Recording as a teaching tool

Page 1 | 2 | 3 | By Philip Johnston

 

#6: Action Replays

If a tennis coach needs to let a student know that their ball toss is too low on their serve, the most compelling way to make the point is to video the student and let them see it for themselves.

The next time you have a student who is playing too fast, or with flat dynamics, you don’t need to lecture them. In fact, you don’t even need to correct them. Just record what they’re doing, then have them sit back and listen to the action replay.

Confronting them with the awful truth

With the evidence right there, much of the time, they’ll hear—with open mouthed horror—exactly what you were hoping they would:

“Whoa…I didn’t realise I was playing the opening so fast…in my head it’s way slower than that, can I try it again?”

Yes you can. Nicely spotted.

And so the problem has been identified, defined, and placed on the student's fix-it list—all without you having to say a word.

When they still don't spot it for themselves

Sometimes the student is too inexperienced or obtuse to notice the Big Burning Issue That’s Obviously Messing Up Their Piece, even when the evidence has been playing back in stereo. But you can always gently steer them towards the conclusions you need, while still allowing them to "discover" the problem for themselves.

If, for example, the pulse in the development section is lurching about like a zombie on a bouncie-castle, you could simply ask them to tap in time to the recording they've just made. When they can’t, ask them why they think they’re having so much trouble. Why can’t I tap in time with the recording? Well, ok, for starters, the crazy guy playing on the recording keeps changing where the beats go. I can never tell when to tap...oh...

Yep.Let’s record it again, see if maybe the crazy guy can play a little more steadily this time.

And once they've made the new, steadier recording, you can let them hear it side by side with the old, lurching version, to reinforce just a difference they've made. (See the Use#7: Before and After contrasts)

| Progress Snapshots | Asynchronous Doppleganger Studio Orchestra | Interpretation Genie | Peer Review Workshops | Second Opinions | Action Replays | Before & After | Pressure Testing | Details Trawling | Demonstrations | Template of What's Possible | Consistency Checks | Studio Archives |

#7: Before and After contrasts

Much of music teaching is about recommending transformations—play this bit faster, linger on this note longer, make your tone a little darker here—where the student’s version (the "before" version) is to be replaced with your recommendation (the "after" version). One powerful way for the student to become a believer rather than merely compliant in the change, is to record both the original and transformed version, and then hear them played back side-by-side.

With your own words as a commentary counterpoint, the comparison is stark. Night and day. Broken and fixed. And because your student is not busy playing, they'll be able to focus all their attention on hearing the difference for themselves.

Perfect for end-of-lesson recaps

At the end of the lesson, you can then neatly summarise the changes that they need to practice into their playing this week, just by playing back all the before-and-after recordings made during the lesson, end-to-end. Those recordings can then go home with the student as a reference for the week ahead.

The next lesson can then be judged...

...by the extent to which the student’s playing now matches the “after” recordings from last week.

Again, you can neatly assess this by recording them at the start of the lesson, and then playing back that recording alongside the “after” file from the previous lesson, to see what differences there might be between the two. If you're struggling to tell them apart, it really has been a good week of practice.

| Progress Snapshots | Asynchronous Doppleganger Studio Orchestra | Interpretation Genie | Peer Review Workshops | Second Opinions | Action Replays | Before & After | Pressure Testing | Details Trawling | Demonstrations | Template of What's Possible | Consistency Checks | Studio Archives |

 

 

 

#8: Pressure Testing

One of the more useful side effects of recording is that process itself makes students nervous.

There’s the “ok, are you ready?”, the blinking disk drive light reminder that this performance is being captured and saved, the countdown, the microphone right there and in their face, the silence before they begin, the I'm-here-but-you're-own-your-own-for-this-one nod from you to indicate they should begin—all contributing to an awareness that an error now matters. This is not just an ordinary moment in a lesson when a goof is ephemeral and can be laughed away with a “try again”.

In fact, as any recording artists will tell you, the whole experience can be second only to an actual recital in the pressure it creates. For those who actively feed from audiences, recording to the silent-but-obviously-attentive microphone can actually be more nerve-wracking. Big Brother is Listening.

Dialling the pressure up, not down

Given that students need practice in playing under pressure, this is all a good thing, and while there is plenty you could do to have the students relaxing a little more when they record, you should resist the temptation. Let them feel the heat, and they’ll quickly discover what’s well prepared, what’s just veneer, and what was never learned properly in the first place.

Short of actually scheduling full dress rehearsals, replete with green rooms, bright lights and real live audiences, a recording session is the best performance simulator you can arrange for your students, and you’ll both learn plenty about the true state of the piece in the process. (Refer your students to the "Pressure Testing" entry on pages 250-256 of Practicepedia for lots more ways to dial up the pressure in the practice room)

| Progress Snapshots | Asynchronous Doppleganger Studio Orchestra | Interpretation Genie | Peer Review Workshops | Second Opinions | Action Replays | Before & After | Pressure Testing | Details Trawling | Demonstrations | Template of What's Possible | Consistency Checks | Studio Archives |

#9: Details Trawling

We looked earlier at how recordings can rescue students who are meticulous about score details, but dull in performance. It can also help help students with the opposite problem—those whose performances might be worthy of Cirque du Soleil, but seem to be completely unaware of the composer's instructions.

The idea is to record the student, and then to play it back many, many times, with a score open in front of you both. The student’s job is to focus on score details on each pass, checking the extent to which (if at all) their performance took those details into account.

Once they’ve marked everything they missed, they start a blank slate and re-record. There should be fewer omissions and contradictions this time, but they still need to note down any there were—they then lather, rinse and repeat until what they’re hearing matches what they’re seeing. (Again, you can refer your students to the "Details Trawl" entry on pages 110-114 in Practiceopedia for more ways make sure they never miss score details)

Don't stop there! Show me more great ideas for using recordings

| Progress Snapshots | Asynchronous Doppleganger Studio Orchestra | Interpretation Genie | Peer Review Workshops | Second Opinions | Action Replays | Before & After | Pressure Testing | Details Trawling | Demonstrations | Template of What's Possible | Consistency Checks | Studio Archives |