Music is something "magic"
Music is something "magic"
because it's only mentally comprehensible. Some
tubes (for example flutes) or strings torn over a
box like construction (ukulele, violin or guitar)
can provoke certain waved in the air and this
provokes a sound which is heard by our ears and
transformed in our brains. These tubes or strings
can be shortened or lengthened by holding the
fingers at certain locations, and by this the
different tone pitches are produced. In former
times the humans produced their first music
instruments of bones of animals, of wood and
tendons of animals. Today we have music
instruments of wood with certain strings made of
intestine, wrapped with silver, gold, or there are
also pure metal strings.
Considering metal production
provoking an immense pollution of the environment
with absolutely toxic mercury and cyanide and
other toxic mining substances, so metal strings
are ethically principally not defensible any more.
Parents
presenting music instruments to the child
When parents play at
least some music, then this will be a great
enrichment for the child from early childhood on,
because music with music instruments is the antipole
to the noise of the external world, or is the
antipole to the noise from radio and TV. When
parents are playing music instruments presenting
them, then there are children adoring the parents
even more, or there are children which want to copy
this music play immediately and are "bothering" the
music peace. So, it's important that parents first
play a music instrument where the child cannot
"bother". So, piano or organ cannot be the initial
music instruments for child education, but this is
in general the recorder flute which normally cannot
be destroyed either. When the initial instrument is
violin or guitar then the instruments can be
destroyed easily and little shapes have to be
purchased or leased.
When parents are even that creative to move
themselves during playing or are even walking during
playing, then the show is perfect. The "magic" (for
the child a "magic flute") is moving and is not
falling. More magic life is principally not
imaginable for a child. And this model of playing an
instrument in a familiar house with a good portion
of humor is very, very important, because in this
way the child is gaining the impression that music
is not something "heavy", but it's something "easy"
to do.
Children
playing music instruments: The first flute
The first music instrument which
children play is normally the little recorder
flute, some 10 or 20 cm long, with three or four
holes in it, with four or five different tones.
There are also flutes in form of animals like this
which can provoke even more fantasy. When the
parents are playing also such a flute and are
making music with the right humor, so there will
be a fantastic play of showing and cloning, can be
that such a game lasts even half an hour. In
combination with some walking or even in
combination with a play of hide and seek this
flute playing can be absolutely fantastic. Also a
combination with facial expressions or with
certain gestures is possible which will be
something like a clown, but in reality it's the
training for combined motor skills. This will be
the first combined motor skill for the little
children: Playing the flute and at the same walk
or making facial expressions.
Also the hearing can be trained
when the play with playing flutes is going that
far that one parent and the child are in different
rooms making their tones in a continuing change,
with rhythm variations, with imitations of the
door bell, with the imitation of bird's voices
etc. The hearing is well trained with this,a nd
the mental unity between parents and children are
raised to a mental level which is hardly reached
by many adult persons: "hearing and coordinating
through the wall".
Little concerts: The
teaching person should always have a fine humor,
but working precisely
When there are little concerts,
this event is an event for it's own which is
missing for all other children. But there don't
have to be many concerts, but there can be one
little concert every year. The maximum should be
two per year, but it should be all voluntary
please without overcharging the children. The
first little concert will be in a recorder flute
group, and then the children will "change" to
other instruments. During the childhood until 8
years these little concerts can be performed in a
house of a family with a big hall for example.
When the group is ready then the same house
concert can repeat the program in other locations,
this means for example in libraries, in a town
hall, or in a little hall with a maximum of about
40 seats.
When the teaching person is
managing well working with a soft humor but is
always working in a precise way, and when this
teaching person is teaching without any military
manners at the same time, the children will take
this teaching person always as a model and will
prepare the little concerts well, and then the
children from 8 years on will want to perform
their music peaces without mistake by themselves -
without any compulsion or pressure, but the
ambition of the child itself will want this.
Therefore the children will even develop a joy
with precision - and this is not a joke, but this
works. And the children will also compete a little
bit each other and will provoke each other's
ambition.
In
general the teaching staff exists for giving
suggestions. the emotional connection with the
children themselves should be only little, so the
spirit of the children will develop with the
suggestions, but will develop as a free person
independently. Home visits as suggested by Rudolf
Steiner are absolutely wrong because the children
have the right for their own "territory" and the
teaching person should never "intrude" into
families, but should save a good reputation.
