In music, much of the student understanding is demonstrated by changes in performance and/or technique. One strategy that aides in the monitoring of understanding is breaking an excerpt down by section. For example, the score below for the "Charterhouse" Suite shows a great deal of complexity in its dense textures. When encountering a thick passage, I would have the sections playing homorhythmically play in isolation. If that doesn't succeed, I would go section by section (violin 1, violin 2, viola, cello, and/or bass) depending on where the difficulty lies. In isolation, much can be diagnosed, such as accuracy of notes, intonation, bowing, rhythm, or dynamic. Then we gradually add the parts back together to create the whole, deciding who has the melody and thus should be in the foreground of the texture.

One aspect of texture explanation I am particularly pleased with was the parallel drawn to art. To the right is the Mona Lisa, which I used to elucidate the concept of foreground, middle ground, and background. Much of Western classical music is related to the fine art of its time, so using this portrait made a tremendous difference in the balance and blend of the Orchestra.

At the High School, weekly small group lessons are the best place to evaluate their individual and peers' learning. In quarters one and two, students perform for the teacher, for video, and for their peers every lesson. There is an assigned etude or piece for a whole lesson, and they are expected to prepare a large amount. For the next lesson, they will play one or two lines from it for the whole class. I really liked this method because there was an obvious distinction between students who didn't prepare the etude and the students who did but were having trouble. In March, lesson groups performing level V and above NYSSMA solos began performing in a repertoire-style class. Two to three students perform for the class each week, receiving positive and specific feedback from their peers, and culminating in a five minute workshop with the teacher publicly.

At Highview, I have students turn to another person frequently to share what was difficult about a particular song and then have a few folks share with the whole class. Even our assignment sheets are curated to specific needs, as identified by the students themselves: