This morning we had the final lecture for KAME, and I think that although I didn't like the approach presented by the Kodaly Method, I thought that Constructivist Learning, and Flipped Learning was really useful and has really useful applications in the classroom, as well as in learning guitar (and other instruments, I'm sure).
As my recital preparation amps up and exams draw nearer, I'm finding it difficult to balance study, and practice for voice and guitar. However, I'm still trying to keep playing, including attempting some fingerpicking. I've started with a classic - Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. I've just been playing through it really slowly. Its actually also been really helpful with making sure I am putting an equal amount of pressure on each of the strings to eliminate buzzing and muted strings, because plucking each string individually highlights where I need to put more pressure, or move my finger up closer to the fret, or make sure it wasn't being muted by another finger. I am feeling pretty good about the exam as I know all the chords pretty well, and my strumming is coming along alright. I think if I continue practicing by playing through a ton of different songs, I will be all good for the exam in a few weeks.
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My practice has been going pretty well this past week. I feel pretty confident with all the chords and fingerings, I'm just still having difficulty getting a really clear sound. Often I have buzzing strings (usually the top E string) and a generally muted sound. I think this is due to still not putting enough/even pressure on the strings, but also I've noticed that my fourth finger tends to rest against the top string, which causes the sound to be come muted or buzzy, so I've been focusing on correcting this. This is Gospel by Panic! At the Disco Havana by Camilla Cabello
There is just under a month left until the exam, and I feel comfortable in knowing all the chords, but I still am slow at moving in between all of them, so I've just been practicing this by moving through a bunch of songs and learning by gaining experience.
In Contemporary Pedagogies, I've been picking up a few more terms and techniques, like 'laying eggs', power chords, muting strings, changing the tone depending on where you strum/pick the strings. I've also been refining my strumming, which I think is improving, but I still find it super difficult to sing along! Luckily that won't be assessed. I did manage to brush up on my guitar before our lecture on Monday which was more contemporary pedagogies with Brad. We talked briefly about Constructivist Learning, which is (as so eloquently and accurately put in the UOS outline) "Accidentally learning theory just coz yo in a band." We played some Alicia Keys which was great, and I am even more enamoured with learning through experience. Musicians have this notion of 'practice makes perfect' ingrained into us with regards to the study of our instruments, and I think that is truly and wholly supported by Constructivist Learning. I think that this approach is supported a lot in the primary school system, with Orff and Kodaly which encourages hands on learning, however I found that my high school experience, especially in learning theory, was lacking in this approach. In terms of guitar playing, I'm still just going through songs, trying to brush up on my skills and improving my sight reading, strumming and chord changes with different songs. Unfortunately since my little break, my fingers are hurting again which sucks, because it makes it a lot harder to practice and get a decent sound out of the instrument. But, I still try. Love Song by Sara Bareilles
I found the movement to the B chord in the Bridge really difficult throughout this song because of the chord shape I'm using (I have to just down to the third fret) but I can improve this with more practice. Otherwise, the movement between Am, C, Em, D and G is becoming a lot easier. I just need to get a clearer, less fuzzy sound now, and I guess that will develop better when my fingers are hurting less?
I have been so fortunate over the past three and a half weeks to have a plethora of musical experiences that I never imagined would even be available to me.
