A Thorough Musical Education

Now that I am directly responsible for Aidan and Zoe's musical education, I have been thinking about mine.

I am not sure why, but my parents enrolled me in a music program back in first grade. It was a program that students had to apply to, be evaluated, and then admitted. (There were no tone deaf kids in the group for sure!) While the memory of the test itself has been completely forgotten, I do remember my mother buying me school supplies right before the test- she got me a translucent red clipboard. I spent hours looking at the world through it...

My class had about 30 kids, and we all picked a primary instrument and we were pulled out of school to get private lessons. Instead of PE, we had ear training, in lieu of art, we had music history. We also had a practice log that our parents had to sign nightly to show that we practiced. By third grade, we all picked up a second instrument, and piano was a required instrument, whether primary or secondary. By then, we also had a class orchestra, and we played the overture to Le Nozze di Figaro by Mozart by fourth grade.

I was pulled out of the program half way through 4th grade, because my mother decided that I was not actually learning regular school well. Apparently, I hardly knew how to do basic math. (I disagree, but that is neither here nor there. I actually think the reason I got pulled out was that my violin teacher was, hmm, how do I say this nicely, a pervert.)

Let me get back to this very intense music training. I think the program was designed to be a pre-conservatory kind of environment. Everyone already knew how to read music by the time we started, so things were introduced very quickly. The ear training teacher would play the middle A, count the beats of the measure, and play a melody for us to transcribe. She played it four times, then put the actual music on the board for us to see what we missed. We also had these books for rhythm training. We clapped and clapped and clapped. There was also the lesson on intervals- I could not understand what they were talking about. (By the time I took music theory in college, it was so clear and logical! I am convinced that the teacher who taught it did not actually understand it himself.)

Anyway, I believe that the ear training I did in college, as a music major, was not as difficult as the stuff we were doing in third grade. It actually is a bit shocking, actually... Of course, in college, things actually made sense, and I could articulate the concepts to someone else. Still, it is a bit astounding just how much I had learned all before I was 10.

Therefore, it is a bit worrisome, as I teach A&Z music, just how on earth am I going to get them to the level that I know they can achieve? We don't have that kind of time! I want to teach them how to sight read super well, to develop perfect pitch, to be able to transcribe music, to play two instruments, and basically, to be just like me.