This research paper was written in 2013 as part of my Ph.D. studies in the educational technology program at the University of Tartu. I submitted it to Music Education Research, but it was not accepted. I did not resubmit it, and now, ten years later, I am publishing it here. This article is very interesting;… Continue reading
Background. Evolution of the Music Instructional Books Contemporary music education can be divided into two major categories: formal and informal instruction. The first is mostly associated with educational institutions, and the latter with all sorts of self-learners. The second group is often referred to as the MI (music instruction), and it covers musical instruments which… Continue reading
Intro and background Besides general health problems, many musicians also suffer from specific, playing-related musculosceletal disorders (PRMD). These are most often connected to the muscles of the back, neck, limbs and face, and have been documented since the end of the 19th century. The highest risk group of PRMD are the female musicians and string players (Zaza,… Continue reading
Learners Need Feedback Anyone who learns a musical instrument wants to know how is he/she doing. In other words, learners need feedback. Sadly, two of the most popular learning models today – online learning and learning by textbooks – tend to omit it almost completely. But what about the traditional and luxurious one-by-one teaching? While I must admit that… Continue reading
In medicine there is a term ‘prescription compliance’. I think in music education it is pretty much the same – we as teachers give the students great exercises but these won’t work unless they actually master those before moving on. That is why we keep writing new method books but what we should really do is… Continue reading
I have just finished a long guitar course for middle school music teachers. We started in Aug 2013 and had 32 x 45 min group lessons during the year. The main goal was to teach them to teach chords. Btw, Estonia is probably the only country in the world where guitar is now in the… Continue reading
Karlsson on the roof: “..I am clever, reasonably fat man in my best years” Little Brother: “Which are the best years?” Karlsson: “All of them!” (quoted from Astrid Lindgren’s renown children’s book “Karlsson On The Roof”, 1955) You don’t need to be smart or fat to learne the guitar although it may help. The truth… Continue reading
A study looked at professional violinists and found out that before the age of 21, they had all practised an instrument for 10 000 hours. Given that the violin playing started at the age of 6 mostly, it makes an average of 666 hours a year. In round figures we can say that these people… Continue reading
Guitar is by far the most popular musical instrument in the Western world. Millions of people want to play it. And they do. There is no mystery – anyone can play it. However, the only way to get there is by learning. I have been talking about learning the guitar almost in every post. Recently… Continue reading
Once in a while I need a break from playing the guitar. This year I have discovered two possible things to do besides playing music. In July I got my first experiences as an alpinist. I spent a few weeks in altitudes higher than 3500 m and the peak was about 5000 m so I… Continue reading