Shaak
Music Studio
 The Shaak Music
Studio, as such, started in the late 60's. Every week each child would
have one private or partner lesson with Bernard or Carolyn as teacher
and one group lesson, which Carolyn taught. Simultaneously, a unique
group class for the parents was being taught by Bernard. At that
lesson, the parents learned what the children were supposed to practice
the coming week; they even learned to play the duets, whether they had
had any piano lessons before or not. They learned about the philosophy
behind the teaching, the psychology of working with their children, how
to structure the practice sessions at home and what to expect in the  early
stages. They got their questions aired and answered and seemed to enjoy
relating their experiences to the group. The class really served as a
support group for the parents and deep friendships were formed that
have stood the test of time. At some point during the class Bernard
would bring in one of the children from their group class. He would
hear their solos and duets, work on their technique, sight reading,
improvisation and originals. It was flexible so that he might get to
all the students or just one or two during the class. A huge,
beneficial by-product of this format was that the students got to p lay a given piece not only for their own
teacher, but for their peer group, an adult group and another teacher,
Mr. Shaak. After all that, performing at a concert, competition or with
an orchestra didn't seem very intimidating!
|
oonstone Music Press, Box
100614, Denver, CO 80250