Wow, we did it!

I had a lesson today with some young violinists.  This particular group are students who all receive learning support services.  They are grouped together because their schedule is very restrictive, I have few options for times when they can come work with me.  

We have been proceeding through beginning skills very slowly, not always steadily. However, today these students came in and played almost all of our D string songs and exercises really well.  It was like their minds merged into one great energy source.  They played with amazing flow and beautiful musicianship.  I'm still smiling, hours later.  Hours later, I can still see the mixture of intense focus and joy on their faces.  It was truly a "Wow, look what we can do" kind of moment.  These young students were finally able to achieve a sense of flow in their music making.  

We started the lesson with some free improvisation and for once, I stopped teaching and simply facilitated.  I wonder if this allowed them to play freely with flow.  I've started to consider, on an almost daily basis, if we are stifling the natural creativity that all young children possess.  Creativity doesn't have to be artistic.  I've always found a sense of creative satisfaction when I find patterns within mathematical processes.  Designing a science experiment involves the creative consideration of multiple approaches to an idea.  Writing is probably the best example of improvisation.  My favorite writers always use language in a vivid musical style.  

This reminds me of a book that I read a while back.  The author's site is www.freeplay.com.  Stephen Nachmanovitch's ideas are easy to read, insightful, and have real life meaning.