Non Verbal Teaching
October 24th, 2008Music is a non verbal language that communicates expressions evoked by the performer and the instrument. The audience receives the musical messages by listening with their ears and seeing with their eyes. If creating music is a non verbal art, it makes sense that teaching music should mostly be conducted through non verbal communication. It is important for teachers to be aware of the amount of verbal instruction used during lessons. According to Adler, excessive talking from the teacher makes the student’s brain feel overloaded with information and the student will actually start to tune out[1]. Teachers should listen to themselves more and determine when it is necessary to teach through words, when to demonstrate, and when they could replace verbal instruction with non verbal gestures. Minimizing talking during lessons will encourage teachers to create more interesting approaches to teaching music and will capture the attention of the student. Effective non verbal communication between the teacher and student can increase productivity during lessons and allow students to listen and to understand the music more successfully.
[1] Adler, Kosedfeld, Proctor II. Interplay: The Process of Interpersonal Communication. Ninth Edition.