Short answer?  Don’t worry about it!

I’ll be completely honest.  It bothers me a little bit when teachers focus so much on if their student “has practiced” or not.  When it comes to delivering a quality lesson, I don’t think it really matters!  And in fact, having that mindset of checking up on your student, being encouraged or discouraged if they’ve practiced or not, can actually HURT the lesson.

Instead my mindset is to ignore it.  Why?  Because worrying about if the student practiced does not put you in the emotional and creative position to teach a quality lesson.  As teachers, we can not build our emotions around weather or not a student “did what we told them to do”.  This harms the student, and puts us in a weak position.  WE should be the stronger ones emotionally in the relationship.

React pedagogically, not emotionally.

That’s the difference we’re talking about here folks!  Ask yourself WHY you want a back up plan for students not practicing.  If this is an emotional reaction, like you’ve been offended or let down, it’s not a good place to start from and go looking for these answers.  I’m suggesting that we be PRO-active as teachers – not RE-active to our students.

What To Do When Your Student Is, Ahem, A “Little Rusty”

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way.  Here’s some nice pedagogical reactions to try;

1. Repertoire List - Huge.  Lately I’ve been keeping a repertoire list going with some students.  It’s lots of fun for both of us to go back and brush up on them, check tempos, play them together, etc.

2. Record Them – Also great!  You can record a student playing a polished repertoire piece or even practicing.  It’s unbelievably helpful to record a student a few weeks in a row playing the same piece.  They love hearing their improvements and it helps build self awareness.

3. Improvise – This is not limited to jazz or older students.  You can show even a 7 year old to only play C-D-E-G while you play a simple blues.  It’s fun!

4. Switch Student/Teacher Rolls – This opens up LOTS of possibilities.  Let them teach you something.  Or let them watch you play four measures and correct mistakes.

5. YouTube Dive for Pianists – OK, not always the haven of quality pianists, but start with a search like Chopin Waltz or Keith Jarrett Solo or Ben Folds Solo Piano or ask them for a suggestion.  At most maybe you’ll find a new piece they want to learn, or at least maybe inspire them with music they’ve never heard before.

6. Drums – If you have the benefit of having some drums nearby, everyone LOVES drums.  Have them play the right hand rhythm on one drum and left hand rhythm on another.  Teach them a paradiddle.  Show them a rock beat.

7. The No-Brainers -  theory, ear-training, history, appreciation, games etc etc.  Try this note reading game.

How Will I Know To Use These Ideas, If I Don’t Figure Out If They’ve Practiced Or Not?

Just focus on what will be helpful and fun for your student, in that moment. That’s the goal!  If you ask them to play their assigned piece from last week, and it’s not going well, ask yourself “what can I do right now to enrich this student’s musical experience?”  “How can I turn this problem on its head and use it to our advantage?”  This is an opportunity, not a failure.  It is an opportunity to explore and learn something new that perhaps will inspire and surprise the both of us!

En conclusión

Be emotionally PRO-active, not RE-active!  Always remember, it’s about THEM and not YOU.

Realization:  Teaching is NOT about me.  It is about THEM.  The students.  It sounds simple, but how many of us actually live and act from that point of view, not just spitting it out as an overdone philosophy like robots?  Let’s look at the actions and words of both types of teachers;

How you know it’s “about the teacher”

• they hold competitions in high regard, it makes them look good
• they advance their students quickly through method books
• they may assign music that is too difficult
• they put fault on the student for not practicing or progressing (maybe not directly, but there’s a sense that they are thinking this way)
• they’re usually judging in some way.  the student didn’t practice enough, or doesn’t “care”
• they only see problems (laziness, clumsiness, bad rhythm) without solutions (inspire, experiment, find a new way to teach)

How you know it’s “about the student”

• they let the student go at their own pace
• they don’t lecture about the merits of practice
• they don’t just teach how they were taught as the accepted practice
• they are willing to change themselves to fit the student
• they are emotionally strong and set this example.  even in hard situations they find the way to do what’s best for the student.
• they listen and don’t judge
• they will find a way to communicate the material in a way the student understands, suited to their learning style.
• they don’t react out of emotion and take offense at little “annoyances”

In the teacher student relationship, especially teaching kids, we have to remind ourselves.  It’s about THEM.  And let that guide our entire philosophy.

Done… 5 minutes until the next lesson!!

Example: Excessive looking at hands.

