Students want to move faster
Found in: Foundation Songs, Playing-Based Methodology, Student Management
Stephen R., California
I’m having some issues with some students that want to move ‘faster’. There’s a lot we’re trying to fit in during a lesson, but for some students it doesn’t feel like enough, at least according to them. Usually with these students, the playlist suffers.
Just curious, do any teachers ever teach two Foundation pieces in a week in the beginning? Also, how do you handle students that want to learn their favorite piece, way before we have started or completed the reading process? It seems like we’re in an immediate gratification culture where students want to learn their favorite piece yesterday.
It’s like going from A to Z without going through the other letters. First of all, some students need to learn patience. Maybe they haven’t learned that in other aspects of their lives. They need to respect my knowledge as a teacher of this program. They also need to learn to do all things for their own growth as a musician. Some people like structure and others don’t. I do, because of the structured results and foundation of knowledge you get.
Other teachers (maybe outside of SM) might form specific tailored weekly lesson plans for students or work on that one project piece for months. I guess I’m not one of those teachers. I don’t like to be all over the map with lessons. It’s somewhat of a paradox with what students want and what teachers want.
Leeanne I., Australia
Yes, some of my adult students are like that. Someone posted a cartoon last week – “I want to skip to the part where I’m awesome”. I tell them they have to learn to walk before they can run.
My answer is no, I do not teach more than one Foundation piece in one lesson. I do improv to fill up the lesson time in Level 1. Start teaching variations and arrangements earlier with these students, if you think they are ready. With their favorite piece of music, if I can teach it to them accompaniment style, I will when we are doing Accompaniment 1. Otherwise, I tell them they have to wait until they have learned to read and use it as a reading project.
Joanne D., Australia
I don’t give more than one Foundation piece per week but will do Arrangements or additional accompaniment projects or improv. I have a little 7-year-old boy who loves Star Wars who is at the end of Level 2, and when I played the RH opening theme he quickly copied me and in 2 lessons he has learned the whole song RH and now wants the LH. It certainly wasn’t part of my plan, but has really inspired him, and as long as he is coping and keeping up with the SM stuff I can’t see the harm.
Gordon Harvey, Australia
I have on occasion allowed a student to attempt a favorite piece from outside the syllabus before they’ve reached reading. I do it under very strict conditions – I work out a playing-based strategy and I administer the dosage myself, and I make sure the student commits to doing everything else and not glossing over SM projects. Almost every time, it ends up with the student agreeing to shelve the project because it’s too challenging! This usually results in a student who is much more willing to trust me. Actually, if I thought it was beneficial, I might even deliberately overdo the dosage a little to bring about that outcome. Sneaky, yes, but for a good cause…
Heidi M., Canada
I normally do not teach more than one Foundation piece, but in the beginning I once did that with a student who was catching on so quickly. She got both of the songs in that one lesson but then didn’t play them quite correctly when she came back the next week. She used her SHMs but my guess is the language barrier played a role (English is her second language). Looking back, I realize that it was not in her best interests to learn two new songs that class. It’s better to have more “relationship” / foundation and related talks to make sure they understand the process and get maximum benefit out of whatever they do learn, even if it’s one song rather than two per class (or even one per 2 lessons).
Laurie Richards, Nebraska
I have taught students pieces they want to learn as Gordon described, in a playing-based fashion. But it’s always under the condition that their practicing is complete for the week. Then we spend a few minutes at the end of class working a small section. I once taught a student all of Linus & Lucy in this way. It was very motivating for her and didn’t get in the way of the regular content.
Jacqui G., Canada
The more I teach the Foundation curriculum, the more I see the benefits of going slowly. When a student gets impatient, I explain that the goal is not to learn a bunch of songs, but to learn HOW TO LEARN. That usually goes over like a lead balloon, but I clinch it with a line I learned from Neil: “Do you trust me?” I have yet to have anybody say “No, I don’t”.