Movement serves all dimensions of music learning. The online coursework has addressed the importance of movement to communicate with the musical mind, to develop rhythm and tonal skills, to engage with the energy of the line, and to embody sheer musicality. Movement can also serve as technique. The more we track movement as part of our lesson planning, the more effective our lesson planning becomes, the more efficient our teaching becomes, and the more exciting and musical our classes become.

Movement is one of the prime regulators of energy management, with different kinds of movement generating different levels of energy. Standing, sitting, moving in place, moving in space, upper torso movement while sitting, full body movement while standing, flowing movement, macro/micro movement, capturing the energy of the line in movement, becoming the song, all affect energy as well as musicality, and have to be considered in lesson planning. You are the director of your “seamless children’s play,” and part of the job of a director of a play is “blocking”—working out the movement of the characters in the play, including every entrance, exit, transition, use of prop, and activity on stage, as well as planning the placement of the likes of scenery, stage property, doors, stairs, costumes. Working out the movement in the process of lesson planning streamlines teaching, with every seemingly spontaneous change working on your behalf to sculpt energy, generate enthusiasm, and engage in sheer musicality.