In the beginning of my teaching, I stayed away from teaching Jazz because I did not have any training in this genre. Last year, I became very curious about Jazz and started practicing on my own. Just a standard here and there, as well as some Jazz method book learning. I also began listening to a lot of old Jazz greats like Thelonius Monk, Miles Davis, and Billie Holiday. It seemed scary, but I decided to try testing out the old Yogi Tea wisdom, and I started assigning Jazz pieces to my students and teaching them how to improvise. I may not be a master of Jazz, but I am certainly much better that I was last year, and my students have proven that I am doing a good job.

It doesn’t stop at genres either. This year I felt I needed to work on my own focus, discipline, and attention to detail, as well as tame the inner critic in my head. I started emphasizing these traits in my students and we have all greatly improved. Have you tried this approach? Do you find you are getting better right along side your students?

When I started teaching, I told myself I would work really hard to get my teaching business going, and once that happened, I would begin making my own practice a priority again. That was 7 years ago. What happened? Life happened. It became difficult to not only find time, but also motivation for practice. There was always an excuse. The kicker came when I was asked by a student how long I practice each day. I was so embarrassed to say that I was so busy with the business that I probably only practiced a few hours a week. Yikes. What a bad example. 

“The War of Art” is an easy read. It takes every excuse you have ever given yourself for not practicing and tells you why you are wrong. The title alone makes me feel like everyday is a challenge to be won, and the challenge is resistance to my own practice. The thing is, since I began taking on the challenge, my students are performing better than ever. 

Once I began practicing 2 hours a day, I got a little cocky and began expecting more from the kids. Just like a baby boomer who loves to brag about all the snowy miles they hiked in order to get to school, I love telling my kids that 20 minutes a day is nothing compared to what I log in practice time. I love seeing their jaws drop open when I tell them how long I practice, and I really believe it is inspiring them to work hard. They sound better than ever.

Do you make time for your own practice? How do you make it work? Do you have a set time each day and for how long? How do you stay motivated?

Being a right-brain learner is wonderful when you are studying Art. Or theatre. Or even singing to a certain extent. But as a piano student, it can be very difficult! I am obviously not a neuroscientist, and cannot explain this scientifically, but no doubt you know what I mean by “right-brain learner.” I feel things more than I intellectualize them, I see metaphors everywhere, symbols in every picture, Math and Science are more challenging to me than Literature and Social Studies, but I can excel at almost any Arts subject. You know what I mean.

I wanted to play the piano at a very young age, because I found the vibrations in the piano so soothing to my hands, and the sounds made me want to float away in a state of dreamy peacefulness. I wanted to sit down and let my hands fly over the keys while I made sounds that released the deep emotions I kept locked up inside with nowhere to go. But the first day of piano lessons, I had to sit down in front of a book and read notes and count and my active right brain had a bit of a panic attack. My first teachers were great and really patient with me, but inside I felt like I would never be able to play if it meant staring at notes and counting numbers in my head. I could hardly do long division, and now I had to count to four over and over again while playing various pitches with my fingers. “Woe is me!!!” cried my dramatic little right-brained self. Fast forward 15 years and I have to remind myself of the struggle that was my first few years in piano lessons.

Music is a Mathematical Science, and Classical pianists who excel at their skill must be on equal ground with our greatest Scientists, Mathematicians, Architects, and Engineers. The Left Brain is strong at problem solving, rationalization, breaking things down and putting them back together again. I find that the best piano students are the ones with stronger Left Brain learning skills. They can calmly listen to instruction and understand everything, they look at the notes on the page and see a puzzle that can easily be solved, the Math that is Music Theory is fun for them to discover and learn. I felt bad for my Music teachers. Just like my Algebra teachers, they would explain a theory concept and my eyes would glaze over, and when they tried a different approach at explaining the same concept, I would try extra hard to focus, but just couldn’t understand. I can only say I learned Theory and Sight-Reading because I was so determined and I spent a lot of solo hours figuring it out myself.  After a few years of Piano studies, I tried Improvisation and realized that I actually did have some talent. I can now see the correlation between my ability to Improvise and my strong Right-Brain leaning. My deep feeling and sensitivity is what makes me a good improviser. When I get a student like Natalia, I try to remember this.

I’m not saying we should scrap Music Theory for students like myself or Natalia. In fact, I think it is even more important to make sure these students learn Theory, because I feel strongly that learning Theory is what balanced me out and helped me excel at Math and Science based classes in college. If I had not spent so much time trying to understand the Math behind the subject I loved so much, I would have had a much harder time earning that Sociology degree. The point I am trying to make is that students like myself and Natalia, who love piano, and obviously have some talent for it, just need a ton of patience.

Writing this blog helped me organize my own feelings on the subject, and I am hoping to become more mindful of students like Natalia and work to help them stay motivated. How do you help your “slower” students understand? Do you notice the students who are perhaps more “Right-Brain” thinkers? How do you approach teaching them verses how you teach the more traditional Left Brain learners?

When I started teaching 8 years ago, I wondered if I would ever have to let a student go. What happens in that situation? How do you do it? Do you just deal with them until they quit on their own? And what is the list of reasons why you should let a student go? I didn’t like the idea, but a therapist friend of mine, who has had to do this with clients, confirmed with me that sometimes you don’t have a choice, and it becomes unethical to keep them.

