Every few weeks I share some of the best articles and resources from around the web that will help pianists. This week, we have links on teaching improvisation, the benefits of being weirdly creative, memory boosters, and more.
Strategies for teaching improvisation to beginners
“… I’m talking about non-jazz improvising. We all know that students can readily improvise using a blues scale over a blues or boogie pattern, but what about composing music more in line with film music, ballads, pop and classical?”
“One day I said to several of my students — Today we’re going to have a SILENT PIANO LESSON. I’m not going to say a word. I’m just going to observe you practice. I may sketch down a few notes but for all practical purposes I want you to forget I’m here. I want you to practice just like you do at home.”
Arts Integration Practices That Help Boost Memory
“… [A]rts integration has helped raise student achievement. Job-embedded professional development, differentiated arts instruction, and critical-thinking skills integrated into the curricula have been key to their success.”
The Social and Emotional Benefits of Being Weirdly Creative
“I have heard… about the academic benefits of arts integration, how various forms of artistic expression (PDF) are employed to learn math and science as well as language arts. I have also learned about the virtues of a critical-thinking technique known as Artful Thinking, developed by Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, that deepens students’ intellectual understanding generally by deepening their understanding of the multiple layers of artistic expression.”
“Which of your current students might be ex- students by this time next year? It’s not always who you might think…IMT takes a look at 14 warning signs that a student is thinking about moving on.”
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