While this is part 5 in the series, it also acts as a second part continuing the previous article (Goal Types), aiming to develop a generalized, robust framework for understanding goals. This both empowers students to more effectively strategize when practicing goals, and empowers teachers in writing them down. This article will explore how multiple goals interact with each other.
It’s important to recognize the temporal relationship that any two goals have with each other:
- Overlapping goals: goals that occur simultaneously in the music.
- Separated goals: goals that occur in different places in the music.
…and to recognize their functional relationship as well:
- Complementary goal: a goal that facilitates completion of another goal.
- Clashing goal: a goal that undermines completion of another goal.
- Independent goal: a goal that neither facilitates nor undermines the completion of another goal.
Overlapping & Separated Goals
Examples of overlapping goals would be:
- m.8 – bigger crescendo
- m.8 – RH don’t ignore key signature
Examples of separated goals would be these same two goals in different measures:
- m.4 – bigger crescendo
- m.12 – RH don’t ignore key signature
Students will often practice overlapping goals simultaneously since they occur in the same place. Most students will combine overlapping goals even when given no instruction whatsoever about this kind of strategy, and even those who don’t combine on the first day of practice will almost always combine them on the second or third day of practice, again, even without any instruction about this strategy. So why is the overlapping nature of some goals still so important to notice?
It’s important for the teacher, because it affects the order in which goals should be written in the notebook, which in turn impacts how students practice. Overlapping goals should be grouped together so that students can more easily recognize the option of grouping these goals together during practice. I already noted that universal goals should be notated first. Now we can see why: without exception, universal goals overlap with all other goals. The overlapping nature of any two goals should be made clear to students as soon as possible when they practice, and notating a universal goal last prevents the student from recognizing this relationship until the last possible moment during practicing. While there is a danger that the student might see the universal goal and then proceed to play the entire piece while observing the universal goal and nothing else, this scenario is still better than the inverse scenario of fixing wrong notes, rhythms and articulations while neglecting the universal goal, since universal goals are already the most challenging to habituate as it is.
Complementary, Clashing and Independent Goals
Examples of complementary goals would be:
- m.8 – RH correct fingering
- m.8 – RH play legato
…or:
- “Adagio” means slow!
- (pretty much any other goal)
In the first example, fixing fingering in measure 8 happens to also enable the RH in measure 8 to play legato. Thus, while the second goal does not complement the first goal, the first goal complements the second goal, making this complementary relationship unidirectional. But whether complementary goals are unidirectional or bidirectional is not as important as whether they are monogamous or polygamous. Monogamous complementary goals complement only each other; they leave other goals alone, and they are more effective when “married” as one goal:
- m.8 – RH correct fingering so you can play legato
Without combining the goals together, the student may not even recognize the complementary relationship.
The second example, playing Adagio, is an example of a polygamous complementary goal, because it complements all other goals. All other goals will be helped by playing more slowly. Therefore, it shouldn’t be combined with any other goals (in our monogamous society, the polygamous goal avoids marriage), and it should be listed first, before all goals it complements. In fact, this goal even complements any universal goal. Thus, this is a special case of a spread goal taking chronological priority over the universal goal in a written list of goals. This may seem at first like an exception to the rule that the universal goal always goes first, but actually, this presents us with a more robust logic to the notation of goals, which I will get to later.
Examples of clashing goals would be:
- Loud f
- Play with fingers, not with arms
…or:
- (almost any goal)
- speed up to q = 144
In the first example, I’m imagining a beginner. Nearly every beginner, even adults, can’t play very loud [by the way, this isn’t because of the myth that the inability to play loud is due to lack of finger strength – it’s because of not having enough finger coordination]. When beginners try to play louder, they tend to bounce their arm, even while playing legato. But when they are told to get rid of their bouncing arm, they fall back to a softer mp or mf sound. Progress with one goal causes trouble with the other. Since these two goals only clash with each other and no other goals, it is better to write these monogamous clashing goals (two goals that clash only with each other) as one goal, again to convey this clashing relationship to the student:
- Loud f with fingers, not arms
And as you might expect, just like “play slower” complements other goals, “Speed up to quarter note = 144” clashes with them. A polygamous clashing goal (a goal that clashes with many other goals) should not be written as one goal and should be listed following all goals it clashes with. Not only do I write “speed up” goals last among the list of goals for a piece, I might even add to it something like, “speed up to q = 144 when comfortable with other goals,” or “speed up to q = 144 on practice day 3.” Or maybe I don’t write it at all this week, saving it for next week’s lesson.
The same example I used above for separated goals also works for independent goals:
- m.4 – bigger crescendo
- m.12 – RH don’t ignore key signature
Not only are these two goals located in different places in the music (temporally, they are separated), working on one has no effect on the other (functionally, they are independent).
Goal Notation Framework
Bringing all of this together so far, this brings us to an effective framework to use when writing goals to better arm students for strategic practicing:
- Universal goals should precede all other goals.
- Complementary goals should precede any goals they complement, including universal goals.
- Clashing goals should follow any goals they clash with.
- Monogamous goals should be married; Polygamous goals should stay single.
- Overlapping goals should be grouped together in case the student wants to combine them.
- Process-oriented goals should be primarily assigned to support result-oriented goals unless there is no intention to evaluate (score) them.
Doing this on paper can be difficult at first as it requires that the teacher have a kind of “meta-view” of all the goals in their head before notation of the goals begins, but with practice, it becomes a skill like any other skill.
Article #5 will discuss perhaps the most fertile ground for nurturing metacognition in students: reflection.
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