A Concise Guide:Teaching to Sensory Learning Styles

Shelley Brower and Lisa BaileyEdited by Joanne Haroutounian

A Concise Guide: Teaching to Sensory Learning Styles is one of the supplementary teaching materials offered with the book,

Fourth Finger on B-flat: Effective Teaching Strategies for Teaching Piano

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IntroductionHave you ever wondered why that student on the bench doesn’t seem to understand the ideas you are carefully showing on the page; or why some students don’t seem to be listening to you because they are moving around or constantly fidgeting? What is it about that student who can pick out tunes by ear so well, but resists learning how to read?

These are every day problems we face as we teach music to our students. The closer we observe our students, the more we can learn about HOW they learn through their sensory learning style. A Concise Guide: Teaching to Sensory Learning Styles provides this information in a quick, handy reference that presents the basic pointers to look for in identifying visual, auditory and kinesthetic learning styles.

The guide includes:

◆ An overview of the different types of sensory modalities.

◆ Student Snapshots of each type of sensory learning style to help you recognize and adapt teaching strategies to different types of learners:

- Strengths and Preferences- Trouble Spots- Teaching Tips

◆ A set of practice tips reflecting different sensory learning styles.

◆ A practice grid emphasizing student and teacher awareness of various ways to practice to strengthen different modalities.

◆ A questionnaire suitable for use by students and teachers to help determine individual sensory learning styles.

We all teach a certain way, usually reflecting our own sensory learning style. The guide will help you adapt your teaching approach to mesh with how your students most effectively learn. You will be amazed at the difference this can make in your lessons.

- Joanne Haroutounian

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A Concise Guide:Teaching to Sensory Learning Styles

We can discover quite a bit about teaching effectively by carefully observing details about how our students learn. If we explore the concept of learning styles, we come across a myriad of possibilities.1 The private lesson is a perfect environment to observe the sensory or perceptual modalities of students. This guide offers simple ways to adapt our teaching to reflect how students learn in music—through the senses.

There are three main types of sensory modality: Visual (V), Auditory (A), and Kinesthetic (K).

◆ Visual learners learn through seeing, reading and writing. ◆ Auditory learners learn through hearing, listening and saying. ◆ Kinesthetic learners learn through feeling, touching and doing.

Perhaps you are already picturing particular students that might fall into each category! People usually have a dominant style that they use most often, as well as secondary and tertiary styles that are less preferred and less developed. Thus, the three modalities combine to form six separate patterns of learning: VAK, VKA, AVK, AKV, KVA, and KAV.

VAK = Visual as dominant or strongest AKV = Auditory as dominant or strongest Auditory as secondary Kinesthetic as secondary Kinesthetic as tertiary Visual as tertiary

The teaching strategies in this guide explain how to introduce new concepts that focus on the dominant modality,while strengthening modalities that need development.

Perceptual modalities are fully explained in How Your Child is Smart: A Life-Changing Approach to Learning by Dawna Markova . She describes the three main modalities as “channels of thought,”2 and the six learning combinationsas “personal thinking patterns, ways of moving thought, of metabolizing, digesting, processing experience…that determine the most comfortable and effective way for each of us to learn something.”3

It goes without saying that we, as teachers, would like to help all of our students achieve this most comfortableand effective way of learning. This guide offers teachers a quick, easy way to recognize different modalities of learning and adapt teaching to best fit our students’ learning styles. But how to begin?

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Determining Your Students’ Learning Styles1. Ask students to complete the questionnaire included in this guide to help determine their specific sensory learning

style. The questionnaire uses content that reflects a private lesson teaching environment. Each question has three possible answers; one for each sensory learning mode.4

2. Videotape lessons to discover so much more about how your students learn—and how you teach. Simply sit back and observe the details in your teaching and in your student’s behavior while watching the lesson take place!

3. Finally, experiment with lesson plans and activities using the Student Snapshot pages, individualized practice suggestions, and practice chart found in this guide.

