Mark Harrod is a guitar instructor with Prairie Music Academy. He has recorded several albums of his own compositions, which you can hear samples of at www.markharrodmusic.com. Mark has also sold a song to the Chicago Cubs and frequently tours and performs throughout southern Wisconsin and Illinois.

I just finished a new album.  This marks my first solo attempt after already doing two albums with a band.  The recording process can be stressful and exciting and expensive, but I’ve found some great ways to get the best bang for your buck.

Recording Tip of the Day – Mix your instrumentation to scratch vocals.  That does many, many things for you.  Not least of which, it allows you the ability to listen to the instrumentation tracks without being distracted by that ever up front and hyper critiqued vocal.  By using scratch vocals, you still hear them but are not consumed by their accuracy.  Secondly, it allows you time in mixing to focus on the instrumentation.  The scratch vocal will need to be mixed as well, but again, you don’t have to worry about accuracy and performance as much...yet.  Finally, and possibly the biggest benefit, once the instrumentation is mixed, you get to take it home and sing to it.  Let me tell you, there is nothing more enjoyable than singing karaoke to a song that your recording.  And what I mean by that is this. You’re vocals are going to be the loudest, most up front and attention demanding.  By singing to the finished instrumentation, you are singing to what the music WILL sound like on the album as opposed to kind of faking it before mixing.  The mixed instrumentation has all the energy and movement in it, and that affects your psychology as a singer.  In my situation, I sang better.  I wasn’t worried about whether or not the instrumentation sounded good enough or loud enough at parts.  That was already done and passed and over with.  I couldn’t do anything about it.  I just needed to SING.  And that was a great relief.  So my advice to all you aspiring recording musicians out there is this.  Take your time. Focus on the instrumentation first.  Mix that to scratch vocals. Bring the instrumentation home, and then see what kind of magic happens when you sing to that.

Pedagogy is a "buzz word" that gets tossed around and used liberally between music teachers, music educators, and institutions of music. Everyone claims to have a pedagogy, to use pedagogy, or to be an expert in pedagogy. There are even degrees for musicians seeking to better themselves as educators. Yes, I happen to have degrees in performance and pedagogy. But what does this really mean? And what does this mean for my child taking music lessons?

Let me first give a basic definition of pedagogy. As I can remember from college, pedagogy is really the study of educating children. The etymology of the word is fascinating; in the greek it means 'to lead a child.' In Ancient Greece, a slave was put in trust of educating the young male children. The slave was responsible for taking the young child to school and to gym. The Latin derivation of the word, however, means 'education' or 'good learning styles.' In the context of being a degree-seeking musician, we apply the terms to mean something along the lines of 'developing quality education for pre-college students of music.' What about adults? Well, there is a term for the study of educating adults -- andragogy. I remember having one conversation about andragogy in graduate school, but musicians apply the term pedagogy to the study of educating any student -- whether child or adult. You may be interested in reading further about pedagogy on such websites as The Piano Education Page and The Piano Pedagogy Forum.

So what does this have to do with teaching music? In this particular post, I was to focus on the pedagogy of Prairie Music Academy on a large scale. Prairie Music Academy offers private lesson instruction, group classes, and a combination of both. How does this make for interesting pedagogy? Students learn on a variety of different levels. One-on-one instruction provides the student with unique interaction with a music specialist. The music teacher creates a plan, or curriculum, suited to the needs of the student. I'm sure many of us are aware of the fact that every student is different. Some students need a strong technical plan, or series of warm-ups, to help them learn to play their pieces more effectively. Other children simply need a diet of pieces that sound impressive, thus inspiring them to practice more frequently. What pedagogy provides, applied by the music teacher, is a plan of education specific to each student for their maximum development as a musician.

At times, practicing and learning pieces can be an isolating activity. Interaction with the rest of the musical world is often left to the band and choir directors at our schools. Prairie Music Academy believes students are inspired and challenged best by having musical experiences with their peers. You will notice a series of group classes on our calendar for the private-lesson student. We intentionally change three or more private lessons a year in favor of bringing musicians together to learn and perform with one another. How is pedagogy applied here? I look at it as being a large piece of the 'quality education' pie. First, it is important for musicians to listen and watch multiple performances. Observing technique, performance styles, and simply absorbing more repertoire aurally gives the student many new perspectives. Second, it is important for students to make critical observations on their individual performance and the performances of other students. Parents are often concerned about peer pressure and negative feedback in situations like this, but Prairie Music Academy is intentional about teaching proper critique. Our instructors arm the students with the ability to discuss dynamics, technique, and quality of performance in a positive, friendly manner. Third, our group classes give the students practical skills applicable to daily life. Learning to think critically, dialogue positively, and analyze a musical performace thoughtfully can only have a favorable impact on studies at school and on the job later in life.

Finally, the last portion of the Prairie Music Academy pedagogy has to do with our involvement and interaction within the community. We do not want to become the music lesson shop that simply brings students in and out of our school and keep the performances within. Music is meant to be shared and enjoyed by the greater community. Think of how often music is a daily part of your life; music penetrates your thoughts while you shop at the grocery or department store. You probably drive to and from work and your child's activities with your favorite radio station pumping tunes through your car. And we certainly cannot escape the power music has over us during holiday seasons like Christmas! We pride in being able to bring music to Sun Prairie, Madison, and through Dane County. Events like the Fall Festival, the Barn Dance, the Spring Variety Show, and our Faculty/Alumni recitals are not just for showcasing the amazing talents prevalent at our school. They are for keeping music -- the feelings, the emotions, and the joy it brings -- alive in our culture. As Ipods and digital radio provide us with the convenience and instant gratification of music, it's the performances and the person-to-person shared responses of music we need to share with our family and friends.

So that is really what pedagogy means to Prairie Music Academy -- being able to educate, share, and revel in the beauty of music in a variety of ways!

Julie Baskinger