When meeting with music teachers about Musicards™, one of the first questions I always ask is: "What do you enjoy most about teaching music?"
The answers I receive always touch my heart and resonate with me because they're the same reasons I love sharing music. Here are some things my fellow music educators have shared with me.
"I love music!"
Yes! Me too! Just being around music is inspiring and exciting. It's truly a blessing to be able to make a living working in this delightful field.
"I love it when my student has that A-HA! moment."
I know that feeling! When the light bulb comes on and you see them grasping a concept. Sometimes it's fast, other times it's after many weeks of patient repetition. But either way, when they get it, it awesome!
"Accomplishment."
There's a sense of deep satisfaction at the completion of a recital or moving to the next level in a particular course. Or even just finally understanding an important concept. And it's really nice to see the pride and joy on the faces of students and parents as well!
I know that music teachers are in it for the love. It's a challenging business sometimes. There are expected challenges that must be overcome to yield the joy and success we are pursuing. It takes time to develop meaningful relationships, solidify healthy routines, and bring out the real musician inside each learner.
This is why I am so proud of Musicards™! The games make it much easier to relate to students and parents because they shift dynamic from just THE TEACHER giving THE STUDENT knowledge and instructions to THE TEACHER WITH THE STUDENT discovering possibilities and playing with music theory concepts TOGETHER. And it's really fun to bring the parents, siblings, and friends in on the conversation too!
The games are designed to present the music theory concepts in small units that can be quickly learned and then memorized through fun (really fun!) repetition and usage. So the "A-HA!" moments come faster and more frequently.
And it's definitely a pretty neat feeling of accomplishment when my student says to their parent, "I just beat Mr. Reed in Musicards™!" (Yes, my students do sometimes beat me at my own game!!) The more they play, the faster they get at recalling the music theory concepts. Honestly, some students learn very very quickly. So it keeps me on my toes.
I love sharing music with others. I love when we can start speaking the same musical language and understand each other better and better. I love the sense of joy and pride that comes with completing another musical milestone. And I love being able to enhance all this with Musicards™.