◆ Each Student Snapshot provides immediate reference for strengths and preferences, trouble spots, and teaching tips.

◆ The practice grid offers a template to present different perspectives of learning, providing students a way to personalize their practice.

◆ Practice suggestions offer students and teachers ways to realize modalities as they solve musical problems through practice.

General Rules of Thumb1. Strive to incorporate all three types of learning into every lesson.

2. Present new materials and concepts according to the student’s individual learning pattern: First in the student’s dominant style, second in the secondary style, and third in the weakest style.

3. Get students out of their comfort zones! Work to strengthen and develop students’ weaker learning styles while remaining attuned to their dominant styles.

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Student Snapshot: Visual Learners

Strengths & Preferences

◆ Remember what they see/read. ◆ Prefer books/music with plentiful pictures & colors ◆ Can be overwhelmed by pages that are too crowded or “busy” ◆ Are strong sight-readers ◆ Need to see the teacher’s eyes/facial expressions to understand what is being said ◆ Make good eye contact ◆ Notice visual details of the score ◆ Often enjoy writing activities ◆ Prefer books with written instructions ◆ Learn well by watching & imitating the teacher

Trouble Spots

◆ Easily distracted by what they see ◆ Become so focused on the score that they are unaware of their body or sounds they are making ◆ May have trouble with oral instructions ◆ May have trouble expressing thoughts/feelings in words ◆ May not be sensitive to or aware of nuance/tone/dynamics ◆ May have awkward/uncomfortable body movements and technique ◆ May have trouble with memorization due to visual reliance on score ◆ May have difficulties with ear training/rhythms/keeping a steady beat ◆ May resist creative activities such as improvising/composing

Teaching Tips

Each tip is followed by the specific learning style area(s) to be strengthened or reinforced, indicated by V (visual),A (auditory), and K (kinesthetic) in parentheses.

◆ Have students close their eyes while playing to focus on listening to what they are playing and to develop body/movement awareness. (A/K)

◆ Try teaching some concepts by rote to get away from the score. (A/K) ◆ Have students record themselves so they can carefully listen to their own playing. (A) ◆ Gently guide students toward being able to express thoughts and feelings in words. Be patient ◆ with long pauses between words/thoughts, and do not answer a question for them or put words into

their mouths—they need to learn to think for themselves! (A) ◆ When working on rhythms/tempo, get away from the score. Have students march, hop, clap, chant—

anything to get them to feel and understand the beat with their body. (K) ◆ To help with memorization, have students write out parts of the score. (V) ◆ Incorporate creative activities into lessons a tiny bit at a time. Students will feel more comfortable ◆ with improvisation by having some sort of score/chordal guide to look at as they play. (V/K) ◆ Do not neglect technique with these students—they need extra help in this area! (K) ◆ Incorporate frequent teacher modeling into lessons. (V/A) ◆ Minimize visual distractions during lessons: close the blinds, clear away clutter, shut the door, etc. (V)

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Student Snapshot: Auditory Learners

Strengths & Preferences

◆ Remember what they hear/say ◆ Excel at playing by ear ◆ Can be great improvisers/composers ◆ Prefer oral instructions to written ◆ Are excellent speakers—words seem to pour out in logical order ◆ Can be very persuasive with their words ◆ Prefer to learn by listening and by rote ◆ Express thoughts easily through words ◆ Are great at ear training ◆ Enjoy singing

