To: "VOCALIST" <vocalist>
Subject: RE: teaching styles
Date sent: Fri, 28 Jan 2000 11:23:44 -0800
Send reply to: VOCALIST <vocalist>

> >>My point being that imagery must be used as a reinforcement of the
> result. It is a way of solidifying the result not inducing the behavior.
>
> I agree with what you said about needing a good balance between scientific
> knowledge and imagery.


I think it depends on the student as to what will work best. Personally, I
often find that imagery works better for me than scientific explanations
when trying to produce a particular vocal result. Diagrams of the vocal
tract and physical descriptions, while they add to my theoretical knowledge,
generally don't help me much when it comes to the practical side of "how do
I produce the best sound". However, I know people who don't learn much from
imagery at all, and the same physical descriptions that don't help me work
wonders for them.

All of this is to say that I think it's important for teachers to be able to
adjust their explanations to what works best for the student. And it's
important for students to find teachers who can explain things in the way
that works best for the student.

Jennifer