Pianists looking at their hands is a huge external sign that they are processing music backwards in their brain.  Note reading in terms of brain process should go:

1. Book (take in the information from the page) -> 2. Piano (play it)

LOTS of students get this backwards and go:
1. Piano (Look at hands first to guess what note is next or rely on looking to remember where their fingers are) -> 2. Book (checking the book to see if what they hit is what the book says)

Recommendations:

• COVER their hands with a piece of paper (you hold it) or cloth (just lay it over their hands) so they are forced to look at the book.  Point along with a pencil to show them how to follow the music with their eyes.
• While their hands are covered, play a note for them and ask them to name the note by feeling which finger moved.  Or, name a note and ask them to play it.  You’re trying to give them a sense of where their fingers are without looking. Good pianists “see” with their hands and sense of touch!
• Have them tap our the fingering of the song on the lid of the piano.  They can say the note names or finger numbers out loud while doing this.
• Have them play only right hand while their left hand points to each note as they play it (and vice versa).  You’re trying to keep the visual field of attention on the book.
• As always, reverse teacher-student roles and have them play any of these games on you!

Remember, the goal is to correct the note reading process back to:  1. BOOK -> 2. PIANO  If your student is looking at their hands a lot, this could be a sign they are not processing the music in the most effective way.  Anything you can do to correct this process only takes a few minutes and can make a HUGE difference!

The paradox is this.  What do we then try to do?  The next lesson, we try to apply that new teaching trick generically to a different student, as if it was that trick its self that was magical.  It wasn’t.  It is the process of discovery on the part of the teacher in working with that one student, on that one day, in that moment. In being open to a specific student’s unique needs.  It’s teaching in the moment.

Sounds kind of Zen but I do find my best lessons are those when I begin at zero.  What does this mean?   To me, it means several things…

- I do not premeditate any lesson plans, and on the rare occasion I do, I’m willing to ditch them in a heartbeat if I sense something better may happen, or if the student arrives with a better plan.

- I do not prescribe before I diagnose.  A thorough process of diagnosis ALWAYS brings the solution at the same time, all in one process.

- I try to put trust in my past cumulative experiences, and that if a particular skill-set is needed, it will be there for me.  I have to put trust in my own knowledge and LET it come out if and when needed.

- I try to use my intuitive “right-brained” intelligence to feel what a student needs the second they walk in the door.  A student needs to be emotionally ready to handle the material, not just mentally.

- As we progress through the lesson, I try to disconnect from any of my own emotional attachments to the outcome.  It is about carefully following the needs of the student and what’s best for them in the long run. I can force them through a difficult example but is this really learning?

- I try to detach from the idea of a “good” lesson or “bad” lesson.

- I constantly put myself in my student’s shoes.  “Would I understand this if I was in their position?”  “Am I connecting with them in a way that is engaging and meaningful?”  “Am I involving them in the learning and teaching process?”

It’s like I’m always pushing “reset” – rebooting the system, re-centering and bringing things back to nothing – to ZERO.

One recent post Too much focus on technique really caught my attention when the topic quickly veered off course into a split debate on one’s basic approach to teaching.  When one teacher made the analogy to teaching being similar to that of building with bricks (spend time upfront showing the student how to lay the first brick really well and let them do the rest vs. lay all the bricks with them but really quickly thus doing a poor job)…. well, some seemed to get the analogy just fine but others taking it too literally or skewing it far from the context seemed unusually perplexed by it.

I’m on the side of “teach the student to lay one brick really well and let them finish the rest”. The following is an outline of my basic approach, something I have been wanting to put into writing for some time.  I’m finally doing just that as a result of the split in opinions evident in the aforementioned post as it supports the analogy that if you show the student how to lay one brick really well, they can do the rest on their own.

I take no credit for the term “Stewardship Delegation”. It came from “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People“, the book by Dr. Stephen Covey.  Dr. Covey uses the term “Stewardship Delegation” to illustrate a style of management, but it really sums up my approach to teaching piano pretty darn close.

Dr. Covey breaks it into five steps.

1. Desired Results - Spend the most time on this step! Be certain the expected end results are 100% clear.  This is akin to spending the most time showing how to lay the first brick.

2. Guidelines – Set a few restrictions on methods that are off limits to achieving these results.  Don’t say how or what TO do, but suggestions of what has failed in the past.  You’d probably point out a few ways to not lay the brick, to avoid injury or the wall falling apart.

3. Resources - Identify any resources that can help along the way.  Use human resources and technical/information resources.  In anticipation of the student having to lay the rest of the bricks, you’d probably point out places they could go for reference or help.  You’d be sure they know how to use all available tools.  For brick laying this might be mason’s tools, or for a musician this tool might be a metronome.

