Nicholas E.

specializes in Voice, Composition, Theory, Basic Piano, & General Music Lessons · male

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Personal Statement

I am a student at LIU Post and I spent my first 4 semesters as a Music Education major. I have since changed my major to pursue my true passion of composing and conducting. The following is my teaching philosophy: Students learn best, and grow more as individuals, with their mouths, mind, eyes, and hearts open. Music making is about expression and emotion. With music being a subjective rather than an objective field of study, it is important to convey this idea to the students. Motivating and inspiring the students is the best way to accomplish this. A teacher of music must be alert and enthusiastic with the students, encouraging them to utilize a part of them that is seldom explored in a classroom. It is a unique opportunity to teach music, because it allows a teacher to learn valuable lessons from a student by observing what their hearts desire to express. Music is essentially a vehicle for the expression of emotion. To teach this is a challenge because such a large aspect of the subject cannot be measured. There are no units for an emotional response. And without emotion, there would be no music, only noise. To evoke an emotional response in a student, a teacher must first discover their own reaction to a passage of music. Once the teacher knows how they feel about a piece, they are then able to help their students to discover what, why, and how they react to a piece. One of the most important aspects of music making is having fun. No subject, math included, should ever be boring. A teacher truly does make a difference on how a student’s day will go. In public schools, the students come from diverse backgrounds and a teacher doesn’t really know what kind of morning a student had. Being alert and enthusiastic and fun is essential for these kids. Later on in their schooling, this trait in a teacher could be the difference between that student continuing their education or not. Being an effective teacher is difficult and it requires numerous qualities and skills. Here are only a few of which I felt were important. Music is a unique field of study and music education presents its own challenges, however music can easily be the vehicle through which students discover themselves. Music is something every culture has and that all people can relate to. It tends to draw people in and therefore can be used as an incredibly effective tool in education, even with other fields of study. Most importantly, an educator of music must have the ability to learn from their students, as they sometimes can be the greatest teachers.

Greenvale, NY 11548