First and foremost, I was grants the opportunity to travel with my high school as a teacher, mentor, chorister and soloist on their 2019 European Music Tour to Austria, Budapest, Prague and Germany. The experiences I was fortunate enough to have on this tour were so valuable and allowed me to learn from my former music teachers in a new capacity, and interact with them as a colleague. I was able to observe all the organisation and planning that goes into not only planning and rehearsing for a tour, but also during the tour itself. I also found myself implementing strategies I had learned in the Orff unit, especially using one word and very simplified instructions to save not only my voice, but communicate more clearly with the students. I also was able to get valuable advice from not only my own teachers and colleagues, but conductors and directors who ran masterclasses for the girls. Overall, it was an incredible experience, and I feel so lucky to have been a part of it. In the previous week I have also been a part of the Sydney Conservatorium's performance of Jandamarra by Paul Stanhope. As a passionate chorister and aspiring choral director, I really enjoyed watching Liz Scott rehearse the choirs, and see how she interacted differently with each group according to their needs and experience. I also just really enjoyed the music and the performance - it was such a fun and memorable experience and I felt so privileged to be involved. Finally I have been preparing for a performance with the Filmharmonia Orchestra as a volunteer chorister, which has been an entirely different experience, as I've been able to watch an honours student conduct and rehearse the choir, in a completely different manner to both my own former teachers, and Liz Scott. I think being able to watch all these different conductors and teachers has been an incredible experience, because I get to learn from their experience and from observing them, and build upon what I learn from them in my own work and learning. My guitar playing has somewhat ceased in these past weeks (especially while I was in Europe), but I hope to get back into it in the following week, and hopefully I haven't forgotten anything. Today we had our first lecture in Contemporary Pedagogies and Flipped Learning with Brad Fuller, and I am already a huge fan. I've always preferred to learn things through experience and through actually doing them, and I think the idea of learning guitar through jamming and actually just playing songs is awesome and pretty reminiscent of what I've been doing for the majority of the semester. While I've finished learning the chords, there are definitely a few which need to sound clearer, and still require me to practice shifting to them. F major is the bane of my existence and I hate it, but I will continue to work on it, with focus on making sure that there is even pressure on each string. I guess worst case scenario, I could just substitute a F7 chord, and leave the first finger off. I'm also still having trouble with G7 because its really hard to shift to, and I'm still not really having any luck with it. Blue - Memorised and at an 'acceptable' standard Pink - Learning Yellow - Not learned yet I've also been working on my strumming, and working on a number of different patterns that I can use for different songs and styles. I've been doing this with Vance Joy's Riptide, and Red by Taylor Swift, which both use different strumming patterns including what Brad calls 'Dropping Bombs', (just playing one chord per bar). Red by Taylor Swift Riptide by Vance Joy
The strumming is still pretty messy, and tends to accent the top and bottom strings of the guitar. I think I need to try get away from these strings, and also be a bit more gentle with them to improve the sound.
Today I had my Kodaly Method peer teaching assessment task. I was pretty happy with my performance. I had a few bumps and hesitations but I only messed up my Curwen hand signs once and overall I think I did pretty well. I still feel like I am a bit fuzzy with my understanding of Kodaly, which I think will probably impact on my mark a bit, as I felt like I was just repeating my Orff assessment, with added hand signs. I think I need to clarify Kodaly and my understanding of its stages and principles in my own time to really understand the method for what it is, rather than just as 'Orff with Hand Signs'. I taught a song I wrote myself about my dog (which I am now realising goes against the principle of performing traditional folk tunes in Kodaly) based primarily around the 'sol - mi - sol' motif used in the early stages of Kodaly, and intended to teach the note 'la'. I singled out the note by having the class sing every note but 'la', and taught them the hand signs as well. I finished quite early, which means I probably would have had time to incorporate a game into my assessment, but overall I am happy with what I presented.
The Guitar practice has continued, however I have not made as much progress this week as I had hoped - I haven't managed to finish learning all the chords, but my strumming (without singing) has improved a lot I think, so I hope (once I have the rest of the chords ready) that I can learn some new songs before next week. This week was spent consolidating the chords I have learned so far, and just brushing up on the skills I have been building since the start of the semester. This includes changing chords smoothly, and maintaining my strumming patterns. I think my chord changes are improving - they are still a bit chunky and hesitant, especially when I am moving to chords C or G, but are mostly coming together. My strumming is improving - I no longer get caught on the strings when I am strumming upwards and I'm finding it a lot easier to lock in with a pattern, though I still find it really difficult to maintain the strumming pattern while singing. I'm not overly concerned about this as it isn't required in the assessment task, however it is still a skill I would like to have because I think it will be useful in the future. I tried to play through a series of songs this week, just for the fun of it, but also to practice sight reading the chords and to have a wider repertoire in my head. Song choices included:
I'm having some difficulty with strumming. I'm not using a pick, so I'm having trouble with the positioning of my hand. So far I've worked out that it has something to do with my nails, and that I should have a loose, wrist. I've discovered that this technique is referred to as 'Fingernail Thumbnail Strumming', as you use a single fingernail to strum down. and the thumbnail to strum up.
