The Music Teaching Artist's Bible: Becoming a Virtuoso Educator

304 Pages·2009·0.66 MB·English

by  Eric Booth

The
Music
Teaching
Artist’s Bible
This page intentionally left blank
The
Music
Teaching
Artist’s Bible
Becoming a Virtuoso Educator
ERIC BOOTH
1
2009
1
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Copyright © 2009 by Oxford University Press, Inc.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Booth, Eric.
The music teaching artist’s bible : becoming a virtuoso educator / Eric Booth.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-19-536839-0; 978-0-19-536846-8 (pbk.)
1. Music—Instruction and study. I. Title.
MT1.B6835 2009
781.071—dc22 2008025728
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
Overtures
Leaders in the arts and arts education swear by and trust
in this “bible.”
“This is the most anticipated book in the performing arts world—by
artists who want to teach as well as they play, by concert presenters
and educators dying to engage artists who know how to communicate,
and by audiences, young and old alike, ready to be transformed by
artists who have the desire to teach, communicate, encourage, advocate,
inspire, mentor . . . or, put more simply, to change lives. As a concert
presenter eager to engage artists who know how to communicate
effectively with their audience, I’m pleased—no, make that ecstatic—
the ‘bible’ is fi nally here . . . and the master teacher artist wrote it!”
—Kenneth C. Fischer, President, University Musical Society,
University of Michigan
“As ever, Eric combines his unique insights into the arts and education,
his profound commitment to improving the teaching of the arts in
this country, his intellect, his humor—and, in this case, his wonderful
writing—to produce a book that stands a very good chance of, yes,
becoming a bible for many in music education.”
—Steven Seidel, Director of Harvard Project Zero, Director of Arts
Education Program at Harvard Graduate School of Education
“Teaching artists have been too long overlooked and taken for granted
as the crucial players they are in the American arts and arts education
ecosystem. I know that the state arts agencies, most of whom already
know and rely on Eric Booth, and all of whom rely on teaching artists
to fulfi ll their mission of expanding arts engagement, welcome this
foundation-building book. This is a book the fi eld has needed, from an
author we trust. Study these pages well.”
—Jonathan Katz, CEO, National Assembly of State Arts Agencies
vi Overtures
“The surge of interest in teaching artistry, along with the realization of
its urgent need, has affected many of us deeply, and certainly myself as
a performing and composing musician. Having had the good fortune
to be energized and inspired by Eric Booth several times in and around
Lincoln Center, I now welcome this elegant and informative distillation
of his ideas and experiences in The Music Teaching Artist’s Bible. Like a
bible, it is a compilation of helpful hints to be carried around with one as
one goes through the important work of one’s life. However, Mr. Booth’s
work does not present itself as The Given Word, but rather as an opening
and a welcoming to our calling. I can easily imagine ‘converting’ some of
my more self-involved colleagues to a wider and vastly more vibrant and
exciting artistic life by using the ideas in this book. We look forward to a
time when all artists are, at least in part, teaching artists.”
—Jon Deak, composer, Associate Principal Bass, New York Philharmonic
“Like Gray’s Anatomy of the Human Body for doctors, Eric Booth’s
Music Teaching Artist’s Bible is the foundational resource for not just
music teaching artists but those of any art form. Eric brings years
of hard-earned learning and experience as a teaching artist working
across multiples sectors, together with condensed observation, potent
insights, and immediately accessible, practical skills, and drops it on your
doorstep. I see dog-eared copies on every great teacher’s bookshelf only
moments from printing.”
—Lisa Fitzhugh, Founder and Executive Director, Arts Corps
“The Music Teaching Artist’s Bible fi lls a gap in the arts learning fi eld,
providing the fi rst foundation book for the burgeoning fi eld of teaching
artists. Both the arts and education need more and better teaching
artists, and teaching artists need this book. Eric Booth is the nation’s
leading authority on the subject, and his writing is as lively as a
teaching artist’s workshop.”
—Robert Lynch, President and CEO, Americans for the Arts
“This book is a must-read for any musician who wants to be a teaching
artist, or who is curious about how to be more effective in this growing
fi eld. Eric Booth, with decades of experience as a teaching artist himself
and as a pioneer in teaching artist professional development, is the only
person who could have written this pivotal work. It belongs in every
musician’s, every conservatory’s, every teaching artist’s library.”
—Barbara Shepherd, Director of National Partnerships,
The Kennedy Center, Education Department
Overtures vii
“InThe Music Teaching Artist’s Bible Eric Booth has given us a humane,
inspirational, and practical handbook for artists who teach; more
important, his insights provide a pathway to revitalized, fully engaged,
twenty-fi rst-century musicianship.”
—Bill Ivey, Director of the Curb Center for Art, Enterprise, and Public
Policy at Vanderbilt University, and former Chairman of the
National Endowment for the Arts
“This is an engaging, provocative, and practical book: engaging in its
style, provocative in its ideas, practical in its guidance to teachers,
whatever their art form or discipline. Just what those of us who have
experienced the teaching artistry of Eric Booth expect and admire.
He’s taught us all.”
—Richard Deasy, Director, Arts Education Partnership
“Even for those who don’t set out to be a teacher, the fact is that
every artist is, in fact, a teacher. So go ahead and embrace your inner
teacher and read this practical, yet oh-so-inspirational book. There is no
question that the ideas Eric Booth has to share will make you a more
effective teacher and a better artist!”
—Ann Meier Baker, President and CEO, Chorus America
“In a world where the teaching and learning of music have all too
often been parsed into lifelessness by competing camps—classical
versus contemporary, arts for art’s sake versus arts for learning, certifi ed
