Simpedia

Leeanne I., Australia

I have listened to the podcast and these are my observations:

1. They have missed the mark completely with practice and student retention. Student retention is about managing the long term relationship. It’s rubbish that their kid won’t ever want to quit.
2. Teaching kids that they can just do what they want is wrong! We are raising adults and teaching them life skills. They won’t be able to pick and choose what they can do in the workforce.

In answer to your questions:
1. I find the biggest motivation is positive feedback from the teacher and parent. Telling students how wonderful they are.
2. The language I use. First, I explain the difference between practice and playing. Practice being your assigned work. Playing being doing what you want just for fun. 15-20 minutes a day on your assigned work is not a lot of time out of 24 hours. This is what will help you progress through the curriculum. If you don’t do it, that’s fine, but I can’t teach you.
3. It think Simply Music is pretty perfect. The majority of Tim Topham’s audience are music teachers that were trained the traditional, classical way and I think this is what this podcast is aimed at.

Heidi M., Canada

I listened to it too… Just a couple of thoughts… 1. I hear what he is saying about the emphasis to make students “love” piano (or music) and “enjoy” it… but what I have observed is that generally people who practice the songs end up enjoying it more because they get better at it. Even something as simple as the 5SS – when a student practices it diligently in the beginning they get excited when they discover they get better at it and then they start to believe they will be able to learn lots of songs etc and will start to love piano. So I am persuaded that instilling good practice habits in the beginning is very important. 2. With a few of my students , stress and even PTSD is playing a role to reduce practice. I allow a lot more leeway there and in those cases make adjustments to what they are working on – for example, less Foundation material and more composition/improv… and then they usually practice more… I believe in the SM approach to the relationship conversation and about importance of practice – and also what Leeanne said about affirming students, that is so huge and important.

Elizabeth B., Australia

I’ve just listened and really enjoyed it. What I heard was basically a tuning in to where the student is at and where they are coming from and then meet them there. I was reminded of the adage meet them halfway and then lead them to where you want to go. I liked what was brought up as the primary goal of learning. To experience music. They kept repeating, the beginner student, the one who is all new, maybe keen, or at least at that young age where they want to do what mum wants them to do and “in love” with playing the piano. How to build on that, capitalise on it. As they said themselves, showing middle c and a scale at first lesson is not going to build on that initial excitement, but showing them how to play a song, will. That is what we do at SM, playing based method. There was also reference to building a big studio, where you have to cast your net wide and need to build student retention, but if that is not your thing, then well you can as a teacher decide to be a practise based studio, or whatever you want. There is much food for thought and action in this podcast, and as I heard it essentially not at all incongruent with Simply Music message; the aim of music as a life time activity, enjoying the process at any level, not concert athlete performance level. Communication with the students and parents was considered important, surely that is the relationship conversation even if you don’t spell it out with Neil’s book. What I got from this is to relax, to first find out where the student is at and interact at their level of experience and motivation. They acknowledged repeatedly that practise is important, but not necessarily in the first lessons, when it may be more productive to foster that enthusiasm and find out what makes the student tick musically. Then you can lead the way effectively in your teaching.

Giana N., California

Just listened to the podcast. I can relate on many levels and enjoyed their lighthearted, pulled back view of music lessons. One thing that they didn’t address is group lessons, and I assume the Music Factory OC guest podcaster primarily runs private lessons. Being able to be a little laxed on practicing wouldn’t quite work in a group environment unless everyone agreed to it. Oh and one more thing…they talk about soccer and other sports but didn’t address that parents often forget that “practicing” sports requires them to show up to the field/court/facility, wherein practicing music requires them to show up at their instrument at home (which tends to be a more negotiated environment than in front of their coach at the sport facility).

Ian B., California

I agree that, when working with a group, the entire group has to be kept on the “same page” with the same expectations and requirements. Otherwise the group will drift apart.

Regarding sports, I often use sports and dance as a distinction example because “practice” in those instances means just showing up to class, whereas piano requires a replication of that “class” several times a week at home. They are completely different activities in that regard.

https://www.pianobelloso.com/piano-lessons-for-children#something-more-rev

Nancy N., Massachusetts

Great point about group lessons and sports practice, Giana N.! I enjoyed this podcast. This is what I got from it: It can be worthwhile to stick with a beginner student who enjoys lessons but is not great about practice, because if you foster their love of music, the practice may come naturally. My thought: this may be true in some circumstances, but sometimes practice doesn’t happen because the parent is not supportive, and young kids really need that support. And yes, Heidi M., the initial practicing can make playing easier and more enjoyable right from the beginning.

One thing in this podcast made me quite uncomfortable. That was when he implied that it’s the job of a teacher to be so engaging, cool and exciting, that students are inspired to continue with music lessons out of admiration for the teacher. In Music and the Art of LTR, Neil states that putting it all on the teacher doesn’t work in the long run.

Ian B., California

UPDATE: After reading everyone’s comments, I realized that I just needed a good refresher on the Core Conversations. Neil discusses at length ALL of the issues above (motivation vs discipline, how to communicate requirements in love without making things “punitive,” making each lesson an experience of success that builds confidence, etc.).

The bottom line for me comes in realizing that once again, our method and approach has already revolutionized the way lessons are done. Getting the parent involved and creating an environment with structure is NOT incongruent with both parent and teacher guiding students toward “falling in love” with music. In fact, that structure is very much necessary in order to progress.

I agree with what Leeanne I. said about the podcast target audience being mostly traditional teachers. Coming from that perspective, practice means something entirely different for many teachers and is often a long, tedious combination of seemingly un-musical activities based on an attempt to teach reading before playing. So, of course students don’t love that.

Once again, I am extremely grateful for Neil Moore’s insight. The relevance of so much of our training continues to surprise and delight 🙂

Mark M., New York

This discussion brings to mind a couple of blog posts I wrote a few months ago, trying to get past notions of discipline and requirements while still keeping an eye on results.

https://potluckcreativearts.com/2020/09/results-a-north-star-for-piano-lessons/

https://potluckcreativearts.com/2020/09/whats-on-your-plate/