lifelong engagement in music
studio lesson setting. My wife had a pri- vate viola student over 20 years ago who was a 73-year-old semi-retired travelling salesman. He has taken his instrument on the road with him for years and played only by himself in his hotel room. She provided him with the regular diet of scale exercises, etudes and solo repertoire that fit his skill level. She soon realized, how- ever, after several lessons of him setting a book of viola duets on the stand at the start of the lesson with a “Hey, want to try these?” that what he really wanted was to have a chamber music partner.
This really starts to get at what seems to be a root difference between many adult music learners and school-age students. Young musicians are in a process of DEVELOPMENT: using a series of exer- cises and studies to increase performance skills. This comes often with a large per- centage of external motivation: I want that seat in the next level of youth symphony, it would be great to have the solo in the choir concert, I have a graded assignment due Thursday, I would like first chair in the trumpet section at school, and Mom says I need to practice.
Adults, on the other hand, are often in the process of ENRICHMENT: making their lives more full through the addition of ac- tivities they enjoy or have always wanted to try. The motivation here is internal: there is simply a desire to experience something new, to reach a proficiency that allows them to join others in making mu- sic. The push to get into the next orchestra is gone, there is no singing test tomorrow, and nobody else is telling them to practice. Adults also can think more reflectively about their own learning, often suggesting targets and goals.
It can be an eye-opening experience for a studio teacher to see this different ap- proach to learning. Teaching other adults is looking into an educational mirror: we see ourselves and how we the adult teachers learn. While that might be un- comfortable at first it is also an excellent reflective opportunity.
I encourage all school music teachers to consider teaching music to adults. It can be a musical win-win situation for your students and for you.
An epilogue: My wife and I returned from family Thanksgiving weekend those more-than-20 years ago and found a message on the answering machine. Our salesman student had passed away from a heart attack. His wife told us that his time practicing the music (a duet version of “Ashoken Farewell”) for his upcom- ing lesson had given both of them great
pleasure in his final days and she won- dered if we would be willing to perform it at his funeral. It was an experience we had never had with a school-aged student, and it helped us understand both the great gift of music we as music teachers had been able to give to him and to his family and the great rewards we ourselves receive from our chosen profession.
Steve Kurr teaches orchestra and music history at Middleton High School. Email:
skurr@mcpasd.k12.wi.us
Wisconsin Foundation for School Music
President:
Jon Gilliland, Lecturer, UW-Milwaukee President-Elect:
Rick Parks, Superintendent, School District of Marathon Past President:
Scott Pierce, District Administrator, Central High School District of Westosha
Treasurer:
Bernie Fielder, CFP, Oconomowoc Board Members:
Gregg Butler, Administrator, Eau Claire, County Off Campus High School Brian Hanes, Superintendent, Ashwaubenon Public Schools Steve Michaels, Fine Arts Supervisor, School District of La Crosse Steve Plank, Principal, Middleton High School Brett Stousland, Superintendent, Barneveld Public Schools Heidi Taylor-Eliopoulus, Superintendent, Chippewa Falls Area Unified SD Dan Wolfgram, Principal, Little Wolf Junior/Senior HS Nate Vlcek, Associate Principal, Rice Lake Middle School Stephanie Elkins, Program Director, Wisconsin Public Radio Sarah Jerome, Retired, Arlington Heights School District
Staff:
Timothy Schaid, Executive Director •
schaidt@wsmamusic.org Kerrie Brey, Finance Manager •
breykl@wsmamusic.org Jamie Kember, Development Associate •
kemberj@wsmamusic.org
Kenzie Trezise, Development & Marketing Associate •
kenziet@wsmamusic.org
Wisconsin School Musician 63
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