I taught this wonderful little girl for 4 years. I adored her. But she got a little older and started acting like she didn’t want to listen to me anymore. And when I insisted she listen, she pouted through the entire lesson. When I told her I did not like that she wasn’t listening to me, and that I expected her to listen, she started crying.  This happened a few times and it made me feel like the worst teacher in the world. I tried my best to be sensitive. I tried to bring her songs she would enjoy singing, but she frequently found things to complain about. The third time she cried, I realized it was time to say goodbye. I didn’t take the tears personally. She is a very sensitive child and at the age when a girl becomes even more sensitive than average. For some reason we were not clicking anymore.

For some reason, I was having a negative effect on this girl, and I felt it would be wrong for me to continue teaching her. I couldn’t figure out why I had this effect. I was not teaching her any differently than other students. In fact, I was more sensitive with her because I knew she was a bit fragile.  She was upset when I quit, and that made me feel bad, but I know that if I stayed she would continue to become upset, because I wasn’t going to change my expectations, and I wasn’t going to let a student disrespect me.

This event taught me to take control and not live at the will of others. In a regular job, if we are being disrespected by our bosses, we would quit and find something else. In lessons, it should be the same. If a student is treating you with disrespect or refusing to follow your rules, you have the right to quit. Businesses usually have signs that state “We reserve the right to refuse service.” The same goes for us. It’s harder, because our work is more personal.

My therapist friend I mentioned earlier suggests that you explain to the parent and child that you feel like you are no longer effective and that it is probably best for them to continue with another teacher. You can heal the blow by offering a recommendation. Most likely they will be upset no matter how kind you try to sound, but taking money for a job you know someone else could do better is worse that hurting someone’s feelings.

Have you ever had to let a student go? What was it like and how did you handle it? Please share, because I think other teachers need to think about this topic in case they are ever in a difficult situation that requires making such a tough decision.

The coach has a UK accent which is always soothing to my American ears, and I liked that they were challenging at first, but proved to help my vocal chords become more flexible over time. I even began using some of the tracks in my voice lessons.

For the past 3 months, I have used this CD daily. I notice my range becoming higher and my tone more controlled and flexible. As teachers it can be really hard to make time for our own practice, and I have found this CD to help my voice stay fit and strong. I have even moved onto the advanced CD in order to make my practice last for an hour each day. I highly recommend it!

My reasons were purely for entertainment, but what I noticed is that my tone became more precise and my rhythm more perfect. I had forgotten how helpful it is to play alongside a band! I naturally decided to teach one of my student’s this idea. She was excited to use her iPad in a music lesson, but naturally you could use a laptop too. This is a good opportunity for students to get a feel for what it is like to play in a “band” if they do not already do so. I hope you pass along this tip!

Focus can be hard for every student, whether they have been labeled ADHD, ADD, Spastic, Hyper, or whatever. One week I noticed a trend happening among a few of these focus-challenged types. Some of them would play our improvisations with absolutely no passion and with the bare-minimum focus. They were so good at memorizing the notes in the keys we improvise in so they were just daydreaming while plunking away at any old key. Well, in my lessons, this simply will not do.

I pulled out a piece of paper and I asked each student to help me list every single detail our brains must focus on anytime we play the piano. Some students were able to come up with 15, some with 22! Here is an image of one list:

After we listed each detail, the students were blown away by how much our brains have to process during each and every single note. I explained that my point is we cannot daydream when we play music. There is always something to focus on. There is always something that can be improved, and we need every ounce of concentration available to us. Try this exercise with your spacey students, and let me know how it goes.

Here is the video we made.

*****Warning to sensitive viewers: There IS a make-out scene between a puppy and a dinosaur.*****

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uN75Ow6UxV0

Recently, I started giving listening assignments. One song that I think is helpful for students to listen to is Gymnopedie, by Satie.

I tell my students that this is such a simple song. What makes it great is the feeling behind the music. The feeling is the responsibility of the piano player, not the composer. I am trying to encourage the kids to imagine something that reminds them of the feeling of the song, and to completely focus on the feeling and the notes.

Another listening assignment I like to give is Beethoven’s 5th. I always tell them that Beethoven was a pretty unhappy guy and very unlucky in love. I tell them to listen to the song through headphones 3 times and tell me what kind of emotion they hear in the music. I always ask them to email me their responses.

To me, it’s important that they know that I won’t tell them they are wrong. I want them to begin feeling music for themselves. That might mean that they hear something different than I do. I don’t want to “correct” them in their interpretation, because I want them to feel confident when they sit at the piano. I want them to begin feeling the emotion of the music when they play.

Many of my students have been with me since Kindergarten, and they are approaching their adolescent years. I see that they are very sensitive, and I want to give them an outlet in their music. I think the best place to start is in listening to other passionate players. How do you teach passion and feeling in music? Help me and other teachers guide the musicians of tomorrow.

We can create our own peaceful reality when we step into the music lesson. By consciously choosing songs that reflect peace and good feelings, we are teaching students the power of music. Music can change the environment in the room in an instant, so here is a list of peace songs to teach your students:

I’ve Got Peace Like a River

We Shall Overcome

Let There Be Peace on Earth (And Let it Begin With Me)

Peace Train by Cat Stevens

Imagine by John Lennon

Redemption Song by Bob Marley

What’s Goin’ On? By Marvin Gaye

What’s So Funny Bout Peace, Love and Understanding? By Elvis Costello

Let it Be By The Beatles

Man in the Mirror by Michael Jackson

Where Have All The Flowers Gone by Peter, Paul, and Mary

True to Myself by Ziggy Marley

I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free by Nina Simone

Wake Up Everybody! by John Legend and The Roots

Let’s add to the list. There are so many songs about peace. Let’s encourage more peace songs to be written and performed. This is the time when peace music is most needed.