Please, come home and practice the piano

Chapter 1379, page 599: The adults' level exams are not easy either!

Compared to the children taking this exam, the teachers taking the EPTA teacher certification exam face much greater pressure.

The children only need to announce the program, play the piece, and bow, while the teachers not only have to perform the piece, but also answer questions in front of the camera.

Ordinary questions are one thing, but the questions they have to answer are directly related to piano teaching.

Ordinary teaching problems are one thing, but the EPTA teacher assessment questions are not standardized, such as how to teach students to play scales or what kind of teaching materials should be used for children at different stages.

Both of these types of questions usually have a fixed answer template.

With templates, everyone is an experienced teacher; but without templates, you have to bring out your real talent.

such as.

The first teacher to conduct the teacher evaluation was Ang Lee's junior fellow student.

Tang Shaochong.

The scene was somewhat comical; Lao Tang, who was a judge in the morning, became a test taker in the afternoon.

There were only two people present, him and Ang Lee, one on stage and the other in the audience.

Old Tang played a Liszt piece that showcased his personal virtuosity on camera.

Next came the Q&A session.

Ang Lee had Tom Cruise draw questions online using a tablet.

Indeed, as the EPTA coordinator for the Chengdu area, he didn't know what questions the teachers would draw.

The screen in front of Lao Tang showed 100 musical examples with serial numbers. There were only numbers, and no one knew what musical example each number corresponded to.

After a moment's hesitation, Lao Tang chose Mu Xin's birthday.

【76】

Tap the screen, and a six-bar piano score will appear on the projector in the next second.

Below the musical example is the question: How should the performer bring out the foundation of the melodic line in this passage?

Old Tang pondered for a moment, then pondered for another moment.

He thought to himself, "Damn it!" He had never played this piece before, but he knew it was a movement from Mozart's Piano Concerto in A major.

While Old Tom was pondering, Ang Lee already had the answer.

It must be said that this kind of question is far more meaningful for assessment than how to teach students to play scales.

Based on his many years of piano teaching experience, most piano teachers on the market can answer the question of how to teach students to play scales.

Some teachers can even list more than two teaching methods.

But what does this prove?

In piano teaching, methods are certainly important, but for a teacher deeply rooted in the field of piano teaching, the more pressing issue every day is not whether children can play scales correctly.

If a teacher spends every day thinking about how to teach children to play scales, then that teacher's future teaching level will likely remain the same.

In reality, piano teachers who want to improve themselves need a lot of practical problem-solving skills.

The same piece of music may require different guidance methods from teachers for different children.

Another issue is that a teacher can't find the root of the problem with the student's part; he just finds it awkward to listen to and keeps demonstrating it to the student.

Although his demonstration may be correct, such teaching efficiency is clearly substandard.

Specific problems require specific analysis. It's not enough to just tell students how to play a particular part; they also need to understand why it should be played that way.

In Ang Lee's view, this is the universal methodology for piano teaching.

Take, for example, the question Old Tang just drew.

The musical score is very clear, and the question is very intuitive. The teacher needs to explain how to play the bass notes of the melody.

An experienced teacher, upon seeing this problem, should be able to find the key to the issue at the shop.

Half a minute had passed since Lao Tang drew the question, and Li An didn't know where Lao Tang was stuck. In his opinion, this question should have been easy for Lao Tang to answer.

Just then, Old Tang spoke up: "This excerpt is the third movement of Mozart's Concerto in A major."

Ang Lee nodded.

Old Tang continued, "When dealing with the melodic direction of Mozart's works, we should pay attention to the fixed bass. In the example, there are four fixed notes on A. The structure of these fixed notes is the musical driving force of the second half of the melody."

"It must be emphasized twice during the performance to highlight the foundation of the entire melody."

"Thank you."

Ang Lee: "Next question."

Old Tang continued to choose question number 77.

It is still a melody fragment from a Mozart work.

Question: Of the six emoticons above, what should teachers guide students to focus on first?
This time, Old Tang didn't hesitate at all.

The answer was: "The breath mark, without interrupting the flow of the long musical phrase, requires students to first understand the accuracy of the phrase division."

"Thank you."

Ang Lee nodded again: "Thank you."

After answering the two questions, Lao Tang walked gracefully off the stage, letting out a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, he only registered for Level 2 this time; if he had registered for Level 1, he probably would have failed in the question-and-answer session.

However, he only answered both questions correctly; whether they were correct or not depends on the final result.

He was okay with the second question, but he was a little unsure about the first one.

