While you teach rhythm and counting, stress that notes and rests are the same notes are measured sound and rests are measured silence. Whether it is the “1 & 2 &” system or a “ta-ti” or “la-li” or macro and micro beats, figure out a system that works for you (if you haven’t already), master it and then teach it well. Isn’t that what we as music educators should be doing, teaching a lifetime skill? There are many counting systems out there choose one, use it, and teach it. Teach them a system for counting, and they will soon read music on their own and for their lifetime. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” Teach your students a rhythm and you have fed them for that musical piece only.

It is very much like the Chinese proverb “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. As you teach rhythm to your students, again whether individually or in a group, give them a counting system so they can figure the rhythms out on their own. All the right notes with no time or rhythm cannot be a musical performance, ever.

Music is an art within time so we, as musicians, must be constantly aware of it. It is putting the right notes and spaces in the right place at the right time. Rhythm, is the most important aspect of laying the foundation of a musical performance. If you want, you can think of the “5 Steps” as a continuum from Step 1 to Step 5 paralleled by the concepts of Science/Math to Art within music, and a continuum from Objective to Subjective elements of musical expression. The foundation must be there first, however. ‘Phrasing’ (Step 4), although somewhat objective, starts to move into the subjective territory that transports the musical performance from just the mechanical playing of notes and rhythms into actual expression and communication. These are the objective elements of music that constitute the foundation of the musical piece. Note that the first three are often used in auditions, either to evaluate prepared works or to evaluate sight-reading.

Likewise it doesn’t pay to concentrate on dynamics, when the articulation is the wrong style or non-existent. It makes no sense to worry about the breathing and phrasing, if there are still wrong notes within a phrase. To be sure, there is nothing earth shaking here, but the order of the 5 Steps is the prime consideration. The 5 Steps, if followed in order, will increase your effectiveness as a director and teacher, and make your teaching and rehearsing much more efficient. By following these 5 Steps, you, as an individual player, a studio teacher, or as a director/conductor for a large ensemble, can reach a higher musical level faster, with an overall more musical performance. However, I have witnessed many times directors, and individual students, working on higher levels of the 5 Steps (i.e. Each step of the 5 Steps should be mastered and completed before tackling the next level, and yes, in many instances the first three or four levels can be accomplished during sight-reading, especially with more experienced players and/or with easier music. Although they are many strategies and methods to learning a piece of music, whether as an individual studio teacher or as a director of a large ensemble, I have found “5 Steps” to be the most efficient and effective plan for learning and teaching music.

Musicality and music before three