Students Teach While They Learn in Small Group Lessons
They teach while they learn in small group lessons
Small group lessons were the impetus for this big hit. It started simply enough. Bryan brought a piece to class he wanted to learn but it was probably 2 years ahead of his level. I know that students who choose their favorite music work harder to accomplish it but still, I was not impressed by the title. Bloody Stream. Bryan explained it was from a show called JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and at that very moment, he had the attention of the entire class of boys.
They all loved JoJo. I’d never even heard of it. So despite slow progress, with everyone knowing it was hard, they cheered Bryan on as he accomplished small bits each week. He learned his piece, but he was teaching 2 fabulous things along the way, something his example did more of than any words I could say.
We can do hard things
Learning how to play a tough piece is possible. The whole class watched him carve his big challenge up into bite-sized pieces.
Finding the music you love makes practicing so worth it
It’s not written by a method book, it’s not something your teacher knows, but finding and learning it is a blast.
Of course this is my job, to help students learn these facts but the beauty of it happening organically allows me to add an exclamation mark to the lesson, not a whole lecture. Small group lessons reinforce this experience each week.
Bryan was the first to introduce me to JoJo but it is JL who has completed the original score this summer. I enjoyed it more simplified – I truly did- but this original score is amazing.
It’s very challenging with octave runs and continual big jumps, but it also has demanding rhythm and tempo.
I’m pretty certain that if this level of difficulty was suggested via a Rachmaninoff or Shostakovich, there wouldn’t be as much passion to learn it as the Anime world has created for JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. I’ve thanked Bryan and JL for introducing these pieces to me. I learn in this process too. Hoping others will also learn from them.
Anime Music has some wonderful themes, just like gaming music does. My own piano teachers, all Julliard graduates, would never have considered letting me choose to learn either type, yet I know this is vital for my students to stick with learning music. I embrace it because I could see- in an instant- how this title made enthusiasts of every single class member present.
That phenomenon proved true in the whole next week of classes where I introduced it to anyone interested.
JL is one of the only ones who has learned this original score but I know he has set the standard for all the students who love Anime music for years to come with his grand accomplishment here.
Small group lessons help the students be teachers for all of us. I love learning alongside my students. JL and JoJo for the win.
