Simpedia

Maureen K., California

I would try to make it as celebratory as possible. Look at all the pieces he has learned! If his playlist is in good shape, I might spend the lesson hearing his entire playlist and then encourage him to keep it alive.

Or, you could have him create a “set list.” He picks his favorite six or eight songs, and writes the list on a piece of paper, ordering them to make a good mini concert. Start and end with strong pieces. Mix singing and no singing, fast and slow. Write the final list in big letters with a sharpie. Suggest he keep it at his piano and play it for friends and relatives who request him to play.

Julia S., Kansas

Why don’t you ask him what *he* would find to be most meaningful and then do that?

Hope it’s a good and memorable time for you both….

Shelly W., California

I don’t know the details of why your student is quitting, but your question inspired me to respond in a way that blends something I learned from Robin Keehn, along with a separate but relevant discussion the Southern California Simply Music teachers recently had with Neil Moore here in Los Angeles.

A couple of symposiums ago, Robin presented on teaching Levels 1- 4. She encouraged us to write down with the students all the things they had learned in Level 1 when they get to the end of it. The students and parents have the experience of seeing how much information has been acquired (Robin puts everything up on a whiteboard), and they also get a visual representation of exactly how they have learned a valuable way of learning music.

For example, Dreams Come True teaches us that songs can be made of sentences, that sentences have direction (stepping up & down), sentences can be repeated, there can be a tailpiece using direction (above and below), and that lyrics can match the melody played in the right hand. That’s to name a few!

Robin writes this on a whiteboard. I sometimes have students write it in their notes books. Seeing these extracted components of how songs are constructed is crucial to improvising and composing, which helps toward the goal of becoming a self-generative musician.

This brings me to the meeting we had with Neil recently in Los Angeles. There was a depth in the conversation, which continues to impact how I teach, and my experience of teaching. The way Neil described his vision of the global impact music education can have, aligned me with a larger picture, and re-calibrated my sense of purpose as a piano teacher.

He talked about how current global problems such as world peace and world hunger will be solved by a new species of human being, using creative and improvisatory thinking instead of only mathematical, scientific or engineering solutions. The creative thinking required to solve these global issues is developed and strengthened through music.

This concept caused a shift in how I perceive myself as a piano teacher, and it also gave me deeper insight into the significance of learning music, particularly how to compose and improvise. Not only is improv fun, not only is it an important avenue for expression, and a possible physical, social and emotional release and/or confidence builder, but it also has strong cognitive implications. I’ve started to see improvisation as “eating your veggies,” a necessary musical experience for cognitive health. The world needs people to have the ability and courage to improvise, to take an existing reality, and create a new one.

Ever since that meeting with Neil, I’ve had every student create an arrangement of Night Storm, which includes playing the original version, rearranging the melody in the same or different place on the keyboard, going back to the original version (if desired) and then creating an ending and a title. I realize this is not a new idea for a comp/improv project, however what’s new for me is seeing the underlying importance of a project like this to cognitive functioning, which may one day help solve major global issues.

So, Karolee, when you wrote that this is your student’s last lesson, it made me think of the age-old contemplation – what would you do if this was the last day of your life? I’ve really thought about your question, and find myself asking what I would want my students to take with them; what would I want them to have forever?

Your student may not be able to remember how to play Dreams Come True a month from now, but he can most definitely be given the message and the experience that he has the power to create new realities (for now, on the piano). Making the list Robin suggested would help him be aware of the creative tools available to him.

Who knows how he may one day contribute to the well being of the world, and not even realize that it was three months of piano lessons that opened his mind to a new way of thinking.