Playing classical music
instruments or popular music instruments - the
brain is trained as if it would be autogenic
training - but please without constraint
It's proved that making music
with a music instrument is developing the brain
mentally in a great way which is missing with
humans who don't play any music instrument. Motor
skills with fingers are trained, mental capacities
are trained, and coordinated movements and
learning by heart is trained, also retentivity and
concentration is trained, and all these activities
are converting the brain itself into a flexible,
unique "instrument". And by all this, making music
with corresponding patience and concentration
almost corresponds to an autogenic training.
The teaching person with the
music instrument
The teaching person in the
instrumental lesson has got the task not to show
too much emotion during the lesson, but the child
should develop his / her emotions. That means that
a child should not only copy the teaching person,
but should also be able to take responsibility for
it's own emotions.
The teaching person making music
is an important model, not only with a precise
work, but also for the emotional sector, with the
tone of voice giving orders, with gestures during
a statement, for more "energy" which is "laid
into" the music etc. A teaching person with a
child in a room during an instrumental lesson
should never speak with a loud voice because it's
a one-to-one lesson and the teaching person is the
authority anyway because the teaching person is
the adult one.
One-to-one
lesson can be managed always with the principle
show and copy, because in a one-to-one lesson
there is nobody "bothering". The teaching person
has not to be rigid in this music lesson because
in this one-to-one lesson the pupil's person will
always "copy" the model and any rigidness is wrong
in this situation. When a teaching person in a
one-to-one lesson means that he should be
"rigorous" or "rigid" then he has really missed
his profession. Bu there exist some music teachers
with "military characters" who really have missed
their profession.
Short summary:
-- the voice should never be
loud
-- and in a one-to-one lesson
the principle of show and copy should absolutely
work.
Ah yes, well, the teaching
person should also be a model with clothes in some
way, but should not be clothed like a banker. So
an ironed shirt or tie should not be in music
business because breathing should be free, and air
is moving in waves. When ironed shirts and ties
are coming then this is not "free" culture any
more but this will be "business" and authority by
tie - and this system has principally no effect
during making music, but ironed shirt and tie are
even killing the free musical expression.
Ah yes, well, and long
artist hairstyle should be always very smart so the
hairstyle will not be interpreted negatively by the
child.
Varying the lessons one can let
play the children some duos so one child can visit
the other child in the lesson. This also is a joy
for the children and the children learn much with
it, and they learn how are the variations with
music lessons. The "maximum" for the children will
be a music lesson of four, for example when there
is the violin concert for four violins which can
be altered also for four violas, etc.
Children helping each other
during playing duos
Of course also the children are
model for each other. 12 years old children are a
model for 8 years old children etc. When the
teaching person is "realizing" well the capacities
of every children, the children can be combined
among each other in a way so they automatically
will help each other. This begins with the visit
of one child in the lesson of another child
playing duos. And it's absolutely normal, that a
child gifted in rhythm is "helping" another child
with it's rhythm talent.
The same works also with tone
purity on string instruments. A child not playing
with a perfect tone purity will automatically be
ambitious to play with a perfect purity playing
together with a purity gifted child. The children
will adapt their hearings. And mostly there is
also a hearing when the child is not watching TV
always - what is not so the case in families where
children and parents are playing music. That means
that children can train them in a mutual way -
when the teaching person is "realizing" this, and
the teaching person is solving some problems
automatically then. Other teaching persons never
"realize" anything and don't know how certain
teaching persons are doing this that they have
better pupils than others. The secret is this:
One has to be able to combine
the spirits of the children in a positive way, and
then "great" things come out.
Three duos resulting in a
music group ("ensemble")
In this way the children can be
well prepared for music groups. First duos are
played where some technical failures are balanced,
and then three duos are simply composed to be a
music group - and this is the first "ensemble".
With children from 8 or 9 years on duos are
possible, with children from 11 years a first
ensemble is possible - when they are mature to
behave well, and the energies who have played duos
together already are playing sextet or octet now,
of course first only in three voices, then also in
four voices, and then also cello or a piano or a
harpsichord part can be included.
