Less Linear Learning in Viola and Violin
Explore.
Study.
Perform/Connect.
I’ve been exploring these three phases related to learners, to classical musicians, or, more specifically, to my violin and viola students and me.
The working title is The Learning Triangle. I’m making this up, it’s a working educational theory, so bear with me. If unknowingly I am re-inventing the wheel and someone has already done this, I’m all ears, please let me know!
I’ve been teaching for a while. Full-time since 2013, actually. I’ve met many wonderful students and done my very best to help them tap into their potential, overcome challenges, and grow musically and interpersonally as we work together. I’ve started to wonder if there’s a bit of a pattern, though, with music students and their tendencies. (This could easily broadly apply to learners of all kinds, not just music ones, but it’s easier for me and better for you if I stay specific, so I will.)
I work with students who want new music every other week and really don’t want to get into the nitty gritty of practicing. Explorers.
I work with students who have been practicing the same piece for months and still don’t feel qualified to play it for anyone besides me. Studiers.
I work with students who would like to perform the music as soon as they first play it… with gusto and with flair but very often with inadequate preparation or technique. Performers.
If you’re not already cringing at this oversimplification of these generalizations and titles, please know that I am, at least a little. But take a moment and think about it… is this something you relate to? Do you see this in your student or child? Could you possibly see this in yourself?
Briefly. My theory is that we can put these labels into a triangle and that ideal educational outcomes involve balancing this triangle. Critical to balancing your triangle is approaching learning less linearly and more sectionally. For instance.
I am a studier. Studiers love to go a mile deep in many things but often get stuck not sharing or performing because their work is incomplete or imperfect in their mind. Approaching my work sectionally (balancing my triangle) would look like me taking the time to explore and perform more frequently, even if it is in small ways like playing a process page for a student or YouTube or sharing an incomplete essay on a blog post.
Explorers help us keep finding new things and trying them new ways. This is both a huge plus and a massive downside. Explorers bore easily and always want something new to do. Making things like scales or etudes variable and giving them ways to “mix it up” would be a good start for this style. They need help making study feel like exploring.
Performers tend to be more extroverted in their music and don’t get as bogged down in making things perfect. They live for the stage and the audience! Studying needs to be made a little less dull for them. Incorporating games into their practice increases the interest of studying for them. The more that practice can be linked to things that feel social or competitive, the better.
All three categories would benefit from regularly rotating through the learning triangle aka sectioning or chunking their approach. This is a working theory and I look forward to exploring it more this coming year.
