The joys of making music recreationally: observations regarding recreational music making.

The joys of making music recreationally: observations regarding recreational music making. Although the term "Recreational Music Making" (RMM RMM Mali (international vehicle registration)RMM Remote Management Module (SMC)RMM Relative Molecular MassRMM Removable Media ManagerRMM Read My MindRMM Rio Music Manager )already was familiar to many of the attendees at Pedagogy Saturday, thefollowing definition was provided for those not acquainted with theacronym acronym:see abbreviation. A word typically made up of the first letters of two or more words; for example, BASIC stands for "Beginners All purpose Symbolic Instruction Code. : Recreational Music Making (RMM) is "a new strategy forenabling people who never before considered themselves'musical' to discover the joy and wellness benefits of playinga musical instrument."--Karl Bruhn and Dr. Barry Bittman RMM teachers learn that non-stressful classes for adult studentsare also non-stressful for teachers. According to according toprep.1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.2. In keeping with: according to instructions.3. the National Instituteof Mental Health The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is part of the federal government of the United States and the largest research organization in the world specializing in mental illness. , 70-80 percent of doctor office visits are due tostress-related illnesses. RMM piano classes are proving to be an idealway to alleviate stress if the teacher is relaxed and provides a safeenvironment for students learning to play the piano. At Pedagogy Saturday, I reported on the logistics of my RMMclasses. I work with two pianos, placed side-by-side. Six or morestudents are seated in a semi-circle facing the pianos. The studentsrotate at the pianos, depending on the concept being taught. All soloplaying is voluntary. The classes are 55 minutes, and students re-enrollevery eight weeks. I use MIDI MIDIin full Musical Instrument Digital InterfaceProtocol for transmission of musical data between digital components, such as synthesizers and a computer's sound card. MIDI uses 8-bit asynchronous serial transmission with a data rate of 31. disk accompaniments in class, and most ofthe students practice at home with CD accompaniments. The classes are grouped according to skill level: beginner, earlylevel, intermediate and advanced. The repertoire gradually becomes morechallenging. Students vote on the books they want to learn during eacheight-week session. Each class uses the same books so everyone can beengaged in the learning. Their home practice assignments may vary,however. In addition to repertoire, the students learn how to analyzetheir pieces, harmonize melodies and sight read music that isappropriate to their skill level. I have often been asked to compare my RMM teaching and mytraditional teaching. I have found these differences: * My traditional teaching has an emphasis on performance; incontrast, solo performance is not required in my RMM teaching. I havelearned, however, that RMM students do want to perform as long as it istheir choice. Eventually almost all of the students play solos for theirclass, as well as performing solos and duets at an RMM Player'sClub, which meets every other month. * My traditional teaching has a specific curriculum, but my RMMcurriculum is more flexible. It leans toward being student-centeredrather than teacher-centered. * Although I have found myself to be the prime motivator of mytraditional piano students' progress, in RMM classes I have foundadults to be more accountable for their own progress (or the lack ofit). * I also learned not to focus unduly on technique in my RMM classesinitially, because technical skills do improve gradually as studentsobserve their peers' technical progress. There may be an assumption that "stress-free" impliesthat students do not practice and that they do not learn how to readmusic or to play a variety of repertoire. That absolutely is not true. Ihave been amazed a��maze?v. a��mazed, a��maz��ing, a��maz��esv.tr.1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise.2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex.v.intr. at how much some of the students do practice. And,although they do want to learn to play chords and lead sheets, theyprimarily want to learn how to read traditional notation notation:see arithmetic and musical notation. How a system of numbers, phrases, words or quantities is written or expressed. Positional notation is the location and value of digits in a numbering system, such as the decimal or binary system. so they canplay the music of their dreams. A survey of RMM teachers by the National Piano Foundation indicatedthat RMM teaching was the most rewarding of participants' entirecareers. It helped them to relax with their traditional teaching, andthis kind of teaching filled a void they didn't know they had. In addition to their other attributes, RMM classes are dreamfulfillment opportunities for adults in today's stressful world.Dara Torres Dara Grace Torres (born April 15, 1967, in Los Angeles, California) is an American swimmer. She was the second swimmer from her country (after Jill Sterkel) to compete in four Olympics: 1984, 1988, 1992, and 2000. , a 40-year-old Olympic swimming medalist in Beijing, remindsus that "There's no age limit on dreams On Dreams (or "De Insomniis") is a text by Aristotle. External linksOn Dreams, translated by J. I. Beare ." The musicianQuincy Jones has noted that "When you're over the hill,that's when you pick up speed." A 2006 U.S. Gallup Poll Gallup PollNouna sampling of the views of a representative cross section of the population, usually used to forecast voting [after G H Gallup, statistician]Gallup polln → found that 82 percent of all respondentswished they had learned to play a musical instrument. With RMM classes,we have an incredible opportunity to address this wish. However, we needto eliminate the word talent in conjunction with music making. I havefound that anyone who wants to play the piano will play the piano.Talent is just diligent dil��i��gent?adj.Marked by persevering, painstaking effort. See Synonyms at busy.[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin d practice. If we teachers had waited to start RMM classes until all our"ducks were in a row," there might not be many RMM programstoday. Just as ducks get their webbed-feet wet without knowingeverything about the water, the same is true for many of us who aregoing down the RMM teaching path. Making music can be like arunner's high without doing the running. The same runner'shigh is available to teachers who teach RMM adults. I encourage you totake advantage of this experience ASAP (chat) asap - As soon as possible. . Brenda Dillon, the former project director for the National PianoFoundation, serves as an advisory bored member to the Frances ClarkCenter and education consultant for Roland US. hi addition to writingarticles and developing Recreational Music Making materials, she doesextensive teacher training throughout the United States United States,officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. .