Piano Blog

I Don't Want to Practice Piano

"What do I do when my child doesn't want to practice? "

Piano teachers hear this question a lot. I think it implies a more fundamental question: What is the nature of a child's wants and desires? 

The answer to this question can lead to two different parenting approaches:  One approach holds that every moment and decision of a child's day must be scheduled and controlled. The other approach says that a child should be allowed to do however he or she feels on the whim of the moment. 

I disagree with both approaches, because I think they both deny the fundamental nature of what a child is. A child is a potential adult, but not a fully formed adult. A child is in the process of forming values, learning his or her likes and dislikes, and forming a full psychology. 

So what does this mean? 

A child's values and psychology aren't completely formed. This means that a child's decisions and emotions will often be at variance with his long-term self interest. For example, a child might want to eat sweets and candy all day. Or she might love the piano but not feel like practicing because it requires too much effort. In such cases, the parent is obligated to reduce the number of sweets, or encourage or even mandate practice.

On the other hand, a child's values and psychology aren't completely plastic. Although he isn't an adult, he does have some nascent values and psychology. To deny this fact, or thwart early attempts at self-discovery is to invite serious problems down the road.

For example, if a child has a clear preference for drawing or some other activity, and yet you deny this in favor of hours of daily piano practice, you're heading for disaster. In a case such as this, an "I don't want to practice" isn't an out of context whim, but rather the correct response to a value contradiction imposed from the outside.

The answer then to "What do I do if my child doesn't want to practice?" is: "It depends." If your child has other interests, and has had piano imposed from the beginning, you should consider letting her explore. If your child enjoys practicing in general but needs a day off, then let her chill out. If your child loves music but won't practice because of the effort involved, it could be time to find some creative motivation or be a strict parent. If your child doesn't want to do anything, it might be time to look for someone more qualified than a piano teacher for advice.

Keep it Simple

Playing a musical instrument is a complex task. Almost anyone could practice on a daily basis. But without guidance, there's a good chance this practice won't be beneficial in the long run. 

When a child learns to walk, for instance, he gets immediate feedback as to whether he's doing something incorrectly. (That is, he falls down.) But often the feedback you get with a musical instrument isn't so easily interpreted. You might play the right notes in the correct order but at the same time use your muscles or your mind in a way that hinders progress down the road.

But let's assume you're getting good guidance and the technical elements are more or less in place. There's an unavoidable fundamental to playing: automatization. You simply don't have a choice but to make the physical elements of playing automatic.

What does this mean? Repetition. 

The devil is in the details. They are important. But don't lose sight of the foundation of good practice. To become truly facile, you have to move to the level of the automatic. Watch any number of great musicians over time and you'll observe this simple common denominator: tireless, intelligent, repetition of the music.

Don't let details bog you down and sap your motivation. Keep it simple, over and over again.

Music Studio How-To

Now for some shameless self-promotion!

Over the last few years, I've been asked the same question over and over: How do I get started in my own teaching business?

I can really empathise with this question. I know firsthand how hard it is to start a music studio.

Are you like me when I started teaching? 

I had zero students, nowhere to teach from, zero income (but lots of debt), no prospective students and no idea how to start. 

It was a long road that took me where I am today: I can't keep up with student requests. I get to set my own hours, control my vacation time. I don't have to put up with a nagging boss or coworkers. And best of all I don't have to deal with rush-hour traffic because I work from the comfort of my home!

Not too shabby. 

So then what is the answer? How do you start a music studio?

I've earned my fair share of free dinners trying to answer this question. The truth is: its a BIG subject. Way to much to cover in one evening. And way too much to cover in this blog post. So I I won't try.

I'll do something better. 

For free, and with zero obligation, you are invited to join my Piano Studio Handbook list. This group is for those serious about starting a successful and fulfilling teaching business.

I'll use this list to send out *in depth* information for music teachers that I wouldn't post in normal pianoblog posts.

There's zero obligation to signup, and you'll receive answers to your questions like:

How do I get students? - Where do I start teaching? - How do I handle my first lessons? 

Emails will be packed with answers to any question you can think to ask. And I HOPE that by helping you, I can save you the many years of trial and error that I went through to build up my teaching practice.

If at any time you decide you want to stop getting tips from me, un-subscribing is simple and I *don't ever* share contact info from any pianoblog readers with outside sources.

If you're really serious about getting started the right way,  sign up below! 

 

PS - If you're reading this in your blog reader and don't see a signup form above - just visit the actual post!

Things Mean Piano Teachers do Just to Be Mean

Why am I such a mean teacher?