Trouble Spots

◆ Are easily distracted by what they hear ◆ May have great difficulty reading notation ◆ May prefer creating their own version of a piece rather than learning it correctly ◆ May copy others’ interpretations rather than creating their own ◆ May have difficulty with written instructions/assignments ◆ May not be aware of their own feelings/body movements ◆ May not be concerned with or aware of details of a score ◆ May have difficulty with rhythms/feeling a beat ◆ May talk excessively/go off on tangents while speaking and have trouble coming back to the task

at hand

Teaching Tips

◆ Provide simple sight-reading pieces to help develop students’ visual & reading skills. (V) ◆ Have students come up with several ways of interpreting a passage to encourage individual interpretive

decisions. (A) ◆ Use flash cards to strengthen visual skills—allow discussion and answering out loud to keep the

auditory channel open. (V/A) ◆ Provide music with large, clear notation to help students focus; cover parts of the score to isolate

passages if necessary. (V) ◆ Gently but firmly remind students that only music is to be discussed during a lesson; allow a minute ◆ or two at the end to discuss other topics. (A) ◆ Have students listen to at least three different recordings of a piece and discuss the differences. (A) ◆ Use a mixture of rote teaching and score reading; have students learn from the score a little bit at a time.

(V/A/K) ◆ Have students make up words to melodies/rhythms and sing/speak them out loud while playing. (A) ◆ Have students clap, march, hop, etc. to feel the beat while singing/chanting. (K/A) ◆ Minimize auditory distractions during lessons: eliminate background noise. (A)

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Student Snapshot: Kinesthetic Learners

Strengths & Preferences

◆ Remember what they feel/do ◆ Often prefer fast, energetic pieces ◆ Are very in-tune with their body movements and feelings ◆ Often play with a natural grace and ease ◆ Often excel at technical skills ◆ Love the feeling and sensation of simply playing ◆ Constantly need to be moving their bodies—this helps them focus and learn ◆ Have a great sense of rhythm and tempo: “feel” the beat with their bodies as they play ◆ Easily grasp finger patterns in music ◆ Have a great deal of physical energy ◆ Love to play the same pieces over and over ◆ May prefer to learn by rote ◆ Crave variety in their lessons

Trouble Spots

◆ Are fidgety and have trouble sitting still ◆ May have difficulty focusing on tasks ◆ May be careless in learning a piece—they just want to play ◆ Once a fingering pattern is learned, it’s very difficult to change ◆ May have difficulty reading/focusing on notation, especially details of the score ◆ May jump from one project to the next without ever really finishing anything ◆ May resist learning new pieces in favor of playing old ones over and over ◆ May not be aware of dynamics/wrong notes or how their playing actually sounds ◆ May “space out” during verbal discussions ◆ Would rather try something right away than be told how to do it

Teaching Tips

◆ Take breaks during lessons—give students a chance to get up and move around. (K) ◆ Provide simple sight-reading pieces to help develop students’ visual and reading skills. (V) ◆ Plan a variety of activities and be prepared to “switch gears” frequently. (K) ◆ Pay special attention to having students learn correct fingerings right away. (K/V) ◆ Assign many fast, energetic “touch” pieces—notation should be large, clear and easy-to-read. (K/V) ◆ Set specific goals with students and address these frequently to help keep them on task. (K) ◆ Try teaching technique exercises by rote. (K/A/V) ◆ Incorporate some music and movement activities into lessons. (K/A) ◆ Have students record themselves so they can carefully listen to how they are playing. (A) ◆ Minimize verbal discussion/instruction during lessons. (K) ◆ Allow students to play as much as possible during lessons and to try out new skills/concepts themselves

right away on the keyboard. (K) ◆ Avoid telling students to “sit still.” Fidgeting helps them focus and this may frustrate them. (K)

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Sensory Modalities Practice GridThe practice grid below can be added to any teacher’s practice chart to encourage students to experiment with differentsensory modalities and to apply varied perspectives when tackling problems in their practice routine. This grid can beused as a practice aid that allows students to play a role in finding several ways to approach their practice problemsat home and get them out of their comfort zones. “Bites” are tiny problem areas over one or two measures. “Chunks”may be a line or a page of music that is assigned for the week.

Practice Grid Emphasizing Sensory Modalities

Problem “Bites”or “Chunks” What to look for: What to listen for: What to do: Not Yet Almost Got it!

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

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Practice Tips for Sensory LearningPracticeProblem

VISUALPractice Tips

AURALPractice Tips

KINESTHETICPractice Tips

Step/Skip Intervals

Circle or highlight skips versus steps in score. Sing or solfége the intervals.

