Adults who don’t like the Blues
Found in: Adult Students, Blues, Claiming Territory, Practicing & Playlists, Student Management
Jill L., AU
I have an issue with an adult student in her sixties who is objecting more and more to playing the Blues. We are up to Billy at the Footy and she tells me she is just not going to learn it because it sounds horrible. As for Dark Blue, she and her husband agree that it is funeral music, and she CAN”T STAND IT! She wants to say to Neil that it’s like being a Rugby player and the coach wants you to learn to play soccer as well, because it’s all ‘football’. She practices conscientiously and tells me she gets up every morning and goes straight to the piano, to play for example Lullaby (never Light Blue).
So, not having the big picture or knowing what is up ahead after level 4, my question is, how important is it for her to learn Billy at the Footy? What important learning is involved for someone who only plans later on to play ‘beautiful classical music’, especially Strauss waltzes? How would others handle this?
One more question about her. She tells me the learning tools mean nothing to her and when she goes back to Dreams Come True, she can still play it but has no idea what the diagrams mean. After I introduce a new song to her, she tells me she will forget everything as soon as I am gone and she will watch the videos and write down what she needs to then repeat till she has memorized it. I know she does forget quickly because sometimes by the end of the lesson she has already forgotten what we learnt at the start, as if we never did it. So how important is it that I continually revise the earlier learning strategies in the hope that they will start to mean something to her?
Kerry V., AU
Firstly, she makes it a statement that she will forget. Seems to me she sits in the class, with thought, be it conscious or subconscious, that, ‘oh well, I don’t have to listen now, I’ll go home and learn it again with my own notes”. Any wonder she doesn’t remember or know what the diagrams mean. She is only using the videos to get what she thinks she needs, writes up her own notes and goes from there. Do not have your students write up notes for themselves in class or at home.
As a teacher we need to be quizzing them constantly to see if they had ‘got it’ for playing AND strategies. When they see the importance, and the emergence of the why’s and wherefore’s they are more likely to connect and understand what is expected of them and why. (did you see the Forum awhile ago where one teacher sent a list of questions she uses to ask her students? Well worth looking at) Also learning to trust you and the method is really important. You will learn that those students who write their own notes are not learning the SM way, they are doing it ‘their’ way, hence confusion sets in. It is extremely important to do everything suggested in your training by Neil. He doesn’t teach us something that has no relevance to us or the student or is short term. Trust the process. There are many things I still don’t know the why’s and wherefores but I enjoy being in that place of growing and knowing there is going to be another gem around the corner.
Secondly, many students don’t like a particular genre. (Usually Blues if any). If a student shies away from a genre, that is the time to have a conversation with them. Explaining that the song may sound different, strange, finger movements may be different. What ever it is you need to talk to them. Explain that it is NOT the song we are learning to get down pat, it is the understanding of the piece. Playing it is the easy part, understanding can be more difficult.
Thirdly, criticizing the song and arguing that it sounds like footy because of the name is nit picking on something you don’t like and wanting to anchor in the dislike. Simply have her change the name. What does she do that makes her feel energetic, or the ‘mood’ this gives her. Let’s say she loves walking briskly. Then call it something like, my walk in the park. This will give her a different sense of what the song means to her. This may help her slow the playing down and understanding the shifts she needs to make. Or does she like sewing. Sometimes we have to go back and fourth when sewing certain garments. Any thing that relates to the student.
As for her dislike of all the blues, well, she simply needs to go back to the beginning to understand the strategies and everything involved in blues. Soon you will be able to show her the transitions you can make in the Accomp L1 and show her some amazing stuff. Therefore, the knowledge of her blues she can create music SHE likes.
Fourth, she plays with the keyboard on. How often does she play with the practice keypad? Does she have an electric piano she can practice the moves without sound.
Fifth, You ask “how important is it for her to learn Billy at the Footy? What important learning is involved for someone who only plans later on to play ‘beautiful classical music’, especially Strauss waltzes?” Trust the process, both you and her. Know that everything we do from the very beginning is learning steps to something down the track. So, it isn’t so important for you to know how important Billy at the Footy but rather, it is important to have those walking skills. It is a tricky song. It is important to know the Blues for all the different movements we use. So many reasons I may not be aware of yet but I don’t need to. You get to know what you need to know when you know it. As with your students.
