The question of how to approach teaching musical expressiveness is very often neglected by teachers, but it is a subject that is particularly close to my heart. The thesis for my Master’s in Pedagogy, entitled “Emotions in Motion – L’expressivité au cœur de l’apprentissage musical” (Expressiveness at the heart of musical learning), focused on research into emotional intelligence and led to the creation of a collection of graphical studies on musical expressiveness. These studies offer a way of unlocking various emotions and giving students, even beginners, concrete methods for interpreting these emotions. With the help of explanatory notes, teachers are able to use the medium of graphics to demystify the very abstract concept of musical emotion.

The thesis won prizes for its high quality and the innovative nature of the research involved, including the Prix Paléo HES-SO. It also played a key role in my nomination for the cultural grant offered by the Leenaards foundation. I continue to experiment with this material during lessons with my students and when organising saxophone courses, especially in workshops with small groups of young instrumentalists. The first version of this collection was expanded and reworked during the final stages of my thesis, and one of my goals is to have it published.

The Petites Etudes d’Expressivité Hautes en Couleurs resulted from my Master’s in Pedagogy at the Haute Ecole de Musique in Lausanne and are designed to promote innovative and attentive teaching. Now more than ever, it is important to make children aware of musical expressiveness and the power of interpretation, and to nurture emotional intelligence in young musicians in the hope that the lessons they learn will spill over into their everyday lives.

Far removed from the stress of exam schedules, austere technical studies and practising scales with a metronome, this collection sets the challenge of presenting a playful approach that complements traditional teaching, demystifying an essential element of music that is too often overlooked in classrooms. What does it mean, that mysterious scrawl, Italian gibberish scribbled at the bottom of the stave, that is ignored with suspicious caution? What if there was something else beyond the score, something that everyone could grasp from the first moment they picked up their instrument? Learning to listen – to music, to the heart, to others – is the true challenge set out in the pages of the collection.

This method, which can be adapted to suit each individual teacher and student, is designed as an improvised game and aims to create human dialogue and profound reflection through discovery and the joy of playing. Whether it is used for group practice, as a listening support, for interpreting, training, recording, comparing, questioning or improvising, my experiences show that these graphic scores can be used in numerous ways and confirm that children progress enthusiastically and are interested in this subject. Adaptable for all woodwind instruments and all levels, from early learning through to in-depth work on interpretation, Emotions in Motion has made waves and sheds light on the infinite richness that lies between the lines.

 Download the full thesis (french version).