Slope strings music school

ABOUT SLOPE STRINGS

Slope Strings Music School is dedicated to providing quality instrumental music lessons in Park Slope. Whether your 6 year old is picking up the guitar for the first time, or if you’d like to do something about your guitar collecting dust for years, we offer lessons to all age groups, levels, and musical interests. Instruction is available for guitar, ukulele, bass, and beginning piano. Lessons take place on a weekly basis at a regularly scheduled time in the convenience of your home, or in Slope Strings’ Studio.

Slope Strings’ teaching philosophy stresses the combination of fundamentals and fun. (see ‘The Fun Factor’ post below)beginning students can expect to learn the proper technique of playing their instrument, how to read music, and with a little practice, favorite songs of their choice. Teachers come to lessons with Enthusiasm, Empathy, and Encouragement, creating a positive environment conducive for learning an instrument. In addition to maintaining positivity, clear communication between the teacher, student, and parent is important to Slope Strings Music School.
Founder Ryan Pate is a graduate of Manhattan School of Music, holding a Masters degree in guitar with an emphasis on performance and pedagogy. As a performer, his experience includes tours of Europe with stops at the prestigious jazz festivals of Umbria Jazz, Jazz A` Vienne, and the Montreaux Jazz festival, where his compositions for septet were premiered. Ryan is a member of Craig Turley Orchestras, an ensemble  providing music for the national touring acts of Aretha Franklin, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Regis Philbin, among others. A dedicated educator, Ryan’s Teaching experience has been concentrated in music lessons for string instruments for kids aged 6-16. He is former Mentor, and director of the guitar program at Songcatchers (a non-profit music school), current faculty member of New York Music and Arts, and Douglaston School of Music, and has taught guitar classes at the Lighthouse School, a school for the blind.

The Fun Factor

After completing Grad School, I landed a job teaching guitar at a community music school. The first day, I showed up expecting to teach one on one guitar lessons. As I greeted my new boss, she informed me that first up on my schedule was a music theory class.  My boss could see from my reaction that I didn’t expect this. I had never taught music theory, let alone a class with multiple students.

She reassured me, saying it would be easy – that the students just work out of their books at their own pace, and for me to check their work at the end of the class to make sure they know what they’re doing. This did seem pretty easy. I breezed through the initial classes, checking their work, and correcting and explaining their mistakes. After a few classes though, I noticed some of the same mistakes popping up again and again in students’ work. OK, I thought maybe I needed to explain things more carefully to them. After another week, some concepts still didn’t seem to be sticking. Alright, plan B. I told the students to put away the books. I figured rather than having their noses buried in a book, if they engaged the topic as a class, they could learn from each other, and lessons would be retained more easily. I wrote down some music notes on the board, along with some mnemonic devices to aid in their memorization. Now I actually felt like I was teaching. I set up a routine, where the 1^st half of class would be reviewing material with them as a class, and the 2^nd half would be left for them to work out of their books. Their work did seem to improve, but something was missing. They didn’t really seem to be enjoying themselves very much. I know school’s not always supposed to fun, but I felt bad that something as great as music could feel like a chore to the students.

The next class, I announced that we would be playing a game. I divided the class into two teams, and explained the rules of “Musical Jeopardy”. Like the television show, there would be categories with different point values attached. The categories were: “Theory”, “Musical Trivia” and “Performance Challenge”. The game was played in the manner of the television version, only instead of 3 contestants, there were two teams. After the question was asked, a team was allowed to collaborate to come up with the answer (I skipped the part about having to answer in question form, as in the show). A few minutes into the game, the energy and attitude in the room had been transformed. Students were more engaged, smiling, helping each other figure things out. This was great. The information being learned was still there, only everyone was having so much fun. I had intended to only play the game for the 1^st half of class, but because the students were learning so much, I kept it going for the whole class. Time flew by. As I dismissed the class, one student asked: “Class is over already? We didn’t even have to do any work!” This was a bit of a revelation for me. The most productive class I had taught up to that point was also the most fun!

Having fun is being engaged in the moment, participating with others, being curious, exploring possibilities, having a sense of wonder about new things… sounds pretty similar to learning actually. I’ve taken the experience of that theory class and applied it to teaching instrumental lessons. If students are having fun in lessons, chances are they are learning. As is often the case with younger students, they come to lessons with an overabundance of energy reserves. At times this can make the necessary task of focusing on the lesson material a challenge. It might be easy to call these reserves of energy a behavior problem, but instructing the student to sit still, be quiet, and just “focus”, usually doesn’t equal much fun for the student or the teacher. Instead, I try to work with what they bring to the lesson. Young kids are supposed to be full of energy. Why go against the grain and try to suppress it? Yes, focus and discipline are important when learning any new subject or skill, but there are ways to work with what’s there rather than against.  Incorporating games into lessons has been a great way to channel students’ natural enthusiasm into a constructive learning experience. Something as simple as setting up a point system for the piece the student is playing can make a big difference. For example, I might say: “Our goal today is to reach 100 points… Now, for 10 points I would like you play from this “E” note to this “C” note… OK great!  Next Challenge! For 15 points, play the second line in less than 1 minute… Awesome Just 75 points left to go!…” It’s amazing how even as the lesson content can remain the same, the act of framing it in the context of a simple game can sharpen focus and build enthusiasm. I’m convinced that the fun factor during lessons is a huge influence on positive growth and development during music lessons. Well, that and having fun is usually better than not.

Creating a positive atmosphere

Maintaining a positive atmosphere is crucial for facilitating learning. In a positive, stress free environment, students are able to be themselves, be curious, and creative. All of which are very important during the learning process. While criticism has its place in music education, positive reinforcement is much more effective in motivating students to succeed. Along with being non-judgmental and building trust with students, the foundation to building a positive atmosphere for learning music begins with Enthusiasm, Empathy, and Encouragement.

Enthusiasm is contagious. Teachers lead by example. For me, inspiration has often come from seeing a person speak, or do what they love to the fullest. My best teachers have been individuals that were excited to share their joy of music. Whether it was through their words and the way they spoke about music, or their actions and the way they performed music, these teachers exuded an inspirational enthusiasm. If the teacher is just going through the motions, how can the student be expected to take much of an interest? Learning an instrument takes dedication and discipline yes, but turning it into a weekly chore robs music of its best qualities. Teachers have to remember that spark, that magic, which opened the imagination and got them excited about playing music in the first place.

 Empathy: Everyone that has attained any level of proficiency started with none. Great teachers are the ones able to put themselves in a student’s shoes. I try to remind myself to maintain the perspective that the simple task of playing an “F” note was once not so easy. Lately, in an attempt to understand my beginning students’ perspectives, I’ve begun playing the same pieces they are… with my guitar reversed! My right hand plays what my left normally does, and vice versa. It feels completely foreign. Playing the guitar backwards is a similar sensation to trying to write cursive with your non-dominant hand. It reminds me of when the guitar was completely new, and I didn’t know what I was doing. It’s a humbling exercise. It’s made me think much more about what beginning students are dealing with, and how to explain things to them. Understanding what the challenges are for students has given me valuable patience in allowing the learning process to unfold.

Encouragement: Positive reinforcement builds confidence. As is often the case with progress and growth, it can be seen more easily from an outside perspective (teacher), than the inside (student).  Learning an instrument is a long term, goal oriented, incremental process. At times the student may feel frustrated, unable to see the strides they are making. Encouraging the student, and letting them know that you can hear their progress every week builds confidence.