Becoming a Triple Threat

Welcome to Episode 21 of the Doremi Teach podcast. Today we're going to chat about aural skills and how you can help your students, and yourself, become a triple threat. My name is Helen Russell from Doremi Connect and I’m going to help you achieve your goals using the Kodály approach. So if you’re interested in teaching musical skills and literacy through singing then this is the place for you. A few years ago I was called up by the mum of a desperate Grade 8 cellist. Their exam was in a few weeks and their teacher hadn’t covered the aural element AT ALL. Could I help? Sadly, I was fully booked and the idea of missing family-time to cram some poor kid for Grade 8 was not appealing. So I pointed them to some books and online resources and wished them well. All the time cursing their teacher in my thinking voice. It broke my heart. I wish I could tell you that this was an isolated incident but it was not. But it was probably the worst. I have helped students with their aural when given more time. But their teachers are seriously missing a trick. Aural skills are precious and essential. Far more valuable than the few marks in an instrumental exam. And they deserve more attention too! When you think about learning an instrument, it feels like learners are split into three types. #1 Playing by Rote Whenever I have a beginner student who’s older than 5 or 6 they can usually play something already. And it’s almost always taught by their cousin. I ponder on this cousin link a lot and have some theories - but I’ll save those for another time. Rote teaching is great. Even in a formal lesson we can teach patterns and techniques by rote. But with YouTube and other online apps, learning purely by rote is increasingly common. #2 Playing by Ear Growing up I was sooo jealous of those people who could play by ear. Possibly because they were accessing cool pop music in a way that was off limits for me and my “proper” piano lessons. They were so cool - sigh! I was mystified and thought it would always be ou