Victoria S., CA
Two thoughts. First, tell her that Simply Music doesn’t require a student like a song, just that they learn how to play it.
Second, ask her to teach you how she teaches herself to memorize something, and the answer, “I just play it a lot” doesn’t count. Something is happening during each play time, and if she doesn’t like the learning tools Simply Music provides, she must provide her own and be able to explain them to you.
She reminds me of a stubborn child who only wants to study the subjects she likes in school yet expects to go to college some day. She may not understand the importance of a math problem in the class room that will one day make a huge difference in her life when she is calculating how many yards of fabric she will need for the dress she is going to sew later on i life.
Okay, maybe not the best example, but I think you get the idea. She is claiming territory and both of you are going to eventually lose. If you claim territory, she may leave your studio, but then only she will lose, not you, too.
I have an 80 yr. old student who has been claiming territory about learning how to learn for four months. Now we have entered FN 2 and she can’t keep up with her class, which is now an embarrassment for her. So, she is paying me for private lessons to catch up so she can stay with the class she has bonded with. I was so ready to let her go – and she knew it.
I would also suggest you have your student placed in a group setting ASAP. It will make a huge difference.
Joanne J., AU
One of the challenges in teaching mature age students is that they have a bunch of life skills already entrenched and at their disposal so they can often access the earlier pieces ‘their way’ without making the effort to learn a new way of learning which after all is the whole secret of the Simply Music program. Mid Level 4 is about the time they will give up if the Simply Music method has not been taken on board as their own ‘method’ will no longer be effective . One of my students, a lady (in her 60’s) came to me in level 5 and did not ‘get it’ (the method). She was bemoaning the fact that she couldn’t remember her playlist and had to keep revising to keep it alive. After going back over the earlier levels, explaining the tools and the diagrams and also being free of worrying about the song itself, finally the penny dropped. She is now about to start level 8 and still gets excited about how effective those basic tools are in accessing the more complicated pieces and in retaining them.
So, I have found that with students who are fiercely determined not to pay attention to the ‘tools’ it is best not to demonstrate the piece first so they have no aural clues to guide them and take their attention. I go straight to the key pad to unfold each step using the relevant strategies and explaining the diagrams as we go. It comes back to the fact that a student’s focus is about playing the song and hearing the end result (short term goal) whereas our focus is teaching them a bunch of tools to open the door to all the music they might ever want to play. The saying (abb) ‘teach a man to fish rather than give a man a fish’ comes to mind.
The Blues: they are wonderful for teaching us to move our hands around the keyboard easily and in rhythm as well teaching our fingers to translate tricky rhythms, both essential skills in classical as well as blues music. Because it is more challenging and takes more effort it is hard for older students to take it on board particularly if they are not keen on the blues in the first place. I tell them that the good news is that there is no requirement for them to like it they just have to spend a few minutes each day on a small section and that’s that! They all end up quite enjoying it in spite of themselves as long as we acknowledge that their dislike is perfectly valid. (Lady mentioned above now loves the blues!)
As for Dark Blue: I personally disliked it at first, which now seems amazing. Just seemed to be a whole bunch of unrelated, awkward chords and series of notes that did nothing for me (and I loved blues and popular jazz to listen to!). Now it is a favorite contemplative piece of music and, as we saw at a concert last weekend by one of Heather Morphitt’s students, it can be developed into a beautiful more classical piece of music if desired.
Your student is currently missing the DIAMONDS (hidden in the coal!) and every song in every level contains precious gems that will empower her to access all the music of her choosing once she has mastered them. You can confidently tell her that if she TRUSTS THE PROCESS by learning the way of learning she will realise her dream. It might be worth looking at Sonata in C with her and showing how previous tools learned give a foundation on which to unfold this classical piece. The Fur Elise version in level 5 is relatively close in time too, perhaps play that for her to ‘dangle the carrot’ and emphasise the tools used.
Having said all that (and there is much more I could add), if your student simply won’t use the method then give her your blessing to find another style of teacher. I have had the experience of making that suggestion to someone and they were astounded that the situation was that serious and subsequently did an amazing about face – must have been speaking a foreign language in the previous months!!! It would also have been perfectly OK for her to go elsewhere – we cannot be all things to all people.