words in a song (AKA “lyrics”). That’s fine and I’m happy to have people challenge my thinking. I always learn something from your comments. I also hope you continue expressing your views and letting me know what you think.
I’ll take as many of the questions head-on as possible. I expect to answer over a few articles because one article dealing with all questions/comments will be too long.
Before answering specific questions, let’s be sure we are on the same page with a relevant subset of my music listening principles.
Overview Principles:
- “Selective Focus” is the goal
- “Over and Over” is the norm
- Lyrics are an excellent starting point
- Walk before you run
Principle 1: “Selective Focus” is the goal
As your ears mature, you can listen to one instrument, a selected group of instruments or the complete mix, shifting between them as desired. This means hearing the cowbell, bass, piano, timbales, or any other instrument(s) while the complete band is playing along. Without significant practice and/or a musical background, isolating one instrument in your mind is not always easy. In other words, it can be harder in the beginning, but anybody can learn to do it with some practice.
Principle 2: “Over and over” is the norm
No matter what method you choose, you will listen to music repeatedly, repeatedly, repeatedly, repeatedly, repeatedly. Nothing substitutes for hearing the same parts of a tune 20, 50, 100 times or more. Combined with the “selective focus” principle, it means you are listening multiple times with a specific purpose. You listen along, following the voice(s), piano, bass or a percussionist, with the goal of hearing every note they perform. For more details, check out this article from last year: “Listening to Music 100 Times or More”
Even the best-trained ears require multiple listenings to hear all the different parts. In great music, you’ll continue to find new sounds months (or years!) after the first listening. Like watching a great movie multiple times, you notice lots of details that were undetected during the initial reviews. The details are there all along, but noticing them takes many reviews.
Over time you discover hidden treasures in the music, and sometimes it will make you laugh when you figure out some works, or hear two musicians playing off each other like great dance partners. The best music sounds great when you initially hear it, and has additional depth you discover through additional listenings.
Principle 3: Lyrics are an excellent starting point
The strength of focusing on the lyrics is you already have most of the puzzle. You practice your selective focus to fill in the missing pieces. This focus is easier when you start with something similar to what you already know. Because you've been talking since age two or so, you already know about stories, rhymes, and have a basic sense for what works and what is totally out of context.
Lyrics are not always clear, due to the artistic license taken by many singers. They cut off words, change pronunciation, have a funny accent, and stretch sounds to fit the feel they want or the mood of the music. In a few cases, a subset of lyrics can be almost impossible to figure out. (That’s why we have Google.)
Even with the minor issues above, they are still easier than many other instrument sounds due to our language experience. You’ll find these exercises still works amazingly well even if you never get every word right.
All this assumes you are listening to a singer who sings in a language you know well.
Longer term, we want to recognize the sounds of the different instruments in the tunes and clearly hear them in multi-layered, complex tunes (also known as salsa music). Many tunes have very interesting and complex backup vocals, and you'll love the new world you'll discover through these selective focus exercises. These same skills also apply to the instrumentalists in the music.
Don’t think this is only for beginners; I still sort out the lyrics of tunes I like along with using the same skills to selectively listen to the different instruments. Focusing on the lyrics is an appropriate starting point, but it will also sharpen your ears even if you have extensive experience.
Principle 4: Walk before you run
It should be easy and obvious; start with simple music, then grow from there. Leverage your existing language knowledge and expand your listening skills. A classic, time- honored learning method is to build on what you already know. It’s worked for thousands of years, and I suspect it will be valid long after I’m gone.
I see many instructors playing complex music and trying to show new people how to hear the “one” or a specific percussion instrument. I have to work hard at remaining calm because I want to stand up and shout, “THEY DON’T HEAR IT!” or “They are not hearing what you hear!”
Many experienced dancers and teachers assume because they are hearing the clave, piano, bass, congas, horns and/or other percussion, everybody else is hearing it too. Many newer listeners can hear an isolated instrument if it's playing by itself, but it becomes muddy after other instruments are added. Without some selective focus experience, cutting through all the different sounds just isn't realistic for many people.
The fact is the vast majority of non-musicians are only hearing a fraction of the actual instruments. It’s natural to assume everything you’re hearing is also the same thing others are hearing. Unfortunately, the listening world is just not that simple, and others can’t tell you what they don’t hear.
Just to say it all again
We all hear different things in the music, and it’s amazing the differences between individuals. Most people start with complex music like salsa, but I rarely do anymore because it frustrates new listeners and some even question if they’ll ever hear the time and the individual instruments.
I’ve long maintained that ANYBODY can hear the music and the time, given the right practice and some effort. With my private students, I regularly see them attempting to work on more advanced listening when the low hanging fruit hasn’t been picked yet.
Try listening to lyrics on tunes you enjoy when you’re in the car, working out, doing dishes or anything else where listening is an option. Don’t expect to master the music on the dance floor. Your selective focus experience will pay off and lead to much stronger ears over time, but it’s a process.
I’ll directly respond to previous comments in the next article. I'll put the lyrics from the previous articles in the comments for this one. (You did read the previous article, didn't you?)
I'm opposed to millionaires, but it would be dangerous to offer me the position.
--Mark Twain
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)