When Lao Tang returned to the first floor, the scene was similar to that morning, with a group of young teachers who had participated in the previous grading training surrounding him.

"How was it, Teacher Tang? Were the questions difficult?"

"It's hard to say. I think it's a bit difficult. I drew two questions that were both practical."

Old Tang briefly described his topic, saying, "Good luck to everyone."

A young female teacher politely asked, "Ms. Tang, are all the questions practical?"

Old Tang: "I don't know either, but I estimate it should be about right."

"This is putting so much pressure on me." Haitao scratched his head, it was almost his turn to go on stage. "I wasn't even this nervous during the art college entrance exam."

Everyone laughed; this moment did indeed evoke memories of their own college entrance exams for arts students.

Mu Xin: "Stop dawdling, hurry up and go up there, good luck."

Lin Pengfei: "Set an example for us!"

With everyone's expectations in mind, Haitao arrived at the examination room on the second floor.

Most of the teachers who participated in the EPTA teacher professional title assessment this time were not high-achieving students like Lao Tang and Mu Xin, but were mostly young teachers with relatively average performance skills and short teaching experience.

Through the previous three training sessions, they had already realized that obtaining the EPTA teacher certificate was by no means easy.

The reason they paid to register here was to undergo a comprehensive self-examination.

Haitao was no exception.

As a teacher at Sigang Steel, he had no reason to back down.

"Dear examiners, my name is Zheng Haitao. I am participating in the EPTA Level 2 Teacher Assessment. The piece I will be performing is Tchaikovsky's The Four Seasons, No. 4, Allegretto."

Haitao felt he was in good form and sat down at the piano after finishing the introductions.

After a quick adjustment of his breathing, he began to play.

This poem, Tchaikovsky's "Daisies in April," is one of Hai Tao's few decent smaller works.

Although it is a short piece, its difficulty is no less than that of a movement of a standard sonata.

To prepare for this assessment, Haitao even attended two lessons with Mu Xin, and then had Li An listen in on his performance, receiving Li An's approval.
So Haitao is still very confident at this moment.

As fingertips glide across the keyboard, the music flows out gently.

There were no dramatic ups and downs, only a gentle warmth like the morning light of spring.

Lee An listened attentively from the audience, and he still had a certain fondness for his younger brother, Hai Tao.

He hoped that Haitao could pass this level assessment smoothly.

Of the teachers currently working at the shop, Haitao's paperwork skills are the worst. Haitao even joked with Ang Lee about this, saying that he might as well go abroad and get a diploma.

It was said in jest, but Ang Lee knew that behind those words lay a reflection of Hai Tao's inner thoughts.

Hai Tao considered himself to be the worst performer in the Sigang teaching team.

Sometimes, even when Ang Lee wanted to offer encouragement, he couldn't find the right words. If he said something inappropriate, it would turn into a form of consolation. And isn't consolation tantamount to him also thinking that Haitao is the worst performer in the team?
Therefore, what Ang Lee hopes most this time is that Haitao can successfully obtain the teacher evaluation.

He felt that at least this would make Haitao feel a little better.

And to be fair, in his opinion, Haitao has worked very hard this past year.

Whether it's for the work in the store or for improving personal skills.

"Clang—"

As the music neared its end, Haitao seemed to consciously soften the abruptness of the initial notes, making the final notes flow more naturally.

Until the music ended, the atmosphere on stage maintained a gentle tone.

That's it, very good. Li An silently applauded Hai Tao.

call.

Hai Tao exhaled softly in front of the piano, stood up, played the piano, bowed, and then, at Ang Lee's prompting, picked up the tablet computer on the piano.

There are still 98 questions left in the Level 2 certificate question bank. Hai Tao glanced at them and randomly picked one that looked good [17].

The next second, a musical score appeared simultaneously on both the tablet screen and the projector screen.

Ang Lee frowned slightly.

The musical score looks very simple, with only three measures and fourteen notes.

But the problem is not simple.

How should a teacher guide beginner students in playing this passage?

This is a significant issue in itself, and when guiding beginner students, it requires teachers to clearly understand the underlying contradictions between the musical example and piano teaching.

Upon seeing the musical example and the question, Ang Lee immediately realized that this was an extremely easy trap to fall into.

Don't rush, bro, think it over carefully.

In fact, the group had discussed similar issues before.

A minute passed, and Haitao on stage still hadn't said a word. His calm expression made it hard to tell what he was thinking.

After another four or five seconds, Haitao broke the silence with his voice.

"First, I will carefully explain the slur markings and staccato markings on the score to beginner students, and let them feel these two notes on the piano."

