“Is this music or a government supercomputer process?”
Sometimes I have to close my eyes and shake my head.
In case you’re wondering, this particular quote comes from a student getting his first glimpse at a new piece. For the majority of my students, new pieces are not a surprise on a regular basis because the students need only to look ahead in their books to get an idea of what is next. But there are students in my studio, including the student that this quote came from, for which I have no method book. Some have “leveled out” while others prove more successful when I can “method jump” and allow them to move laterally in their study (this is why I love studio licensing!). The benefit of method jumping for those lateral movers is that every composer/arranger/editor has their own style. Many times the music looks different, perhaps with a different typeface, a different harmonic pattern, or different focus of skill. This allows the student to remain on the same level of difficulty and review concepts that trouble them without playing the same thing over and over again.
But there does come a day when we sneaky music teachers attempt to inch our lateral movers upward. Sometimes it goes by unnoticed by the student and we rejoice and can continue on the slow ascent to making them into the next Yuja Wang. But sometimes that inch is like the last step of a staircase that you have forgotten, and therefore don’t lift your foot quite high enough for. As someone who was just described by her husband as a five out of ten on the everyday gracefulness scale, I am familiar with this sensation. As their music teacher, it’s my job to address that sensation when my students feel as if they are about to fall on their face just by looking at a new piece.
Of course, in the beginnings of my career as a music teacher I would simply match my students’ objections by saying something like “oh don’t be silly, it’s not as hard as it looks” or “you can do this, it’s not too bad”. And by the way, letting that “its not too bad” phrase slip out of your mouth in any context, as I used to, is probably one of the worst. Students will only hear the “b” word. I promise. I used to say it A LOT. But through experiences with many many students as well as quite a few professional development trainings on communication, I have been able to become a bit more productive which my students in these moments when the print on the page is overwhelming and seemingly insurmountable to my student. It is truly important to acknowledge the student’s anxiety about any given task in the lesson. If you don’t, students will adjust and fall into the habit of not sharing their concerns, which typically follows quickly by not practicing and potentially to no longer taking lessons. I learned this the hard way, and it took me a few years to put all of the pieces together.
For any former student that this may be the case, please accept my sincere apologies. I am still learning about communication each and every day and I am nothing if not a work in progress.
So how do you go about this? The trick is to let the student do the talking (and remember that not all talking is verbal). My first question to students is typically “what are the challenges of the piece”. I love that word, challenge, by the way. Sometimes students are able to pinpoint it right away by pointing to the “scary spots” or maybe they’ll exclaim something like “there are so many notes!” (because the piece is full of eighth notes instead of quarters). If they can pinpoint their worries, that’s where we start. If the student is unable to tell me what it is about the piece that is overwhelming, it becomes a two person investigation and we work through it by breaking the piece into patterns and checking for any unrecognized concepts, terms and symbols. I have created some “I Spy” sets that I use for my shy and less vocal students that they can put on their music. A few of the pieces even say “what is this?” and “HELP!”
It is just as much a teacher’s job to listen as it is to instruct, especially when you have the opportunity to work with a student one on one. Learn the nuances in your student’s voice and body language. Sometimes you will have the student who will come right out and say what they are thinking, like the delightfully outspoken “quotee.” Other times reactions will come from your student with a sigh, a slouch, a raised eyebrow, or a clenched jaw — and hopefully a few smiles and excited squeals here and there as well! If you can learn to recognize those communication cues, you can help your student progress not only musically but emotionally.
