[HANASHIR:8693] Re: Defense for New Songleaders

[Josh Miller <jmiller...>]

Hey All,

At 12:00 AM 3/29/01, Adam wrote:
>I find that some of the remarks that have been made present songleading as
>an overwhelming skill that should be studied and developed for years and
>years before being practiced. I agree wholeheartedly that songleading is a
>skill that takes an extreme amount of work and dedication to develop, but
>try to be more inviting to those just getting their feet wet.

Adam, thanks for making this point! In fact, I agree strongly that when it 
comes to songleading there is no better way than to learn-through-doing, 
and I don't think songleading in front of the mirror counts in the same 
way. :) I believe in the "Get 'em songleading ASAP" philosophy of 
songleader training, and in fact when I was coordinating the songleader 
training program at Camp Swig we used to cram to get our songleader 
trainees up to speed to songlead at the first Friday night Shabbat song 
session after they arrive (usually four days into the camp session).

I like think of the advancement of a songleaders' knowledge to be more like 
"continuing education" and that it works best when motivated by some kind 
of regular commitment to songlead that requires the learning songleader to 
rapidly build repertiore and skills to keep up with the commitment. I also 
don't believe in the mentality that a group of students or campers should 
be "sheltered" from a new songleader lest they make a mistake and 
incorrectly (or ineffectively) teach a song. Mistakes can always be 
corrected, and in fact, I have found that kids in groups are usually very 
supportive, patient, and even encouraging when they are exposed to an 
inexperienced songleader who is doing their best to try to teach a song 
they have never taught before...

I'd be curious to hear about other folks' experiences with songleader 
training...

- Josh Miller
   Berkeley, California
   jmiller (at) songleaders(dot)org

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