Managing such a music group
which was installed by the same music teacher is
not so difficult, because all know each other. "We
know each other", and the children have learnt one
from the other by duo playing, and they will want
to continue to learn together. When the teaching
person is bewaring a certain humor and is working
with a certain precision at the same time, then
this music group comes into an "euphoria".
Children are memorizing very well what the
teaching person is saying, and how. they know
exactly when they are appreciated, and when no.
And in a group principally every child wants to be
rated as "appreciated". The brains of the children
are always comparing and these brains are
incredible productive then. Parents not playing
any music instrument not having this experience
don't know what is going on mentally here.
Should
the teaching person conduct the music group or
not? Well, when there is a simple music group with
recorder flutes or string instruments, there can
be a conductor first, but then it will also be
possible that - when the children of the music
group know each other for a long time already
- it will be possible to let them play only by
their own hearing defining a "concert master".
That means that the group will also learn a
precise and common respiration. And this is the
absolute climax of making music when arms,
fingers, hearing and respiration of different
humans are coordinated. It's just like this that
persons without music instrument don't know what
is going on mentally there.
Ah
well, yes, an ensemble should be for free
and should not cost an extra fee, because an
ensemble is something that is supporting the
euphoria playing an instrument. With 12 years it
can be that musically gifted children are members
in a youth orchestra, or are members in a school
orchestra etc., and when these are well conducted,
then the "energy" from making music will also
be transferred to other spheres of life, and "great works"
will be possible also in other spheres of life,
simply because music making children have
developed a greater concentration capacity than
the other children only watching TV.
With
a school orchestra or youth orchestra the
orchestra members don't know so well each other,
because they come from different teaching classes.
That's why there has to be ALWAYS a conductor or a
woman conductor there coordinating respiration and
precision of the members. But when there are for
example two pupils of the same teacher playing in
a youth orchestra in common on a music desk, then
this will be a stabilizing "unity" for the whole
youth orchestra because they know each other since
a long time already.
Humorous but precise playing
musician groups: Children "music group"
The parents or teaching persons
are decisive if the child is going on playing the
music instrument or will finish with it. When the
parents or teaching persons are managing to have a
humorous and at the same time precise group
playing, then the children will always visit any
new group lesson in an euphoria. And there will
not be talks only about music, but at the
sidelines there will also be talks about familiar
or school problems, or children are telling about
their holidays and are acquiring indirectly new
knowledge about other locations in the world, or
books are exchanged, or there are reports about
other hobbies yet etc.
So, one can see that a music
group is not only a "music group", but a music
group is a social organism, and when the parents
or teaching persons are applying a good
flexibility and never will lose their soft humor,
then the "music group" will be a stable factor in
the children's life in their childhood and youth,
and this stable factor is principally
irreplaceable, because the children
-- have a social interchange
there
-- in connection with precise
and concentrated formed music
-- and the teaching person is
the referee which of course is a model for leading
a group.
These leaders of music groups
can enrich and keep alive the music playing with
metaphors and comparisons, but it should be in the
right proportions, and depending on the situation,
because otherwise also the comparisons or jokes
are getting boring.
So, a carefully managed music
group is a socially and mentally high-graded
matter which will have it's effect also in other
subjects or later with the work as an adult person
- as long as this music making is done on a
voluntary base without super fluent manipulations
with the child.
And one has to know: When all
music making is manipulated and enforced then this
will be a big trauma with depressions beginning in
the later youth and the taboo of child abuse by
classical music is not officially recognized until
today.
Exercise time
Well, making music should go
without enforcement. Exercise time in childhood
should be play time, often together with the
parents indicating which tones are not so "pure"
yet, or where the rhythm is not so "good" yet. In
youth times certain youths are "bitten by the bug"
and they are developing classical music in a high
quality, and the parents have nothing to say any
more then but only "are allowed to pay". When all
this is working without enforcement and without
prohibitions and without caging or extorting for
exercise, then is well prepared the whole
professional life with this: A precise
professional life is prepared with this, because
the child learnt how to concentrate, to read, to
work in a precise manner, to bring a work to an
end etc.
Exercise time can also be
varied. May be that one child is visiting another
child one time a week for doing common exercises.
Or there are "group" meetings for common exercise,
and when there is a group rehearsal the different
"blocks" have only to be combined and coordinated.