4. Accountability – Provide standards of evaluation and a set time of evaluation.  You’d probably expect the person building the wall to be able judge how they did without you telling them.  The STUDENT is expected to self evaluate their work.

5. Consequences – Describe all possible types of consequences; physical, intellectual, emotional and natural.  Someone building a brick wall would know that, for example, if they build it well it will stand the test of time.  If they build it poorly it will fall down.

Lets apply this to teaching piano.

The whole spirit of “Stewardship Delegation” is to place the accountability ON the person you are delegating to.  The goal is for them to take charge and “own” their learning process.  It lets the student choose the means to achieve the result.

In the following example, we’re simply teaching how to read music and play songs from their method book.

Step One: Desired Results

Be sure the student knows what the correct notes, rhythms, basic dynamics/articulation should sound like.  Check this, check twice and check again.  There are literally hundreds of way to ensure the student knows desired results.  Suggestions are;

- Do they really understand how to read music?  Can they explain to you why they played notes correctly?  Can they identify if you play a note incorrectly on purpose?  Can they switch roles and be your teacher?

- Do lots of rhythm games where they clap or tap rhythms from their songs.  Have them count or tap their foot to be sure they can feel the beat at the same time.  Make sure they are not just getting the rhythm by accident or imitation!

- Provide them with a recording of how the song should sound.  Let them HEAR what it should sound like.

- Provide a video or pictures of someone playing/sitting with good posture and good technique.  SHOW them what this looks like.

Step Two: Guidelines

Establish some basic “not to do’s”.

- They can not just have someone show them the notes in the song.

- They can not write the note names above every note in the song.

- They shouldn’t try to learn the song just by ear.

- They shouldn’t use just two fingers or ignore fingering.

- Point out other possible traps or obstacles but let the student choose the means to achieve the result.

Step Three: Resources

Identify as many places the student can go for help.  You’re showing them how to be resourceful instead of just asking for the answer.

Human Resources

- They can ask you for help at the lesson.

- They could ask their music teacher at school, a parent  or peer who knows enough about music.

Technical Resources

- If they can not identify a note, show them where they can look it up, such as a note chart or flash cards.

- If they do not know what a marking is such as “dim.” or “8va” show them how to use a music dictionary or even the internet to look it up.

- Show them they can refer to a recording or video of someone playing the song.

Step Four: Accountability

Set up an agreed upon time that the student will show you how they are progressing.  This is the most challenging part for the teacher.  The teacher is NOT to “check up” on the student.  The student is to report back to the teacher as to how they are doing.

- At the agreed upon time, the student shall play for the teacher and show them how their progress is going.  It is up the the STUDENT to self evaluate.  Identify places of strength and weakness.  The student should be able to tell the teacher if they played wrong notes or wrong rhythms. The student should be able to decide if they need to continue working on the song.  And the student should have an internal sense if it sounds “good” or “bad”.

Step Five: Consequences

The teacher should be certain the student knows all the possible consequences, good or bad, of learning the music or not.  These consequences fall into four categories.

Physical – A physical consequence could be in the form of a reward, or better technical ability.

Intellectual – An intellectual consequence would be they are strengthening their mind, their ability to think in abstractions, or to think about the big picture and small picture at the same time.

Emotional – The internal satisfaction of working at something and making progress, or the joy that comes from expression through music.  They also may connect more with their own internal emotions, or better yet, channel and release negative emotions in a way that does not harm others.

“Natural” – This is my favorite.  It’s the opposite of “social”.  Social consequences of playing well might be praise, awards or passing tests.  Natural consequences are governed by natural truths.  Playing well and progressing over time could result in happiness or a sense of purpose and meaning… of connecting with something bigger then yourself.  After all, isn’t this what music is really about?

1. Encourage imaginary friends

I know, I was surprised and laughed a little too.  But recent studies have shown the benefits of children having an imaginary friend.  Read one!

2. Sports/Exercise

It is well proven that sports and exercise in all forms appropriate for the age of a child has multiple physical, mental and emotional benefits as this one of many studies show.

3. Good nutrition (organic, low-sugar, low-artificial-stuff)

Anyone who’s seen “Super Size Me” is familiar with this!  Stimulants like sugar, artificial sweeteners and caffeine in large amounts on a regular basis mean your child will not learn to their full potential.  Not to mention all the processed food and fat.  Information can be found here, in this one of many articles I came across.

4. Regular sleep schedule

This particular article is for people of all ages and has some great information.

5. Less television/video games/internet

Great article on this topic.  My wife and I do not have television at all, and it would stay that way if we had kids!  (We do watch an occasional movie!)