I don't know a single music teacher who would disagree with me if I said 'Music is a language'. It's one of those things we love to say because it makes us feel like we're involved with something important and inherent to our humanity.
Question: if we say music is a language shouldn't we treat it like one?
We don't hand a baby a dictionary and a book of the rules of grammar and say 'Learn these things and you'll speak like a pro'...
We don't teach a baby a set of mouth exercises so he/she can learn good technique...
We don't teach a child to read until they have been speaking for years and can converse with people who are far more experienced in speaking...
There is no such thing as 'sight reading' in the languages we are fluent in, we just read - you are 'sight reading' this blog!...
We don't have to teach kids how to 'improvise' - they think and speak their thoughts because of the things they have learned, listened to and formed opinions on. Children improvise with language way before they know any rules...
and we certainly don't pretend that speaking our own language is full of secrets and mystery and is only for the 'gifted few'. Imagine that.
If music is a language then the traditional way we teach and practice is all wrong.
I've changed the way I teach... Will you?
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