music teachers versus visiting artists—this book is about reclaiming
and synthesizing our authentic connections to music and musicians in
the contexts of community and public education. This document is a
much-needed breath of fresh air, ‘expanding the sense of the possible’ in
concerts halls and classrooms gone stale from a lack of the revitalizing
oxygen of music as lived in lives.”
—Arnold Aprill, Founding and Creative Director,
Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education (CAPE)
“Like the Bible itself, this book tells the genesis of a new kind of artist.
Eric Booth is a prophet who has lived that history and can see clearly
how teaching transforms artists’ lives and how the arts and learning will
be transformed by teaching artists.”
—Nick Rabkin, Executive Director, Center for Arts Policy,
Columbia College Chicago
viii Overtures
“Musicians and other performing artists have always been involved in
teaching from the stage and in the studio. But the modern realities of
schools and concert halls require a more sophisticated approach to
long-standing practices. Today’s musicians need techniques for engaging
listeners, rules for working with schoolteachers who provide sequential
skill building, and methods for generally building the public’s love
of music. The Music Teaching Artist’s Bible provides an insightful set
of answers to questions on how teaching artists can best work with
teachers in schools, colleagues in the community, audiences, and others
to best serve the overall goal of delivering artistic and educational
experiences to children and adults.”
—Michael Blakeslee, Senior Deputy Executive Director,
MENC: The National Association for Music Education
“Like Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, Booth’s ‘bible’ is both the ultimate
summation of technique and a pathway to a new era. By codifying
the emerging practices of teaching artistry, he equips musicians and
educators with the essential tools for embracing the coming age of
deepening participation in music and the expanding roles of musicians.”
—Jesse Rosen, President and CEO,
League of American Orchestras
“Eric Booth’s wisdom and practical advice for teaching artists will have
resonance for every instructor. The Music Teaching Artist’s Bible offers a
comprehensive defi nition of the role of an artist in connecting listeners
to music of all types. Going even further, Booth inspires refl ection on
what it means to be an audience member and, more broadly, a learner in
a world fi lled with artistic experiences waiting to be discovered.”
—Marc Scorca, President and CEO, Opera America
“The master teaching artist Eric Booth generously shares his enthusiasm,
creativity, and expertise not only in documenting this important endeavor
but in offering insight and inspiration to others. If you are an aspiring
young artist who loves sharing what you do with others, get this book!”
—James Undercofl er, President and CEO, The Philadelphia Orchestra,
former Dean, Eastman School of Music
“It’s about time Eric Booth collected his thoughts for our benefi t! If
you ever had the privilege to work with Eric, you’ll recognize his voice
on every page and rejoice at the opportunity to bring it home so you
can refl ect on the guidance and wisdom within! And, if this is your
introduction to him and the fi eld of teaching artistry, you are in for a treat.”
—Leni Boorstin, Director of Community Affairs,
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Overtures ix
“Eric Booth has long been in front of the movement to transform
education through the arts. No one can seriously dispute that we
need a more creative, generative education system. In this book he
once again articulates a force for change, the teaching artist, and the
practices and values that are driving this important force for education
transformation. He generously provides his special insight into the
work of the musician as educator and artist. The giant reform efforts
of the recent past yielded less change than was hoped. Yet profound
change is under way. Eric is one of the very best we have at identifying
and articulating the positive forces for change in the arts and learning.
Anyone involved in music and education will benefi t greatly from the
insights, values, and practices in this timely book.”
—David O’Fallon, President, MacPhail Center for Music, Minneapolis
“You must run and get this book! If I had to name a single person who has
revealed to me the secrets of effective teaching, that person is Eric Booth.
As a passionately dedicated mentor, Booth has led me by hand every
step of the way in developing my teaching artistry. Now, the world has
the opportunity to experience the same personal and hands-on guidance
through his book. It has everything you need to know about getting
started, discovering opportunities, and making the process a meaningful
and rewarding journey. It will bring teaching artistry to the foreground of
our education consciousness and undoubtedly become our bible.”
—Airi Yoshioka, teaching artist, member of Damocles Trio, faculty at
the University of Maryland, Baltimore County
“One could not ask for a better guide to the world of a music teaching
artist than Eric Booth. With an unmatched professional résumé, Booth is
simultaneously a cartographer, mapping out the high points and low points
of the terrain; a fi eld guide, sharing time-proven strategies for big challenges
and little problems; and a guru, providing inspiration for novices and veterans
alike. The Music Teaching Artist’s Bible is destined to become an essential
resource for music teaching artists and anyone who works with them.”
—Phillip Alexander, Senior Program Offi cer, Offi ce of Partnership
Support and Research for Empire State Partnership
“This book could not have come at a better time: musicians of all
genres are searching for ways to connect to audience and culture, and
to survive without compromise; our schools and society are desperately
in need of the skills and ethos that musicians can teach. What better
person to bridge the gap than Eric Booth, a true leader and inspirer of
the fi eld of teaching artistry. In this book Eric not only supplies great
stores of the profoundly practical, but also eloquently articulates the
purpose: to make all culture the province and joy of all people.”
—Nick Jaffe, Editor, Teaching Artist Journal