Yo Teach! is a new category in my blog where I'll be writing about music education and also posting resources. I'll be writing from my point of view as a both a student and a teacher.
I rarely tell my students to practice piano. I do however encourage them to play piano.
I rarely tell my students to practice piano. I do however encourage them to play piano.
Playing is fun, engaging and enjoyable. Practicing has connotations of homework and chores, an exercise to be repeated again and again. Words are powerful and how you describe something can make a big difference to how someone approaches it. I think approaching a piece of music with a sense of playful exploration is much more conducive to learning than trying to discipline yourself into practicing for a certain amount of time every day. What I hope to avoid when I make the delineation between practicing and playing is a student who diligently goes through the motions of playing something again and again without engaging and listening to what they are playing.
Another reason I'm not so fond of the term practice is because it implies that the music you create during that time is somehow less valid, less real, than music you create in exams or performances. A teacher of mine recommended an excellent book on improvisation and in it (ironically in a chapter entitled Practice) Stephen Nachmanovitch writes:
"We think of practice as an activity done in a special context to prepare for performance or the 'real thing'. But if we split practice from the real thing, neither one of them will be very real"
I know so many people who get music lessons for years and can play amazing pieces but who never consider what they are making to be real music. I'll hear them play something beautiful and they'll say things like "I'm not really a piano player I'm just practicing for a lesson" or "I'm just getting ready for an exam" (if there is ever such thing as the real thing when it comes to playing music, exams are definitely not it! I'll be writing about exams and grades and their role in music education in the next Yo Teach! post).
Of course self-discipline is important if you want to reach certain goals with your playing, but I think what's important to keep in mind is that you can, and should, be engaging with and enjoying each step in the process rather than mindlessly toiling towards an abstract end point at which point the real music will begin.
Of course self-discipline is important if you want to reach certain goals with your playing, but I think what's important to keep in mind is that you can, and should, be engaging with and enjoying each step in the process rather than mindlessly toiling towards an abstract end point at which point the real music will begin.
Recently I was delighted to hear a parent of two children I teach piano to say:
"Ríona's approach to teaching piano is fun and pressure free. My two children are steadily progressing at their own pace playing current music they love and are discovering classics when they're ready. Music is played all the time in our house and it's not even called practicing".
I'm currently taking bookings for a month long singing and/or piano course for the month of August. It's a great chance to try out lessons without having to commit to a full semester. For more info get in touch at info@rionasallyhartman.com.
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