I am so excited to announce a new podcast that I am hosting with my friend and colleague Abigail Peterson.
On the Beyond the Music Lesson Podcast we will talk about learning music, teaching music and parenting music students.
Our first intro episode, where you can hear about who we are and our vision for the podcast, is now live.
You probably signed your child up for lessons excited about what they would learn.
You pictured them playing their instrument with a big smile and steady progress.
You may have observed lessons or group classes and seen children playing music with ease and expected to see your child do the same.
So why is progress going so slow?
Why does it feel like you’re having the same lesson over and over again many weeks in a row.
Why does it seem like you’re practicing, but nothing is happening?
Parents looking for lessons often ask me this question: How do I know my child will like it? Especially if your child isn't sure which instrument they want to play or is too young to really make that decision, you may struggle with this idea too. You may know the research that having parents who are committed to their child playing an instrument long term is a huge factor in student success (you can read more about that HERE) So,…
“I can’t do this!” “It’s too hard!” “I’ll never get it!”
Comments like these (or trying to avoid practicing a specific practice task) are strong indications that a student does not feel they are capable of something we are asking them to do.
Some students may not even be able to verbalize these thoughts and simply act out or seem to lose interest in studying their instrument.
To keep our students motivated it’s important to to address these feelings. Feeling capable and seeing that it is possible to accomplish something plays a huge role in staying motivated.
I’d like to suggest 4 ways to help students feel capable & would love to hear what you think works the best for your children or students.
Last week I started a new blog series about keeping students inspired and motivated. You can read the first post in the series HERE.
In that article I outlined three things students need to stay motivated and inspired including seeing progress, feeling capable, and finding joy in the process. Today we’re focusing on the importance of helping students see their progress!
Students stay engaged & motivated in the process of learning their instrument by being able to see that they are, in fact, making progress.
Practicing is hard. It takes a huge amount of concentration, discipline, and persistence to get it done everyday. It’s just human nature to feel like it is not worth it if we can’t see some kind of tangible progress along the way!
“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”
-William Butler Yeats
Happy New Year! I love the feeling of a fresh start that the new year brings. I am coming back from a couple weeks off feeling refreshed and with a renewed commitment to help keep my students motivated and inspired this year.
As a teacher I feel strongly that my job goes beyond teaching the mechanics of playing the violin or viola. If all my students get from me is some technical knowledge about their instrument then I don’t think I’ve really done my job.
One of my first jobs as a teacher is to instill a love of music in my students, once that has been established it is much easier to expect them to work hard. Working hard at something we love is a totally different feeling than working hard on something someone else loves. How do we get this to happen?
I love looking back at the end of the year to reflect on what my year was like and how I want to approach the new year. I thought as part of that process this year I would share my favorite things of 2016 related to teaching. I hope you will share your your favorites in the comments.
Suzuki Experience – Written by Suzuki parent Alan Duncan, this is a great blog about Suzuki from the parent perspective. I find myself sharing posts from this blog with the parents in my studio all the time.
The Plucky Violin Teacher This blog is a fantastic resource for parents and teachers alike. Written by Suzuki violin teacher Brecklyn Ferrin this blog has great ideas and resources about teaching and practicing. I highly recommend it. Breckyn’s blog was one of the first Suzuki blogs I started following regularly and is a big inspiration to me.
Teach Suzuki is written by Suzuki teacher Paula Bird, who also created the Teach Suzuki Podcast which can be found HERE on itunes. I started reading Paula’s blog a number of years ago and have found great information on it about teaching, running my studio, and even making goals for the new year. I had the pleasure of meeting Paula in person this year as she visited Oregon which was very fun!
I get many calls for prospective violin & viola students from parents requesting more information. I always explain my program and direct them to my website for more information.
A phrase I hear some parents use when they describe why they want to start lessons is: my child seems interested in music (or the violin) and we want to try it out to see if they will like it.
As a parent I completely understand that this is the approach we take for many things we sign our children up for. We often sign them up for many different types of activities in order to expose them to a wide variety of things and to see what they enjoy.
A word of caution though.
It’s the time of year when many people are focused on the holidays and on giving. When this season is at it’s best, there is a big focus on acts of service and spreading joy. It is also a great time to teach our children and students about giving. Music can be a great way to do this!
Sharing music with family, friends and the community can be a great way to learn the power of giving. It’s an important value I want my own children and my students to adopt, this time of year, and all year long.
Here are some ways you can think about helping your students or children give the gift of music this season:
One thing I’ve noticed about students and families that are successful in the Suzuki Method, is their ability to stay focused on the big picture.
There are endless details to keep in mind when learning a musical instrument, and it’s easy to get over focused on some of them and forget what is really important.
As a teacher I like to think of three basic ways for students and families to focus on the big picture: Tone, Technique, and Character.
If you are working on a piece in practice and you are unsure of what to work on next, Tone is always a good answer.
Tone is defined (by the Mirriam-Webster Dictionary) as “the quality of sound produced by a musical instrument or singing voice.” It goes beyond playing in tune. How warm is the sound? Does it having a ringing quality or harsh quality to it?