TECHNIQUE

Every musician has learned the technique of the instrument from a different teacher, and there are many schools of technique (philosophical and mechanical approaches). Are you aware of your new teacher's technique and how it differs from your old teacher's technique? Have you discussed issues of technique? Because every teacher has her/his own technique and approach to technique, it will take time to understand exactly what your new teacher wants and how to make your fingers, hands and arms execute it correctly. You will be given exercises that seem too easy or babyish - but it is important to learn a new skill using music that is easy, rather than try to apply it to challenging music at your current level. Please be patient with your new teacher as you learn these new skills. Once mastered using easy exercises, your teacher will show you how to apply it to the music that is at your current level.

KMI Approach to Technique

Technique and Learning: How effectively a student learns a new piece of music is dependent on two areas of ability: 1) Knowledge (Theory) and 2) Technical skills (Technique). If the student understands the music, but the fingers, hands or arms are incapable of executing the notes, phrases, chords, etc. correctly, then the technique is insufficient for the student's knowledge level. Technique can be described in two ways: 1) HOW to do it, and 2) FACILITY - (can the student execute it correctly when requested). First the student must know how to execute a particular technique (this includes recognizing it in music). Execution includes knowing what fingers and notes to play, as well as HOW the fingers, hands, arms MOVE to execute the technique. Once the student knows this, then the challenge is to be able to execute the technique under the widest variety of conditions: 1) ALL levels of dynamic (very soft to very loud); 2) ALL different speeds (very slow to very fast); 3) In BOTH hands; 4) In ALL combinations of sequence (like an obstacle course); 5) in ALL possible keys; and 6) in ALL possible hand combinations (coordination). When a technique is mastered fully in this way, then the musician has the technical FACILITY to apply it to all pieces of music that include that technique, and therefore is capable of learning pieces at that technical level of ability. Many studentws and musicians are capable of learning music slightly beyond their current level of technique, because they devote extra time to practice the difficult technique they have not yet mastered. If the student requires months to learn a piece, then clearly either the student's theoretical knowledge or technique are insufficient for the difficulty of the piece.

Facility: As mentioned above, most musicians can learn music beyond their current technical ability level if they practice extra hard on the passages which are beyond them. The word "facility" is used to describe a musician who has mastered the full range of the instrument's technique to a very high level of proficiency. A musician with great technical facility can learn new music rapidly because the difficult passages must be practiced merely for notes and the specifics required for the piece, and not because the musician lacks the general technique to execute them.

"How" v. "What": As was mentioned above, all technique has a WHAT you play component as well as HOW you play it. The KMI faculty will always be much more concerned with HOW you play music and technical exercises than whether or not you know WHAT to play. Clearly, knowing WHAT is the important first step, but sadly for many teachers it is the last step and too many students come to believe it is the only goal for playing music. If your new KMI teacher seems never satisfied with HOW you play something, and you feel frustrated by this, it is because your previous teacher did NOT place enough emphasis on the HOW component of technique (and music). Please be patient as you learn HOW to play things and develop your technical skills. Changes never happen over night and it takes time to reach your goals.