One of my favorite things to do is have my students transpose small pieces and exercises into different keys. This is usually met with a fair amount of resistance. But, I insist, it is one of the BEST ways of really understanding the keyboard. I always say: you want to be able to play in more than one key don't you?

In fact, all my children learn their 5 finger positions ASAP so they can move a simple piece to every major and minor hand position on the keyboard.

Quick break.

I finally made it back to the gym today. I could have done a bunch of isolation exercises on my legs. (These are exercises that work very specific muscles.) Instead of did a few sets of squats. For those of you who don't go to the gym: squats suck. They work about every muscle in your body at the same time. Afterwards you feel like you want to die. BUT they're awesome. You work everything and you get HUGE. (No, I am not a big muscle man.)

Back to piano.

Here's why I brought up squatting. Transposing is like the squat of the piano. (Or maybe the deadlift.) If you select a couple measures with some smarts, you can work your technique, your ear, your understanding of theory, and your musicality. All at the same time. 

As they say at the gym: crush it.

We are Human

"You do feel emotion don't you?" I once asked in exasperation. I couldn't stand one more soulless note. Especially not in late Beethoven.

"No." She replied.

This student did not last long. 

We are human -- there are thoughts, feelings, and deeply felt life experiences. We carry this into art. 

Today we seem to be in the business of producing thousands of piano-robots; automatons who can play the right notes in the right order in an emotional vacuum disconnected from their own lives and experiences. 

Scriabin gave the following advice to Horowitz's mother: "Your son will be a great pianist, but please, let him be an overall cultured man, and make him understand not only music, but other important aspects of life. There are the arts of painting, of philosophy, of literature. Only then will he be an all-around musician."

The Successful Piano Student

What makes for long term success at the piano?

I sat down a couple days ago and worked out that I've taught many thousands of piano lessons. Thats a lot of teaching, and a lot of students!! After a while, you can't help but see patterns and trends; who is successful and who gets frustrated and gives up.

My students range in age and ability quite a bit, from 4-year-old beginners to very advanced high schoolers and advanced musicians. If I were to pick *one* factor that predicts success at the piano, regardless of age and level, it would be this:

A Regular practice time that is adhered to every day; e.g. "30 minutes at 3:30 every day".

If you're a parent, you can add a second crucial element:

Active parental involvement in every practice session.

Yes, there are a lot of other factors that play into piano lesson success, but assuming you've got a decent piano teacher and some level of ability, these two things are the best predictors of long-term success at the piano.

Happy piano lessoning!

 

Pressure

Sort of a rant?

Stress is a scary thing. In the right amount, a bit of stress can really motivate, but just a bit too much of it can lead to disaster. An athlete under the right amount of stress excels, but under too much pressure he crumbles.

The same is true at the piano. I don't mean just in performing, but also in the process of learning. Sometimes serious students expect too much. I think many young students could be pushed more, but there are some cases where this is the reverse; the pressure from parents or teachers becomes obsessive and overbearing. The child is not "good enough" unless he or she wins a competition or plays perfectly.

Ironically, this pressure often leads to burnout, poor performance, and even complete rebellion or shutdown.

Why is this necessary? Why do we have to beat others to prove our worth? (What the hell does beating others have to do with music or art?) Why does self-worth rest on how accurately you can play a Mozart Sonata? What kind of message are we sending to students or children by telling them they aren't good enough because of a memory slip or a wrong note?

Don't get me wrong, I'm all about new levels of achievement, aiming for your best, improving. There's a reason its called fine art - high levels of playing don't fall into your lap. 

But when music becomes all about stress, pressure, not messing up, and comparing oneself to others we lose interest in the music, because it isn't there anymore.

 

 

The Thing About Piano Competitions Is . . .

Piano competitions can be a real pain in the ass. Not just for the competitors, which is obvious, but for teachers as well.

Placing well often this means playing a piece somewhat conservatively at, say, 80% of a student's technical capacity. But improving can often mean practicing something at 90%, or even 110% capacity. (Within reason of course.)

Don't get me wrong I'm not against competitions. My more competitive students still enter them. But this "competition is everything" mindset some people have can wear thin; especially when it comes at the expense of real musical growth.

Developing musicians around the age of 13-18 need space to grow. They need to experiment, try out things, find their voice, and push up against pieces that might be a bit above their head both musically and technically. The fact is, this doesn't always lend itself well to polish and precision.

I'm not one of those people who is against competition per se, or anti-sports or anything else. But sports is sport and music is art. Art is a deeply personal thing, and the budding artist is finding himself through his practice. What are we teaching children when they work like hell on music they love, and then made to feel like failures because this or that judge was in a bad mood? 

Long story short. Go and compete, but keep the big picture in mind. End of rant.

