RMM, Recreational Music Making. I've been teaching it for 20 years and it's the most fun I have had in my teaching career. It's based on music making instead of mastery of performance. It creates life-long musicians.
It was originally geared towards adult students and that has been my focus, but teens and younger kids have discovered it and it is changing the way we teach.
Did you know that, when polled, 82% of people say they want to play music? Why then do only 5% sign up for lessons? Think about it. One-on-one private lessons, practicing by yourself, high expectations for performance. It doesn't appeal to most people. Too lonely. What about learning as a group of adults, teens or kids? What about piano parties where everyone plays for each other in an informal gathering? Comparing notes, singing along, showing each other different blues grooves? Does that sound more appealing to the 82%?
The interesting part is, we aren't creating mediocre musicians. Many of my adult students say they are playing better than they ever have because of the freedom and understanding of lead sheets and chords. Creating arrangements that suit their style and their hand size. Memorizing easily because they understand the music.
Brian Chung recently retired from the head of Kawaii and put together this fabulous video about the benefits of RMM. Here is the link. Enjoy!
