060 - How Do We Approach Mistakes in Music Teaching & Learning?

Field Notes on Music Teaching & Learning · May 17, 2023 · 11m

"What just happened?" I asked a 4th-grade student one Friday afternoon."I made a mistake," she said, looking down at her hands still resting on the keys.We talked about that for a minute—how sometimes mistakes happen innocently. Sometimes, a mistake is a way of getting our attention, a way for the body to say to the brain, "Wait! I don't really know this yet."We listened for mistakes and inherent learning opportunities for the rest of the lesson. We talked about insecure fingers, uncertain rhythms, and risky leaps. We talked about how to practice and prepare these things, develop confidence…