Modeling

Most of my teaching experience so far has been through private music lessons and a strategy that I think is really effective for me is modeling on my own instrument and playing along with students. I like to explain to students that playing as a duet is like playing in a really small band; as soon as you play with another person you have to start thinking about such things as keeping a steady rhythm, balance, blend and tuning which are the things we work on in our band classes. It gives students an opportunity to focus on these concepts and begin to think musically. It is also very beneficial for auditory learners to hear how something is supposed to sound as well as read it from the page. I realise this is a musical example but I think the idea of modelling is important in any subject area, certainly it is important to demonstrate how to properly execute a lay-up, or to give demonstrations of a specific technique in art class.