Simpedia

Karen G., Tennessee

You might try to explain that as they learn additional arrangements in addition to the songs found in the table of contents, having a written reminder (the Playlist) is necessary to manage the growing Playlist. Also, as their playlist grows, they will not necessarily be able to play each and every song every day (nor would they necessarily want to), and without a written record of what they have practiced day to day, it becomes more likely that as the Playlist grows a piece or two will be left out, even if unintentionally.

In the beginning, they may be able to keep up with all their pieces, there will come a time when they need the written record. I tell my students that by marking the Playlist from the beginning, they will get in the habit of marking it, therefore, when they truly need it as a management tool, the habit will already be formed.

Finally, you could explain to them that the marked Playlist is also a tool for you… so you know what they are working on and so you can have a visual record of what they are playing and how frequently.

I have found that with my students, those who use a Playlist that is not in the back of the book tend to do a better job using it than those who use the Playlist in the back of the book. I think it has something to do with the visual reminder of checking pieces off if they can see the Playlist sitting next to their books on the piano.

Kerry V., Australia

I have gotten to the stage where I do not teach any new songs if the Playlist has not been marked. Even with students I know practice. I want them to use all the support materials they have as I have seen the huge benefits of doing so compared to not using them.

The Playlist is a tool for parent, student and teacher. The parent can see daily where their child is at by looking at it, even if they sit with them during practice. The student can see which song to play, as their Playlist grows you do actually forget some songs you play for different reasons, so who is to say they have forgotten about Ode to Joy and you introduce them to the arrangement, struggle ensues and thus frustration and disappointment. Every step is to enhance a sense of achievement, so this could be devastating to some students. Re learning a song can be so disastrous for some people and can step the student back quite a few steps, this is especially bad if in a shared situation.

For the teacher, I have said that if a student comes to me and says they are having problems with Night Storm (eg) and I see they have marked their Playlist, it tells me that I need to go over the fundamentals again for them, or a specific area. If it is not marked then we know the possibility they have not played it is very high.

Communicate it with conviction in yourself that this is as important a tool as anything else in the support materials and share the conversations with them all, equally how important it is to mark their list. Remember their Playlist will become so long they will not be able to remember all their pieces and some will fall between the cracks.

Additionally, the system Rhea set up using 1-5 as a guide to where the songs are at is extremely helpful. I have my students mark their Playlist with the number, not a tick, so they can see immediately how their practice structure can be over the week or that day. If they see many 3’s, a few 4’s and a couple of 5’s they have work to do so they can decide whether to spend more time on the 3’s today and more time tomorrow on the 5’s etc. They play all the songs however spend more time on the songs they need to.

My students now come in and immediately hand over their books and I show them all how the student has gone and if there has been no marks or practice we talk about it with everyone. My students know that I am not singling out one but educating them all. These times turn out very successful as all students learn they cannot get away with falling away from where I want them to be. They know that I care enough about their progress that I will do anything to support them, even if it means constant conversations about practice during class. I have found this to work extremely well and now the progress with my students has increased, I feel, because of my supportive actions and yet stronger convictions that everything we are given works.

Cindy B., Illinois

I’ve had some students neglect their Playlist, and while it’s small, they get away with it, though I make sure they know that their neglect is NOT what I want. I remind them that it’s a necessary discipline that’ll be so appreciated by them once they are trying to manage a large Playlist. Some believe me and some don’t.

What has always happened, at least for me, is that when a lesson comes along where I’m checking, say, the Level 1 songs with a student in Level 4, we discover that they aren’t as good as they think, and sometimes they’ve even accidentally ‘lost’ a song that should be there still. My response is to stop all forward progress in the notesbook and arrangements until they get their tush home and sit it down in front of the video and figure it out. That sort of experience seems to impress the student with the NEED to maintain their repertoire with the Playlist. I’m always thinking of ways to communicate to the students that the Playlist/video/audio are home materials that they NEED.

Janita P., Nebraska

Great question having just dealt with this issue with my students. I confessed my negligence in not physically checking their Playlists and gave them a “heads up” of one week and now do it faithfully. There has been an improvement with those who were already diligently checking theirs, but has made a HUGE difference in those students who were only playing “the songs they liked” or “the easy ones”.

Here is an encouraging example:

I have three siblings enrolled in the program (the preschooler comes along for the ride) and the father sits on the couch grinning from ear-to-ear because they are fighting over who gets to play which song. After their lesson I sit down for a moment and say “whew!” because it takes so much energy just to contain this family’s enthusiasm!

The father researched SM thoroughly before starting lessons. He didn’t want his children to have the same experience he did-start traditional lessons for one year, hate it and quit. But, he is a rare exception in that he was basically self-taught in piano until college. He now has his Doctorate in Music and is the band Director at a prestigious private school in Omaha (I try not to think about that during lessons!) and has recently completed writing a musical “King of Kings” which is scheduled to tour America first and then the Sates.

So, with all of this said, it is another reason to do what Neil prescribes!

I forgot to add, the biggest change in this family’s desire to play, was checking their Playlist diligently.

Kevin M., California

I have found from teaching this program since it’s inception, the Playlist to be both the most important, and the most difficult part of the entire Simply Music program. It is by far the most important piece of the Simply Music program, for many reasons. The most important being where we are headed, the “Reading Programs” as well as musicality, and the ability to learn new songs. Neil always goes into great depth with this in his seminars, in coaching sessions, in Trainings – and there is a reason for this.

As far as enforcing the Playlist with your students, it has a lot to do with staying on top of it, from the very first lessons. Also it has a lot to do with how important you perceive the Playlist to be, from a teacher’s standpoint. To me as an example, if you asked your student to watch the video for Dreams, and they did not do this, and consequently did not have the whole song complete, would you as a teacher let this just slip by with an, “Oh well just try and do a better job on the next song”?  I would assume most teachers out there would address the situation immediately, and get the student on track, if not there would be major problems as time moved on and you would surely lose this student.

The Playlist is no different, it is the most important part of the Simply Music program, it must be addressed and enforced as such. It may take more than one conversation, most likely you will need to check it every week with most students, and ask them to play selections from the list every lesson, as well as remind them to check it almost every lesson. When the student understands the importance of the list, and sees it is a critical part of the program, and finds that you, as the teacher, will accept nothing less than total compliance, you will find your students will comply. It all begins and ends with the teacher’s belief in the Simply Music program as a whole, and having the diligence, and foresight to follow through AT ALL COSTS.