Out of the Mouth...

Maybe I'm too demanding! I mean, making my students THINK... what's up with that?

So, we're sitting in class one day going over the same piece we've had for several weeks and she still isn't getting it. The easy thing would be to show her how to do it by rote and get the song good enough to pass.

But 31 years of teaching experience tells me that the short way is the long way, and the long way is really the short way.

She sighs, rolls her eyes and then braces herself for the inevitable questions. I ask A LOT of questions.

"What's the name of the note?"
"What finger should you use?"
"Where is it on the keys?"
"How long do you hold that note?"

And that's just one note! We've got some serious work to plough through here.

But we persist and plod on. Finally, we get across the first line... enough notes to string a little melody together. Then the FUN starts. Together, we attempt to play the entire line while reading the music OUT LOUD saying both the notes and the finger numbers. It's what I call 'mental weight lifting'; better known as resistance training, because most of the students I know vehemently RESIST doing this drill.

She is no different. She struggles mightily from her piano while I try to pull her through the line from my piano. Suddenly, in frustration she looks at me and cries out, "The reason why YOU'RE so good at this is 'cuz you do it ALL THE TIME!"

That was SUPPOSED to be my cue to let her off the hook! After all, how could I expect her to be as good as me?

But as soon as those words come out of her mouth, she KNOWS I have her right where I want her. In fact, I want to hug her for those words of wisdom!

"Did you hear what you just said?" I excitedly ask her. At only 8 years old, she has figured out what most people take a lifetime to comprehend. Imagine that... the reason I am so good at something is simply because I do it all the time!

"What if YOU do it ALL THE TIME?" (I told you I ask a lot of questions)

Eventually, she became a strong and independent reader, able to figure out some pretty complex pieces on her own.

Did she learn a valuable music lesson that day? Maybe. However, the truth is that the vast majority of my music students will go on to careers having nothing to do with music. That's why I emphasise the lesson behind the lesson... the Life Skills.

As a life skill, there is no question she learned something important that she can apply to any area for the rest of her life. She learned that doing SOMETHING yields better results than doing NOTHING. She also learned that the MORE she does something, the better and easier it gets.

Where do you need to improve? What if you do something about it just a little more today? Gosh, what if you do it ALL THE TIME?

Heck, you might even get to be as good as me.

Posted by russhamel