One Woman's Desire

   One woman's desire created a fire in her home. Meet Irene, who is my student, a wife, mother of two and, a professional photo editor.

    Irene had a wish to learn to play the piano and so after purchasing a nice upright she approached me for lessons. This was going to be her thing, something special for her to expand her horizons. However, when a mother loves something, that something becomes more desirable to everyone in the family. What started as a little gift to herself, flowered into a family loving to explore music. Her husband picked up his love for old rock and roll songs and plays to relax, her son hears what she is playing and often reproduces them by hear, and even her daughter finds tunes she learns in school on the recorder, and plays them on the piano. The piano, once just hers, is now a family meeting ground.
   With her love of music and her delightful disposition, I feel honored to share my knowledge and collaborate with her in this new venture.

Leaving Cues to Ignite Deep Practice

    In my continuing study of the book "The Talent Code" by Daniel Coyle, I am trying a more overt message that I value hard work in my piano studio. A study by Dr. Carol Dweck dealing with the aspect of motivation reveals some important information.

  "When we get a clear cue, a message that sends a spark, then "boing", we respond". 

  Four hundred fifth graders were given verbal cues of praise and the cues they most responded to dealt with their hard work not the acknowledgement of their intellect.

  "When we praise children for their intelligence we tell them that that's the name of the game: look smart and don't risk by making mistakes".

    Deep practice is about digging into a piece and working through it even when it is hard. I am going to be more diligent about giving the message that I care how much my students practice and how well they practice.

"We are exquisitely attuned to the messages that tell us what is valued."

                   "You really worked hard, it was a struggle, but you conquered it."

   I am tracking practice minutes very carefully for the next months and I hope to send a clear signal that work at the piano can be fun and the reward is more beautiful music.

Swingset Music and Movement

Another Season of Swingset Comes to an End

   Winter Swingset just ended today.  Our Singing Stories curriculum was very easy and smooth to teach and I hope fun for the kids. I teach pre-school music once a week, many weeks of the year. Did you know that many picture books are songs and qualify as Singing Stories, not just reading stories. It warms my heart to see two-year olds singing and moving without self consciousness. Grandmas and Dads show up as well as Moms and Caregivers and all participate to the joy of their children.

   Here we are moving up and down with Miss Froggy who teaches us many adverbs to match our moving.

  Could it be that pesky flea on my head as well as on my toe?

                         

             Dancing like the wind is so whirly and twirly.

   And playing the drums requires listening, evaluating each drum for it's sound value, and trading back and forth.

   There are more classes to view here and here. We are starting again in April, maybe you will join us?

Drop A Note

   "Why should I play it again?" That is a question I have not yet found a good answer to for my 5-6 year olds. But I have a few games to make playing it again more fun. Previously, on another post, I featured the IN-OUT game and today it is time to reveal the game DROP A NOTE.

    I ask the student to choose a note in their song that they will not play and I play it on my keyboard, or on my i-pad, and I often use a crazy sound which makes us both laugh hysterically. On the next turn I choose a note, one that is used infrequently, to make them play more of the song. The goal is to keep the song flowing nicely and in the right tempo. Works like a charm!

Igniting the Desire For "Deep Practice"

   In the last post I wrote about the book "The Talent Code" and explored the concept of "deep practice".

   How do we as teachers ignite that desire to practice deeply?  I'll start with my own life and draw on the events that pushed me into desiring a higher level of practice. The first reason I can think of that started my relentless pursuit of competence was when I started singing the pop hits on the radio. I wanted to be able to accompany myself on the piano and I needed better skills to make that flow. I think that made me count out loud for the first time. My teacher had asked me to do this with every piece but I did not do it until I played songs with intricate rhythms.
   I saw another ignition when I was asked to accompanying the children in my church. I was too ashamed to show up and flounder at the keyboard, so I practiced and practiced. The adults gave me so much praise for my efforts that the desire sustained itself.  Ignition is cued by primal instincts, to be part of something big, to be included in a desirable group, or to be well thought of and brought into the fold. Ignition does not follow rules so, as a teacher, I may not be able to control it but it works as energy to get the task moving.
   What do teacher's do to spark ignition? The most important events in my studio are group lessons. When I take a small group of students and we work together on improving a skill I see more progress in that skill in private lessons. Yes, it is the power of peer pressure or peer approval, but in a positive environment it is a spark. Recitals can also be a spark. In the last recital I played a Beethoven Bagatelle which is featured in "My First Piano Adventures Book B". I asked the audience to sing the simple words every time I played that part. I have never had to ask any student in that age group to practice "Beethoven's Door". They can't wait to learn it because of the group experience at the recital.
   Lastly, I've captured a few images of "deep practice" on my piano bench.

However fleeting the moment is, it is precious to behold. Here also is a U-Tube video of "deep practice"

Deep Practice

  One of my piano parents suggested I read "The Talent Code" by Daniel Coyle. He is a kid's soccer coach and required all of the volunteer parents to read it to help their understanding of how skill is developed.

   I find the book fascinating because it answers the question about why some of my students come with music in their heads which they have been diligently working on at home. They show me pieces they have figured out by ear, pieces they have added variations to, and pieces they have composed. The task requires "deep practice" and I am learning to recognize the look on their faces when they enter that zone.
  They don't always "deep practice" the pieces I assign and so I am exploring how to ignite that interest.
  What is "deep practice"? These are the elements Daniel Coyle outlines in his book.

Rules of Deep Practice-

1- Chunk it up

   A. Look at the whole piece

   B. Divide it into the smallest chunks posssible

   C.. Play with time- slow it way down, then speed it up to find the inner architecture

2- Repeat it

    A. Time spent is not as important as time with deep practice

3- Learn to feel it

    A. It is tiring

    B. Get used to the feeling of failing

    C. It feels beyond your abilities

When I watch my students practice this way I see them  going over an over a part and often going back to the beginning countless times. As a teacher I have in the past halted that behavior as I feel it makes them unable to understand the whole piece. But, this intentness should not be discouraged. Perhaps these ideas are not so new to pianists but his research on how the brain reacts to "deep practice" is very new and important. More later......

How Do Our Brains Learn Best?

   I have been very curious about how our brains work when we learn to play the piano and read music.

   Of note in the blogging world is Tara Gaertner's blog about how the brain learns music. In my opinion, the world is learning much about how our brain works but our habits do not reflect what we know. Take for instance the truth we know about the brain's need to recall new information within a short timespan. In my teaching experience I have proven to myself that if a student practices a short time on the day of the piano lesson the recall of the lesson improves dramatically all week long. If this truth were to be implemented then the parent would have to make a consistent effort to make time that evening to allow the lesson learning to be reviewed and processed. Even talking with your child about the lesson and asking questions would expedite recall.
  I look forward to reading Tara's posts and finding ways to use my own brain better and encourage anyone I might influence.
  "Welcome to “Training the Musical Brain”, a blog combining my interests in neuroscience and music pedagogy.  I believe that neuroscience, psychology and related areas of research have a lot to tell us about the affects of music on the brain, and about the best ways to optimize our musical training."

http://trainingthemusicalbrain.blogspot.com/