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From: "DIANE M. CLARK (MUSIC DEPARTMENT)"
Subject: Re: teaching styles
To: vocalist
Send reply to: VOCALIST <vocalist>

MBO wrote:

>>My point being that imagery must be used as a reinforcement of the
result. It is a way of solidifying the result not inducing the behavior.

I agree with what you said about needing a good balance between scientific
knowledge and imagery. I also understand the above sentence, and get good
results when I ask a student to describe what he/she has just done. I.e., it
is important for each student to verbalize his own imagery that is meaningful
to his process. However, it is also possible to offer ideas with which the
student can experiment before he finds the sound he is looking for. Such
ideas or images should not be presented as "You should feel thus-and-so," but
rather, "Some people feel thus-and-so; why don't you try working with that
idea?" It may take several different ideas before the student finds the one
that works for him, but success is often achieved in this way. As Wes Balk
would say, sometimes we work from the inside out, and sometimes from the outsidein, but both are useful, and balance is always good.

|\ Dr. Diane M. Clark, Assoc. Prof./Chair of Music Dept., Rhodes College
| 2000 N. Parkway, Memphis, TN 38112, 901-843-3782, dclark-at-rhodes.edu
() http://gray.music.rhodes.edu/musichtmls/faculty/dclark.html