The author of one of the articles mentions about how he was teaching and could not get his students to understand the concept of legato vs. staccato. He ended up recording himself and students playing legato and staccato, then played it back through a projector using a waveform window, which showed the amplitude and duration of the sound waves. The students understood the concept and could reproduce results. This aspect of teaching applies to both visual and audible learners in the classroom.
Recording students playing can help them to understand how they are playing both visually and audibly. Overall, it is a technique that directors do not use enough that would greatly improve the level of musicianship in their ensembles. Once I start teaching I will definitely start recording students to have them listen and evaluate themselves, and could even use it for tape tests!
Hi Rocco,
ReplyDeleteI think that recording students is one of the most valuable things we can do for them. They will be much more motivated to practice when they can actually hear the problems they may be having in their sound. I felt a little uncomfortable reading the article about how to record a large ensemble because I am not very familiar with the technology and hardware devices mentioned. I hope to have the opportunity to work with a professional who can walk me through the process of obtaining a quality recording before I perform with a large group. However, I know that evaluation is not fully possible without recordings, and I would not want to deprive my students of this resource.
When I was teaching I often used recording for individual practice assessments and a system of chair placement challenges. I also recorded the full group for playback evaluation exercises in class. All of these recordings were primitive due to a lack of nice equipment, but it was still a valuable process. If and when I reenter a large ensemble classroom, I'd like to slowly build an arsenal of nice recording gear to improve this aspect of my teaching.
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