Simpedia

Brianna S. Arizona

Formula for Success

To be a successful Simply Music student, use the following tools. Count your points and write
the total for each category on the line.

Today’s Date_____________________

1. Participate in class — _____________ (15 points possible)
Sing along with yourself, teacher, and classmates (3 points)
Participate in games (2 point)
Play along on Practice Pad (2 points)
Listen carefully when others play (2 points)
Stay at the table during class (2 point)
Bring all materials to class (4 points)

2. Playlist — _____________ (10 pts. possible)
Keep all songs alive (5 points)
Mark your playlist (5 points)

3. Audio File — ______________ (8 points possible)
Listen to the Audio File before starting to play new song (5 points)
Play your songs with the Audio File (3 points)

4. Video — _____________ (10 points possible)
Watch Video before playing a new song (5 Points)
Watch one section at a time (3 points)
Use the practice pad while watching the Video
— follow along (2 points)

5. Composition/Improvisation — _____________ (10 points possible)
Compose a new song when assigned or just for fun (4 points)
Compose lyrics when assigned or just for fun (3 points)
Use your tools to help you compose (3 points)

6. Practice — _____________(15 points possible)
15-30 minutes a day (3 points)
Play some current projects and some playlist songs
every time you practice (3 points)
Practice 5 days a week (4 points)
(extra points if you practice more than 5 days a week) (5 points)

7. Control the events — _____________ (5 points possible)
Do not play the next note until you think about it and know what comes next

8. Current Projects — _____________ (8 points possible)
Practice the same day they are assigned (2 points)
If your current project has a Video/CD, watch it when you
get home from class, before practicing (3 points)
If current project does not have Video/CD, practice as soon
as you get home, before bed, and as soon as you get up
in the morning, then once a day as usual (3 points)

9. Tools — _____________(14 points possible)
Learn the tools for each song (5 points)
Speak instructions aloud when assigned (3 points)
Make sure you or a friend provides the melody for
accompaniment pieces (3 points)
Use the tools to help start playing a song in various places
other than the beginning (3 point)

10. Play for friends/family — _____________(5 points possible)
This is separate (extra) from regular practice time
(as a “soloist,” as duets, or as an accompanist) (3 points)
Find other places to play and share your music
(church, a friend’s house, etc.) (2 points)

There are 100 points possible. The greatest success and the quickest, easiest progress will be achieved when all of these things do add up to 100.

Teacher’s comments ___________________________________________________________

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Parent’s comments _____________________________________________________________

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Mark M. New York

Brianna, thanks for taking a crack at this!

Everything you mention there is certainly important, and I like how you keep things simple, with 10 questions, each rated 1-10.

About a year ago, I’d written a newsletter piece for my students/parents, adapted from some material I’d seen elsewhere. It included a number of questions for students/parents to be asking themselves regularly. Some things here aren’t in your formula but may be important enough to include. For example, same time every day, practicing ideally six-seven days a week (which should “score higher” than practicing the minimum recommended five/week), keeping the repertoire alive, singing along, etc.

And I didn’t even include in my piece either speaking instructions aloud or using the practice pad, which, along with controlling the events, were said by some fairly experienced teachers at January’s conference to be the three most important elements of the method. Perhaps these could be understood as implicit within using all the Student Home Materials and learning strategies, but if they’re that important, maybe they ought to be broken out.

I thought I’d share these thoughts to see what they spur for Brianna and anyone else, and in the meantime I may take a crack at a version of the formula as well.

Kerry V. AU

I was really interested in the Formula for Success so this week I used the form Brianna kindly sent us. As I progressed through the lessons there were questions which could quite easily been added. However, having said that, all of my students/parents, were intrigued and interested in what I presented to them and how it could support them at home. I only gave it out to those in Level 3 up. I feel it ties in extremely well with Rhea’s number system but would not give them out at the same time as it could be too much information at one time. It helped clarify important parts for my students in areas they need to work on, or have forgotten.

I like the % recognition as this helps the students to ‘see’ where they are heading, could have been heading, are at present or what they can do to improve on their success. It also helps them see that THEY are the ones responsible for their success. (not to take that off my hands in any way).

I am certainly looking forward to seeing the outcome from my students next week.

Beth S. Tennessee

I like this whole discussion about the Formula For Success. I hope to incorporate student evaluations into my school year this fall and use yours and/or Mark’s form as a guide. While I think the ideas are really good, the thing that strikes me about this form is that it seems so complicated and overwhelming. I’m quite certain that as the teacher, I wouldn’t want to expend time or energy tallying up points. Somehow it doesn’t seem to fit our name “Simply Music.” I really don’t think students or their parents will want to do it either. I may be wrong, but when I see how hard it seems for people to just get the basics done, I’m quite skeptical that people will actually sit down and complete forms. I think it’s much better to give people concepts and ideas to shoot for then to complicate it all with points and percentages.

[answer author="Sue K. AU"]

I also am intrigued with this discussion. I started to look at all aspects of the formula and realized there is so much that could be in it. I think I came up with about 40 individual points so thought it might be helpful to address one or two areas at a time. This gives the students a small aspect to tackle, especially if they are well short of the 100%. I love the idea of a disc colored in, to see the white areas. This is great. Thanks for the food for thought.

Mark M. New York

I totally agree that, given whatever level of awareness of whatever gap there might be between where a student is at and 100%, the best strategy is to then proceed incrementally, tackling one small area after another. No matter what someone’s gap might be, including very big ones, the point is to identify the areas of need and then to strategize. Whether one attaches numbers or not, if there’s no clarity about the totality of the gap, then any steps forward are likely to be less than strategic. I would then suggest that, the bigger the gap, the less likely there is to be clarity unless it is quantified.

