JAVS Spring 2023

Let’s explore a lesson format that is gaining traction and bringing more and more success to teachers and students of all levels. This framework is designed to support any methodology and most teaching styles and is one of the SPARK Practice tools to develop neurological safety and musical excellence.

digestive system, creating the basis for neurological safety and therefore secure, confident performance.

(Note: at this point, the worksheet made available to AVS readers at the end of this article becomes pertinent as a learning support. Please use it, share it, and give feedback.) Reflection It can often be hard to look in the mirror. But it’s worse when you don’t know how to frame the conversation. At SPARK Practice we believe that great performances exude excellence in 3 zones: musically, mentally, and mechanically. Then, to break it down and better frame the conversation, we use the SPARK Pillars: Sound, Performance, Attuned Intonation, Rhythm, and Kinetic Integration. Using the worksheet, we evaluate the lesson performance with the student. This way we’re preparing the students for productive reflection and criticism: positive and negative. This also gives an opportunity to track progress over time and helps us as educators see where we can give more support, better strategies, and recommendations. Learning This part of the lesson is where we as teachers can really communicate our competencies and give the highest quality lesson for the students. If X student was strong rhythmically, but had terrible intonation, and schlumpy shoulders, we might be inclined to give an instruction about scales / checking with open strings / other advice about intonation. Great! And with the SPARK Practice framework, we see the three pillars involved, and we can offer even better advice. “Remember to put a fence post here as a reminder of good posture which helps stabilize our intonation, and let’s remind ourselves of the harmony & harmonic rhythm to help with intonation. Have you done your Scale-ton?” Then you can show them a couple strategies that impact their whole playing, and you’ve also just shown them what AND how to practice that issue for the week. Planning This is the part of the lesson where you set expectations for the next time you see each other. Use the spaces on the worksheet to write specific practice strategies in each pillar, giving a digestible roadmap for the student, space to write questions, monitor their progress, and

+ Intro (Co-regulation) + Play-Through + Reflection

+ Learning + Planning

This simple story arc helps both Teachers and Students participate in a productive learning exchange: maximizing student autonomy, integration, and assimilation, and that as teachers, we spend our time actually sharing what we know.

Ok, let’s break it down.

Introduction (Self and/or Co-regulation) This is the time that each party comes to the learning space, self-regulated and ready to participate in a positive learning exchange. This essentially means that when you get to a lesson, you’re mentally and physically available. For those who want to take it a step further, you can even do a couple 4/6 breaths (inhale for 4, exhale for 6) together to really get into the same phase. This isn’t appropriate in all situations and both parties need to feel comfortable. It is the responsibility of both parties to self-regulate, and 4/6 breathing can be really helpful as when we exhale longer, we stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system. Play through, Aka Performance. Do not be fooled. This is a performance. Regardless of the phase of preparation, this is the time to practice centering, the pre-performance routine, and see where things are performance-wise (fence-posting, transitions, the giant slalom, memorization, etc). It is one of the central tenants of SPARK Practice that we practice Performance in every practice session—and practicing this in lessons is one of The Best Ways to gently expose ourselves to small doses of stress and build a healthy stress

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Journal of the American Viola Society / Vol. 39, No. 1, Spring 2023