Transcript Slide 1

We are…
Support tutors
• Paula Bishop-Liebler - Royal College of
Music; Guildhall School of Music and Drama;
Royal Academy of Music and Dyslexia
Teaching Centre, London.
• Sally Daunt – The Liverpool Institute for
Performing Arts
Key points
• Basic principles common to all
support
• Issues that occur in performing arts
support that can inform more general
study skills work
• Info for non-specialists in order to
point students in the right direction
• Subject specific?
Outline
• Organisational skills and strategies
• Written work
• Issues for musicians
–
–
–
–
Notation and reading of music
Supporting the reading of music
Reasonable adjustments
Aural work
• Issues for actors
• Issues for dancers
• Features that can inform general support
Organisational skills
Strategies
• Year time table
There is no such thing as a normal
week for musicians
• Small targets
• Observation week
• A practice routine
Written work
‘The measurement of effective
treatment in cystic fibrosis’
or
‘A discussion of performance
technique in relation to the cello
repertoire of the 17th century’
‘The opening of Stravinsky’s Rite of
Spring uses a solo melody based on a
folk theme. This is quasi-pentatonic as
can be seen in the emphasis on the
notes DE GA and B in the extract at
Figure 1…’
Figure 1: the opening of…
Write a personal evaluation of
two concerts that you have
attended this term.
Refer to issues such as
historically informed
performance, programming,
interpretation and comparison
to other performances of the
works.
Strategies
• Develop a template to fill out
in concerts
• Read other critics
• Overview then details
• Get permission to video
performances
Issues for musicians with music
Commonly reported difficulties include:
Sight reading
Rhythmical accuracy
Aural dictation
Memorising music
Scanning between conductor and music
Remembering and applying theoretical rules for music theory
and composition
Many of these difficulties relate to processing musical notation
The notation of text
and
the notation of music
Similar
or
Different?
Surface similarities
‘push’ = /p/, /ʊ/, /ʃ/
“My name’s
James and I’m
dyslexic”
The music:
Supporting the reading of
music
• Maximise what you can do today
• Integrate long term development
of skills into daily practice
• What are your priorities?
• What do you find difficult about
reading music?
Questionnaire
Do you have difficulties with –
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Timing
Maintaining a pulse
Changing tempo
Reading rhythms
Reading rests
Recognising rhythmic patterns
Pitch
Reading pitches quickly
Recognising pitch patterns (e.g. scales, arpeggios)
Sight reading
• Do you have to sight read?
• Get the music in advance
• Rhythm –
–Play the strong beats only
Aural work
•
•
•
•
•
Short term memory
Aural dictation
Clapping and singing simultaneously
Mapping between aural and written
Responding quickly in written form
Strategies
• Break down tasks
• Rhythm then melody
• Practice singing the first 2 bars whilst the
music continues
• Try to isolate 2-bar phrases
• Work on the piano for harmony
• Listen actively
Timeline
Reasonable adjustments
• Extra playings (25%)
• Extra time between playings
• Inclusive assessment protocol
–Allow all students to prepare
rhythm and singing exercises
And another thing…
Drama: sight reading
Key points
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Get the script as early as possible
Find a quiet place and read out loud
Connect to your breath
Get an overall picture
Clues: title etc
Other plays by the same author?
Long sentences? Where to breathe?
And…
Kinds of punctuation?
What can you use of yourself?
Mark up ‘gear changes’ of emotion
Don’t get fixated on words you don’t
understand or pronounce – be
brave!
• Memorise the 1st 3 words of key
sections
•
•
•
•
Multi-sensory
• Movement (post-its)
• Visual (story-board)
• Actor’s thesaurus
• Aural (put lines on a voice
recorder)
Dance
• Difficulty copying movements in
mirror fashion
• Muddling up L and R
• Short term memory of moves
(sequences)
• Concentration
• (Use of dance notation)
Features of support in the
performing arts that can
inform other areas
• Memorisation techniques (the post-its)
• Different types of memory – visual,
auditory, kinaesthetic, emotional, place…
• Regular practice over long periods of time
Motivation & practice
Adaptability & organisation
Summary
• Good approaches for dyslexic
students are (usually) good
approaches for all
• Be imaginative in our support
• Motivation is key
• Everything is harder and takes longer
• Get the student to solve the problem
- metacognition