Use steps or floor to physically step out intervals. Focus on finger patterns.

Chord/Arpeggio Sequences

Write the letter names of the chords in the music.

Block the chords (if arpeggios) and listen for the chord changes.

Pause Practice (Refer to p. 10)

Fingering – Scale Passages

Identify scales using key signature and/or accidentals. Write out scales and fingering.

Listen for major/minor scale patterns and differences in minor scales changes.

Focus on the fingering and patterning of each type of scale, repeating until comfortable.

Eighth- or sixteenth-note runs

Mark score with arrows or lines showing the up/down movement.

Listen to a recording of the passage.

Finger Grab (Refer to p. 10)

Playing LegatoVisualize smooth movement, or use a sticker of a caterpillar or a snake.

Sing the notes using “Ah” and hear how they are connected.

Feel one note played to the next with fingers on key surface.

Playing StaccatoVisualize popcorn popping. Use stickers with animals that hop.

Compare staccato to other sounds (snap, clock ticking). Sing with different articulations and compare.

Play several consecutive notes with finger 3 and feel the snap of the wrist.

Dynamic Changes/ Mood

Changes

Highlight or circle dynamics. Create a story or picture.

Sing the melody line and create the dynamic/mood changes with your voice.

Use your body to show changes in dynamics and mood. Model with dance.

Uneven tempo – pausing

Draw arrows over the problem area to show forward movement.

Record the passage and listen to the tempo while watching the music.

Count Down (Refer to p. 10)

Rhythm Patterns (e.g., dotted

quarter note)

Use flash cards. Write timing “1 & 2 &” under the quarter and dot.

Use rhythm syllables (Kodaly “ta-ti ti”). Sing the rhythm using a familiar tune (for example, My Country ‘Tis of Thee).

Clap or physically move to the rhythm with a metronome.

Accurate rhythmMark the score, circling rests, then write out beats and their divisions.

Count out loud, using the word “rest” for rests. Use syllables or numbers.

Lift hands off the keyboard on rests and pulse the beats with tapping or clapping.

RH/LH Balance of Melody

Highlight the melody line in the score for both RH and LH melodies.

Listen for the melody. If necessary, isolate the melody from harmonies.

Focus on “singing” the melody in LH/RH while de- emphasizing the other hand.

PhrasingHighlight with curved lines, with the line lifting vertically at end.

Read a paragraph out loud, realizing rise & fall of voice, breaths at end.

“Draw” phrases in the air with the arm, lifting at end. Move to this shape.

Practice Tips for Sensory LearningThe practice tip guide below offers pointers for common problem areas for practice. The guide includes an additional blank sheet that can be filled in with new ideas from both teachers and students, emphasizing sensory ways of learning.

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Practice Tips for Sensory LearningPracticeProblem

VISUALPractice Tips

AURALPractice Tips

KINESTHETICPractice Tips

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Resources: Additional Practice TipsPause Practice

To aid the student in navigating changing chord/arpeggio sequences, the pause practice technique would be helpful for kinesthetic practice. This technique emphasizes lifting of the hands from the keyboard and an intended delay between varying or leaped chords. By using this technique the student will avoid the instinct to grab any chord or arpeggio as opposed to the correct one.

Source: Haroutounian, Joanne. Fourth Finger on B-flat: Effective Strategies for Teaching Piano. San Diego, CA: Kjos Music Company, 2012: p. 144.

Finger Grab

Rather than approaching a difficult fast passage in the traditional manner by having the student play the passage slowly with the metronome and gradually speeding up, this kinesthetic technique applies a unique alternative. The student should begin with a small section that is technically challenging and isolate a group of notes that fits comfortably under their hand. They should play this “finger grab” quickly and lightly without regard to meter initially since the primary goal is to feel comfortable with the group of notes. They should continue through the eighth or sixteenth note run identifying other “finger grabs” played lightly and freely which they will ultimately connect to one another with a pause in between. Eventually the group of “finger grabs” should be slowly worked back to the correct tempo and meter. Essentially this method suggests a reverse approach from the usual process.

