Old Tricks

 

Tomorrow I’m off to China to teach for the third summer in a row. When I came to teach in 2024, I figured out that I had taught before in 2006, 2012, 2018 and now 2024. Some mystical 6-year rotating pattern. I joked to my host that it might be a good idea not to wait until 2030 for the next invitation and I guess he agreed, because he immediately invited me for 2025 and again for 2026. 

 

In starting to prepare for the two courses I’ll teach, I asked my host what percentage of the first course’s participants had worked with me before and his answer? Some 75% of them! Last year! That is a game-changer.

 

I looked at last year’s material and noted that we had done some fifteen games, five folk dances and ten arrangements for Orff instruments, amongst other things. I’ve finally come to peace with the truth that you can repeat material in situations like this without apology. The brain’s need for repetition means participants actually often welcome it, having forgotten most of it and needing a reminder. They also feel a bit more familiar with both the material and the way I teach it, allowing them to focus on details impossible to fully appreciate the first time. They also might note how I never do things precisely the same and enjoy, as I do, new twists to the familiar. So truth be told, I probably could do the exact some material and they would be fine with that. All my old tricks cultivated over a lifetime of teaching still with something new to offer. 

 

But I also see each workshop as a new opportunity for me to keep growing and to keep things fresh. I did have the idea of focusing exclusively on the pentatonic scale, so familiar in China, with the idea of comparing their use of it with pieces from some 12 other countries on all continents. I’m also very excited to be collaborating with my friend/translator and let her teach some traditional Chinese pentatonic songs within the framework of the Orff approach. However, it does mean that all the modal and harmonic material I’ve developed will be off-limits for these five days, so that’s both a challenge and an opportunity. Looking through the repertoire stored on my computer, I came up with fifteen new games and twenty pentatonic pieces for Orff Ensemble. That should keep things interesting!

 

Much more planning to do—and once again, packing! See you at the airport!