"After I've made sure the students have fully grasped the actual effects of these two types of markings, I'll have them try removing them first."

"Because the musical passage is too difficult for beginner students to play, if I were to teach them to play it, I wouldn't require them to play it exactly according to the expression markings."

"For children in the early stages, understanding and recognizing are more important than doing. If we force students to play the expression markings just for the sake of so-called correctness of the score, they will not be able to focus on the notes themselves, and thus will drift further and further away from the music itself."

"Understanding the score first lays the foundation for further learning."

"Then play the music according to your actual ability, without pursuing superficial correctness."

"The most important thing about this lesson is to make students understand that there is never a single answer to musical expression."

After saying that, Haitao nodded.

All Ang Lee could say was, "Brilliant," he couldn't think of a better answer.

Hai Tao's answer clearly took note of the trap in the question. An ordinary teacher, especially one who strives for accuracy, would definitely try to get the students to play according to the notation on the score.

Once you do that, you've already fallen into a trap—is classical music only about the correctness of the score?

Is it still classical music if we don't strive for accuracy in the score?

The key issue lies in the group of primary school students.

Haitao did not avoid the traps, but faced the problems head-on, prioritizing music and exposing the masks of many teachers.

When students encounter difficulties completing sheet music, how should a teacher approach the issue of what is considered orthodox?

"Thank you, next question."

Hai Tao's good luck clearly struck in the second draw.

It was a question that several people were discussing at lunchtime—whether dissonant notes should be played louder than consonant notes.

The musical example contains only four chords.

Haitao replied with a smile: "First, identify the dissonant intervals in the chord, find them and practice them repeatedly. Memorize the feeling of this dissonance in your ears. As long as you can hear this dissonance in the actual performance later, then the intensity is sufficient."

The discussion stemmed from the introduction to the Pathétique movement played by the car in the morning.

The above are basically Ang Lee's original words.

Hai Tao chuckled to himself that if he failed this question, it would be the principal's fault.

"Thank you."

Ang Lee couldn't help but smile, and subtly gave a thumbs-up when the camera couldn't see him.

Next were Yan Zhen and Mu Xin.

Yan Zhen's performance had a minor issue, but it was just a minor one. Overall, Ang Lee gave it a good rating, which was sufficient.

During the Q&A session, Yan Zhen provided a thorough analysis of the two musical examples from a compositional perspective and offered corresponding solutions, which impressed Li An.

This is a prime example of cross-disciplinary knowledge integration.

Mu Xin had nothing to say; she was the only teacher applying for Level 1 teacher certification this time, and her performance and problem-solving were impeccable.

They even used German during the question-and-answer session.

Li An is confident that Mu Xin can become the first piano teacher in the country to obtain the EPTA Level 1 Teacher Certificate.

Li An, as the principal of Sigang, was very pleased with the performance of the four teachers on site today.

But when it comes to other teachers, things are a bit complicated.

The performance contained issues with wrong notes, rhythm, and the overall style of the piece.

The problems are even greater in the teaching examples section.

There was a male teacher who had previously left a good impression on him and played quite well, but he couldn't tell the difference between the slow tempo of Andante and the slow tempo of Adagio.

Such situations are common in the latter half.

Today's partial assessment also gives a general idea of ​​the current state of piano education teachers in Chengdu.

Ultimately, the barrier to entry for becoming a piano teacher is too low.

Sometimes, many parents don't even know what kind of adorable teacher they have.

If we want to promote the development of the entire industry, the professional competence of teachers is a really big issue.

Of course, this is also why Ang Lee wanted EPTA to take root in Chengdu.

Take it easy.

Take it easy.

Grandpa Tang had been busy all afternoon, and then invited Li An and his wife to dinner.

The topic naturally turned to today's grading exam.

During the meal, Li An asked how many people were there.

"Tell me, what is the essential difference between the slow tempo of Andante and the slow tempo of Adagio?"

This question resulted in an awkward silence at the dinner table.

Chen Xuan opened her mouth several times, but no sound came out.

After thinking for a moment, Tang Xiaoxing wondered how she should express herself.
The car was a little off track for a moment, just missing the mark.

Ang Lee was startled. What?

At this moment, Grandpa Tang smiled and said, "Andante, it's a flowing slowness."

The little car suddenly grabbed something and blurted out, "Adagio is stillness!"

Following that, Chen Xuan and Tang Xiaoxing both expressed their views, and what they were basically trying to say was the same thing.

This made Ang Lee feel much better.

It seems this question is indeed difficult.

Hey.

The task is arduous and the road ahead is long.

Let's eat first!