Source: Haroutounian, Joanne. Fourth Finger on B-f lat: Effective Strategies for Teaching Piano. San Diego, CA: Kjos Music Company, 2012: p. 143.

Countdown

If a student is having difficulty connecting certain passages or pausing between measures, the “countdown” technique provides a kinesthetic tactic that may be helpful. The student draws a vertical line that separates the parts that are hard to connect. Next, they play up to the line and then relax their hands and float to the second part while counting to 5 (out loud or to themselves) and then finish the phrase. They repeat this technique four more times each time reducing the count in between by one (e.g., 4, 3, 2, and 1). This technique allows the student to gradually work toward the ultimate goal of eliminating the unwanted pause.

Source: Breth, Nancy. The Piano Student’s Guide to Effective Practicing. Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard Corporation, 2004.

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Piano Student QuestionnaireName Date

Directions: Most of these questions have to do with your piano lessons. Please circle the one answer that best describes you.

1. I remember something from a lesson best if:

A. the teacher shows me a diagram, chart, picture, writes something down, or shows me how to do something so I can see it first.

B. the teacher plays something on the piano so I can hear it first.C. the teacher makes me try it myself without explaining too much.

2. When practicing a piece, I:

A. pay the most attention to the patterns of the music, how my hands or body move, or how I feel as I play.

B. pay the most attention to how the music sounds as I play.C. pay the most attention to reading the notes on the page as I play.

3. I know when I play a wrong note because:

A. I can see by the notes on the page that I didn’t play the right note. B. I can just hear that it was the wrong note. C. I can feel that my fingers didn’t move to the right key or that my hand didn’t move to the right

position on the keys.

4. When I practice, I:

A. remember what the teacher asked me to practice without looking at my assignment book, and make sure to practice those things.

B. sort of remember what the teacher asked me to do, and practice whatever I feel like playing at the moment.

C. like to look at my assignment book to read and follow the instructions.

5. When I am counting the beats as I play, I:

A. feel the need to move my body, head, or hands to “feel” the beat. B. like to count the beats out loud or say them to myself in my head. C. don’t move my body or count to myself. I just somehow know that I’m playing the beats correctly.

6. Learning a new piece is easiest when:

A. I can first hear what it’s supposed to sound like.B. I can just read the notes and play the music.C. I can first know what it’s about or what feelings it’s supposed to express.

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7. When I practice, I am most easily distracted by:

A. any other noises I hear, such as people talking or the TV.B. anything I see around me, such as a nearby window or someone coming into the room. C. my need to take a lot of breaks to get up and move around, because it’s hard to sit at the piano

for a long time.

8. When the teacher is happy with how I played a song, I like it best when she shows me this through:

A. her facial expressions and eye contact with me. B. her tone of voice and what she says. C. giving me a high-five, a pat on the back, or how she moves her hands or arms.

9. When I hear a new song on the radio, I am most likely to remember:

A. some of the words or how the voice or instruments sounded. B. what pictures popped into my head or what I was looking at as I listened. C. what I was doing or how I felt as I listened.

10. For me, one of the easiest things about playing the piano is:

A. listening for the right places to change the dynamics (loud/soft). B. getting comfortable with the hand positions and finger patterns. C. reading the notes on the page.

Thanks for completing the questionnaire!

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Dawna Markova. Sensory learning styles reflected in this guide are listed below.

Markova, Dawna. The Art of the Possible: A Compassionate Approach to Understanding the Way People Think, Learn and Communicate. Berkeley, CA: Conari Press, 1991.

Markova, Dawna, with Anne R. Powell. How Your Child Is Smart: A Life-Changing Approach to Learning. Foreward by Peter Senge. Berkeley, Calif.: Conari Press, 1992.

