This
will depend on what the student’s musical goals are. Will they be sitting an exam? Doing performance assessments for school? Auditioning?
Entering competitions? Playing
for fun? Busking?
Exams:
Examination
boards set their own syllabi and it is your responsibility as the teacher to
make sure you have chosen the correct repertoire. Some boards get you to select one piece only
from three different lists. Others get
you to choose one piece from one list and two pieces from another list. Others may require four pieces. Read the exam syllabus very carefully (even
if it’s the same examination board you did your exams through – things change)
and make sure you understand exactly what is required.
Sometimes
which piece to choose is straightforward – you may not have access to the other
pieces. If you have a choice, play
through the pieces yourself, with your student in mind. What are their strengths in playing - do they
have an exquisite tone you can showcase?
What are their weakness – do they have braces at the moment (or will
they be getting them closer to the exam time) and struggle with high notes?
Give the
student the choice between the pieces. One
might grab their attention more than the others, and a student who likes what
they are playing is a billion[1] times
more likely to practice it than something they loathe or are ambivalent
towards.
School:
Again,
learn what the requirements are. And again,
things will have changed since you left school.
If you can, get hold of a hard copy of the requirements and the marking
rubric (teacher speak for “how they’re going to mark it”). Make contact with the school music teacher,
say you’re coaching Pupil X and would appreciate any information on their performance
(e.g. date, whether will they need an accompanist).
You have
much more free reign here. If the
assessment is marked a certain level, double check whether that aligns with a
particular exam grade level. Choosing
repertoire becomes easier when you have these sort of guidelines. You can match the music more closely with the
student’s needs in this situation, as you are not restricted to choosing only
from certain pieces like you are with an exam.
Auditions:
Get the
student to find out exactly what will be required in the audition. Do they need to have their own material or
does the orchestra/band/choir have “test” pieces they need to prepare? If it’s own choice, often a piece to showcase
tone is required, and another to highlight technical ability. If your student is auditioning for a metal
band, they probably shouldn’t use anything by One Direction as their audition
material. Likewise, if they’re trying
out for a reggae band, stay clear of Beethoven.
Competitions:
As with
school assessments, you have the freedom to choose whatever repertoire you
like, so long as it falls within the competition categories (i.e. don’t choose
Chopin for the Baroque section, or Stairway to Heaven for the original song section. Yes, it’s someone’s original
composition. Just not yours.[2]).
You want
to showcase your student’s playing. It’s
better to play a slightly easier piece and do it well, than play a piece that’s
tricky, but you can’t quite pull it off.
Playing
for fun:
Go
nuts! You are only limited by whatever
you can get your hands on. Again, match
it to what your student can reasonably do, but feel free to give them a bit of
a challenge. I often tell my students
that while I would never give them anything that’s impossible for them to play,
I will give them something to stretch their playing. After all, they’re coming to me to get better
at playing the flute. Making their life
easy is not in my job description[3].
Busking:
The aim
of the game here is to make some coin, so, give ‘em what they want. Famous tunes are more likely to garner money
than non-famous ones. There are buskers’
books (also known as “fake” books) available to discover your street preforming
repertoire.
For your
own sanity as a teacher it’s good to choose pieces you like, and to ration
them. You may have loved the guitar solo
from Sweet Child of Mine when you were 14, but to hear it week after week by
all of your students might test your “patience”[4].
To make
things a little easier for yourself, try to double up as much as you can. If the student has to play Bach for their
exam, get them to play the same piece at school and in the competitions. This give them valuable experience in
performing a particular piece, and makes your life a whole lot easier.
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