Simpedia

Gordon Harvey, Australia

This is a very interesting topic, and thanks for raising it.

I don’t think any student would expect any teacher to be all things to all people. Music is just too big for anyone to expect to master and not have gaps. And no music program, however inclusive it tries to be, will be a perfect fit for everyone. When Neil created Simply Music, he saw a very obvious hole in what was offered in music education. For every prospective student like that boy, there are a thousand or more who just want to play at an everyday level. It was obvious to Neil that this kind of student was not well served by the piano teaching community. How did he know that? Because so few people really have music as a lifelong companion.

Personally, I feel honored to be able to offer lessons that really work for that great majority of everyday students, and what’s more, I’m not excluded by my own limitations. I can teach the vast majority of potential students very effectively without having a strong formal background. That said, I too would be disappointed to decline such an inspiring, motivated student. However, being a committed Simply Music teacher doesn’t exclude me from developing myself in such a way that some time in the future I could accommodate such a student. What a great project – to develop yourself so you could work with some of these special cases, even though they are a tiny minority. Oh, and a bonus – you get to become a way better player yourself!

There’s no question that becoming a better musician makes you a better teacher, even if it’s in a different arena than the kind of students you teach.

I see opportunities for teachers with strong skills outside the normal reach of Simply Music to contribute to greater offerings in the future. The obvious example is the wonderful Nancy Reese, who has much to contribute to Simply Music. No doubt Nancy would have plenty to offer this boy, and one of the things she may be able to bring to Simply Music in the future might be some kind of specialist stream that would provide training or coaching to Simply Music teachers to help such students (now before anybody gets too excited, it’s just an idea!).

As you work through the regular Simply Music curriculum into the Development program, you’ll find there is more opportunity for students to specialize, and perhaps students will move from one Simply Music teacher to another because of particular strengths they have.

Stephen R., California

I LONG for advanced students like that!! With those students you can really get into exploring technique, interpretation, performance, etc.  In my more than decade of teaching I have had very few advanced students. I was traditionally trained, went to college for a music degree and was in the presence of future concert performers playing Chopin Ballades and Beethoven Sonatas like they were nothing. I was always amazed by the playing I frequently heard! I was absorbed in Chopin for quite a long time myself, reading through Nocturnes and such, mesmerized by the beauty in his music. One can really get lost in the vastness of the repertoire.

I agree that I wish the curriculum could cater more to advanced students. Many of my students, who are not “really” advanced in terms of playing and reading ability, have really had no trouble with any of the most advanced arrangements (Dreams 3, Night 3, I’ll Be There 3, etc). I know “advanced” is a very subjective and relative term.  Is that based on a Classical background or a Jazz/pop background? Two very different roads!

I love the breadth the Simply Music curriculum offers, especially for beginners, but I wish it offered more challenge in early stages for advanced students. The challenge is really remembering.  Maybe, in the future, Simply Music will develop earlier programs to cater to these students. I wish Jazz was presented much earlier.

Just my thoughts!

To answer your final question, I would have tried teaching the student, but only if you felt comfortable. Realize, you would probably be learning from him as well!

Scott J., Australia

There are so many avenues for a player. Did this young man have all the styles in his fingers or only classical? Sometimes a player needs direction in mind and not just in playing it sounds like he might be one of those. We sell ourselves short sometimes and there is no need to do that, we all have something to offer and share we just need to have faith in our own abilities.

It is scary to have a guy walk through the door but exciting as well for all young people can learn from the more experienced and all experienced can learn from the younger ones it’s just how we plan our lesson structure.

For him I would have gone down the jazz route or blues, and if he is comfortable with that then Latin style or accompaniment with singing that can make them think.  Also the rhythm program and reading if he was a master at all of these, I would have asked him for lessons. Hope this is helped but I am sure you would of thought of all these things.

Sometimes we just get to meet some really talented people and we have to wish them the very best in their dreams.

Sue B., Australia

Following on from Gordon – I attended the Melbourne conference in April where Nancy Reese gave one of her amazing “Playing with Ease” workshops on technique. After this Nancy came to Tasmania and gave the Hobart teachers another workshop. I learnt so much from Nancy that difficult passages in a classical or jazz style piece are no longer a stress for me I am still working on playing them better and with more ease and/or verve though!- because I now have more strategies, technically speaking, to work things out.

