Opinion
IT TAKES TWO
Cellist and teacher Naomi Yandell outlines the reasons why duet playing is an essential tool in one-to-one instrumental teaching
During the pandemic, a colleague and I were so frustrated by the lack of face-to-face contact with our students that we were inspired to write a series of duet books for the time when things got back to normal. Since then, I have increasingly valued teaching and playing duets in my lessons.
For most students, practice at home tends to be by its very nature a solitary occupation and, unless the family happens to be musical, students are likely to beaver away in their bedrooms on their own, their lessons being the only exception.