Myers-Briggs Indicator (MBTI). A well-respected questionnaire designed to identify differences in personality patterns, based on the theories of Carl Gustav Jung (Psychological Types, 1923). Personality preferences affect attitude, perceptions, decision-making, and lifestyle.

Myers, Isabel Briggs and Myers, Peter B. (1980). Gifts Differing. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press Inc.

Baron, Renee (1998). What Type Am I? The Myers-Type Indication Made Easy. NY: Penguin Books.

Temperament Theory by David Keirsey. Examines personality traits in four categories – artisan, guardian, rational,and idealist. Keirsey Temperament Sorter II test is on his website, www.keirsey.com.

Keirsey, David (1998). Please Understand Me II: Temperament Character Intelligence.Prometheus Nemesis Book Co.

Golay, Keith (1982). Learning Patterns and Temperament Styles: A Systematic Gude to MaintainingStudent Achievement. Fullerton CA: Manas-Systems.

Dunn and Dunn Model. Offers an array of assessments of learning styles in different domains – environmental,emotional, sociological, physiological, psychological. www.learningstyles.net

Dunn, Rita, and Kenneth Dunn (1978). Teaching Students Through Their Individual Learning Styles:A Practical Approach. Reston, VA: Reston Publishing Company.

Dunn, Rita, Kenneth Dunn, and Janet Perrin (1994). Teaching Young Children Through Their IndividualLearning Styles: Practical Approaches for Grades K-2. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Gregoric Style Delineator. Identifies four categories of learning styles: concrete sequential, abstract random,abstract sequential, and concrete random.

Swassing-Barbe Modality Index. Another resource to further understand perceptual modalities and learning styles.

Barbe, Walter B., Raymond H. Swassing, Michael N. Milone (1978). Teaching Through Modality Strengths: Concepts and Practices. Columbus, OH: Zaner-Bloser.Websites

Learning Style ResourcesL

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http://homeworktips.about.com/od/homeworkhelp/a/learningstyle.htm http://www.businessballs.com/howardgardnermultipleintelligences.htm http://www.grapplearts.com/Learning-Styles-in-Grappling.htm h tt p://www.ldpride.neth tt p://www.metamath.com/lsweb/dvclearn.htm http://www.music.sc.edu/ea/keyboard/PPF/5.1/5.1.PPFpp.htmlhttp://www.pesdirect.com/learning-styles.html

Notes

1 Refer to the resource list of different learning styles on page 14 to expand teaching possibilities.

2 Markova, Dawna. How Your Child is Smart: A Life-Changing Approach to Learning. Berkeley CA: Conari Press, 1992: 45. Also refer to Markova’s The Art of the Possible: A Compassionate Approach to Understanding the Way People Think, Learn and Communicate. Berkeley CA: Conari Press.3 Ibid.

4 While this questionnaire addresses lesson-related questions, another more generalized questionnaire for students and parents can be found in Markova’s book on pages 57-61. You may want to use both types of questionnaires to further explore your students’ learning styles.

About the Authors

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Shelley Brower holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in music from Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, PA, and a Master of Music degree in piano pedagogy and performance from George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. While at GMU she studied with Dr. Joanne Haroutounian and developed a special interest in student learning styles, as well as the piano music of Francis Poulenc. Before pursuing graduate work, Ms. Brower taught preschool in Germantown, MD; she then continued her teaching career with private piano students in Leesburg, VA, and in her home studio near Reading, PA. Ms. Brower also enjoys living history reenactment, and is the instructor for a local colonial dance troupe. She lives near Reading, PA with her husband, Matt, and daughter, Cecelia.

Lisa Bailey teaches elementary and intermediate piano at her Fairfax, VA studio and accompanies sacred and choral groups locally at her church and for various Fairfax County Public School choral groups. Ms. Bailey earned her Professional Development Certificate in Piano Pedagogy at George Mason University while studying piano with Dr. Joanne Haroutounian. She also holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Pennsylvania State University.