With most things, the amount of resistance one shows to something probably indicates the amount of opportunity that lies on the other side. Those who would score high probably least need to see their scores but probably also would have little problem filling out the scores. On the other hand, it’s those who would score low that would probably put up the most fight — but the very fact that they would score low indicates that they’ve probably been putting up a fight all along, and all the more qualitative talk about concepts and ideas has obviously not yet succeeded. They would resist doing the scores but that would indicate the tremendous opportunity they would have in seeing the score. The quantitative may be the concrete thing they need to see in order to finally actually understand the gap between their reality and what we’ve been asking of them.

To me this is the win-win of scoring, even though scoring may seem “complicated” and not “Simply” Music. Those who need it least won’t mind doing it. Those who mind most need it most, and it may be the very wake-up call needed to give them a moment of reckoning to finally get in gear.

And obviously any teacher who for whatever reason doesn’t want to do this kind of scoring and would prefer to keep talking only about more qualitative things can make that choice.

Sandy L. Nebraska

Here is how I have always regarded it. Brief is obvious—doesn’t last long. Then sustained is something that continues awhile. Prolonged continues even longer.

Out of curiosity, I checked my dictionary, which is American Heritage, and the one my English teacher husband prefers. I wonder if maybe they capture the nuances of words better perhaps. (?) I’ll ask him why that is all we have in the house—LOL.

Sometimes words are pretty close and yet have just a little different connotation. Here’s what Am. Heritage has to say:

Sustain = 1. To keep in existence; maintain. (Definitions 2-8 were for different connotations of the word and did not seem to apply to our circumstance.)

Prolong = 1. To lengthen in duration; protract. 2. To lengthen in extent. Further, protract means to draw out or lengthen in time; prolong.

So, to my way of thinking, a peak, plateau or valley could appear for a brief time and then quickly be gone. Or, it could be kept in existence and maintained for a bit (sustained). Or, it could be a long, drawn out affair (prolonged).

Mark M. New York

I take the intention to be simply short / medium / long. Any three words that convey that seem to me to get the point across.

The approach I took to a draft of a Formula For Success was to lump relevant factors together. This allows a number of important factors to be brought in, more so than if each item to be scored was very specific / fine-grained. It also allows related/integrated factors to be treated/scored in a related/integrated way. Maybe most importantly, all of this ends up providing people with a good picture of what would be needed for each item to receive a score of 10. I tried to do 10 items, but everything seemed to organize itself into just nine! Maybe if you score a 90, you get 10 bonus points for perfection, and maybe people will be quite taken with the idea that they can’t get higher than 90 unless they do everything perfectly 🙂 In any case, feedback welcome.

Lesson Participation
What a 10 looks like: Have all your materials ready for lesson, including having your Playlist open to the current page and ready for review. Participate actively during lesson time, including focusing and actively observing when not at the piano, and supporting fellow classmates. Write in the Notes book only what is provided by the teacher.

Practice Routine
What a 10 looks like: Practice ideally daily but at least five days a week, practice ideally at the same time each day, practice any given project for at most 5-10 minutes at a time, practice enough total time (usually 15-35 minutes a day) to make steady progress on all current projects while also keeping all repertoire pieces alive.

Playlist and Notes
What a 10 looks like: Use the Playlist and Notes books to manage what projects you practice each day, and mark your Playlist after each individual piece is practiced.

Working on Current Projects
What a 10 looks like: Practice all new assignments the same day they are assigned. For projects with support materials, review all assigned materials the day they are assigned before practicing for the first time. For memory pieces, practice as soon after lesson as possible, again before bed that night, and again as early as possible the next day, then proceeding to the regular daily practice routine. Continue to practice all current projects each day you practice until each enters your repertoire.

Student Home Materials (SHM)
What a 10 looks like: Use all of the Student Home Materials whenever appropriate for learning pieces, including listening to the Audio File before practicing a new piece, watching the video before practicing any element of a new piece, using the Practice Pad prior to practicing any element of a new piece on an instrument, using videos and printed materials as long as needed to get a piece comfortable, and playing along with the Audio File to improve rhythm and tempo.

Controlling the Events (CTE)
What a 10 looks like: Control the events whenever you are practicing or playing any song, whether it is the first time you’re learning a piece or whether it is a piece that’s been in your repertoire for years. Always focus whenever appropriate on Single Thought Processes (STP) to ensure that, whatever element of a piece you’re working, you can control the events as easily as possible. In short, a 10 looks like never making a mistake, ever, always taking as long as you need to think about what’s needed to play every note correctly every time.

Create Music
What a 10 looks like: Regularly improvise your own music and compose your own pieces, giving them titles and, when appropriate, lyrics.

Play Outside of Practice
What a 10 looks like: Find regular opportunities to play for other people whether as a soloist, as an accompanist, doing duets, or in bands or other groups of musicians. Find regular opportunities to play in locations other than the place you usually practice. Regularly find time to play your repertoire pieces simply for your own enjoyment.

Learning Strategies
What a 10 looks like: Use all other learning strategies provided whenever appropriate, including speaking instructions out loud while you practice, singing or humming along while you play, staying aware of any patterns present in a piece, remaining able to explain all instructions from all SHM including printed diagrams, keeping fingers touching keys in position and making adjustments/changes only when needed, ensuring that the melody is provided by you or someone else whenever you practice accompaniments, etc.