Music: An Art and a Language - Reading Together - Preliminary Considerations

"Every great musical composition reveals a carefully planned and perfect balance between the emotional and intellectual elements."
(location 116, Kindle Edition)

"The question for every music-lover is: can I equip myself in such a way as to feel at home in this language, to receive the message as directly as possible, and finally with perfect ease and satisfaction? This equipment demands a strong, accurate memory, a keen power of discrimination and a sympathetic, open mind."
(location 169, Kindle Edition)

"The would-be appreciator should early recognize the fact that listening to music is by no means passive, a means of light amusement or to pass the time, but demands cooperation of an active nature."
(location 188, Kindle Edition)

"Every genuine work of art in whatever medium, stone, color, word or tone, must exhibit unity of general effect with variety of detail."
(location 221, Kindle Edition)

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Fall-Themed Music Lesson Ideas

Here are some fall-themed lesson resources to use with your students.

Use this Autumn Rhythm Game from Let's Play Music to reinforce note values and rhythms.

Check out this unit on pitch for your music class.

This scarecrow piece from Susan Paradis is a short primer level piece and includes a teacher duet part.

Review note values with these musical math worksheets.

These rhythm folder games are perfect for your group lessons.

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Music: An Art and a Language - Reading Together

Welcome to the newest Reading Together series. I'll be posting a summary about our reading each week on Tuesdays. Come join us!

We'll be reading Music: An Art and a Language by Walter Raymond Spalding. This book is available for free from Project Gutenberg.

We'll be reading one chapter per week.
I'll post the first installment on Tuesday, September 29. That means you have two weeks to get a copy of the book and to read the first chapter.

The great thing about this program is that it allows us to read works together that can help us in our professional development as well as providing a level of accountability and the added interest of comparing notes as we read together.

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Piano Mastery Talks - Reading Together - Rhythm and Tone Color

"You must play rhythmically before you can play soulfully; you must first be able to keep time before you can attempt to express color and emotion through any fluctuation of rhythm."
(page 197, Kindle Edition)

"Edwin Hughes remarks: 'If pupils have naturally a poor sense of rhythm, there is no remedy equal to practising with the metronome, using it daily until results are evident, when there can be a judicious letting up of the discipline.'"
(page 198, Kindle Edition)

"The pianist who desires to play effectively, must continually strive for variety of tone, for tonal coloring."
(page 199, Kindle Edition)

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Piano Mastery Talks - Reading Together - How to Memorize

"All masters agree that analysis and concentration are the prime factors in the process of committing music to memory."
(page 194, Kindle Edition)

"Most of the artists agree that memorizing must be done phrase by phrase, after the composition has been thoroughly analyzed as to keys, chords, and construction."
(page 195, Kindle Edition)

"Keep your memory active through constant use. Be always learning by heart; do it systematically, a little at a time. So it will be daily progress. So your repertoire is built!"
(page 197, Kindle Edition)

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