Four Essential Skills for a Graduate Student (Part II)

In the previous article, I wrote about two important skills; in this blog, I will continue to talk about the two other essential skills for a graduate music student.

3. Communication and cooperation

Until now, I have taken the piano pedagogy course for one year. In the class, the professor often taught us some practical communication expressions, which may be suitable for teaching and interacting with music learners. I discovered that the way a teacher talks is not exactly the same as normal speaking, which should be tender but not too casual, and meanwhile has to include clear guidance. I also gained experience from the cooperation with other musicians or discussions in class and learned that both the communication of trivial details and the expression of musical ideas are important in a conversation. As a musician, soloing, ensembles, accompaniment, or even teaching will inevitably require cooperation with others, so the skills of communication and cooperation are indispensable. Especially, as an international student, how to correctly and accurately convey the desired expression in English requires more practice and accumulated experience. 


4. Public Speaking

Previously, I didn't think there was anything special about public speaking. Isn’t it just talking anyway? Everything should be ready… But after coming to UIUC, I found that the school offered many workshops for training public speaking, and the teachers also kept emphasizing it in classes. It was not until then that I gradually realized that public speaking is not merely a general talk, but clear articulation and natural body language are also included and required, which is a skill that should be carefully pondered and trained. Moreover, for graduate students, public speaking is necessary on occasions such as lectures, concerts, etc; if stage fright occurs, the presenter will seem unprofessional. In addition to expressiveness in music, having a good stage demeanor is also the key to success. Now, I sometimes spend time practicing this together with a few friends and take turns observing each other and giving suggestions. More practice is the only way to improve!

Continuing from the previous blog, these are the four skills that I feel are deeply important in my master's study thus far. I wrote them on my blog to both encourage myself and share them with others. I hope everyone can achieve success in their studies.

- Chin-Hsuan Sharon Cheng

​4 個研究生必備技能（二）

上一篇中說明了兩個必備的技能，這篇將接續談談第三、四項。


3.溝通和合作

這一年我修了鋼琴教學法的課程，上課時老師也是常常教我們一些實用的溝通句子，適合和學生互動也可以更親切。我發現一名老師說話的方式會和平時正常說話的方式不太一樣，要溫和但不能太家常，且同時要有清楚明確的指引。我也從和其他樂器合作的過程和課堂討論或報告中慢慢學習，除了各種瑣碎事物的交流，音樂方面想法的表達也是很重要的環節。身為音樂家，獨奏之外，重奏、伴奏或甚至教學勢必需要跟其他人合作，所以溝通合作的技能不可或缺，尤其如果又身為國際學生，如何正確且準確地用英文傳達出想表達的意思也是很需要累積經驗，加以不斷更正和練習才會讓溝通合作更有效率。


4. 公共演說

以前我並不覺得公共演講有什麼值得注意的特別之處，覺得反正不就是講話？有事先準備應該就OK了……直到來到UIUC，發現學校有提供很多公共演說的工作坊，在課堂中老師也不斷強調它，我才漸漸意識到，公共演說時不是只是一般說話，而是要有清晰的口齒和自然的肢體語言，也是非常需要時間仔細揣摩、訓練的技能。身為思想漸趨成熟的研究生，無論是講座音樂會或是作品論文發表，都需要對著大眾演說，如果怯場就會顯得很不專業；就跟演奏一樣，除了音樂，大方穩健的台風也是決定演出成功與否的關鍵。平常我和幾位朋友會輪流當觀眾互相觀摩、提建議，多加練習從中學習絕對是進步的不二法門。


這些是我在碩士生涯中深有感觸覺得很重要的技能，寫在部落格中激勵自己，也和大家分享，希望大家求學都能有所成就。

​- Chin-Hsuan Sharon Cheng
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