Simpedia

Kerry V., Australia

Firstly, you need to establish who is in charge. They should be in your territory, not you in theirs. If you allow them to do this then they will claim territory in all other areas and you will find you will be struggling with them.

Secondly, before anyone starts with me I have the conversation with them that explains the no teaching of reading until they are in level 4. I thoroughly recommend they keep playing pieces they know by memory; however I ask for their agreement that they do not do any reading until we are ready. If they follow these instructions they WILL be successful. If they don’t follow the instructions there will be struggles and eventually they will leave unsatisfied. Explain to them that although it may seem unfair or unjust, they will not “get it” if they don’t follow the steps first through SM. It is tried and true so ask them to trust you and the process. Do your best not to be bullied into doing something you don’t want to do. It is contrary to SM teaching to teach this way. If you allow them to do this then they are not learning SM, they are learning ‘their’ way.

You mention that although you are working through it with them they don’t have the tools. You admit yourself that the tools are helpful so stop being led and be the leader.

If the scenario is often like this then you will need to learn how to become stronger in your conviction and conversations with people in this situation. Trust yourself.

Sorry, I go on a bit when it comes to reading before people are ready and have seen all too often when this falls flat and how often it works when a student trusts the teacher and method fully. Our society has been so indoctrinated with reading music that many people have lost the true beauty and experience of what music can really be, that is, enjoyable, self expressive, fun, a constant learning and achievement which can be carried through your entire life, not a short term stint that the trad lessons seem to achieve.

So, take charge, ask for their agreement to trust you and the method and get on with teaching SM. If they are not willing to agree in doing it this way then it is time to part with them.

Carrie L., Michigan

I think if a student has had prior experience with reading, then you should let them continue reading on their own if they’d like. I was an experienced musician when I started teaching Simply Music and I continued reading music. I had several ‘transfer’ to Simply Music students who still played their old songs (which I didn’t know till later).

I think teaching them their reading material however is not a good idea. In my lack of experience I have done that with a student or two and I found that they ended up quitting because the process wasn’t a good one… they weren’t ready to read and I hated working through the reading with them. It would be better to lose them before they start if they are not willing to listen to you as the teacher.

Sue C., Australia

I have a student in Accomp 1 who is also doing RR 1. When he says he can play a song with melody that I have asked him to prepare in accomp ( he has been previously taught to read from his mother) I told him the following.

It is wonderful that you can play the melody but with the Simply Music program, I am only up to chords RH and single note in LH and you will be doing this for a fair while until I feel it is time to move on, so I am only wanting to hear the accompaniment rendition from you at this stage (although I did hear his first melody song and said it was great).

You could say the same thing about the reading program, that it is excellent that they already read, but with the Simply Music program, we are only up to RR and learning by this method will give you a more solid base in the end as you are learning slowly with a single thought process. I would say it is OK to keep playing whatever they did before but tell them not to play the Simply Music songs from the music book.

I feel it is fine for students to keep playing whatever they want at home as long as they are playing whatever you ask them to first. We cannot tell them to stop doing something they can already do. Try to give it a positive spin.

Cindy B., Illinois

You could say that when a student is good at reading and playing before switching to SM – he has a musical life already – an existing relationship with the piano. To tell a student that they have to leave their relationship behind and totally start from scratch is way too intrusive. I can tell you how Neil responded to a somewhat similar situation when coaching me. I had sent him a video of one of my early piano recitals after having switched all my students to SM. I played in the recital, a non SM piece, WITH music. You could say that at that point I was maintaining my relationship with the piano and most of the language that I spoke was still in the traditional vocabulary and practice. I asked, during our phone conversation, what he thought about the recital, not really thinking of my own performance but of my students.

I caught Neil almost saying something that included words like “surprised to see you reading…”. But he bit his tongue and went on with our conversation. I noted that partial blurt and thought about it a lot. I shall not ever try to tell a student what he does with his free time as it relates to his existing relationship with the piano. Neil chose not to intrude on what could have been considered an intimate and cherished part of my musical life – he respected my musical life enough to step back and let me grow into the Simply Music frame of reference.

Please note that I’m talking about what a student does in his own free time. I am NOT talking about what happens in the Simply Music piano lesson or the home assignment – that remains Simply Music territory – none of the traditional approach belongs there.