Author: Jonah

This summer I was given the responsibility of teaching, developing curriculum, and supervising kids full-time at the Richardson School of Music. I spent a lot of time refining my education process, and as a result, I have boosted the effectiveness of my teaching.

I would describe my lesson plans as having three pillars; firstly, I put an emphasis on learning by ear. This is similar but not identical to the Suzuki method, which mirrors the language learning process. I still have my students read music, and I adapt sheet music to make it easier for younger students. During my time at RSM, I would add stickers to my ukelele students’ instruments and base the sheet music on the colors of the stickers. I would also make sure my simplified music had rhythmic notation, mostly using quarter notes, half notes, and whole notes.

The second pillar is split into four pieces, which I call the Elements of Songwriting. The Elements of Songwriting, in order of disputable importance, are melody, rhythm, harmony, and lyrics. I teach through the lens of these four elements, making sure students develop a strong basis in all of them. I also encourage students to split their practice into focusing on one of them at a time. For example, I have students clap the rhythms of the piece they are working on before playing it on their instrument.

The final pillar is being aware of every student’s unique learning style, personality, and situation. We all have bad days, we all have things that will cheer us up or bring us down, and we all have individual interests. Being in tune with a student’s present and continuous mindset has always been an effective way to make music fun and easy to learn.