Bryan Powell came in to teach us about some strategies about teaching music and also learning about the guitar and how to play. What was interesting about it was that it was very interactive as we got to actually hold and play the guitar. He had a really good starting point as we first learned triads (easier version of the same chord) and didn’t really tell us about technique which was the most interesting part. Going back to Monday’s class about “classical” vs. “modern” teaching and learning styles, I personally believe that you should learn technique before learning how to play pieces so you can transfer the technique(s) to other pieces.
He also made people sing some instrumental parts. This was to help incorporate musicians who don’t consider themselves vocalists to use another part of their talents or resources to do more to music. I never thought about that.
What surprised me was that he teaches theory when it is needed. He explained that he only teaches theory if it will help enhance his student’s teaching. I think that learning theory should be incorporated as you learn new repertoire instead of dividing theory and actual instrumental music learning. I think that is what Dr. Powell is also trying to do? I’m not too sure, but of course, I would love to know more about how he incorporates theory in his teaching, especially if you are learning guitar and not a classical instrument or even how the theory would help enhance their learning.
One thing that frustrated me a bit, was of course the technique part, how he didn’t teach how to hold the guitar and how to play chords without having your wrist in pain. And also, whenever I looked at him while we were playing or singing, I found him looking bored almost every time and I felt a little discouraged about wanting to continue.
An assumption I had was that everybody was going to be able to play the music he was teaching to everyone he taught us the basic way to play a chord instead of jumping in to play the full chord. He also made sure for every new information / chord we learned, we played a short section of a familiar song with a sense of accomplishment which motivates us to keep learning. That is something i enjoyed in his teaching.
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