Play with Others and Fast Track Your Progress
When signing up for music lessons, students can expect to attend a weekly lesson, to practice regularly at home and to repeat this process every week. Knowing that this requires many hours of commitment, new families often ask why I encourage my students to participate in additional music activities outside their regularly scheduled lessons. Aren’t 1-on-1 lessons sufficient?
My answer comes without hesitation. To develop a musician who will play for a lifetime, we (myself as your teacher and yourselves as family) need to foster a love of music in your child. Most importantly, we need to let your child experience the joy, excitement, and camaraderie that comes from playing and sharing music with others.
Most of us know adults who despite playing music as a child, never continued playing their instrument into adulthood. My suspicion is that many of these students learned to associate music with technical drills, stressful examinations and demanding performances.
My goal as a music teacher is not to turn each child into a professional musician. Instead, my students and I work together to strengthen their playing skills and to explore their instrument in fun and innovative ways. I encourage them to use their instrument to connect with the community and with each other. At the end of the day, the most important lesson I can pass along to my students is that their musical journey has no boundaries.
Below is a list I share with my more reluctant parents about the benefits their children gain from playing music with others:
- Experience
“Instrumental music can spread the international language;” Herb Alpert
When students play in groups, they learn to bring their individual accomplishments together to create something bigger than themselves. They learn that their creation of music becomes an entity in itself that overrides all differences in language, culture and socioeconomic levels. They learn that music can create a sense of community and that their skill and their instrument become an integral part of the whole. - Reinforcing what is taught in private lessons
“Knowledge has no value unless you put it into practice;” Anton Chekhov
Tone, pitch, rhythm and dynamics are musical elements commonly taught during private lessons. When students play together as a group, they hear these musical elements being applied and gain a deeper understanding of how and why these techniques are used. This deeper understanding encourages students to be more engaged in their music and motivated to enhance their musicianship skills at home. - Social and emotional well-being
“The life I love is making music with my friends;” Willie Nelson.
Playing in a group is a great way for students to meet like-minded musicians and create deep-rooted friendships. Playing as a group forms common ground for even the shyest student and offers a healthy anchor for preteens and teenagers during their more trying years of self-discovery. Playing in a group also allows students to share in the joy of music making together and develops a healthy sense of self-esteem tied to feelings of teamwork and accomplishment. - Teamwork
“No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play it.” Author Unknown
Playing as a group satisfies our innate need as humans to be a part of and to contribute to a common goal. Whether students have the melody or harmony, students learn to listen and non-verbally communicate with each other through music. Playing in a group requires students to let go of their ego and develop a sense of responsibility and trust in themselves and each other. - Healthy Challenges
“When healthy competition prevails, you come out to play and you play to win;” Lorii Myers
Although this seems counter-intuitive, the challenge of competition is actually quite healthy to have within a playing group! When students are positively encouraged by their peers, they practice more effectively at home and work diligently to raise their standard of playing. Let it be said that a little healthy competition is the best environment for speedy progress.
Article written by Melanie Doderai (taken from the Suzuki Association of the Americas – reprinted here with the author’s permission). Melanie Smith-Doderai holds a B.A, B.Ed and M.Ed. She is an active member of the Alberta Registered Music Teachers Association, and holds an Advanced Specialist Certification from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Canada.
CYM Faculty looks forward to sharing the joy of group playing and socialization with YOU! at our school through the following opportunities:
Suzuki Violin, Cello, and Guitar Group – Instrumentalists who work on the Suzuki literature are encouraged to attend group each week. You can join at any time – even if you do not take individual lessons at CYM! The Craft Your Music Events Calendar here shows Violin on Tuesdays and Fridays, Guitar on Mondays, and Cello on Fridays. Add-In weekly group and quadruple your music-friend-fun!
Winchester Thurston School Hosts Suzuki Violin Play-In – CYM and Pittsburgh Area Violinists are invited to a Suzuki Play-In! Students will come together to perform their polished Suzuki repertoire (to a delighted audience) and practice their ensemble skills. Repertoire will be published closer to the event for students to prepare ahead of time. Held on Saturday, February 19th at 3 p.m. in the Falk Auditorium at the Winchester Thurston School in Shadyside, we look forward to having violinists come together for a invigorating afternoon of music making! Each CYM violinist, please RSVP here. If you study Suzuki Violin elsewhere, please email info@youngmusicians.org to learn how to participate. Families who are considering studying the violin are welcome to listen to all or part of the Play-In; it is not a formal event so once you check in, attend as long as your child can focus. We hope to see you there!