What Gifts Are Emerging With Piano Lessons?

   On my parent questionnaire I asked what gifts were emerging since the onset of piano lessons. I find that I see the gifts as well and I am so grateful to see them blossom. When it comes to gifts, it is my observation that they are given incompletely. I have a gift to improvise and compose but I did not get the gift to be thorough and detail oriented. I find a melody, play it and get excited and then my lack of stick-to-it-tiveism bogs me down. Notating is tedious and nerve-racking. Gifts never preclude hard work. 

   Here is a sampling of the great answers I received. As you can see composing is a gift that keeps rising to the top. 
1. He seems to have a good ear and good rhythm.

2. She can figure songs out by ear that she hears on her iPod.

3. She has always shown musical talent and she sings from her heart.

4. He is shy but the piano playing is revealing his musical gifts.

5. Both children are experimenting in other musical fields.

6. He enjoys composing and playing his own music when he has time. Music has given him confidence,

7. I remember when you asked him to improvise the first time. He only played one note. Now he makes up his own endings and he makes the music his own.

8. He is experimenting playing his own songs with chords. His confidence has grown mastering more difficult songs.

9. I found out she has even more music in her heart and head than I thought she did. She has been singing since she was very little.

10. He is creatively inspired.

11. He has improved his ability to sing in tune, can read notes, and has developed good rhythm.

12. We knew she was musically gifted but we didn't realize how steady and solid her rhythm would become.

13. She likes to compose a little of her own.

   These answers help me feel that I am on the right track to do more lead sheet work and improvising. Wish I had more time in the lessons.

What Expectations Do You Have For Your Child?

In a recent questionnaire to parents I asked the question -What expectations did you have before your child started piano lessons? The answers were varied and insightful. Here are a few of them.

1.That my children will have a better understanding of music

2. That he would learn to read and enjoy music.

4. That it would be tough-going keeping her motivated over the long-term, but that—if she stuck with it—it would prove a long-lasting gift for her and for my (hopefully) future grandchildren. I looked at it as a long-term, generational investment and a gift for her if she ever wanted to do anything musically. 

5. I thought he would learn the basics of music.

6. Just that he would have fun, and love music, and be a lifetime lover of music.

7. That he would continue to love playing and gain confidence in his musical ability.

8. Just that he would learn to appreciate music.

I thought back to what my mother would have said. It would be something like, "I expect that she will learn to play well enough to accompany our family sing-alongs, play at the Christmas Eve party, and play for the church congregation." You see my mother was practical and she saw playing the piano as a practical skill.

So, to this excellent list of expectations may I add, expect that your child will play the piano for may varied and different functions of home life and community life. The Piano Is Practical.

 Watch for a documentary, starring my students, as we explore how playing the piano is a practical skill.

A Parent Interview

I am always interested in feedback from the parents I work with and so I wrote some questions which I felt would give me some ideas of what they thought about the experience of piano lessons for their child.

               The questionnaires are coming back and I am going to compile the answers and without revealing names give a general idea of what people said.

The Vulnerability of Performance

 A few days ago my students and I participated in a piano recital. There is something so very vulnerable about playing the piano in front of a crowd. I have been doing it since I was eight but yet every solo performance I have a moment of wanting to back out, even to this day. 

  There are so many facets of our selves which are in view when we perform. Not only is our physical agility evident but our ability to focus, our gift to express feelings through music, and our self-consciousness is open for all to see. 
"Why would you choose to perform if it is so unpleasant?", my son asked. 
  Now that is such a great question. Perhaps it is that when we can open ourselves up whole-heartedly to the music we have come to live and breathe, it is an amazing high.

   During rehearsal M., age 5, balked as I explained that I wanted him to tell the audience his name and the names of his pieces. 

    "I can't," he said, "I'm shy." 

     It was his first recital so I offered to stand with him in front of the group. 

     "It wasn't that bad." he said after with a broad grin. 

   There in a nutshell is the reason to perform frequently. We can learn that our fears are not that real. Coming through a gut-wrenching experience can build hope that we are growing and changing. If we falter the lesson is still important. Perhaps we should have prepared better, or perhaps we learned that life goes on after a stressful event, or best, that we made music come alive and people enjoyed it.

   For the teacher, sitting on the sidelines, the event is emotional. I know too well what could happen. I see their legs shake, their hearts race, and their hands stiffen with cold. I send them bushels of love and hold them together with teacher energy. Then I clap and whisper that they were fabulous and feel privileged to know them in their most vulnerable hour.  It is exhausting, but so worth the effort.

Recital Tips

Dear Parents,
   It is a few days before the recital and perhaps I can pass on a few tips to the handful of new students playing for the first time. And for those of you who have attended year after year, thank-you for preparing your pianist and making the recital an important event.

   I look at performing at a recital as pay back time. When we play for our families we show honor for the money invested in our progress and give joy to a whole room of people. It is not easy to support a child for years of practice with the hope that they hang in long enough to master an instrument. I try to point out to my students how fortunate they are to have an opportunity to learn and be encouraged on all fronts.
   You can prepare your child by talking positively about their performance and give them many small recitals at home. Some students will feel anxious and vulnerable. Please don't deny their honest feelings but talk about how performing only gets easier when you do it. Mistakes happen and they are allowed without recriminations. I try to create a relaxed atmosphere at the recital and most students come through splendidly. You don't need to come early since adrenaline mounts just before, but arriving on time helps to ease tension.
   May I suggest that you look over the program with your child and note if they recognize any of the pieces. Perhaps you can point out some pieces that they should really listen to so that their attention moves to the performance of other students.
  After the recital we share treats in the hall behind the chapel and this is a time when each student can come down from the high of performance. Again, they may want to give some praise and feedback to other performers whose pieces inspired them.
  I feel so lucky to have a venue where I am not obligated to pay a fee for rental. This allows me to make the recital free of charge for you.
  You may want to look at some pictures of past recitals on the archived blog posts labeled Recital Time.
   See you at the big event!

January Recitals

  It has been ages since I posted. I am still around and madly teaching, or teaching madly, I don't know which. News from my studio includes the fact that I moved my recitals from November to January. The jury is still out about whether that is better. This year the big draw is the music to the Sherlock theme from PBS.

  I have a student playing three themes from this series in one recital and in the other recital I will play a medley of Hero's theme from Sherlock with the main theme from Downton Abbey and a small segment from Mrs. Darcy from the Pride and Prejudice movie. They all seem to be in the same key and one moves well into the other.

   Hero's theme is lively and full of mysterious intrigue, while Downton Abbey moves and flows, which brings to mind the changes in from WWI-WW2 in England. Ending with Dario Marianelli's Mrs. Darcy actually takes us backward in time but back to a romantic ending.

                                                      I am paying homage to the English movies I love to see.

   You can find all this music on musicnotes.com where I search often. Thank-you, Musicnotes for making my life easier.

My Wish To You