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Music Teachers Forums Music Forum Disabled Students (All Teachers)

  • Eliza Fyfe

    Member
    February 28, 2014 at 1:32 pm

    I have a blind woman…?

  • Ben Reeves

    Member
    February 28, 2014 at 1:32 pm

    got first session with him tomorrow, just looking for any tips on working with disabled people! (talk about being thrown in the deep end lol)

  • Eliza Fyfe

    Member
    February 28, 2014 at 1:32 pm

    Yes, that’s quite something!

  • Eliza Fyfe

    Member
    February 28, 2014 at 1:32 pm

    I’m thinking lots of diaphragm help, posture will be interesting…

  • Ben Reeves

    Member
    February 28, 2014 at 1:33 pm

    Yeah that’s what I was thinking, I find singing sitting down difficult at the best of times.. Posture will be very interesting!

  • Eliza Fyfe

    Member
    February 28, 2014 at 1:33 pm

    I find teaching the blind woman difficult because you realise there’s more issues than blindness. Like listening, believe it or not…

  • Eliza Fyfe

    Member
    February 28, 2014 at 1:33 pm

    …and patience!

  • Ben Reeves

    Member
    February 28, 2014 at 1:33 pm

    Ooh that’s interesting! How do you work around her disability then?

  • Eliza Fyfe

    Member
    February 28, 2014 at 1:34 pm

    I teach her naked.

  • Eliza Fyfe

    Member
    February 28, 2014 at 1:34 pm

    😛 ermmm I just try to not sound too intimidating and annoying, and explain things clearly and slowly…

  • Ben Reeves

    Member
    February 28, 2014 at 1:41 pm

    lol that’s when you find out she’s only partially blind…

  • Eliza Fyfe

    Member
    February 28, 2014 at 1:41 pm

    Funny you should say that, I was on my phone making notes on her lessons and she went “what are you doing on your phone?” As if to have caught me out with her partially working blurred left eye.

  • Ben Reeves

    Member
    February 28, 2014 at 1:42 pm

    i’m thinking this guy will probably lack self confidence and need lots of encouragement.. my other issue is he wants to sing rock music with a gravelly tone, the deep end got deeper!

  • Ben Reeves

    Member
    February 28, 2014 at 1:42 pm

    lol did you have the volume on?

  • Eliza Fyfe

    Member
    February 28, 2014 at 1:42 pm

    no!

  • Ben Reeves

    Member
    February 28, 2014 at 1:42 pm

    it’s a hoax then, she just wanted to see you naked..

  • Matt Pocock

    Member
    February 28, 2014 at 1:43 pm

    Check for tension in his abdominal muscles (especially rectus abdominis) – I’m guessing that he’ll be using those muscles to compensate for his balance in lieu of his legs. But no reason why you should lower your expectations – he sounds like a great client to have! Also, you can use his wheelchair to help him anchor 😉 Great to hear that you’re getting cracking with the teaching, Ben 🙂

  • Eliza Fyfe

    Member
    February 28, 2014 at 1:43 pm

    Everyone wants to see me naked.

  • Ben Reeves

    Member
    February 28, 2014 at 1:43 pm

    Thanks Matt, things are moving slowly but surely. This guy is my first (paying) student on singing (I have one on bass), so it will be a toughie to start on! It has been frustrating as I just want to get on with it, but I am finally getting some traffic on my website so fingers crossed. I have plenty more questions though lol

  • Matt Pocock

    Member
    February 28, 2014 at 1:44 pm

    Haha I bet – Dover’s a tough strip! – how does a Skype this weekend look? 🙂

  • Ben Reeves

    Member
    February 28, 2014 at 1:56 pm

    It is tough, but it’s the best i could make of the situation. Sounds good, let me know when you’re available!

  • Eliza Fyfe

    Member
    February 28, 2014 at 1:56 pm

    Good for you, Ben. Let us know how it goes!

  • Ben Reeves

    Member
    February 28, 2014 at 1:56 pm

    Well that was interesting! He wasn’t in a wheelchair, but his short-term memory loss was actually more of an obstacle than his physical disability.
    We worked on posture and introduced the idea of diaphragmatic breathing, but his biggest issue was that in trying to get a gravelly tone he was squeezing his voice into pretty much a hoarse whisper. We started trying to release the tension by introducing the ‘inside smile’ in search of a more open sound, but this could take some work methinks..
    I told him we would come back to the gravelly thing once he had the fundamentals right, but that’s not something i can actually do very well! Lol