I think I have the position right (maybe), but perhaps I'm not being gentle enough, as my nails keep getting caught on the strings when I strum up. I also still have difficultly maintaining a consistent strumming pattern, especially when changing chords and singing along because my focus shifts, and my coordination abilities are close to non-existent. So, in order to remedy this situation, I decided to return to chords I am already pretty comfortable with, and a song I already know pretty well, so I can practice coordinating chord changes and strumming, as well as having a sing along. Enter Ed Sheeran. I See Fire - Ed Sheeran
And as a bonus, this piece also includes a Am7. I've managed to vary the pattern a little bit throughout, and hopefully with time this will even out and become more stable. My chord changes are becoming smoother, but still need work, and I really need to work on the singing, because it really throws my strumming pattern!
Over the past two weeks I have been continuing to consolidate the chords I already knew and working to expand my repertoire of chords, including Bb, A7, E7, and C7. I find bar chords absolutely impossible to play and have a lot of trouble putting enough pressure across all the necessary strings, so I have been looking for alternative fingerings for chords like Bb, F (which I am having a bit of trouble with) and Gm. Luckily, www.fender.com has some awesome solutions and alternative fingerings and inversions for a series of chords. Macy, D. (2019). How to Play the B Chord on Guitar. Retrieved from https://www.fender.com/artices/how-to/learn-to-play-the-b-chord-on-guitar. I decided the second option provided was probably the best for me, as it lets me use most of the strings without resorting to the use of a bar chord. Also, in an emergency I could probably just use the three stringed option as well. I ended up using this same chord shape for my G minor chord, as both options provided on the website required barring. Most of the 7th chords have been pretty easy to learn, as they usually only require a single change, whether it is taking away one finger (E7 and A7) or adding one (C7). However, I found the positioning of the G7 really difficult - my hand just doesn't bend that way!! Its quite hard to shift to from pretty much every chord (including G major), but I haven't found any alternative fingerings that are easier, so I am going to have to learn to work with it. Unfortunately, a lot of my chords are coming out quite muted and fuzzy because my fingertips are still SO SORE, but hopefully this will improve with time. To assist in my learning of 7th chords, I enlisted in the help of Billie Holiday and Eva Cassidy with their versions of Stormy Weather and Danny Boy. Stormy Weather - Billie Holiday Danny Boy - Eva Cassidy
Stormy Weather was great for practicing the shift to G7 (which will hopefully get easier over time), however I did have to simplify some of the chords in my own version (such as the Em7b5, which became Em7). Danny Boy was a lot easier for me, as the shift from C to C7 is pretty easy (one extra finger). Because these two songs are in different styles (Jazz and Folk) I also got to try out some different strumming patterns which was awesome, as I've been practicing them as well. I still find it really difficult to maintain my strumming pattern and sing along, but I think this will get easier as I practice it more. Macy, D. (2019). How to Play F Chord on Guitar. Retrieved from https://www.fender.com/articles/how-to/learn-how-to-play-f-chord-on-guitar
Wallace, D. (2019). How to Play G Minor Chord on Guitar. Retrieved from https://www.fender.com/articles/how-to/learn-how-to-play-g-minor-guitar-chord This semester we have begun learning about the Kodály Method. My theoretical understanding of Kodály by week two is that it presents a more rigid and structured program than that of the Orff approach and once you complete one stage, you progress to the next in a sequential fashion. However in practice (at least in the context I have experienced Kodály in), it seems to be Orff with Curwen hand signs. I understand that the similarities between these two styles are numerous, but I think for the Kodály Method to be truly understood and appreciated, it has to be observed in its entirety as a method. Understanding the central principles of the Kodály has been quite useful to my understanding of the method and I find myself in strong agreement with most of them
I agree entirely with these principles, although I do believe that learning songs from all over the world in various languages is not only beneficially to a students understanding of music, but also of different cultures, a factor I think is very important in our increasingly multicultural world. However in saying this, I do understand that much Kodály's purpose in developing his philosophy of music education was to preserve Hungarian culture in a time of political unrest, which most certainly influenced the significance of folk music in the mother-tongue in the Kodály method.
While I appreciate the Kodály Method and it's principles, I'm not sold on its rigid structure and still need to consolidate exactly how students move through the stages and sequences of the Method. Musical U Team. (2019). What is the kodály method? | musical u. Retrieved from https://www.musical-u.com/learn/what-is-kodaly-and-how-does-it-relate-to-ear-training/# |