lisa,
my very first student (i was in high school and my teacher decided to
pawn this guy off on me) had significant pitch problems. my composition
teacher, at that time, used to break down percussion into two catagories-
note producing and non note producing. if i had whacked this student in the
head (something i probably should have done) with a drumstick, he would
definitely be considered to be of the latter catagory. over the years, i
have had the occasional student who has had some kind of pitch difficulties.
my first student was the worst. however, he worked very hard, often
driving me up the wall (across the ceiling and down the other side) and was
able, eventually, to match pitch so well, he ended up making it into chorus
the next year. i should say, before continuing that, unless the student is
willing to put consistant, regular work into it, i don't think it is worth
bothering. they don't need to sing. there are plenty of other activities
they might have a better start at.
i always start with the most obvious extremes in pitch with these people
(if they can't tell the difference here, they aren't going to recognize
smaller incriments). finding how they perceive the difference between these
extremes is the key to applying those perceptions in making finer
distinctions. where you have students who can't tell if they are too high
or too low, it might be a good idea to re-visit the distinctions in the
extreme. it certainly can't hurt.
mike
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