I have been able to pass some of these techniques on to students who play too heavily or don’t relax properly whose fingers get “stuck” on a key or who don’t pause enough in the right place.

I had a traditional training myself for many years and have taught traditionally also for many years without having all the tools I learnt from Nancy which I am still honing.

As an adult 30 years ago I went back to having piano lessons so I could learn to play better and teach the piano. After taking more exams with one teacher – a few years later I went to my daughter’s classically brilliant teacher for more lessons myself, because he was teaching my daughter to play beautifully and with vitality. Sadly he passed away 5 years ago…..

And then I discovered Simply Music. It took me 3 years to find the courage and commitment to do the teacher training because of personal circumstances/resistances!

But now I have been teaching SM for a few months I am delighted with it – ‘filling in the gaps’ and developing my own and my student’s creative potential.

So, music education for me is truly a life-time relationship and a journey of discovery – I feel so blessed!

If you feel motivated do continue having lessons yourself – but find the right teacher for you.
Maybe meeting this young man is the key to your inspiration!

Missy M., Nebraska

I appreciate your story. I have taught a student who was beyond me in reading skills and probably some playing skills. I was honest with her upfront that there were a few edges I could help round out in her piano experience. I knew from the beginning, as did she, that we would have a limited time together before I was done helping her.

I think we all have to be honest that:

1) we don’t and CAN”T know everything about playing or teaching the piano
2) we will have individual strengths and weakness that affect who and what we teach
3) any and all of our students will only be with us for a time, so make the best of it

I am honest with my students that I am not the best sight reader. I have played the piano since I was 7 and still stink at sight reading (although Reading Notes and TFMM has helped me). I have played the trumpet and sung in choirs my whole life, looking at countless scores of music, and I just don’t like reading.

On the OTHER hand, I love to create and am very free about composition and improve. I love bringing this to the table when I teach and make a huge emphasis on it. I love to bring this ability out in anyone I possibly can. All that to say – I would have sent that student away too (or taken lessons from him) !

You see, there is so much to playing and learning the piano. There are so many life lessons that we just shouldn’t get hung up on what we can’t give someone. I know I am not the teacher for everyone, and I have learned to celebrate that.

I hope you will know your strengths and boldly offer those to your students, without feeling disappointed with the resources you cannot give. Do what you can and you will still change lives.

Vee S., Florida

I am an entry level teacher by choice. I teach to a certain point then send them to my SM teacher
close by for the advanced. I am 62 and decided that I would become a pro at entry level teaching.
It’s like being an elementary teacher or a college professor. There is a place for both.

I have a student with four years of Traditional that can’t read as well as me, and I am not the best at notation reading. Chords I am great at, been playing at church for 11 years. I am teaching this student playing based and chords as he wants to play in his youth band at church.

The boy you referred to may not know chords, blues and the fun pieces to play. Maybe you could have shown him some of that.

And sometimes you do have to send them elsewhere. There are some students that may just not be right for us and that’s ok.

Hilary C., Australia

While I hear what you are saying about content I think the issue is methodology. I speak from experience when I say how difficult I found it going from reading to analysis as a first port of call – looking for patterns etc. This is what the early levels are providing and this is fundamental to all else that happens. I’m not sure that taking focus away from this emphasis with more challenging music will provide the same level of freedom to develop our approach.

Perhaps more explanation to students as to what this all means might help. I always tell them that what they already have will not be wasted but enriched when they bring all their skills together, and speak from my own experience when I think that personal disclosure is appropriate.

Margaret-Anne S., Australia

I have now been teaching Simply Music for 18 months and derive joy every day, not just with my students but through my own learning process and personal lessons.

Recently I had two new children commence who had been having traditional learning for 9 months. When asked if they would like to play a song they had been learning the little girl attempted her right hand but couldn’t remember and the boy was too shy to try. They loved their first Simply Music lesson.

I have several parents who have learnt in the traditional way and are staggered at the speed and depth of learning their children receive through this joyous method. I too learnt traditionally as a child but in my short time with Simply Music have a much a broader repertoire and breadth of knowledge than from 7 years of playing and doing intense theory.

I also always acknowledge this history and important traditional teaching methods have played in the world of music but I also share my story.