Essays
Teaching Philosophy
Why Lessons Are Good For You Or Your Children
I believe there are many reasons why piano lessons are beneficial for children, teenagers, and adults.
Piano lessons for children have never been just about learning notes and rhythms. Lessons encompass an array of developmental events, and help children develop confidence and self – belief, concentration skills, trust and respect for another adult outside of the family unit.
Lessons also promote awareness of the student’s different possible learning styles they have access to, such as: visual based learning, aural based learning (what something sounds like), kinetic based learning (what something feels like), and how their memory might work, and this in turn can influence how the students approach and retain information in their other learning environments.
Often the desire to achieve something can greatly outweigh any genetic disposition towards “being musical”, and certainly there is continual research about learning techniques which ratifies and disputes the thing we call ìtalentî. I personally don’t believe that people who are “talented” exist. No one achieves real success without an enormous amount of hard work, which inevitably takes a long time to complete. The concept of delayed-gratification is inherent to learning a musical instrument, and to begin to teach children this concept, is akin to encouraging them to save some of their pocket money in a savings account, to earn interest and be used many years in the future. The technology which surrounds us supplies us with immediate fulfillment and satiates our desire to be entertained. While many developments are indeed wonderful, there are valid reasons for promoting pursuits which require a longer attention span.
In all reality, few people go on beyond their childhood lessons and become professional pianists. But, many do go on to play other instruments, and many do go on with enough skill and ability to continue to enjoy playing for themselves and their family. Childhood lessons promote respect for all artistic endeavors and lessons help engender an awareness of music on a larger scale which leads to enthusiasm and audience participation in the future.
It is my strong belief that piano lessons can play a significant role encouraging a child to develop independence. The lessons, and subsequent practice can be one of the few things they do which parents might have small involvement in. I think the Suzuki method can be extremely successful for many students, there are some for whom it is not compatible. I was not Suzuki taught, and nor do I require such intense involvement by parents. I encourage parents to know what is going on, and try to keep you informed about your child’s development and attitude to it. Much of what I do is aimed at working out what works for your child. Some children quickly adapt to the requirement of sitting, thinking, and essentially obeying. Some don’t. Children forced to have piano lessons rarely do well, no matter how much you, the parent, might wish for it to happen. Bribery on any level is undesirable: for practice, for lessons, for recitals. It’s an unhealthy practice, and sets up patterns which can only cause trouble later. In her excellent book on raising children (“Of Course I love you... NOW GO TO YOUR ROOM”) Diane Levy provides an excellent approach to helping children be more confident. Her ideas stem from an approach which surrounds the child with a positive attitude (ìI canî), and fostering the realization that playing the piano is just another thing which they “can do”. It usually helps if they’ve already got a few other things which they realize they can manage, and piano playing can fit into their “upward spiral” of high self–esteem. Ms. Levy reinforces her idea of “can do” by suggesting that if there is a simple expectation or insistence that the task must happen, the results often, are that the child’s resistance is over-ridden and there is success.
Many children are afraid of the unknown. Many adults are afraid of the unknown. Fear of lessons might be the manifestation of fear of a new person or a new house, or the inconvenience of having another activity usurped. All of this is essentially on the pathway to a child’s self-discipline, which is something which all parents strive towards helping their children achieve. Ms. Levy’s book is published by Random House NZ, and the ISBN is 1-86941-514-0. It’s an excellent resource.
My life as a teacher is motivated by several things. It is something I love and something I believe that I’m very good at. Over the last fifteen years, I’ve also become very aware of the role that I’ve played above and beyond teaching children piano: I’ve been an adult role model for my juvenile students and given them an additional adult outside of their family whom they can trust and respect. I’ve also been very conscious of the way that I’ve taught young boys because inevitably they come to the situation with hesitation and bundles of energy and exuberance, which once channeled becomes a very positive development. It would be presumptuous to deny the differences in the learning styles of young boys and girls.
The website of the Associated Board of the Royal School of Music has some generous and informative advice about how parents who wish for their children to learn piano (or other instruments) can go about preparing for the introduction of this to their child’s life. As a precursor to this information, I would also like to say, that in the piano world, unless you are prevented by space or finance, that there are so many compelling reasons for buying a real instrument. I have taught a number of families who for whatever reason didn’t buy an acoustic instrument, and the results were never off the chart, and in all but a few cases, it ended with an early exit. I would suggest also that a non-acoustic instrument sends a message to your children that you see the arrangement as temporary. Neither of my parents were particularly musical, but they wanted me to have it as part of my life from an early age. I always remember there being a piano in the house (it wasn’t especially beautiful — but it was there) and that made an important impact. As I referred to Ms. Levy earlier, the existence of the piano in my parents house, and the knowledge that I would take piano lessons was the perfect way for my parents to ease me into a new and unfamiliar situation.
