Every so often a student of mine will blurt out something about what they’re learning in an entirely unique and unexpected way. It’s these moments of clarity and new ways of thinking that often restore my faith in humanity on tough days. At the same time, I have a habit of stumbling upon new ways of explaining musical concepts that are rooted in pop culture in weird and unexpected ways.
I’ve been posting these on Facebook for the last few years, and after multiple requests, here’s the first of several collections of these.
1. From an 11-year-old student upon hearing Dennis Alexander's Reflections in the RCM Level 4 book for the first time:
"There's a lot of mixed emotions in this piece. A little bit of happy, a little bit of sad. That's exactly where I'm coming from these days so I think I'll learn it."
2. Students often experience the security of using the notes at the same time that they discover the finer points of memorization:
Student: I have it memorized, but I prefer playing with black and white in front of me.
Me: But when you play piano, there's ALWAYS black and white in front of you!
3. Writing reminders in the music is important. But it’s important to actually observe them when you practice:
Me: Notice that the A natural from the beginning of the bar is still in effect on the fourth beat. Could you mark in the natural?
Student: It's already marked in.
Me: Circle it then.
Student: It's already circled.
Me: Then circle it in anger so you remember it next time!
4. Learning coordination is a core skill of piano playing, but can sometimes go awry with students:
"Sometimes my hands don't listen to me when I'm playing.”
5. Ornaments in the Classical style is a combination of personal feeling and adherence to performance practice. I said this in a lesson once:
"Playing ornaments in Mozart is like making Chicago-style hot dogs. Not only do you have to use the right brands of meat, buns, and toppings, but also put them on in the correct order and proportions. And you're not allowed to use ketchup."
6. Doing theory homework can be a tricky business. You would think that writing it in pencil would be obvious, but some students insist on a much riskier choice:
7. No musician’s diet is complete without Bach:
Student: We're spending a lot of time with Bach today. Is this Bach week?
Me: Every week is Bach week.
8. Learning music involves striving for a level of accuracy that many of us are unaccustomed to. This is how I explained it in a lesson:
“In math, if you get 90%, you're doing well. In music, if you can only play 90% of the notes, you've still got a ways to go."
9. On learning to integrate music theory with the wider world of a student’s repertoire, one of my students came upon this insight:
"Analyzing chords in music is like viewing animals in their natural habitat instead of in cages.”
10. More trials with memory work:
“I had it mesmerized. Then I forgot it.”