Field Notes on Music Teaching & Learning Ashley Danyew
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This podcast is a collection of creative ideas, practical strategies, and thoughtful observations from the field of music teaching and learning. Music educator Ashley Danyew will dive into topics like how we learn, developing musicianship, time management, teaching sequences, planning tools and strategies, the art of teaching, practicing, and the creative process, and share personal stories from her own experiences and observations. You’ll find creative and pedagogically-sound teaching tips; fresh, new approaches you can use in your teaching; and insight into a few tried-and-true systems and creative processes designed to help you do your best work.
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3 Things I Learned From Hosting a Musical Informance
Welcome to another episode of the Field Notes on Music Teaching & Learning podcast. Today’s episode is part 3 of a series I’ve been working on this spring all about how to plan and organize a musical informance.
I first mentioned the idea of a musical informance in Ep. 068. An informance is basically an informal performance or an informational performance where you share insight into the music and the learning process with the audience. In Ep. 068, I shared a few examples of musicians who exemplified this model of education and engagement in the past, talked about what separates an informance from a performance and how you could structure this in your studio, and shared how my students and I were preparing for this event.
In Ep. 069, I talked more specifically about the theme of our informances this spring—music to celebrate the Total Solar Eclipse happening here in Rochester. I shared my repertoire list, the questions I asked my students as they prepared, how I built in opportunities for student creativity and input, and how I organized the event with parents and families.
Today, I’m sharing how it all went including three things I learned, what went well, and what I would do differently next time. -
The 3-Month Recital Plan
The birds are chirping, the first Spring flowers are popping up in the front yard, and Rory, my dog, insists on laying in the middle of the daffodil bed whenever the sun is out.
These are my seasonal cues that it's time to start planning for our annual end-of-year studio recital.
As the title of this episode suggests, I usually spend 3-4 months planning all the details of this event, helping my students prepare, and communicating with parents and families so they know what to expect.
Last year, I wrote down my recital-planning checklist month by month so I could share it with you here on the podcast. So if you're on a similar schedule and starting to plan your year-end recital, here's an inside look at my process. -
A Musical Informance to Celebrate the Solar Eclipse
I did a poll on Instagram recently to see if any of my music teacher friends had ever hosted a musical informance. A few said "yes," a few said "no," but a surprising number of respondents chose the third option: "What's an informance?"
An informance is basically an informal performance or as Eastman professor Dave Headlam describes, "A performance for the information age." (source: Oxford Handbook of Public Music Theory)
There's a teaching component and a performing component, and depending on how you structure it, a conversational or interactive component.
In Ep. 068, I showed you in real time how I was researching, planning, and organizing my first musical informance for my students.
Today, I'm sharing more details about our upcoming musical informance—my repertoire list, the questions I'm posing to my students as they learn and prepare, opportunities for student creativity and input, and how I'm organizing it with parents and families. -
How to Plan a Musical Informance
This year, Rochester, NY is in the path of the total solar eclipse. There are lots of special events happening in town—the orchestra is performing a special concert, the science museum is hosting a festival, and the schools are giving everyone the day off to experience this historical event.
As I looked ahead at this year, I thought it might be fun to plan a special event of our own to mark this occasion in the studio. Maybe special repertoire? An incentive program?
Then I thought about the informances the performing ensembles at my school put on early in the year: an informal demonstration for parents of what they're learning and what they're working on.
What if we did something like this in the studio? I thought.
Today, I'm taking you behind the scenes in real-time as I research, plan, and organize my first informance for my students. I'll share a few historical examples of musicians who exemplified this model of education and engagement, talk about ways you could structure this, outline the necessary components that separate an informance from a performance, and share how my students and I are preparing for this event. -
Six Things I'm Documenting in the Studio
"It feels almost like if we don't document it, did it happen? And I need proof that it did."
I was listening to an interview with Erin Napier of Home Town on Southern Living's Biscuits and Jam podcast recently and this statement stayed with me.
"A major part of my personality is documenting," she said, and I nodded to myself.
In this episode, I'm sharing what I've learned about the art and practice of documentation, six things I'm documenting in the studio lately, practical resources I use to track and organize this data, and suggestions for developing this practice in your music studio. -
A Winter Improvisation Prompt for Elementary Piano Students
Do you improvise with your students?
If you have a classical background like I do, you may not consider yourself an improviser, but researchers and educators Christopher Azzara and Richard Grunow remind us that "we are [all] born improvisers, as evidenced by our behavior in early childhood." (source)
In their series, Developing Musicianship Through Improvisation, they define improvisation as "the spontaneous expression of meaningful musical ideas." It doesn't mean making things up in the moment; it means making meaningful choices, sequencing patterns, snippets, and ideas from a vast vocabulary of musical material, as I talked about in the last episode, Ep. 065.
In this episode, I'm sharing a simple Winter-themed improvisation prompt I use with my elementary students this time of year.
Customer Reviews
Great podcast for music teachers
I am not a piano teacher, but a flute teacher. However I still find this podcast very helpful and really well done. I enjoy listening to it very much.
I would love to hear more episodes on your lessons planning process, as well as some details on how your typical lesson goes. Also, if you could make an episode on some recommendations of what the best books on music pedagogy are , that would be awesome!
Astute, Well-Written, Enjoyable
Ashley does a great job clearly communicating the content of each episode. She is a well-versed educator who often uses research to support her epiosde content. I appreciate her articulate writing and professional approach to teaching.
Short and sweet teacher tips
These episodes are power-packed little gems! Always well thought and clearly expressed. Ashley is an inspiration and blessing!