Wednesday, September 26, 2012

piano lessons

I really love teaching piano. It's one of those things where the drive sounds long every time I have to head out the door (I teach in a city about 30 minutes away in good traffic), but the lessons themselves are always exhilarating enough that I can usually remind myself that it's going to be fun when it's time to leave and not hate it. E especially hasn't practiced much lately, so I am trying to come up with small ways she can use to progress a lot in a little bit of time. She still enjoys it, she's just overbooked with homework and other extracurricular activities. Her brother J (who just started playing this summer) is doing quite well - he never has any confidence in how he's doing (at least, he makes a lot of self-depracating comments ... whether he really feels that self-conscious, I don't know), but he has a knack for it. Their mom thinks that E is more of a natural (at music) of the two of them, but honestly, if they keep up the rate at which they're each moving right now, I'll bet he could catch up to her within a year, 18 months tops. 

R usually has spurts where he progresses very quickly and well, and then he tapers off for a little while, until I mention something (or his mom notices) and then his mom amps up the practice support and the cycle goes again. He really enjoys it when he can see his success, but it's kind of a cycle - if he's not practicing much, he doesn't improve much, and then he gets bored and doesn't like practicing. His parents are very enthusiastic about everything their kids do, though, and they particularly think he has musical talent and love to see his progress. Apparently he took trumpet lessons a few years ago but didn't really like it, so he quit, but they aren't letting him quit piano because they think he's doing well and that it will be good for him to see it through. (Gotta say, I agree.)

It's so fun to drive them to do the best they can but still be the cool teacher who doesn't get them in trouble for not practicing, haha. And then they usually practice more! (Of course, I mention that if they practiced more, they'd move forward more quickly. but I usually let them/their parents choose the pace and then I push them just a little harder than that.) I just try to adjust their goals or maximize our lesson time so they can always see progress. I figure it's more important for them to enjoy themselves so they'll see a reason to keep it up, and my enjoyment from piano always came from seeing progress (and performing, but as a small-time teacher I'm still working on good ways to get them performance opportunities). It's fun to pass that on.

I've been very lucky to mostly have fairly motivated students with invested parents. I've had the opposite and it can be very slow going. My mom always has other parents ask her how she gets her kids to practice, and she says she's a little baffled by the question. Her reply is usually, "...How do you get them to brush their teeth or set the table?" The answer is about the same - you should treat it like any other thing they don't get to get out of. We always had a set time that was our turn at the piano, and we got 30 minutes and then the shift changed. (haha.) Then, there was always the threat that if we didn't practice, we had to pay for that week's lesson...

7 comments:

  1. I didn't know you taught piano lessons! That's neat.

    Have you seen this blog?
    http://practicemakesiteasy.blogspot.com/

    We're planning to start Paisley with piano lessons when she turns 3, so I was researching methods for young students a few weeks ago. (In case you're curious, I've decided that we will start her with the Dogs & Birds method, and then probably do Suzuki.) Anyway, I came across that blog about making practice fun and it seemed GREAT. Particularly where we're planning to start her so early, we'll want to keep it fun and interesting so that she doesn't lose interest or hate it.

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    1. I haven't, but there are some fun ideas on there - I will totally try some of them with my students. Thanks! I haven't used the Dogs and Birds method, but it actually looks pretty great. The youngest student I have taught was 4, and he already knew letters and stuff, so it wasn't a problem, but I like the approach.

      One thing I will say about Suzuki - it's a valuable method and produces good results quickly, but in my experience, it's best to use it in tandem with something else. If kids use only Suzuki, often (not always) they end up a) hating every song in the Suzuki books, because the method requires students to listen to songs ad nauseum (which is too bad, because Suzuki teaches a lot of quintessential music that is great to be familiar with), and b) with a less well-rounded musical education. Suzuki focuses pretty much just on classical music and doesn't do a ton with other styles or the complexities of chord structure (and how to use them and manipulate them, like in improvisation) and stuff like that. I typically use Suzuki as an ear training supplement, though of course there are many good ways to use it. I'd just say, make sure you find her a teacher who can teach to things other than classical music.

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    2. Oh, you replied!

      I always forget to go back and check to see if people reply when I write comments.

      That's good to know about Suzuki.

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  2. And this week was especially fun because after my piano lessons, we got a big box :) Jon cut a window in the side and the kids are loving it! Usually it's on its side, but occasionally, they tip it up and climb in the window, pretending to be squirrels climbing a hollow tree :) Thanks, Brookie! Glad you students are generally good... since I feel party responsible for your career...

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    1. Yay!! I hope it lasts a long time. And yes, all my students are referrals or referrals of referrals of yours :D (That is hard to say.)

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  3. Aw, you make me miss teaching lessons :)

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