The ABRSM info:
Introducing your child to learning a musical instrument
Introduction
We live in a culture in which many people seek instant, or at least fairly quick gratification. Learning a musical instrument is a long - term undertaking based on the idea of ìdelayed gratification.î That is to say, a lot of work usually needs to go in before very much will come out. To use a financial analogy, dividends may not appear for quite some time.
But if you, as a parent, are prepared to spend some time with your child, being involved in their practice and progress, then they will reap the many wonderful benefits being able to make music offers. If it’s important and of value to you, then it will become important to your child.
Children will take the skills they learn as part of learning an instrument into many areas of their life. Learning to delay gratification is a vital part of developing as a human being.
The most important contribution that you can make as a parent is to sit with your child while they’re practicing for at least ten minutes every day. Only by doing this will they make real progress. Children are generally not able to structure a practice session on their own and your input is vital. Find a time in the day that suits both you and your child, when you are both relaxed and you can give your child full attention. Make this a regular routine, like brushing teeth, and expect this to carry on for years. Ask other members of the family, particularly siblings, to respect this practice time and not to disturb you.
Some things to do
Introduce your young child to nursery rhymes and songs, like This Old Man, The Grand Old Duke of York, or ìroundsî like Frere Jacques. Get them to sing along - children follow by example, so don’t be embarrassed! Sing in the car, in the bath - wherever. Enthusiasm is everything - vocal quality is irrelevant.
Encourage them to make up their own songs, perhaps using rhyming words.
Take your child to a music shop and enjoy looking at the instruments, as well as the fun products like stickers, mugs, posters and so on.
Listen to as much live music of different styles as you can with your child - a town band, buskers, or a local concert. Make sure that the music is of a sensible duration though, otherwise boredom will set in and they won’t want to go again. Maybe just the first half of a concert is enough.
Some things not to do.
Don’t have the TV on or any other sound source in the background when your child is practising.
Don’t compare your child’s progress or level of achievement, with that of other children: children develop at different rates.
Don’t treat your child like a circus animal: they may not relish playing to family and friends at your request. Some subtle tactics may be needed here!
What to do if they say they want to give up
Try to find out the underlying reasons for any dissatisfaction.
If your child has pressure at school, perhaps through exams, then make sure that they know that their music can take a back seat for a while. Let them simply enjoy playing when time allows, without the expectation of rapid progress being made. Make sure that the teacher is aware of any pressures from homework, exams or other activities.
My only personal opinion on the ABRSM comments have to do with the role of the parent in the child’s practice. I do agree with the fact that young children have difficulty structuring their time at the piano, but, I believe there is considerable worth in the child being given the opportunity to work alone, even if it is for the first 15 or 20 minutes of the practice time, to allow them greater independence and eventual entirely individual skill. My own personal experience consisted of playing duets with my mother (music which I didn’t work on in my lessons with my teacher). We would play a hand each of the piece, and then swap. This extension of ideas was stimulating and entertaining. I enjoyed the activity and it was beneficial to all my other work ñ and I didn’t rely on either parent for assistance. If we consider that most children are instinctively curious and yearn for praise, then to foster that, it’s important not to spoon feed them too much, so that they come to expect the solutions served up to them. Certainly, music can be bewildering, but encouraging a child to attempt to find their own solution is beneficial on countless levels.
Accompanying
Working with a pianist is a funny part of playing an instrument.
Often, your teacher doesn’t play the piano, (but makes you count out your rests), and if you haven’t heard a recording, that first rehearsal can be overwhelming.
I’ve played with lots of people.
Some children sitting their Grade I clarinet exams, or opera singers in the International Festival of the Arts in Wellington, or for doctoral recitals at one of the Universities in Boston.
While everyone is extremely different, the two things that are common to everyone, is that,
- Everyone gets nervous
- No one wants to be afraid that the pianist will cause them musical anguish by failing.
For the less experienced, the process can be enhanced with an increased awareness of a couple of things.
The 1st is that, if you can listen to a complete recording (with piano or orchestra), and follow the piano part as best you can, you will give yourself a tremendous advantage.
The 2nd, is that if you have clear strong ideas about what you want to achieve musically, and practice putting those ideas into words, you will be more compelling in a rehearsal situation.
The 3rd is that good pianists will help you play better: they will listen acutely and figure out if you need to breathe (and get you through a phrase), and how to give you time to get in as much as possible, they will take an equal responsibility about the complete result, and do all they can to get it to work.