Piano Teacher Bogeyman

I was at a housewarming party this evening. Somewhat introverted by nature, this was the first social gathering I'd been at in a few weeks where all of the other people were complete strangers. So it was a healthy reminder of someone's reaction when they find out I'm a piano teacher. This reaction has three stages: 

First: "Wow that's cool, how interesting."

Next "I took lessons as a kid, but didn't have much talent."

Finally: "My teacher was mean, made me feel worthless and cry. I was forced into lessons and it was traumatic, and now I'm scarred for life because of piano teachers like you."

OK maybe people don't go that far with the last part, but you'd be surprised how close this is to the truth. 

So first of all I'm going to be extra positive and nice in my teaching tomorrow. (I think I'm a pretty nice teacher in the first place...right students?) 

But this story also points to a common predicament: Children often don't come to enjoy the piano until they're in their teens. The problem is, if they haven't been practicing consistently for years at this point, it's too late for them to reach their full potential. Parents and teachers run into this problem all the time. I have my own thoughts on it, which I'll detail in the next post, but I'm curious to hear your take as well.

Piano For Adult Beginners - Tips on Getting it Right

When you teach long enough, you start to see trends. You can't miss it. There are certain things some adult beginners do, a way they approach the piano, that makes them more successful. 

I'm convinced that success at the piano has a lot less to do with intelligence than people believe.  In fact, for several reasons, intelligent people have a tendency to develop incorrect habits at the piano. The reason is that 1) they become over-analytical, and try to let analysis handle things that their "ear" ought to, and 2) they try to handle too much information at once, instead of using repetition to make one aspect of playing automatic before moving onto another. 

So, success at the piano, to a large extent, is determined by getting the process correct. It has much more to do with developing good habits than it does with intelligence.

Having said that, here are some points to keep in mind:

Successful Piano Students are *ear oriented*

    Successful students want to know how something sounds. They get as clear a picture as possible of what they are trying to do at the piano in terms of sound, and then work to create that.

    Unsuccessful students try to do the reverse. They will analyze what is happening in terms of note names and intervals and try to move their fingers accordingly, without first asking themselves how a certain thing ought to sound.

Successful Piano Students automatize

    Successful students have a policy of making things as easy as possible. They do this by repeating things until they are automatic. In doing this, they free up mental energy for other playing tasks. 

    Unsuccessful students try to handle everything at once. For instance, they will try to play a piece of music before they are comfortable naming the notes of the keyboard or reading music. They then wonder why its so hard to think about the notes, the letter names, hand placement, AND read music all at the same time. Often they feel like they are not smart enough, when in reality they simply haven't taken the time to automatize the basic elements of piano playing.

Successful Piano Students look for Patterns and Harmonies

    Successful students immediately look for patterns and harmonies. They do a lot of scale practice, and especially tons chord practice, so that they get a sense of the fundamental layout of the keyboard.

    Unsuccessful students rush to learn music before understanding building blocks. For them every line of music is a new thing, unrelated to chords or scales they ought to be familiar with. This makes them feel extremely disoriented, and creates an extremely slow learning process.

Successful Piano Students Understand Before Playing

    Successful students want to understand a section before playing it. They want to be in control of their actions to get a desired response.

    Unsuccessful students take action haphazardly and hope for the best.

Successful Piano Students understand hierarchy

    Successful students understand that piano is learned as a  step-by-step process. They build their abilities one step at a time.

    Unsuccessful students dive in without worrying about fundamentals. This is fun for a while, but they quickly burn out once improvement slows down.

Successful Piano Students learn to focus on problem areas

    Successful students develop a knack for identifying problem areas, correcting them, and learning them through repetition. When a successful student encounters a problem, he or she works out a solution and repeats that area calmly and endlessly to make it more automatic.

    Unsuccessful students usually start from the beginning of a piece every time and muddle through the areas that give them trouble. Instead of using problem areas as learning opportunities, they associate them with tension and unclear thinking.

Successful Piano Students look for the big picture

    After practicing a small section, the successful student will go back and put it in context by repeating a larger surrounding section. More importantly, the successful student ties the physical *playing* of a problem area with how that area *sounds*.

    Unsuccessful students might go as far as practicing a problem area, but then they won't tie that in with the larger picture and sound of the piece.

Successful Piano Students *practice*

    Successful students practice every day. For them piano is a long term, step- by-step project.

    Unsuccessful students practice randomly and in spurts. Because of this they always feel rushed and try to handle too much at once. 

If the above outline seems a bit general, don't worry. The next couple posts will be devoted to more hands-on practical applications of the above that you can use in your own practice!