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John Finney got many of us thinking last week when he talked about ‘thick descriptions’ of music lessons. Essentially, these ‘thick descriptions’ capture music lessons using language more typically found in a novel. John went on to provide a description that he had written himself. As I tweeted at the time, it is easily the best description of a music lesson that I’ve ever read.
Yesterday, John wrote a follow-up blog where he referenced my post about using 2EA to give pupils feedback in music lessons. He suggested that it might be possible to find examples of ‘error, accurate, exaggerate, accurate’ within his text and that is exactly what I’m trying to do below, where I’ve quoted sections of John’s original text where I would imagine the teacher employed 2EA (whether consciously or not).
Quote One
“Djembe are gathered to be shared in pairs and then the three techniques learnt in the last lesson, ‘bass-tone-slap’, revised with the teacher leading from the front as virtuoso master drummer.”
I think it’s safe to assume that the teacher would have made frequent use of 2EA, whenever the pupils’ performance was not to her satisfaction.
Quote Two
“What follows is quick fire call and response work deploying mnemonics. There is a ‘you are very nice – thank you very much’ x 3 and so on building a structure that calls for and gets body-mind engrossment from the class. There is lots of repetition, recursion, hard-nosed rehearsing and a particular focus on the ‘bedap’ effect.”
This call and response teaching technique lends itself very well to 2EA. The teacher can highlight what it is she doesn’t want simply by playing what the pupils did. She can then play what she does want, exaggerate the difference and return to accurate. Very little talking necessary – all musical and some non-verbal communication.
Quote Three
“‘Again-again-look-listen-let’s try it … knees-side thighs … is it together … better… listen … is it together? Can you feel it in your back?’”
This seems like a great example of exaggerate to me.
Quote Four
“Now the ‘bass’ technique is worked on. ‘Look, it’s a cricketer’s bowling action’ and the teacher shows how the whole thing is a dance of the body despite being seated, a swaying forward, a side movement and a myriad of subtleties impossible to describe.”
Another good example of exaggerate, right down to the talking/explaining as she plays.
Quote Five
“And then the call to Daniel to remember to keep the mouth of the djembe open i.e. the djembe leans forward for it to speak.”
I wonder if the teacher punctuated this instruction with some musical feedback. Letting the child hear the difference when she plays with the mouth of the djembe open and closed.