One of my favorite things about my career is the joy of getting to work with a new piano student for the very first time. Whether they are transferring from another teacher or just beginning their journey of learning how to play the piano, there is nothing quite like the enthusiasm they bring into the room. Today, I got to experience that joy twice….and it made the day marvelous!
My first new student was a 16-year-old girl who is transferring into my studio this semester. She shared that she has played piano for 8 years, but her first teacher did not know how to teach, so she found herself having to start over and learn some basic concepts when her family moved into the area. (Side note: Just because you took piano lessons down the street for many years does not mean you are qualified to teach others to play. Get some training — whether with a mentor or through a school — before you declare yourself capable. You may do harm you don’t even know about.) This young woman is extremely intelligent and very musical. I enjoyed hearing her play today. As I began the lesson, I asked about her future plans because I wanted to make sure that we were both setting the same goals for her time in the studio. Musically, she wants to play for her family in the future and possibly be able to sub for a local congregation. I can get onboard with that plan! When I told her that I wanted to make sure that she had a voice in how we worked together, her eyes lit up! When I told her that we weren’t going to continue working through the Hanon technique, she was giddy! (No one actually enjoys those dastardly exercises, do they? Yuck!) Our plan for the moment is to continue working through her method book and begin exploring some music from her beloved hymnal. Since she is already working on that music independently, why not bring it into the lesson and see what we can learn together? I was really pleased with how much she soaked up today. I think we are going to have an incredibly good semester together that will hopefully extend for several more years.
At the end of the day, I met Nickolas. Nickolas is 9-years-old and has taught himself to play a few things by watching YouTube videos. He has had no formal training (although I did get the sense that he has had some exposure to some basic elements through elementary music classes). Today, we did some work on keyboard geography, basic rhythm, and finally got around to introducing some basic piano technique while playing his first little piece. Was this the same experience as I had with my teen? Certainly not, but there was still that sparkle that he was understanding things. Did I mention that both of these lessons were given with everyone in the room wearing a face mask? I’m so glad to know that the eyes communicate so much even when the mouth is not visible.
I really do love the excitement of a new start. I’m sure that every lesson will not be as pleasant in the future. There are challenging concepts ahead. There will be days where I simply do not feel as though I can adequately express what I am trying to explain in a way that my student can comprehend. Somethings are just easier to teach when I can demonstrate on the instrument or physically touch the student’s hand. That is not a possibility at the moment because of COVID. Still, I choose to focus on the joy and excitement of the new beginning and allow it to be a memory as we navigate the uncertain times ahead.
Livin' Life 