Practice and Feedback Produce Life-Long Musicians

According to Bauer (2014) in Music Learning Today: Digital Pedagogy for Creating, Performing, and Responding to Music, students “need to develop the ability to diagnose their own musical performance problems and then utilize appropriate strategies to address those issues” (p. 99). During Module 4, we focused mainly on methods and technologies to help students develop their own musical abilities and practice strategies.

To begin with, we discussed the importance of practice and practicing correctly. It is often a struggle for music teachers to get their students to practice at home, especially when they must find time to do so between dinner, homework, sports, and leisure time. A student’s will to practice is affected intrinsically (internally) or extrinsically (externally). First, students experience intrinsic motivation to practice or make music, because they simply enjoy the process; they enjoy singing and/or playing instruments. By producing a good product and achieving success, students are rewarded intrinsically through music. Likewise, students are also motivated to make music extrinsically through family, friends, and teachers. Knowing these facts, how can we encourage our students to practice at home? And, how do we ensure they use good practice strategies? (Bauer, p. 94)

One way is through technology! For example, “Researchers have found that students generally prefer to practice with accompaniment…some students believe that practicing with accompaniment allows them to learn music better and to learn it more quickly” (Bauer, p. 94). Teachers can provide accompaniment recordings through many sources, such as CDs, audio recordings, or SmartMusic.

Of the three, I would like to focus on SmartMusic. SmartMusic is a newer program that is subscribed to through schools and music teachers. Students can then access the database at school or at home via the Internet. SmartMusic is beneficial in many, many ways. First, it is a database of accompaniment recordings from early elementary school to collegiate levels. Second, as a student plays along with the accompaniment, the program will alert the student to mistakes in pitch and rhythm. Thirdly, SmartMusic is a great resource to assist in good practice habits. Most young students practice their music by playing a piece from beginning to end without stopping and without regard to mistakes. With SmartMusic, students are forced to reflect on their performance by reflecting on simple questions, such as “Did I miss accidentals?” or “Did I play that rhythm incorrectly?” In addition, students are able to play through difficult sections by using a looping tool within the program. This process of performing, reflecting, and practicing will not only improve a student’s performance, but it will also teach them to become self-correcting musicians. Musicians who can self-correct and self-monitor will be much more successful in their future music making experiences.

Although, however wonderful SmartMusic is, in the end, it is still only a resource. A computer program cannot provide feedback on tone and breath support, nor can it teach a student how to articulate or good practice strategies. Thus, it is crucial that students also receive feedback from their instructors.

“One of the most powerful ways to enhance achievement is to provide students with appropriate formative feedback that allows them to gauge their performance in relation to specific criteria” (Bauer, p. 99). Formative feedback should give students a clear understanding of what they did well, what they need to improve, and how to improve it. The model for positive feedback should be an Oreo cookie. A teacher should state something positive about the performance, then state what the student needs to improve, and end with another positive statement. The last positive statement should be how to correct the issue and encouraging to the student. An Oreo model will extrinsically motivate the student to practice and provide constructive and relative feedback.

In the end, as music educators, our job is to create life-long musicians. With proper feedback and practice strategies enhanced through the use of technology, students will not only enjoy music making, but they will become self-monitoring and more successful musicians.

References:

Bauer, W. I. (2014). Music Learning Today: Digital Pedagogy for Creating, Performing, and Responding to Music. New York: Oxford University Press.