theory or practice?

One of the biggest arguments in classical music sounds something like,

“Theory is boring, can we just do playing?”

And as any of my college teachers will tell you, I agree!

The problem starts when we think of “theory” in the abstract. It’s very easy for any complex art to become staid and disciplinarian; “theory” starts to speak of grades, exams, chorales... but properly taught, “theory” just means recognising the building blocks of music, even as you play them.

My endgame as a teacher is to make myself redundant. And ultimately, this means that I’d like my students to learn to play conscious of the music under their fingers.

The alternative, of course is to learn by rote - which works… up to a point. Very often, that point is a sticky one, which is far more boring to get hung up on.

So, I like to teach the fundamentals as we go. I promise, I will never make it a chore.